12 Best Tools to Stress Test Your PC (CPU, RAM, & GPU)

If you are just building your computer, overclocked any components, or are experiencing problems with an aging system, stress testing will help you determine whether your computer is stable or not, and if not, where the problem might be coming from.

Here we’ll give you the best tools to use for stress testing your system’s components, including the top CPU tests, best RAM tests, and top GPU tests.

You can use the hardware monitoring tools that are included with the stress tests as well to monitor how the system is functioning as you run them.

List of the Best CPU and GPU Stress Test Software: Best RAM, PC, and GPU Software in 2021.

Stress testing tests your computer’s or network’s maximum performance limit with an extreme load.

In addition to testing the behavior of the system, network, or application under an extreme load, stress testing also checks whether or not the system can be restored to normal functioning.

The main purpose of stress testing is to test a system’s ability to recover from an error.

Stress testing consists of five types i.e. Exploratory Stress Testing, Transactional Stress Testing, Application Stress Testing, Systemic Stress Testing, and Distributed Stress Testing.

Here’s how to choose the best stress testing tool for your needs. Tool selection varies by the type of testing you want to conduct like a Stress test for your PC, a Stress test for your CPU, a Stress test for RAM, or a Stress test for GPU.

In the following image, you can see how stress testing affects different factors.

different factors of stress testing

It is important to monitor different factors such as temperature, etc. while performing hardware stress testing, and it may have a direct or indirect impact on the model design and infrastructure. Both the method of coverage and the risk should be considered before carrying out a stress test.

A computer’s CPU and memory will be tested under stress if you perform stress testing on that computer.

CPU stress testing can evaluate the performance of a CPU after running it constantly up to its maximum temperature. Each core of a multi-core processor will be tested. The workload applied will comply with the CPU’s requirements.

Stress testing the GPU is the first step you must take when you experience problems like blue screen and system reboot. You must stress test RAM if the RAM is malfunctioning.

Several tools use different techniques for testing the performance of the system. Some make use of a 3D scene while others rely on prime numbers.

Suggested Read => Common Performance-Testing Tools

Tools to Monitor Hardware While Running Stress Tests

During a stress test, it’s a good idea to monitor the system’s temperature and load levels. The following tools can be used alongside the below benchmarks to provide you with more information about your computer’s performance.

1. Core Temp

Core Temp

Core Temp is an ideal tool to monitor your CPU temperature and load percentage. Intel processors can provide readings for each individual core of the CPU. However, the temperatures of AMD processors only display one temperature for the entire CPU.

Additionally, Core Temp provides you with some basic info regarding your CPU and tells you the voltage and frequency at which your CPU is currently operating at. Several handy plugins are available, too, to extend Core Temp’s capabilities.

Features:

• Motherboard agnostic.
• Supports customization.
• Supports expandability.
• Also included is a platform for plugin-ins that will be useful to developers.

Website: Core Temp

2. GPU-Z

GPU-Z

It’s similar to Core Temp, except that it monitors your GPU instead of your CPU. The GPU-Z utility allows you to monitor the GPU’s temperatures and load as well as clock speed through the onboard memory, fan speed, and memory usage among other things.

Features:

• Graphics card BIOS backup.
• Load test for PCI-Express lane configuration.
• Display information on the graphics card adapter, overclocking, default clock, GPU, and 3D clock.
• This tool enables the handling of graphics devices from NVIDIA, AMD, ATI, and Intel.

Website: GPU-Z

3. MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner

The MSI Afterburner graphics card monitoring tool, more commonly referred to as a graphics card ‘utility’ application, comes with a whole host of features for monitoring graphics card hardware.

In addition to giving you much of the same information GPU-Z provides, MSI Afterburner also lets you overclock, set custom fan profiles, run in-game benchmarks, take screenshots, and record gameplay videos.

Features:

• It allows you to customize the fan profile.
• Benchmarking.
• Video recording.
• Graphic cards from all companies are supported.

Website: MSI Afterburner

4. HWiNFO64

HWiNFO64

The HWiNFO64 tool allows you to monitor different components in your system, and it’s one of the best tools out there for hardware monitoring. You can monitor your CPU and GPU temperatures, RAM, and motherboard data, as well as monitor fan speed, component loads, and plenty more with HWiNFO64.

Features:

• It allows you to customize the fan profile.
• Benchmarking.
• Graphics card BIOS backup.
• Load test for PCI-Express lane configuration.

Website: HWiNFO64

CPU Stress Test Tools

These tools will help you understand your CPU better, whether you’re trying to find out how stable your processor is after overclocking it or if you need to test if your CPU is overheating.

1. Prime95

Prime95 was developed as part of GIMPS, a computing project to find new Mersenne primes (primes that are the result of the equation: 2n + 1)

Prime95

It incorporates the option to perform stress tests on both processors and memory using Prime95. In its new version, Prime95 has incorporated a sub-project for finding prime Mersenne cofactors. Prime95 can be used in two ways, namely automatically and manually. You can download it for free.

Even though Prime95 was designed originally for the purpose of finding Mersenne primes, many hardware enthusiasts are now using its torture test in order to stress test their processors and memory —particularly after overclocking — into teeming overdrive.

Features:

• The P-1 factoring has recently been added.
• It has also included Step 1 GCD for ECM.
• This software performs enhanced error checks for LL tests.
• Windows, Mac OS, Linux, and FreeBSD are supported.

Website: Prime95

2. Aida64

A lot of users prefer Aida64 to Prime95 as a CPU stress test tool. Prim95’s torture test can cause your processor to perform in an unrealistic manner, while Aida64 mimics real-world processes by placing a 100% load on it to see how it will perform.

Aida64

AIDA64 can detect fake video cards from NVIDIA and monitor sensor readings. Intel and AMD CPU platforms are supported by AIDA64. The Apps are available for iOS and Windows phones. You can download them free of charge.

However, Aida64 is not free. For a basic license that can be used on up to three computers, Aida64 is $34.99, which, while not unreasonable, is probably not the best option for ordinary users who will only use the stress test a handful of times. You can try it for free for 30 days, though, if you’re only going to need it now.

Website: AIDA64

3. IntelBurn Test

IntelBurn Test

Another CPU stress testing tool, IntelBurn Test, will ensure your CPU is stable by pushing it to the extreme. Like Prime95, IntelBurn Test is criticized for pushing the processor harder than necessary. Some believe it is even more stressful on your processor than Prime95.

Freeware program IntelBurn Test is designed to simplify Linpack usage. It supports Windows 7 as well as Windows Vista. Linpack is an Intel program for stress testing the CPU.

Website: IntelBurn Test

RAM Stress Test Tools

Here are some tools for you that you can use to stress-test the memory in your system, either to diagnose any problems that you may be experiencing with your RAM or to make sure that your system is stable after overclocking.

The two components that are stressed while performing hardware testing are memory and the CPU.

Bad graphics cards, bad drivers, overheating, and bad memory can cause a blue screen and a reboot. Hence, if you are experiencing any of these issues, we recommend testing the memory first. Testing the memory is an easier way to proceed.

During memory testing, we examine how computers allocate memory with sparse memory. Given this, we have screened a few tools you can use for RAM testing.

1. MemTest86

MemTest86

Test your system’s memory with PassMark Software’s MemTest86 and you’ll see if there are any problems. MemTest86+, which was derived from MemTest86, is not viewed as being a viable option because it has not been updated since 2013 — while MemTest86 is still updated.

Memory Test86 is the program for testing memory. It makes use of numerous algorithms and test patterns for testing the RAM. It supports 13 algorithms and the latest technologies.

Features:

• This tool allows the creation of customized reports as well as the generation of report files.
• The software supports multiple languages.
• It is bootable from the USB.
• There is support for multiprocessor, UEFI BIOS, DDR2/DDR3, and DDR4.

Website: MemTest86

2. Prime95 (Blend Test)

Prime95 (Blend Test)

Prime95 is mostly known as a CPU-stress testing tool, but its ‘Blend’ mode torture test is also effective for RAM stress testing. The ‘Blend’ mode in Prime95 doesn’t check your RAM for errors in contrast to MemTest86, so if you require a stress test tool that can also diagnose a memory issue, you might better off using MemTest86. Prime95’s Blend test is good for checking for stability while overclocking RAM.

Website: Prime95 (Blend Test)

GPU Stress Test Tools

The GPU stress tests below will provide you with a variety of options to push your GPU to the limits.

The GPU stress test is used to find out the limits of the graphics card. It is performed by using the full processing power of the graphics card. The GPU can be monitored using the overclocking tool during a stress test.

Its purpose is to crash or overheat the graphics card or to ensure that it can continue to work even after intense use. Tests should be performed regularly and the temperature should not exceed 100 degrees Celsius.

We have chosen the best tools to stress test GPUs and have posted them below. We offer the following suggestions on the selection of GPU stress testing tools:

• All sensor output should be able to be read and written to a file in real-time by the tool.
• A less cluttered display would be ideal.
• This tool will support graphics card providers (such as NVIDIA, AMD, or ATI).

1. Heaven & Valley Benchmarks (Unigine)

Heaven & Valley benchmark tests by Uningine are sometimes used as a stress test, either after overclocking a graphics card and testing for stability or in a synthetic environment to see how better a graphics card performs.

Heaven & Valley Benchmarks (Unigine)

Especially if you’re considering GPU benchmarks that have VR features, then Unigine’s updated Superposition benchmark is one to consider.

Tests the performance and stability of cooling systems, power supplies, video cards, and PC hardware. It supports Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. AMD, Intel, and NVIDIA GPUs can be tested.

You can choose between three plans, namely; the free Basic plan, the $19.95 Advanced plan, and the $595 Professional plan.

Features:

• You can automate tasks from the command line.
• It provides reports in CSV format.
• The software monitors GPU temperature and clocks.

Website: Heaven & Valley Benchmarks

2. 3DMark

3DMark

Another commonly used tool to speed up video cards is 3D Mark, which can be used on multiple platforms (PCs, smartphones, laptops, tablets, etc.). Additionally to the clock speed, 3DMark also monitors frame rate, load, and temperature during benchmarks. Users can buy the full version via Steam for $30, however, the free version can be used, too.

It is also available for desktops, tablets, mobile devices, and notebooks. 3DMark is for PCs, tablets, phones, and notebooks.

Features:

• DLSS feature test.
• It works with desktops, notebooks, smartphones, and tablets.
• Windows, Android, and iOS versions of the app are available.

Website: 3DMark

3. FurMark

FurMark

The FurMark GPU stress test is another option worth noting. However, FurMark does not win over a lot of hardware enthusiasts since it has a reputation for putting an unreasonable amount of strain on your graphics card. FurMark can be worthwhile for short periods of time, but probably not for long-term testing of your graphics card.

FurMark is a stress test tool for GPU. It’s lightweight and available on Windows. It’s free.

Website: FurMark

What is the best tool to use for stress testing?

While all of the tools mentioned earlier can be used for stress testing your system, the reality is that you will be better off using multiple tools for stress testing your system. When you’re looking for more information, it’s best to run multiple stress tests to get the best idea of how the components of your system will perform in real-world scenarios.

Conclusion

We examined and compared the top Stress testing tools that are available on the market. According to our comparison, LoadTracer, JMeter, Locust, Blazemeter, and Load Multiplier are the best tools.

HWiNFO64 lets you do CPU, GPU, and RAM stress tests. Cinebench runs well with CPU and GPU stress tests. Prime95 performs CPU and RAM stress tests.

The best tools for stress testing of PC are PCMark10, Burnin Test, Heavy Load, and Intel Extreme Tuning Utility. The best CPU stress test software is CoreTemp, AIDA64, and IntelBurn Test.

There are three main programs for RAM stress testing: MemTest86, Stress-ng, and Valley Benchmarks, while GPU-Z, MSI Afterburner, 3DMark, and FurMark are the best for GPU stress testing.