Stress Test Your Hardware to Troubleshoot Problems and Keep Your Computer Stable [Hardware]

Source: http://lifehacker.com/5619743/stress-test-your-hardware-to-identify-problems-and-keep-your-computer-stable

Gadget blog Tested explains how to stress test your computer's most important hardware—and likely pain points in a buggy system—in order to diagnose and fix hardware problems that can commonly crop up in software errors and system crashes.

Photo by kennymatic.

There's no worse time for your PC to hit the fritz than when you're in the middle of some sort of heavy-duty computer task, but for some reason you computer doesn't seem to care. Tested's guide walks through the tools to stress and monitor your system to hunt down and diagnose possible hardware problems with your CPU, RAM, and graphics card. On the monitoring side of things, they're using HWMonitor to keep an eye on temperatures (it's the same app we suggested when we explained how to prevent your computer from overheating) and previously mentioned SpeedFan. On the hardware stressing side of the coin, they're using Prime95 (the app Whitson used in his primer for overclocking your Intel processor) for your CPU, previously mentioned Memtest86+ for RAM, and FurMark for GPU testing.

Hit up the guide at Tested for a full walkthrough, and if you're a serious stress tester or you consider yourself a skilled hardware bug-hunter, let's hear about your favorite methods and tools for the job in the comments.

How To Stress Test Your Hardware and Keep Your PC Stable [Tested]