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1. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Crist OC/PC Feb 25, 2011 12:22 AM (in response to Paul R Stark)This is god strees test for CPU and RAM http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=213 this can tell you if you have a problem in the bios config.
Make sure you have all drivers update.
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2. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Harm Millaard Feb 25, 2011 12:51 AM (in response to Paul R Stark)Paul,
Unfortunately there is not a single test to do it all. Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool is great for testing memory. Hard disk manufacturers usually have their own hard disk test software. Linpack 2.5 and Prime95 (the torture test) are good to test overall stability.
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3. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Scott Chichelli Feb 25, 2011 5:54 AM (in response to Paul R Stark)Sisoft Sandra is one of the best tools.
you can benchmark individual areas cpu,ram, hdd, video etc
it also has a vast amount of system info you cant get without installing 4-5 different programs.
Scott
ADK
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4. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
John T Smith Feb 25, 2011 8:45 AM (in response to Paul R Stark)If you still have an old DOS disk, http://www.grc.com/intro.htm Spinrite is great for hard drives
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5. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
JEShort01 Feb 25, 2011 11:49 AM (in response to Crist OC/PC)function(){return A.apply(null,[this].concat($A(arguments)))}
Crist OC/PC wrote:
This is god strees test for CPU and RAM http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=213 this can tell you if you have a problem in the bios config.
Cristobal,
IntelBurnTest is a nice stress test, thanks for the link; on my new build I have been running PPBM5, wPrime, and 3DMark2006 cleanly, however this test showed my BCLK to be 1 too high!
Cheers,
Jim
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6. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
JEShort01 Feb 25, 2011 12:03 PM (in response to Paul R Stark)Paul,
Several thoughts if you have not resolved your recording issue yet:
- have your defragmented your HD lately; this can really help performance. Also, I would suggest making sure it is no more that 80% full (Windows NTFS seems to get bogged down after that)
- run a HD Tune Pro (free eval. download) test on your drive to see if it seems healthy; the curve trace should be a relatively smooth curve downwards; if you see spikes, you could have drive issues. HD Tune Pro's write test requires that your drive be empty so that will not help you much, however some other HD test utilities might help you in that regard. The one I used to love is not compatible w/ Win7, so maybe someone else here can make a suggestion for a HD write test.
- another free download test program that you can try is called "DPC Latency Checker"; this is popular with the digital audio workstation guys as it inspects to make sure your system is not "hickuping" at any time
- you should post your system specifications (hardware and Operating System) for your desktop PC here; without knowing your specific hardware, it is hard to judge how my "overhead" your system has for this task
- If you are using Windows 7, adjust power plan setting for "high performance"
Good luck!
Jim
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7. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Paul R Stark Feb 25, 2011 1:07 PM (in response to JEShort01)Thank you, everyone, for the helpful answers (there should be more than "Helpful Answer" options in these forums).
Jim, I noticed since my original post that the artifacts are showing up when the system is idle, that is, I am not recording anything or performing any other operation--OL is just sitting there connected to the camera without clips in it. Do I still need to check each disk's write performance?
Here are my system specs:
Motherboard
Asus P6TSE
Processor
Intel Core i7 2.66GHz
RAM
OCZ Platinum 12GB DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666)
Boot Drive
Western Digital WD5001AALS 500GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB Intellipower Hard Drive
Projects/Scratch
Seagate ST3750528AS 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB Hard Drive
Media
Seagate ST3750528AS 750GB SATA2 7200rpm 32MB Hard Drive
Case
Cooler Master Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP No PS ATX Mid Tower Case (Black)
Power Supply
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W
Graphics Card
MSI ATI Radeon HD4850 OC 1GB DDR3 2DVI PCI-Express Video Card
OS
Windows 7 Pro 64-bit
By the way, I've kept up diligently with frequent defrags and all disks have plenty of free space. All drivers are up to date.
I hope to run the recommended software this weekend.
Sincere thanks again for being so very helpful.
Paul
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8. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
JEShort01 Feb 25, 2011 5:06 PM (in response to Paul R Stark)Paul,
Your system definitely sounds powerful enough, and good news on the defragging.
Random thoughts:
- I think your MB has a VIA firewire port, if might be a low hassle deal to pop a 3rd party TI chipset firewire card in and see if that changes anything
- it sounds like something is "going to sleep", or maybe partially so; if your bios has a 1CE state feature, you may try disabling as a test to see if that changes anything; if it helps, this is probably not a good long term fix as this feature tells your CPU to run at full speed all the time and never relax. If however this test changes things, it could be a lead forward in your seemingly dark journey!
- earlier tips about telling Win7 to run in "high performance" mode; I did not mention earlier, but once you've set this, you can also go in and adjust sub-settings within performance mode (I think I've said enough that this will make sense)
- DPC Latency Checker still may be helpful
Regards,
Jim
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9. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
framednoise Feb 25, 2011 5:45 PM (in response to Paul R Stark)Yep, most likely the integrated firewire controller that's causing the problems. It's a mystery why manufacturers still chose to include those VIA chips since they can't be used for neither video nor audio and some older controllers wouldn't even work correctly with an external HDD. What exactly is the point then?
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10. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Scott Chichelli Feb 26, 2011 8:05 AM (in response to framednoise)about $20 :-) TI chipset is more money than via,agere, etc. and USB3 is out.. the people in taiwan think thats the asnswer to everything..
even though ther is like 1 product thats USB3 (decklink shuttle)
some board manufacturers still use TI.
Scott
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11. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Paul R Stark Feb 26, 2011 9:55 AM (in response to JEShort01)It has two VIA firewire ports, one in front and one in back.
Does it need to be a Texas Instruments chipset? And do these chipsets come on different makes like Dynex from Best Buy or do I need to buy a TI card to get the TI chipset? If so, can I get the Dynex just for testing and then get a better card later from a web store?
Thanks all for this insight. Didn't know about this.
Paul
Update: I discoverd the TI chipset is on other makes, so can I get some recommendations? Anything that can be bought locally (Charlotte, NC) or do I have to go to NewEgg or somewhere. Thanks.
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12. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
JEShort01 Feb 26, 2011 10:10 AM (in response to Paul R Stark)I really love NewEgg, but of course you will be waiting days.
Fry's Electronics shows a store in Charlotte and they carry SIIG, PPA, and SABRENT firewire cards.
As there web site does not show which firewire chipset is used you my have some web searching to do, or you could just go to the store and look at the cards.
For a local Fry's purchase, if the new card fixes your issues, great, and if not they do not charge any restocking fee for returns.
On a similar note, when I was looking for a firewire cards a few years back, it amazed me that some card vendors may have some models firewire card that use the TI chipset, and others that use different chipsets!
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13. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Paul R Stark Feb 26, 2011 1:24 PM (in response to JEShort01)Thanks, Jim. Turns out there is only a phone number in Charlotte for Fry's, no actual location.
Let me try your troubleshooting suggestions, starting now, and see what turns up. I may run out to Best Buy and try their lousy Dynex card just to see if it does anything. Then I can get a better card from NewEgg or somewhere.
I'll post back.
Many thanks.
Paul
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14. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Crist OC/PC Feb 27, 2011 3:55 AM (in response to JEShort01)Enjoy
Saluud =)
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15. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Paul R Stark Feb 27, 2011 3:04 PM (in response to Paul R Stark)I tried the troubleshooting tips and didn't get any good results. I even got the Dynex card to see if that would work, temporarily, but while the PC was recognizing it, neither OL nor PP could produce an image (although OL said it too recognized the connection with the camera).
But get a load of this. I changed my BIOS back to the factory default, which meant to only change DRAM from DDR3-1333 to AUTO and UCLK from 2666 to AUTO. No overclocking was ever done, everything else is factory settings except the DRAM timings which are set to OCZ factory recommended 7-7-7-20 .
I've captured 5 clips for 10 minutes each and 4 clips for 1-2 minutes each. No artifacts. I never could have done this before--was lucky to get one minute. Only problem is that CPU-Z reports a DRAM Frequency of 534.3, or about 1066 clock. I have DDR3-1333. I'm not sure what this means in terms of how much performance I'm losing. I do know that it seems to have eliminated the artifacts. But I must be sacrificing some memory speed. What would happen if I set the timings all to AUTO? I do worry about lost performance rendering, exporting, dynamic link functionality, etc.
I guess I'll stick with the current settings unless you all recommend otherwise. I certainly am grateful for everyone's enormous efforts to help.
Paul
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16. Re: What is the best app to test hardware
Paul R Stark Mar 15, 2011 10:27 AM (in response to Paul R Stark)A final note on this. I reset the DRAM Frequency to DDR3-1333 in BIOS and left the UCLK Frequency on AUTO. Still no artifacts and CPU-Z is now faithfully reporting DRAM Frequency at about 667.
Too bad I can't give myself a "correct answer".
Thanks everyone.




