A stress test pushes your processor and graphics card to full load for a while to check that the system stays stable. It is useful after building a PC, after cleaning or replacing a cooler, or when a laptop starts to feel slower than it used to.
Before you start
- Save your work and close heavy applications.
- Plug in your laptop and switch to a high-performance power mode.
- Make sure the vents are not blocked. A laptop on a bed or a sofa will throttle much sooner.
- If you want temperature readings, open a monitoring tool such as HWiNFO next to the browser.
Temperatures to keep an eye on
Modern processors protect themselves: when they reach their maximum temperature, they lower their clock speed. For many desktop chips that limit is around 95 to 100 °C. Short peaks near the limit under full load are normal, especially in thin laptops. Constant readings at the limit during light use are not, and usually point to dust, dried thermal paste or a fan problem.
Signs of a problem
- The test crashes, the screen freezes or the PC restarts.
- Scores drop sharply after the first minutes, a sign of thermal throttling.
- Fans run at full speed even when the PC is idle afterwards.
A crash during a stress test is worth investigating. It can be caused by an unstable overclock, a weak power supply or overheating.
Running the test
On the benchmark page, stress mode adds a combined CPU and GPU load after the measured phases. That extra phase is not scored. Its job is to show whether performance holds steady under pressure. Compare the result with a standard run: if the two differ a lot, cooling is the first thing to check.
If you are unsure whether your result is normal, compare it with similar systems on the leaderboard.