CPU testing

Prime95: The most popular free software for testing CPUs. It will run indefinitely, and
shut off if it finds a problem. It’s recommended to run Prime95 for at least 3 hours, and
to make sure temperatures don’t get too dangerous while you’re testing. [Instructions for
using Prime95]

IntelBurnTest: Another popular option for testing CPUs. IntelBurnTest uses the same
stress-testing engine that Intel uses internally for quality control before shipping out
CPUs. The program also claims to perform the necessary tests in 8 minutes, as
opposed to 3+ hours with Prime95.

For a slightly more obscure option, there’s also Super PI, a single-threaded benchmark
that calculates the number pi up to a specified number of digits (with a maximum of 32
million). It’s not the ideal stress test for multi-core CPUs, but it can still give you a good
idea of how your PC will handle single-threaded tasks. It’s also not a bad frame of
reference for PC gaming performance.

GPU testing
FurMark: An extremely popular graphics stress test. This program should push your
graphics card harder than even the most demanding game on the market. If your GPU
has problems, you should know within about 15 minutes.

Unigine’s Valley: Another popular GPU stress test. This test renders out an extremely
detailed nature scene to see how much your graphics card can handle.
 Unigine’s Valley stress test

RAM testing
MemTest86: The definitive RAM test. Boots from a USB drive or CD/DVD to test
everything about your RAM. If something turns red, that’s bad. Otherwise, you’re good.