Burnout?

[Damnatory]

When I was helping a friend build a computer a couple years ago, he mentioned something about a Burnout program he would use after getting it all setup. Something about complex math equations to work the CPU. He said it would help get the processor working at it's full potential and help the overall life of the processor.

My question is, is this still necessary, or used at this point? Or would Folding do the same thing?

[3RA1N1AC]

that's a "burn in" program, you mean.

as far as i can tell, it does not make your processor live longer. what it does do is run the processor at full bore and help you to determine whether or not it's stable and behaving correctly. this is most helpful when you've overclocked the processor, because simply being able to boot the OS and run some basic programs does not guarantee that an overclocked chip is completely stable or performing all calculations accurately. instability/inaccuracy, or failing to run a burn-in program correctly, might be an indication that the heatsink has been attached improperly (this includes proper application of thermal transfer gunk between the heatsink and the chip) or is simply inadequate for the computer... or that the voltage being supplied to the chip is inadequate for the overclock.

unless i were overclocking, though, i wouldn't bother with a burn-in. it's not terribly necessary for a chip that's set to its "rated"/default speed and has a decent heatsink properly attached.

[clocker]

It depends on what you want to do.
As 3R1AN1AC noted this is not really necessary for a stock machine and any benefits would be wasted.
However...

If you are a "sport clocker" I have recently become convinced that such a procedure might be very effective.
A member of OC Forums named Sentential has posted a very detailed and rigorous procedure for burning in a chip to achieve high overclocks. Over the past year he has managed to wring some of the most incredible numbers from his PCs and so I decided to follow his plan and see what happened.

Overclocking to a significant degree always involves higher voltages.
Sen's method involves undervolting the chip and running a burn in program ( called CPUBurn, I believe...similar to Prime 95, but more stressful), then slowly raising the clock speed and the voltage with stops to rerun the burn program.
It is very tedious and boring, but it actually worked on my Winchester.
I was able to achieve a much higher FSB than previously possible while running at stock voltage. Sentential carries it much further than I dared, but he seems to pull it off.

Due to the contraversial ( and dangerous) nature of the method, I'll leave it to you to research (and use) his procedure...you can look him up at www.ocforums.com.

[Virtualbody1234]

I remember that Burn-in test. I used to use that all the time...

http://www.passmark.com/products/bit.htm

[Damnatory]

Thanks for the info Clocker.

I'm not experienced with overclocking, in fact not at all... So I suppose I may keep this for another time, it seems to be a very good method of determining stability.

Although I really don't need to, I think I am going to attempt to overclock my 3500 winchester too... (Where would we all be if it was ever, just enough :lol:) I'll have to put this program to the test.

[clocker]

Thanks for the info Clocker.

I'm not experienced with overclocking, in fact not at all...

Although I really don't need to, I think I am going to attempt to overclock my 3500 winchester too...
You might consider spending a serious amount of time at OCF before touching your Winnie.
There is a ton of info readily available which will make your life much simpler.

[Peerzy]

I'm not experienced with overclocking, in fact not at all... So I suppose I may keep this for another time, it seems to be a very good method of determining stability.


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