Why do you run Prime 95?

sam690

sam690

sam690

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I guess this is a stupid question, but why do people stress test their CPU with whatever programs to see how stable their processor is at maximum load?

Surely people don't run their CPU maxed out on a day to day basis. My i5 3570k is never above about 30% although I'm never using many CPU heavy programs and i am sure others are the same. Is it more of a peace of mind knowing that your computer is stable at higher usage?
I don't game much either but maybe gaming uses up more of the processor than I expect it would and that is the reason behind it? obviously game dependent.

I have used Prime 95 myself before to see what temps my computer reaches which is useful. But for instance if you had a stable overclock but wanted to push it a bit further and the temps were the only thing holding it back, if you weren't going to use it at full load surely you could push it a bit further since the max temps will rarely be met?
Or maybe i have the whole concept of overclocking wrong and it only kicks in at a certain CPU usage? something like a car turbo for example?


Bare in mind I have never overclocked anything I am just trying to get a better understanding how everything works.
 
It's nice to know your pc can handle pretty much anything you throw at it without failing or BSODing, and not fail in the middle of something?
 
Most people use prime 95 to bench and test a hardcore cpu clock, basically, it's for bragging rights, showing off your panache in the bios or that you've just got lucky and managed to find a really epic piece of silicon, for normal day to day use, no it's not really required tbh, Most people, Me included will usually settle for 'gaming stable' rather than prime stable :)
 
Because any fool could overclock their chip to extremes without it being stable

Proving something is stable is a verification that youve gone it correctly
 
Ahh I see, i suppose it gives a more sense of achievement knowing you've achieved a stable overclock as well rather than just cranking it up full and everything crashes with any programs you open.
 
~Dockie said:
Its a worst case scenario test. if its stable under that, then it should be stable no matter what you throw at it.
Click to expand...

+1, although we don't all race our PCs to the max all the time best to know they can survive that than not and lose work or game progress or something.
 
The ultimate stability test is whether it handles everything you throw and never crashes but that would take some time. Stress tests like prime and IBT are a convenient way of guiding your search for your max relaible oc.

It isn't the be and end all however as you will see plenty of topics where ppl have done 6/12hr stress tests but get regular crashes gaming/general usage or errored tasks folding. Partly becasue a single stress test wont stress all the logic or becasue power saving features that lower clockspeed and voltages will be at variable volt/clockspeed as they jump about, at which they might not be 100% stable. (Programs like prime run at full load whereas gaming or browsing can hive highy variable loads).


edit: At the extreme end of the oc spectrum, where oc'ers are concerned with mhz records they only care about sufficient stability for a verification using cpu-z. As you mentioned in you opening post they are unconcerned with longterm stability or how the oc performs at full load temps and will push as far as they can no matter what temp that oc might reach.
 
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No need to run for hours and hours, one hour is enough then just daily use. If it doesn't BSOD - you're good to go!

Although it's a good indication of ultimate load temps but remember you'll never hit those temps outside of benching.
 
Also there's nothing more embarrassing than showing off your marvelous overclock at low voltage, then after an hours gaming you BSOD in the middle of an intense FPS battle or close race, and you're then forced to swear or cry and adjust your voltages and pray it doesn't happen again. Then repeat the process when it does later.

Overclocking, then stress testing to unreal extremes always makes you feel safe in the knowledge if that didn't break it, then nothing you're going to do will.

It's like a waterproof watch. Mine says it can go to 100m... I hate even going to the bottom of the deep end at my local pool, but at least I know I don't have to worry about it breaking in the bath :p.
 
There are everyday things that will heat your system up a lot more than Prime95 or IBT which can make running them a bit pointless.

I have just finished playing Civ5 for a few hours on my new build. This is a game that puts a lot of stress on the CPU, plus with a pair of non ref HD 7970s dumping a lot of heat in my case things get a lot hotter than running a stress test on the CPU alone.

If people want to run Prime95 or IBT they can, but then they should not be surprised if their system fails running what the PC was intended for as the total heat and stress can excede what Prime95 or IBT alone can produce.
 
My pc passes 50+ tests of extreme/max ibt but a couple of cores fail in prime after 30min. It must be the other way round for some people. So i just ignore prime and havent ever had a bsod during any gaming session

I enjoy running benches such as 3d mark and haven etc as i find that if my pc can pass these then i wont have a problem gaming.

To be honest its been said a thousand times before. If you use your pc for gaming and the overclock/pc doesnt fail whilst playing your favorite games then its stable for what you use it for and stress testing is pretty much pointless :)
 
Kaapstad said:
There are everyday things that will heat your system up a lot more than Prime95 or IBT which can make running them a bit pointless.

I have just finished playing Civ5 for a few hours on my new build. This is a game that puts a lot of stress on the CPU, plus with a pair of non ref HD 7970s dumping a lot of heat in my case things get a lot hotter than running a stress test on the CPU alone.

If people want to run Prime95 or IBT they can, but then they should not be surprised if their system fails running what the PC was intended for as the total heat and stress can excede what Prime95 or IBT alone can produce.
Click to expand...

Any system can fail due to heat build up ie: in the case, bad ventalation easy to solve. But by testing your CPU stabilty it helps save time and cut guess work out, don't forget it could be your GPU or GPU's causing the system fail. But not forgetting that it could be your mobo, memory, psu, you don't know until its working all together under load.
 
I use Prime 95 because it runs through a number of tests and it can run while i'm out and about.
 
Prime has become a complete and utter waste of time! reason being is it's getting people paranoid, and for no good reason, and in the end cpu's are just going to cry out enough's enough! here's an example if your PC is stable under Prime version 25.11, and you've ran Prime, lets say for 24 hours, with no errors etc... then you consider it stable right!? WRONG! run the same test, same bios settings with Prime95 version 27.9 and your almost certain to fail! This will most probably continue with every update Prime95 release there is from now on. Simple way of stability in my opinion is 3 steps, Set It, boot it, Run it, If there's no crashes, leave the bloody thing alone ffs! :p
 
I run both Prime95 and IBT.

5-10 x IBT on Max
A few hours of Prime95 on Blend

Why? Because of what ~Dockie said.
 
As already been said, to know that the system is stable and you can trust it.
Take the OcUK shop, thet sell pre-overclocked bundles/pc's and if they didn't stress test them to make sure they were stable, then they wouldn't be in business for much longer.

I think the main point is
"My i5 3570k is never above about 30% although I'm never using many CPU heavy programs and i am sure others are the same.
I don't game much either"

Then why buy a 3570k and overclock it if you are not even using its full potential :confused:
 
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