Useful CPU Monitoring and Testing Applications

[Karyuko]

             This is my first post and i thought i will start contributing to the forms with some of my knowledge and experience. All these are personal preferances there are many other good programs out there but I thought i would list some of the ones i use.

Temp Monitors

 Ill start off with monitoring software.  When owning a computer that deals with a lot of heat I like to monitor my cpu temperature to ashore safe temps while overclocking and computer stability. Programs that read cpu core temps are Real Temp, Black Box 2.0 Core Temp, Everest, some use speed fan.  *NOTE* Temp monitoring programs are not 100% accurate on core temperature but give a close estimate to what its at.

I recommend either Core Temp or Everest due to there reliability and close temp estimates.

Download Links:

Core Temp: http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/


Everest: http://www.lavalys.com/support/downloads

System Specs Monitor

When overclocking and viewing system information I like to use CPU-Z, Black Box 2.0, Everest. They show everything to voltage to core clock to part and model numbers. With CPU-Z you can submit and validate your overclocks to show and prove to others of what you've done.

Download Links:

CPU-Z: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/CPU-Z.shtml


Black Box 2.0: http://www.softpedia.com/get/System/System-Info/HWM-BlackBox.shtml

Stability Testing

When overclocking a cpu stability is important whether benchmarking or for everyday 24/7 use. To test a cpu to make sure its stable, you stress the cpu by running all cores at 100% usage. Some programs are Prime95, OCCT. *NOTE* Make sure before you run any stress programs that you have proper cooling.

Download Links:

Prime95: http://www.softpedia.com/get/Others/Home-Education/Prime95.shtml


OCCT: http://www.ocbase.com/perestroika_en/index.php?Download

I realize that this can be moved to the software section as well, feel free to move this if you think it belongs there.

Thank you for looking

Karyuko

[RicochetSaw]

for testing speeds you can also use wPrime

[libertysyclone]

For CPU stability I only use Intel Burn. beats prime95 by miles.

Furmark with everything turned up for GPU testing.

[Adrian]

Furmark is rad - although on mobile solutions, the temperatures sometimes scare us! ;x As for the Intel tool - has it changed recently? I thought it only worked on Intel solutions. Has support for AMD, or non-intel chipsets been added?

[libertysyclone]

Amd still makes CPUs?

[strudinox]

For stability testing I use OCCT and run the CPU linpack tests which is similar to Intel's Burn Test. The reason I use OCCT is because of the detailed information it gives you once it's completed. It gives temperature and usage charts and graphs which come in handy for checking temperatures over long periods of time.

And for Temperature monitoring I've found RealTemp to be the most accurate.

[Adrian]

I second that - Realtemp is the solution we suggest people use to monitor temps.

Real Temp (Latest Version): http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

[Karyuko]

I second that - Realtemp is the solution we suggest people use to monitor temps.

Real Temp (Latest Version): http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

Real Temp is a great program. In my opinion it all comes down to what you feel comfortable with.

For CPU stability I only use Intel Burn. beats prime95 by miles.

Furmark with everything turned up for GPU testing.

Intel Burn is very good, just lacks some features in my opinion. But then again you can always get those with other programs.


Thank you all for reading =)

Karyuko