[Reddoug]

Hi All

Wondering what people think of kits like this. Are they worth the money or is there better was to get the same results?

http://www.passmark....pc-test-kit.htm

Thanks, Doug

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Hopefully others will chime in because I don't know a ton about some of that stuff, but I will say, you can find a bunch of that stuff for much cheaper or even free.

For example, the hardware diagnostic software can be used bundled together with UBCD which is free. Power supply testers are cheap and can be picked up from NewEgg for under $30. This is the model I have and it works great.

You can buy a 2GB USB drive for a couple dollars and make it bootable yourself. Benchmarking tools, although rarely needed outside of testing gaming rigs, can be downloaded for free as well. You might also want to look into the UBCD4Win software and something like Everest Free Edition, or System Information Works which will allow you to gather in-depth sensor and configuration data.

Some of the hardware tools are what I'm not familiar with from that page. I see both a parallel and serial port loop back tester. I'm not sure what they do, but I have to say that rarely these days do you run into someone using a serial or parallel port. The USB tester might be cool, but you could always just carry around a known working USB drive and use that to test the port. The same goes with the CD drive testing software. I normally just slap in a disk and see what happens. If it doesn't read the disk, go through the normal troubleshooting steps to determine if it's a drive problem or a software or configuration problem.

The funny thing is that they give you the CD drive testing software on a CD, so what good is that if the drive is dead? All the drives I've ever seen either work, or they don't. I have no idea what the "CD Load Test" they are selling actually does. Doesn't make any sense to me.

As for the Audio loopback plug and the PCI POST Card Pro, I have no clue. I've never seen those before so someone else will need to comment on that one.

Anyway, it seems to me like it's a rip off for the $500 price tag. I use a collection of free tools and some cheap hardware testers that work just fine for me, but mine don't come in a fancy case.

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 05 April 2011 - 10:22 AM.

[Spyderturbo007]

Hopefully others will chime in because I don't know a ton about some of that stuff, but I will say, you can find a bunch of that stuff for much cheaper or even free.

For example, the hardware diagnostic software can be used bundled together with UBCD which is free. Power supply testers are cheap and can be picked up from NewEgg for under $30. This is the model I have and it works great.

You can buy a 2GB USB drive for a couple dollars and make it bootable yourself. Benchmarking tools, although rarely needed outside of testing gaming rigs, can be downloaded for free as well. You might also want to look into the UBCD4Win software and something like Everest Free Edition, or System Information Works which will allow you to gather in-depth sensor and configuration data.

Some of the hardware tools are what I'm not familiar with from that page. I see both a parallel and serial port loop back tester. I'm not sure what they do, but I have to say that rarely these days do you run into someone using a serial or parallel port. The USB tester might be cool, but you could always just carry around a known working USB drive and use that to test the port. The same goes with the CD drive testing software. I normally just slap in a disk and see what happens. If it doesn't read the disk, go through the normal troubleshooting steps to determine if it's a drive problem or a software or configuration problem.

The funny thing is that they give you the CD drive testing software on a CD, so what good is that if the drive is dead? All the drives I've ever seen either work, or they don't. I have no idea what the "CD Load Test" they are selling actually does. Doesn't make any sense to me.

As for the Audio loopback plug and the PCI POST Card Pro, I have no clue. I've never seen those before so someone else will need to comment on that one.

Anyway, it seems to me like it's a rip off for the $500 price tag. I use a collection of free tools and some cheap hardware testers that work just fine for me, but mine don't come in a fancy case.

Edited by Spyderturbo007, 05 April 2011 - 10:22 AM.

[phillpower2]

I concur with Spyderturbo007.
The most useful equipment/tool you could have is not included in the kit, comprehensive PSU testing equipment.
Reasons for this include cost obviously but also a person who was either qualified or at least competent enough
to use such equipment would know that most of the included items can either be obtained free, very cheaply or
are a gimmick.
For what it is worth http://cgi.ebay.co.u...=item3cb4c44d08 audio testing versions are also available, most of them
made in China and costing a couple of bucks.

[Reddoug]

Thanks for the reply's. I thought it seemed pretty pricey. Looked interesting though.

Thanks again, Doug

[Spyderturbo007]

Thanks for the reply's. I thought it seemed pretty pricey. Looked interesting though.

Thanks again, Doug

You're welcome. Glad we could help!