Stress Testing a Computer
Stress testing (also called load testing, torture testing or burn-in testing) a computer involves the use of special software tools to push the various hardware components of a computer to their limits to see if there are any errors, hangs, or blue screens.
Though this sounds like a bad thing to do, there are actually many reasons for doing this.
If the components show no issues, they will likely be stable under typical operating conditions.
Most hardware components, if they do fail, will fail within the first 30 days (often called the infant mortality of the component).
This fallout is largely due to weak or bad board-level parts (resistors, capacitors, IC's, etc) and manufacturing related issues.
If the components survive this time frame, they typically last for many years.
Stress testing will identify the weak components and allow them to be returned within the warranty period for replacement.
Many computer Original Equipment Manufacturers will burn-in test their computer systems for a period of time before shipping them to the customer for just this reason.
Do-it-yourself system builders often need to know if the selected cooling solution is adequate to keep their system from overheating.
Using system monitoring tools, the temperature of the CPU, graphics card, hard disk, and motherboard can be read while the system is under load from the torture testing tools.
Cooling solution adjustments can be made until the components are operating within their safe temperature range.
Overclocking a PC involves the setting of a clock speed (and sometimes voltage) higher than the manufacturer's recommended and pre-set level in order to achieve increased system performance.
Increasing the clock speed too much can lead to system instability (hangs, blue screens, reboots) due to the change in system timing and increased heat generation.
Overclockers use load testing to find where this line is so they can configure their systems to be just on the edge of it.
Computer diagnostics and troubleshooting is yet another use.
Almost everyone has experienced a PC that seems to run fine most of the time but locks up under certain conditions.
Or maybe a computer that blue screens every so often, with no apparent reason behind it.
Stress testing the various components can help isolate where the problem is coming from so the failing component can be replaced.
Stress testing is a great way to test hardware stability and robustness of a computer.
It is also helpful in isolating and diagnosing computer component failures.
Make this part of your computer tool arsenal.
Though this sounds like a bad thing to do, there are actually many reasons for doing this.
If the components show no issues, they will likely be stable under typical operating conditions.
Most hardware components, if they do fail, will fail within the first 30 days (often called the infant mortality of the component).
This fallout is largely due to weak or bad board-level parts (resistors, capacitors, IC's, etc) and manufacturing related issues.
If the components survive this time frame, they typically last for many years.
Stress testing will identify the weak components and allow them to be returned within the warranty period for replacement.
Many computer Original Equipment Manufacturers will burn-in test their computer systems for a period of time before shipping them to the customer for just this reason.
Do-it-yourself system builders often need to know if the selected cooling solution is adequate to keep their system from overheating.
Using system monitoring tools, the temperature of the CPU, graphics card, hard disk, and motherboard can be read while the system is under load from the torture testing tools.
Cooling solution adjustments can be made until the components are operating within their safe temperature range.
Overclocking a PC involves the setting of a clock speed (and sometimes voltage) higher than the manufacturer's recommended and pre-set level in order to achieve increased system performance.
Increasing the clock speed too much can lead to system instability (hangs, blue screens, reboots) due to the change in system timing and increased heat generation.
Overclockers use load testing to find where this line is so they can configure their systems to be just on the edge of it.
Computer diagnostics and troubleshooting is yet another use.
Almost everyone has experienced a PC that seems to run fine most of the time but locks up under certain conditions.
Or maybe a computer that blue screens every so often, with no apparent reason behind it.
Stress testing the various components can help isolate where the problem is coming from so the failing component can be replaced.
Stress testing is a great way to test hardware stability and robustness of a computer.
It is also helpful in isolating and diagnosing computer component failures.
Make this part of your computer tool arsenal.
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