[Liberator]

Do you guys have a suggestion for what software package(s) I should use to burn in my brothers new computer I'm posting from right now?

[The E]

(I'm assuming you're using Windows, skip this if not)

*Microsoft Security Essentials
Microsoft's version of an Antivirus-software. Works pretty well, has gotten good reviews, and is available for free (and doesn't annoy you with unnecessary popups!!)

*VLC or SMPlayer for video playback
*foobar2000 for audio playback

*OpenOffice 3.0

*Gimp, or if that is too much, paint.net

That's pretty much everything I can recommend without knowing what the comp will be used for.

[Solatar]

I second Microsoft Security Essentials. It's been working quite well for me on Windows 7.

[Nuke]

back when i built computers we used something called pc check. its a dos based diagnostic and burn-in tester that runs a multitude of tests on pretty much all the hardware in the computer. of course that was around the end of the 98/me era and they were moving over to xp when i started working there. more use of x64 might make a dos based app completely obsolete. if youre burning in a gaming rig, idtech engines are usually pretty good, record a bunch of demos and run them with frametime enabled (disables framerate caps and renders as quickly as possible). i used q3a once because i wasnt really playing it and it was the only thing i could think of to really torture test the cpus of high end computers. any benchmark software works pretty well too, usually they support running a bunch of tests in a loop over a set period of time. of course when i burn in one of my own computers, i leave it on not running anything more than a web browser and an instant messenger  client. i run that for about a week. then il give it another week of almost constant high end gaming.

[Liberator]

so 2 or 3 hours of 3dmark 2008 wouldn't do it?

[pecenipicek]

so 2 or 3 hours of 3dmark 2008 wouldn't do it?

*dies from laughter*


XD

for GPU burn-in, try Furmark. altough it might burn out your gpu...


for an actual and usefull cpu burn-in, try cinebench. i dont know if multiple repeated tests can be queued, but for realistic usage burnin, any renderer which can be queued will do.

[zookeeper]

What the heck does "burning in" mean?

[pecenipicek]

What the heck does "burning in" mean?

a fanciful/retarded drop-in phrase used in replacement of "stability testing under extreme loads"

originated with the "hardcore overclockers" in pc usage. the normal phrase isnt cool enough.

[zookeeper]

What the heck does "burning in" mean?

a fanciful/retarded drop-in phrase used in replacement of "stability testing under extreme loads"

originated with the "hardcore overclockers" in pc usage. the normal phrase isnt cool enough.

Got it. The same silliness as calling your computer a "rig" if you've opened the chassis once and installed a video card on it, I presume?

[pecenipicek]

pretty much. "rig" has gotten into use for any pc that you put together yourself. prebuilt pc's dont ever count as "rigs"


but yeah. its retarded in both cases

[CP5670]

a fanciful/retarded drop-in phrase used in replacement of "stability testing under extreme loads"

I don't think that is exactly what he is referring to. "Burn in" is the process of running some CPU load for a while to allow the thermal paste to settle, which supposedly drops the temperatures a bit. I have never actually seen this help with anything though.

Prime95 is still a standard stability tester for CPUs. Intel's Linpack benchmark is supposed to be the most intensive thing around, although I haven't tried that. For GPUs, just play Crysis for a while. Some modern video cards don't respond well to Furmark or OCCT even when they are otherwise stable.

[pecenipicek]

i just remembered, if you have nvidia cards post 8800, run trine or any other similar game which uses physx.


physx will stress out your gpu far more than the simple graphics of trine show.


@CP, if you are relying on the thermal paste to settle over time for noticeable cooling enhancement, you are doing something wrong




in general any metallic paste (from the cheapest to the most expensive) have one thing in common. plug and play.

ceramic based pastes (ceramique, other nonmetallics etc) generally need about 10 to 15 minutes to settle after you put them on the cpu, if you use the "put blob in center of cpu, plunge cooler ontop, bolt down" method.
if you spread it out yourself, you can do it quicker, but its really really messy, and its hard to get off of anything that you get the paste on.

[CP5670]

@CP, if you are relying on the thermal paste to settle over time for noticeable cooling enhancement, you are doing something wrong

That was my point. Burn in for that purpose is a waste of time.

I use a sandwich bag to spread the paste around without getting my hands (or the paste) dirty.

I doubt any PhysX game will create more stress than 3D engines. The PhysX games out there today do very little with it. A GPGPU scientific computing program would be a better option, but I don't know of any program in particular that works well for this.

[pecenipicek]

I use a sandwich bag to spread the paste around without getting my hands (or the paste) dirty.

I ought to try that one out. i usually spread the paste around with either old credit cards or stiff paper (visit card paper)

I doubt any PhysX game will create more stress than 3D engines. The PhysX games out there today do very little with it. A GPGPU scientific computing program would be a better option, but I don't know of any program in particular that works well for this.

well, trine managed to do that

however, yes, the point stands, any GPGPU program would be much better. like Folding@Home and its CUDA - compatible version.