Motherboard stress tests

[vernonr]

I have recently tried to diagnose problems ( occasional freezes in random situations ) that seem to be related to the motherboard rather than a specific element ( e.g. memory / CPU / Video / LAN ); and have found it really hard to diagnose.

LIke most in the user community I do not have electronic test boards / kit to plug in and will find it much easier to use software utilities / tests. However it is also natural to want to discover what I can before going into battle with suppliers over warranty claims etc. or replacing elements.

It was fantastic to discover the UltimateBootCD and its many excellent utilities for testing memory, CPU etc. but even as a technically aware user it is difficult to know whether these tests have any usefulness ( perhaps as a byproduct ) in diagnosing problems that may exist within the motherboard .

I would like to suggest that the Toms Hardware community could lead a worthwhile effort by :
- generating lists of faults & errors that can occur within the "motherboard itself"
- suggesting any existing tests that might help discover whether these problems were evident.
- developing ideas for new tests.

Comments please ?

Thanks

Vernon.

 

[Shadow703793]

I'm assuming you have already run Memtest86+,etc. If so, your problem could either be the motherboard OR the PSU. Mind giving more details at to the problem?

 

[vernonr]

In terms of the solving this particular problem I'm not so concerned any longer as the manufacturer ( HP ) has agreed to look at the machine under warranty ( its only 2 months old ) ...

The symptoms are occasional freezes ( random length of time, activity etc. ) running Windows 7 or latterly UltimateBootCD or bootswitcher / HP diagnostics prior to OS load... Screen stays showing picture ( i.e. not blue screen / black screen of death / memory dump ) Machine won't respond to keyboard or mouse input ( locks mouse/keyboard switcher in position ) and only solution is to hard reset by pulling out power cord

What is interesting is that I couldn't find tests that really helped to isolate the problem..as end of the original post...!

Can anybody suggest software tests would help isolate and pinpoint problems with the motherboard or PSU ?

Thanks

 

[captaincharisma]

a good program to stress your PC would be a free program called prime 95.

 

[vernonr]

As I understand it this is the same as the mersenne prime test on the UltimateBootCD - which ( I think ) tests memory, CPU ( including floating point ) and presumably some bits of the motherboard .. but which ???

 

[captaincharisma]

i am not familiar with ultimate boot CD but prime 95 is a windows program that stresses the CPU and ram. prime 95 stresses your CPU and memory more than any regular app or game would.