How to test your new computer? applications and benchmarks

Why test your computer?

In general, during the life of a computer it is important that we know its state or health. Know if you are suffering from some type of unexpected bottlenecking, if any part is damaged or simply if they meet its minimum requirements.

For this same reason, testing your computer at the beginning of its life is a vitally important task. When we mention 'the beginning of his life' we mean when he is newly purchased, but it can also be understood as every time we update a component.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a component to arrive defective from the factory. A RAM that doesn't work, a hard drive with less capacity or even a processor that doesn't reach its promised frequencies (huh, AMD?) . Apart from detecting if a component is in poor condition, it will also notify us if we need to request a refund or an exchange.

As during these last months we have been reviewing different software to test your computer, today we will make a great recommendation. However, not all of them are as effective, useful and / or detailed as we would like, so we will only mention the ones that we think are the best.

Next, we will make a brief tutorial to know and test all the main parts of your PC . Although some programs will have a paid version, we can assure you that all the functions that we will recommend will be in the free versions.

Of course, first of all, we warn you that the applications and benchmarks that we will see will be (mostly) only compatible with Windows . If you use some Linux or MacOS distribution you probably can't use this tutorial.

What components should be checked when testing your computer?

Just as if we were building a team from scratch, we will present the applications one by one according to the component.

But first of all, we have to stress a few things for you.

For starters, some pieces may need more than one benchmark, since they may be tested from different perspectives. On the other hand, it is important to remember that there are many performance, stability and other testing software, so if you already have a preferred application, use the one that gives you the most confidence.

Without further ado, let's go with the components and their relevant applications.

Processor

We could say that the processor is like the brain of the computer. Most calculations and orders are generated and processed in different parts of this component and it is an essential piece to have a powerful build.

We have recently seen the release of the new AMD Ryzen 3000 and we will soon be witnessing the 10th Generation of Intel . However, what program could we use to test these pieces?

A good test that you can use to test the processor is Geekbench . You will have to install it, but it takes very little. Its fifth version has recently been released, so the tests are very recent and check calculations and algorithms that are used today.

It is a fairly simple program with few buttons, so you will know how to use it the first time. On the other hand, it will allow you to test your computer in the CPU and GPU section, since it has two main tests.

On the other hand, we also have at hand CPU-Z , one of the most complete programs to monitor the processor and other components. What interests us, however, is its Benchmarks section, where we can compare our CPU with other models.

Finally, we have to add Prime95 here, a program that will allow us to check the stability of the component. This is especially interesting for people who overclock, but it is still a recommended test to run.

Stability refers to the ability of a processor to maintain expected performance under workload. If after 10 minutes of hard work, for example, the frequencies drop, something is wrong with that unit.

RAM

RAM , on the other hand, is a kind of temporary storage that is mainly used by processors.

They are components whose transfer speeds are very respectable, but which are not as expensive to build as caches. In exchange, they are not so fast, despite being also volatile memories (they erase your information by not receiving electricity) .

Today, you can get a respectable 16GB of 3000MHz CL16 RAM for around € 90 - € 100 .

RAM is a bit more difficult to test, since there are not so many programs dedicated to it. The reason for this is because they are less relevant components among the community.

Our main recommendation for testing RAM memory is MemTest64 , a program that you wo n't even have to install. You can use it both to test the performance and to test the stability of these components.

Discrete graphics cards

Discrete graphics cards are one of the most popular components among users, although they really aren't that relevant.

Its main task is to generate the images that we see through the screen and unlike the processor they usually have thousands of cores. This is because the graph is much more efficient doing parallel jobs and not so much doing unique jobs nimbly.

However, we mention that the discretes are not as relevant since most CPUs have integrated graphics inside. Whether they are Intel HD Graphics or Radeon Vega, you probably have one of them in your computing unit.

To test the performance of your graphics card, we believe that the best test available is that of 3DMark . We have really demanding tests and lighter ones for less powerful teams.

In addition, components are tested from different points of view and different technologies are tested. Among them, we highlight the test in DirectX 12 , Ray Tracing or DLSS .

Power supply

The power supply doesn't need much presentation.

It is in charge of taking energy from the plug and distributing it through the different components of the equipment. Then, they are in charge of dosing the energy as in the case of the VRM , which stabilizes the incoming electricity in the CPU .

It is important to get a quality power supply, since it is common to suffer from the odd setback in the life of a computer. The best sources tend to be 80 platinum or 80 titanium certified , although an 80 gold can be good too. The most important thing is that they have support for different technologies such as defense against overloads, sudden blackouts and others.

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One software that can be very useful for testing the performance of the power supply is OCCT . We reviewed it recently and it is a very simple and quite complete program that does not need installation.

Perhaps the test is not as demanding as it could be, but it will give us an estimate of what the source is like. In addition, we can establish a test of several hours or even without a time limit, which will show us the stability of the component.

On the other hand, with this program we will also be able to test the processor and the graphics card in both areas, which is never unnecessary.

Storage Units

Storage units are the non-volatile memories of the equipment where we store all the information. They can be SSD or HDD disks and of each type we have a large number of models with different characteristics, capacities and transfer speeds.

We have recently seen the birth of the first SSDs with PCIe Gen 4 , so we already have new generation memories.

To test both performance and stability, we recommend using a program like CrystalDiskMark . This simple and complete program will allow us to transfer different file sizes in different methods.

And if you are more interested in knowing the status of the components, we recommend using the complementary program CrystalDiskInfo .

It is true that they have these peculiar and very Japanese themes with anime girls, but to Caesar what is Caesar's . Both programs are very complete for almost any task related to memory drives both SSD and HDD .

Motherboard

The motherboard we have left for the last, since it is the component that unites everything. Having a better one does not offer us better performance, but it will give us support for more technologies.

The most obvious case is that of the new X570 motherboards, which offer us PCIe Gen 4 and support for higher memory frequencies. Not surprisingly, the most important thing you can look at on a motherboard is its VRM , since it will be the one who doses and regulates the incoming electricity in the CPU .

For the motherboard we have no specific benchmark to recommend, as there is not much to test. What we can offer you is our recommendation of the best motherboards on the market.

Final words on how to test your computer

As we have already indicated, there are many other tools to test our equipment. Here we have made a mashup of those that we think are most useful or interesting.

As you will see, not only seeing that a component does not work is reason to think that it is defective. There are a thousand and one problems that can arise and make parts work worse, without being fatal. Therefore, whenever you buy a component or a complete set, you have to test your computer.

We hope you have understood this article easily and have learned something new. If you have any recommendation of your own for some of the components mentioned, feel free to share it in the comment box.

And now write us: what software do you think is the most complete of those mentioned? Which piece worries you the most when you are benchmarking? Share your ideas below.