Can Prime95 ACTUALLY destroy PC components?

[Uphorics]

Hey all,

I just watched Linus' Skylake Overclocking Guide over on Vessel and he started talking about benchmarking. He stated that in newer versions of Prime95 your system gets hit "really hard" to the point that you could destroy components in your system from doing so.

I want to believe Linus on this, I just want to know, how is this actually possible? Like what causes the parts to be destroyed?

[You_are_a_cunt]

Possibly? Yes.

Hell, even running Minesweeper can destroy components.

 

If you're pushing your hardware past its comfortable limits, anything can blow it up (literally or figuratively) under certain circumstances.

 

Prime95 is a stress tester. It pushes your CPU to the limit and if you haven't take the necessary precautions (specifically in the thermal department), it can break yo shiz

[Nexxus]

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php/751197-Prime-95-v28-5-Haswell-CPU-s-and-you-is-it-bad-for-the-CPU-s-health

[Minzo]

I have never run the program myself but I can imagine that it boosts the voltage possibly too high.

[babadoctor]

Possibly? Yes.

Hell, even running Minesweeper can destroy components.

 

If you're pushing your hardware past its comfortable limits, anything can blow it up (literally or figuratively) under certain circumstances.

 

Prime95 is a stress tester. It pushes your CPU to the limit and if you haven't take the necessary precautions (specifically in the thermal department), it can break yo shiz

if you run minesweeper

your gonna have a bad time

[QueenDemetria]

Hey all,

I just watched Linus' Skylake Overclocking Guide over on Vessel and he started talking about benchmarking. He stated that in newer versions of Prime95 your system gets hit "really hard" to the point that you could destroy components in your system from doing so.

I want to believe Linus on this, I just want to know, how is this actually possible? Like what causes the parts to be destroyed?

MSI 785GM-P45, lasted 20 minutes at stock with P95. What a piece of shit board.

 

Basically P95 stresses the CPU at levels that it usually doesn't get stressed, so things like the VRMs overheat then either shutdown to protect themselves or combust like my piece of shit board. Recent Intel CPUs overheat since there is voltage regulation(VRM) built into the CPU.

[Nexxus]

I have never run the program myself but I can imagine that it boosts the voltage possibly too high.

looking at my thread one of the comments state that while it normally doesn't do that if you ticker with a setting it has the potential to do it.

[Sauron]

Prime95 causes issues specifically with haswell cpus and maybe even with skylake (I honestly don't know) because those cpus will ramp up their voltage to uncomfortable levels while running the test. I'm not sure if it's a defect of prime95 or of the cpus themselves, but running the test for a long time can reduce the lifespan of your cpu and motherboard.

[Zayzo]

People still use Prime95? Its 2015.... There's already Aida64 and IntelBurn Test. As well as Intels own stability test. 

This is like when i hear people still buying AS5 nowadays lol

[You_are_a_cunt]

if you run minesweeper

your gonna have a bad time

*you're

[Praesi]

I use prime95 for Years now and never had any Problems with it.

[BrightCandle]

You will only have a problem with Prime95 if something is wrong. That includes cooling on the motherboard and on the CPU. If you run the CPU overclocked and you don't have sufficient cooling for all the parts being utilised then you could make them throttle or they could overheat and become damaged. But this is a failure of the cooling system or having overclocked too far. This is a problem that your PC should absolutely be able to run without any concerns.

 

It amuses some times when someone stability tests a computer by running Prime95/AIDA and then has a crash in a game and says "oh its just that game". No your CPU is unstable, that game just happens to be the only one that fails. If Prime95 breaks your computer then your cooling is insufficient, period. There is no "well it works in most games and applications". Of course it does, because most games and applications barely get a 1-2 cores in usage. But when you decide one day to render out a video you'll find you have a problem. Prime95 is a great test to determine if your computer can actually run at the speed you have set it at and stay within safe thermal limits as well as testing if the integer units are working correctly, it will only break something if you computer is already in a position where it could be broken.