Best application to test a new gpu and cpu

EQnoble

Well-known member
As the thread title says I am looking for the best app to push my new video card and see what it can handle before I do any tweaking...as well as finding out how my machine handles heavy load and the relevant temps that come with pushing the limits.

Can anyone recommend some good titles for benchmarking cpu or gpu capabilities?

I know of prime95 but that is about it....what else is out there that is also good?


Added: list of benchmark/diagnostic software.
Left to test:
prime95
3DMark
Unigine's Heaven Benchmark
FurMark
Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool (64-bit)
 
Excellent and thank you for the quick responses!


There's 3DMark. For OpenGL performance, I liked using Unigine's Heaven Benchmark in the past.

Would you say the paid versions are worth the features they add or should I just try the free one for now (3DMark). I will also try Heaven as well.

FurMark is also good for GPU testing.

http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/
Ahhhh that is one my friend told me to get this morning but he went just to bed and I totally forgot what he told me before we ended the voice chat...thanks!

For Intel CPUs, Intel has their own utility for benchmarking and stress testing.

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=19792
I was trying to stay away from something like that as I spent quite a bit on my processor and wanted to test against it with something not made by the same people...I do appreciate that link though because either I forgot about this too...or was completely unaware but at any rate I would like to do a follow up test with their tools as well.
 
Another way to test your GPU and CPU combo is to download HWMonitor, fire up your favorite graphics intensive game, and go at it hot and heavy for a few minutes, then alt-tab to the desktop to see what HWMonitor says about your temps.
 
Just tested 3DMark and really like how it displays literally EVERYTHING about the test results and compares similar builds to mine. I really like how it reports the stats and adds it to their website where I can recall that info...I am sure that is going to be really handy when tweaking and retesting.


A side note...I wish some of the people who make those demos would stop and just start making their own games or join a gamehouse full time.


Ok now to try the other titles out...but I may have to buy the full license for 3DMark regardless of what else I buy and test...it looks rather pro to me and I just have to figure out what some of these numbers mean as far as score goes


Left to test:
3DMark
Unigine's Heaven Benchmark
FurMark
Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool (64-bit)
 
Personally, if the darned thing works well, you don't get any alarms or smoke out of the system, and all your games and applications fly along without an issue, why worry about benchmarks?

I swear. Some people are positively OCD about benchmarking their computers and just HAVE to tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak until the machine melts down or you just can't tweak any more. Reminds me of some Harley owners and their obsessive compulsion to tinker on the bike. Needless to say, most don't run well, either. :whistle:
 
Personally, if the darned thing works well, you don't get any alarms or smoke out of the system, and all your games and applications fly along without an issue, why worry about benchmarks?

I swear. Some people are positively OCD about benchmarking their computers and just HAVE to tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak until the machine melts down or you just can't tweak any more. Reminds me of some Harley owners and their obsessive compulsion to tinker on the bike. Needless to say, most don't run well, either. :whistle:
LOL - you didn't love it enough if you never broke it :-)

TBH it is more of me wanting to know if I need to add any extras to my case to compensate for heat under load...and I figured the best way to do that would be to actually know the exact loads I am putting on it while looking at component and temp probe data and then supply the machine with an unrealistic load compared to my actual daily tasks as if it will survive overkill it will survive a walk in the park...that is just the way I look at it and it could be flawed logic I suppose

After just throwing a few tests at it...I don't see my components even being 20% utilized with actual tasks that I will be doing on it and with the gpu test I get like 50+ fps on even some of the ridiculous tests.

I am actually more of a 'buy a better component and leave it stock' person than try to save a few bucks and put the proverbial 'rims on the hoopty' type of person and already from my last machine to this one I see a trend...my old computer tweaked to hell doesnt compare to this one stock...I have come to the conclusion that I will have absolutely no need to tweak anything....I am probably going to add a radiator to the top inside of the case just to be safe...but I don't think I need to, it is more about peace of mind.



Can't beat prime95 and furmark really, just be sure your power supply isn't an IED before you run them together ;)
:ROFLMAO:
My last one may just have been...which is why I am testing my new build now (admittedly I was the only thing that actually exploded when the super fail happened...but that was because of the data I lost on secondary drives and that is another story all by itself :cry:) but hey for every blown up computer there is a new one to be built :-) . Thanks for the heads up Luke :-)

Thanks everyone...I appreciate anything listed that will help me gauge up my new rig here.
 
I am probably going to add a radiator to the top inside of the case just to be safe...but I don't think I need to, it is more about peace of mind.

I'm of the firm belief that you can never have enough cooling power inside the case. Hell, if components could work in -0 conditions, I'd throw it into the deep freeze and run long wires to the speakers, keyboard, mouse and monitor. :D
 
I'm of the firm belief that you can never have enough cooling power inside the case. Hell, if components could work in -0 conditions, I'd throw it into the deep freeze and run long wires to the speakers, keyboard, mouse and monitor. :D
(Fluorinert + insulated coil from reefer unit ) + submerging all non mechanical things (no disc drives or anything like that) + circulating pump = :)

note: when buying fluorinert on ebay check conductivity before submerging a psu
 
Personally, if the darned thing works well, you don't get any alarms or smoke out of the system, and all your games and applications fly along without an issue, why worry about benchmarks?

I swear. Some people are positively OCD about benchmarking their computers and just HAVE to tweak, tweak, tweak, tweak until the machine melts down or you just can't tweak any more. Reminds me of some Harley owners and their obsessive compulsion to tinker on the bike. Needless to say, most don't run well, either. :whistle:
I enjoy benchmarking my PC and overclocking it because it actually allows me to get more out of my money and enjoy the games I like to play without having to fork thousands or be satisfied with mediocre performance.
 
Excellent and thank you for the quick responses!
Would you say the paid versions are worth the features they add or should I just try the free one for now (3DMark). I will also try Heaven as well.

I'd say the paid version of 3DMark is worth it, I like it, but it's been about ~2+ years since I've used Heaven Benchmark, so can't really comment much on it -- would definitely say try the free version first.
 
If your after banchmarks, the 3dmark is the only real tool. For burning in, starcraft II will realy hammer your CPU in a big multiplayer game, and metro 2033 will bring any PC to its knees on max graphics settings.
 
I enjoy benchmarking my PC and overclocking it because it actually allows me to get more out of my money and enjoy the games I like to play without having to fork thousands or be satisfied with mediocre performance.
Originally that is what it was all about for me with my old computer, but in my effort to get the most bang for my buck I think I selected a GPU from a maker that wasn't rated as well as the same GPU from other makers. That aside, this logic is perfect if you are trying to grab a model from a few classes below the top of the line and still want it to perform like a leader of the pack. I am sure if in the first place I had done more research on the exact model of my old GFX card, I would have selected an analog from another maker and been just fine with it and tweaking it would have gave me more positive effects than negative effects.

Seeing that you like to tweak stuff, you might be one with a solid answer to this...

I have noticed through testing many different pieces of hardware (not benching but literally real world usage testing) that cards that come stock overclocked or superclocked seem to fail more than stock cards that users tweaks themselves. Have you had similar experiences?

I'd say the paid version of 3DMark is worth it, I like it, but it's been about ~2+ years since I've used Heaven Benchmark, so can't really comment much on it -- would definitely say try the free version first.

I think 3d mark is getting put on my tab tbh. The way the result data is displayed and easily available is a gigantic plus one and having a database of other results to compare it against also puts another good aspect to my point of view of things. I expect by next weekend to make my purchases for my testing purposes.

On another note... I tried out heaven's Benchmark and REALLY wonder why these people make demos instead of games...seriously, I actually found myself sitting there thinking "dude I can jump on this windmill blade and get to the roof and lay down with the sniper" and then found me reminding myself saying "no Ant you can't play COD on this map ever, sorry".

I tested it against the DirectX 11 and OpenGL APIs with maxed out settings for everything and it looked stupendously awesome on both. Best of all my system didn't fail. :) I also like how their free trial doesn't feel like it has any limitations though the paid versions appear to add a lot of useful functionality for people who want to take the testing to another level (batch testing seems pretty damn useful if you ask me and so does the report generation for people who like to crunch numbers)

I got so caught up exploring the environment and playing with the settings that I literally didn't click on the benchmark function until the 3rd or 4th time I started it up the title. :whistle: <--doh doh dohhh Needless to say, without installing a full game it gave a very good idea of what my system can do as far as video is concerned before it bogs down or starts tearing or whatever other problems come with bad configurations.



If your after banchmarks, the 3dmark is the only real tool. For burning in, starcraft II will realy hammer your CPU in a big multiplayer game, and metro 2033 will bring any PC to its knees on max graphics settings.

Still haven't run any games yet on this...I know for a fact that SCII is on my list of to do's but I don't think I have ever tried or even heard of for that matter metro2033 (don't quote me on that though...I forget about loads of crap). When I get to the point where I am running games on the rig I may throw that in the list as well.
 
I have noticed through testing many different pieces of hardware (not benching but literally real world usage testing) that cards that come stock overclocked or superclocked seem to fail more than stock cards that users tweaks themselves. Have you had similar experiences?
Yes, that is correct, usually the cards that come factory overclocked have less room for overclocking and you end up sometimes being able to overclock a stock card much more than an already OC'd card. The other thing is to make sure if you're going to OC you either change the stock cooler or get it water cooled. :)

But this also is very variable and depends on the chip itself, some overclock more than others.
 
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