[Rookie Builder]

I'm just finishing a new build, should be done by the weekend (time is hard to come by!)

I've heard that stress testing the build is a good thing to do, I have no idea how to do it though!!! Is it important and if so, how do I go about doing it?

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I wouldnt bother just install your OS and play a couple games if the stress of that doesnt break it your fine.

[warriorscot]

I wouldnt bother just install your OS and play a couple games if the stress of that doesnt break it your fine.

[MNOB07]

First thing before anything else is to check the memory and make sure it won't be turning up errors due to a defect or bad settings. Loop memtest86 overnight to stress it. You should not have even one error.

Stress testing is good for two things. The first and more imporant is to check for instability. This can be tricky because you will have to run through different applications, because what a processor is able to perform night and day, could very well crash within 5 minutes doing something else. You can try apps like Prime95, SuperPI, 3dMark (prime95 AND 3dmark together...) for overall testing. Games may be the most important to test, so try some demos of different demanding games like FEAR and Quake 4. Remember that for dual core CPU's you'll need two instances of like prime95 so you can stress both cores.

The second thing is called "burn in." It's the idea of stressing the silicon as far as it can go for a period of time (such as 24 hours) at high clocks, voltage, and temps (more than you would usually want to run with) without actually damaging it. The end result being a higher possible overlock, or the chip needing less voltage.

Besides memtest the rest isn't horribly necessary, but if it won't be much of an inconvenience it's a good idea to stress the system as long as you're not hurting it of course. "Enthusiast" forums that are more concentrated on high performance and overclocking will be able to give you more info on this stuff.