6 Steps to Test Your PC Power Supply
One of the most frustrating issues with modern life is technology trouble. We depend on digital tools, computers, and Wi-Fi to perform tasks and communicate with each other. Computer problems are never fun to deal with, especially when the process is drawn out or becomes expensive.
Your PC power supply is what gives your computer life via its placement inside your device. This unit is kind of like the heart of your computer, giving all other elements power to function. It converts high volts of power into lower volts that are usable by all the interior components. Your computer can’t function at all unless it has a continuous power supply.
All of this means sometimes your power supply could be the reason your device isn’t working properly. Maybe it’s turning off by itself or you can’t get your computer to boot up. It’s one of the first things you should check when your PC is behaving strangely and you can’t put your finger on why.
It’s never easy to deal with computer issues, especially when you’re unsure where to start. This guide will walk through warning signs that your power supply is on the fritz and six steps to perform a simple PC power supply test.
Signs Your PC Power Supply Is Malfunctioning
You first need to know the warning signs that your power supply is having issues. Here are some of the most common red flags:
Your Computer Won’t Turn On
One of the most obvious indicators of a faulty power supply is your computer failing to power up at all. You keep hitting the “on” button or flipping the switch, but nothing happens. Always make sure your computer is plugged in before blaming the power supply unit.
Your Computer Turns Off on Its Own
Your PC may start shutting down at random while you’re using it, and this could mean the power supply is faulty. Once or twice over a long time may not be as worrisome, but when it starts happening frequently, you have an issue.
Restarts Happen Randomly
Random restarts and reboots are another indication that you need to check your PC power.
You Notice Smoke or a Bad Smell
Always pay attention to strange smells or smoke coming out of your PC. These are signs of an issue and can be pretty serious. You want to take care of the culprit before anything gets damaged further.
You Hear Strange Noises
Power supply issues may also cause noises, especially around the area where your PC power cord is plugged in at the back of your computer. Loud humming or clicking may occur, and if it does, pay attention to how long it lasts.
Strange occurrences related to your PC’s ability to function properly are often caused by a lack of memory or issues with the power unit. Make sure everything is plugged in correctly, and if the problem still doesn’t go away, it’s time to test your PC power supply.
6 Steps to Test Your PC Power Supply
The good news is that it’s not difficult to test your PC power supply.
This simple test will help you determine whether or not your problem is caused by a power issue. Follow these steps carefully before taking your computer to an expert:
1. Turn Off Your PC
Power down your computer if it’s not off already.
2. Find the Power Supply Unit
Locate the power supply unit in your PC, and make sure it’s unplugged from everything else, including the wall. Turn the power supply off if it has an on-off switch.
3. Find the Connector
Locate the 24-pin motherboard connector, which is the connector for the power supply unit that has many different pins and colorful cords connected to it. This is the component you will be using to do the test.
4. Prepare for the Paper Clip Test
You will then perform the paper clip test to assess functionality. Bend a standard paper clip into a u-shape, and insert one end into the pin that leads to the one green wire, and the other end into any of the black wire pins.
Use pins four and five (counting from the left) if you do not see color-coded wires.
5. Use a Testing Device
You can also purchase a power-supply tester if you don’t want to do the paper clip test. It will provide the tools you need to make these same connections.
6. Plug the Power Supply Back In
Plug in your power cord and turn on your power supply (if it has its own switch), which should power up the fans connected to the power supply unit. You can rule out that the power supply isn’t getting a signal from the motherboard if everything starts properly. You can bet that your power supply is malfunctioning if the fans don’t spin, which means you should seek the services of a professional.
The PC power supply test will tell you, on a basic level, whether your power supply unit needs to be replaced. It doesn’t tell you whether you have a voltage malfunction or if the computer is overheating, for example. These could still be the culprits of your computer issues.
You would need to use a multimeter, which measures electrical current, to test your computer’s voltage. Sometimes it just makes the most sense to get a new PC power supply unit to save time. Make sure you have a plan for your sensitive or unwanted files, like using a digital file shredder, before taking your computer in for service or recycling it.
Get Help from Shred Cube
Computer issues can lead to headaches and lots of worries that your digital files aren’t protected. Removing unwanted files from your computer doesn’t have to be challenging, and you can do it in minutes with digital file shredding tools.
Shred Cube is the first and only USB file shredder that destroys files permanently to guarantee they will never be recovered. Make your unwanted files disappear, whether you’re selling or getting rid of your computer or are worried that your files are causing computer problems you can’t solve.
Contact Shred Cube for more information about how digital file shredding can protect your information.
5 Best PSU Test Software for Your Computer’s Power Supply
A list of reliable tools to monitor your PC’s power supply
by Radu Tyrsina
Radu Tyrsina
CEO & Founder
Radu Tyrsina has been a Windows fan ever since he got his first PC, a Pentium III (a monster at that time). For most of the kids of… read more
Updated on
Reviewed by
Vlad Turiceanu
Vlad Turiceanu
Editor-in-Chief
Passionate about technology, Windows, and everything that has a power button, he spent most of his time developing new skills and learning more about the tech world. Coming… read more
Affiliate Disclosure
Translate
- If you’re having trouble starting your PC, you should consider checking if everything’s alright with your PC’s power supply.
- Some of the software in this article provide extensive support concerning power supply capabilities.
- Another lightweight power supply monitor comes from an open-source tool.
XINSTALL BY CLICKING THE DOWNLOAD FILE
To fix various PC problems, we recommend Restoro PC Repair Tool:
This software will repair common computer errors, protect you from file loss, malware, hardware failure and optimize your PC for maximum performance. Fix PC issues and remove viruses now in 3 easy steps:
- Download Restoro PC Repair Tool that comes with Patented Technologies (patent available here).
- Click Start Scan to find Windows issues that could be causing PC problems.
- Click Repair All to fix issues affecting your computer’s security and performance
- Restoro has been downloaded by 0 readers this month.
Testing your computer’s power supply is an essential step when you’re troubleshooting lots of issues, and this is the most useful when your system is having trouble starting.
While there are various options available to test your power supply, using PSU test software is probably the best. In this guide, we have picked five of the best programs you can use to carry out this task easily.
Is there any software to check power supply?
Yes, there are various software options available to check your PC’s PSU. Some of these PSU test software tools are available for free while some are paid tools.
It is important to mention that there are manual methods like using a multimeter to check the PSU. Using software is more convenient and less time-consuming. Here are some of the best picks:
- AIDA64 Extreme – All-in-one PC diagnostic tool
- Iolo System Mechanic – Versatile PC optimizer
- Open Hardware Monitor – Free PSU test software
- HWMonitor – Lightweight monitoring tool
- Sidebar Diagnostics – Built-in diagnostic tool
What is the best PSU tester software?
AIDA64 Extreme – All-in-one PC diagnostic tool
AIDA64 Extreme is an advanced system diagnostics utility that functions as an effective PSU test software.
It is able to gather essential data on your system’s hardware and software configuration as well.
Regarding this tool’s configuration options, you can change the layout order. Also, you can specify the folder for your reports, enable email notifications when performing benchmarks, add custom components to the list, filter event logs, and so on.
More so, with this software, you can get informed about your system hardware and identify the voltage or temperature status of your PC. Hence it can detect potential hardware errors and inform you forward to resolve them.
In addition, you can learn about your PC performance limits with a 64-bit stress testing module that will show you the power supply of your computer.
All in all, such complex software can offer you overclocking support or extensive information about hardware performance in minutes. This software is designed for experienced users because of its sophisticated services.
Check out other exciting features that come with AIDA64 Extreme:
- The software allows you to test the capabilities of the system’s memory, FPU, and CPU by running complex benchmarks
- The setup process is fast and straightforward
- AIDA64 Extreme comes with a user-friendly interface with an organized layout
- All the computer component-related data are broken down into separate categories
- The information covers general areas of your system such as power management, sensors, and overclocking
- The tool runs benchmarks and generates reports
You can download AIDA64 Extreme and see how it works with your system if interested in even more features.
AIDA64 Extreme
Get accurate information revolving around the computer’s power supply and more with this great tool.
Free trial Visit website
Iolo System Mechanic – Versatile PC optimizer
Iolo System Mechanic is an all-in-one PC optimizer with versatile features. It focuses on improving the overall performance of your device.
This program can perform a one-click cleanup that will remove junk files from your system, clean your hard drive, and more.
More so, if you need to boost your PC performance by increasing CPU and RAM resources, this software is your chance. It can therefore help your system to run high-demanding programs and function as power supply stress test software.
At the same time, you can get rid of bloatware or useless startup programs that slow down the computer and block the full capacity of hardware resources.
Additionally, it’s possible to remove over 50 types of junk files using System Mechanic and unclutter your PC to increase performance and free up disk storage.
At the same time, in terms of network connectivity, this software provides great tools to optimize hidden internet settings for fast downloads, less buffering, or better video quality.
With that being said, this efficient program can increase your PC performance in order to offer better results while playing or streaming.
Other key features of this software are:
- Defragments drives and frees memory
- Protects router ports and other connected devices
- Removes bloatware
- Improves RAM usage in real-time
- User-friendly and modern interface
- Boosts internet speed
Iolo System Mechanic
With a multi-award-winning technology, use Iolo to automate complex processes and speed up functions while maintaining high security.
Check price Visit website
Open Hardware Monitor – Free PSU test software
Open Hardware Monitor is a free open-source tool that can monitor temperature sensors, fan speeds, load, and voltages, and serve as PSU test software.
This program supports most hardware monitoring chips that you will find on today’s mainboards. This software is compatible with all versions of Windows.
Plus, this software is very useful if you require information about temperature sensors, fan speed, load, and clock speeds or voltages of your computer.
It can as well monitor any other hardware resources and read data about your chips found on almost every mainboard. So you can discover data about CPU temperature by reading the sensors of multiple processors like AMD or Intel.
This ranks it among the best power supply test software you can get for free. Also, Open Hardware Monitor program can support 32-bit or 64-bit Windows 10 to XP and Vista.
Check out the best features included in this software:
- You will be able to check your system’s power supply accurately
- The CPU temperature can be monitored by reading the core temperature sensors of AMD and Intel processors
- It can also display the sensors of ATI and Nvidia video cards and the SMART, hard drive temperature as well
- The monitored values will be displayed in the main window, in the system tray, or a customizable desktop gadget
⇒ Get Open Hardware Monitor
HWMonitor – Lightweight monitoring tool
HWMonitor is a lightweight system monitoring tool.
This hardware monitoring software will read your system’s primary health sensors for the most common chips.
Firstly, this program can inform any user with essential information about its PC components’ performance. You can then monitor voltages or hardware resources’ temperature at a glance and see how the system reacts. With this, you can always use it as PSU test software.
Regarding the system requirements, this software doesn’t ask for that much from your PC and can run with 32-bit and 64-bit systems on Windows 10-7, XP, Vista, and 2000 versions.
You can thus see detailed reports of your system, regarding the CPU, hard disk, or graphics card. And with these reports, you’ll be able to see your fan speed capacity, temperature for each core, airflow temperature, or graphics card voltage.
It will likewise scan your hard drive’s temperatures. Hence you can enjoy valuable data about your system, plus see it completely in exported documents to analyze your PC performance now vs one year later.
Check out its essential features:
- HWMonitor’s job is to keep track of the most critical sensors on your computer and find out live readings for the HDD temperature and fan speed
- It provides accurate data regarding your power supply
- Setting up the program is an effortless task, and it will not require any particular configuration
- Lists all the components in a hierarchical order so that you’ll be able to sport them more easier
- It provides data revolving around the CPU, GPU, and HDD
This tool provides a simple solution to find out live readings for the sensors of your system. You will find additional features included in the paid version HWMonitor Pro on the official website of HWMonitor.
⇒ Get HWMonitor
Sidebar Diagnostics – Built-in diagnostic tool
When it comes to analyzing the resource consumption figures Windows itself provides a competent tool named Resource Monitor that can work as PSU test software.
This utility has all the basics covered when it comes to data about the system’s memory, CPU, disk, and network stats but it’s not entirely convenient when you have tons of running apps.
Sidebar Diagnostics, on the other hand, provides a more convenient solution for viewing and analyzing hardware data.
More so, you can benefit from more capabilities with this program, such as graphs for different metrics, binding hotkeys, or a great number of customization options.
Therefore, you can utilize this software to monitor your hardware system performance and see it all in a sidebar on your own desktop.
Check out its best features below:
- This is a lightweight tool that does mainly what the native Resource Monitor does, but it displays data more attractively
- It comes with a sidebar that is integrated into your desktop
- It displays data about RAM, CPU, GOU, active drivers, power supply, network, and more
- The tool is really customizable allowing you to set things according to your preferences
⇒ Get Sidebar Diagnostics
These are five of the best programs that can function as PSU test software.
It’s best to head over to their official websites to check out the complete set of features and see which one seems the best for your skill level and your system’s needs.
If you need more info about a PSU Tester or two, don’t hesitate to reach for the comments section below.
Was this page helpful?
There are 3 comments
Share
Copy link
Newsletter
Software deals
Friday round-up
I agree with the Privacy Policy regarding my personal data
3 PC Benchmark Testers
In this article, I’ll talk about three of my favorite PC benchmark tests and how to use them. I won’t go into details on how to improve performance, as this is a completely different topic.
When I ran the benchmark on my computer, it was rated at 43 percent, which is pretty low. After some tweaks in the BIOS related to XMP, overclocking and other optimizations, I got to 76 percent! Thus, hardware and operating system setup can make a big difference during a test.
The results shown below are from a non-gaming PC.
NovaBench
Novabench is a small Windows program that allows you to test your computer’s performance in just a few minutes. I like that it is very easy to use and produces clear results. There’s also a paid version for $19 that allows you to track temperature and other parameters, but you won’t need that if you’re into computers at an amateur level.
Run the program and click «Start Tests». It will run six tests, which can take up to several minutes depending on the power of your system.
The results window will show you the Novabench score, which doesn’t mean much on its own unless you benchmark several times before and after hardware upgrades, overclocking, and other speed tweaks. If you click the «View Performance Graphs and Comparison» button at the bottom of the window, a web page will load where you can view the performance index of the processor and other components.
Alternatively, you can click on the Grade and Statistics button at the top of the page, which will display all grades in descending order.
This is a good way to find out how far you are from the fastest and best computer Novabench has tested.
UserBenchmark
Another really good program is UserBenchmark. Download it from the official website and run the EXE file to start the performance test. I like that UserBenchmark doesn’t even require any installation.
To start the tests, just click «Run». They will take a few minutes, and then the results will be displayed in the browser window.
You’ll see performance scores for gaming, desktop, and workstation. If you scroll down the page, you’ll get an overall rating and a component-by-component rating, which may suggest what needs to be tuned or replaced better to get a speed boost.
Note that the overall percentage is compared to other computers with the same components. The above computer is not ranked #72 among all those tested by other users using this utility. It is in 72nd place among all personal computers with the same assembly.
FutureMark 3DMark
Another tool you should use if you really want to do a proper test made for a gaming computer is FutureMark 3DMark. The basic version is free and includes four free benchmarks.
I suggest running it only on a real gaming PC with good specs, because the download is 3 gigabytes! They are mostly just large files to play high resolution graphics for testing, but they eat up a lot of space. Of course, you can run a test and then uninstall the program to reclaim the free space. To check the laptop, use other programs from the article.
After installing and running 3DMark, you will see that it loads the Time Spy test first. Click «Run» to start the test. It will take the most time because it is the most difficult.
Upon completion, you will get a statistic that means little until you compare it with other results. Click the «Compare result online» button to see the comparison results.
As you can see, my old computer is better than 4% of everyone else! My gaming PC was better than 91%, which is not bad at all.
8 Ways to Test Computer Performance
Author Olga Medvedeva Reading 9min Posted by
Updated by
There are three things that you can look at endlessly: flowing water, burning fire and … a spinning Windows cursor. Yes, if the computer is not distinguished by “mind” and performance, it will take a long time to contemplate the green (or blue) wheel while waiting for programs to start.
Productivity (speed) of a PC is a multifaceted and relative concept. To help us figure out whether it is sufficient, many tests and evaluations have been devised. But the final conclusions can only be drawn by a person — the user.
Content
- Types of performance assessment PC
- How to evaluate the speed of the computer “On the fly”
- VSKS VSTE
- CPU Expert
- Silverbench
- SPEEDEDL
- Aida64: Comprehensive evaluation of system parameters and stability
- Maxon Cinebench — Comprehensive processor performance test
- CrystalDiskMark — A popular benchmark for assessing the speed of drives
Types of PC performance evaluation
To check the performance of your computer and give it a subjective assessment, first of all, be guided by your own feelings.
Your PC or laptop is performing well enough if:
- It loads quickly and shuts down the operating system.
- Installed applications and games start without a long wait.
- You can use as many programs at the same time as you need (within reason), work with files of any size and not experience discomfort from delays. Slowdowns due to peripherals or low internet speeds don’t count.
Failure to meet at least one of these conditions indicates insufficient computer power for specific tasks. But this does not always mean that the device is weak. Compared to others, it can be much more powerful and faster.
The performance of computer equipment is evaluated by two different approaches:
- According to the correspondence of hardware and software capabilities to the tasks for which the device is used or intended.
- Compared to reference (benchmarking). A device with a conditionally “ideal” speed is taken as a standard when performing laboratory operations (synthetic and semi-synthetic tests) that are close to real work on a PC.
Benchmark testing shows how much the tested computer is faster or, conversely, slower than the reference one. As benchmarks, programs specially designed for this purpose are used, as well as ordinary applications and games loaded with test work (playing videos, scripts, etc.). The results of the test are evaluated by the number of points scored or real values, for example, the speed of data exchange between the processor and memory in Mb / s.
Performance evaluation can be carried out both for individual devices, for example, only processors or hard drives, or comprehensively for the entire system. With a comprehensive assessment of the level of PC performance, it is customary to consider the average of all its components, and in some cases, the weakest link.
How to evaluate the speed of your computer on the fly
In the era of Windows 7, it was a piece of cake to find out how powerful the device you have on your desk or store counter was. It was enough to open its Control Panel, go to the «System Properties» section — and here they are, the cherished numbers.
Windows 10 does not have this feature, but there are third-party apps that successfully replace it. These are free WSAT and Winaero WEI Tool.
Both utilities work without installation on the computer and give the same results. To find out the performance index according to Windows calculations, you just need to run them.
Online Speed Test
To test the speed of your PC and its individual components with the following tools, you will need nothing more than a browser and Internet access.
During the check, it is recommended to close all programs and close browser tabs, except for the working one, which should be expanded to full screen. This will allow you to get the most reliable indicators.
CPU Expert
The CPU Expert service is designed to measure the speed of processors of desktop systems, servers, laptops and mobile gadgets online. Its set includes two tests: CPU Benchmark and CPU Stress.
- The CPU Benchmark lets you analyze your CPU performance for free and see how fast it compares to others.
After completing the test, which lasts 5 minutes, you will receive a permanent link to the result and can share it with other people.
- The CPU Stress test gives you an opportunity to see how quickly your processor can work under stress. How much to load it, you determine yourself, the duration of testing — too. To control the results, 5 scales are displayed on the screen: speed, number of threads, load level (power), points (number of calculated hashes) and FPS (number of frames per second that the browser can display). More detailed instructions for taking measurements during stress testing are given on his page in English.
SilverBench
SilverBench is another free online service that allows you to measure and compare your PC’s processor performance with benchmarks. It includes 3 sets of tests:
- Benchmark — a quick test with a basic load level.
- Extreme test — an enhanced test that lasts about 10 times longer than the basic one.
- Stress test — stress test without automatic stop. It determines the FPS in relation to the number of frames played.
The page below shows the results of the latest tests and the best scores obtained from different users.
BrowserBench.org
The BrowserBench.org service is designed to evaluate the overall performance of computers and mobile devices by the speed of performing certain operations in the browser.
BrowserBench also includes 3 test suites:
- JetStream 2 is a set of JavaScript and WebAssembly algorithms for diagnosing browser performance when running modern web applications. It reflects the combined speed of the processor, graphics and RAM.
- MotionMark is a graphics system benchmark that measures browser performance when animating complex scenes at a given frame rate.
- Speedometer — The job of this test is to measure the responsiveness of web applications by simulating user actions.
It serves to evaluate the performance of all major computer systems.
Speed-Battle
Speed-Battle is another popular online tool for evaluating PC performance by browsing. It can be used to determine:
- Which of the installed web browsers is the fastest.
- Which operating system is faster when using the same computer and browser.
- Which computer runs faster when using the same operating system and browser.
There is only one set of tests. Its result is displayed without much detail in a small pivot table. Under it are the average, maximum and minimum indicators among all users of the service.
The best applications for checking PC performance
Checking using online services is convenient because it is simple and does not require additional steps for downloading, installing, etc. However, according to experienced people, it is not particularly accurate and is very limited in set tools.
Specialized programs that are installed on a disk or run from a USB flash drive, allow for accurate, narrowly focused testing of individual subsystems and computer devices. In addition to measuring performance, they provide an opportunity to obtain information about the characteristics of iron, its condition, health, serviceability, and even identify some problems.
Aida64: A multifaceted assessment of system parameters and stability
Aida64 is perhaps one of the most, if not the most popular PC hardware information gathering program with testing functions (benchmarking, stability). It is available in several paid editions, two of which — Engineer and Extreme, contain the functionality we are interested in.
The Aida64 test suite includes:
- Disk Benchmark — a collection of algorithms for evaluating hard drives, SSDs, RAID.
- Cache & Memory Benchmark — cache and memory speed estimation algorithms.
- GPGPU Benchmark — graphics system benchmark.
- Monitor Diagnostics — monitor diagnostic test.
- Reading from memory.
- Write to memory.
- Memory copy.
- Delays in memory.
- CPU Queen, CPU ZLib, CPU AES, CPU PhotoWorxx, FPU Julia, FPU Mandel and a number of other CPU speed tests. Explanations for them are given in the main window of Aida64 in the «Test» section.
Maxon Cinebench — a comprehensive processor performance test
Maxon Cinebench — a free benchmark for evaluating the performance of the latest generation of processors (with SSE3 support). Unlike analogues, this program allows you to test the full functionality of the CPU in the process of rendering three-dimensional scenes generated by the Cinema 4D engine. For comparison: the majority of benchmarks use abstract synthetic tests that allow you to evaluate only individual processor functions.
The current version of the benchmark — Cinebench R23, tests the performance of both all and one core. The minimum duration of the test can be set manually in the program settings.
Maxon Cinebench has an English-language, but rather simple interface: to start the test, just press the «Start» button, to stop — «Stop». Because rendering 3D images puts a lot of stress on the CPU, it’s a good idea to control CPU heat.
To minimize the influence of background processes on the test results, the benchmark developers recommend running it in command line mode. Launch parameters are given on the official product page.
Although the benchmark uses a graphics scene, Maxon Cinebench does not evaluate graphics card performance. For this, there are other, no less worthy benchmarks — 3D Mark , Furmark , etc. What are these programs and how to use them to evaluate video performance is described in the article on the video card stability and performance test.
CrystalDiskMark — a popular benchmark for evaluating the speed of drives
The performance of a computer depends on the coordinated work of the entire system. Even the fastest processor and the latest graphics card will not reach its potential if the system has a slow hard drive. To identify such incidents, there are storage device benchmark applications, such as CrystalDiskMark.
CrystalDiskMark is a one-window, multilingual utility that evaluates the read and write speed of hard drives (HDDs), SSDs, USB flash drives, and memory cards. There are 4 types of tests in its set:
- Seq1M Q8T1 (Mb / s) — sequential (Seq) reading and writing blocks of information 1 MiB in size with a queue depth of 8 and the number of threads 1.
- Seq1M Q8T1 (Mb/s) — sequential read and write of 1 MiB blocks with queue depth 1 and number of threads 1.
- RND4k Q32T1 (Mb/s) — random (random) reading and writing of 4 KiB blocks with a queue depth of 32 and a number of threads of 1.
- RND4k Q1T1 (Mb/s) — random read and write of 4 KiB blocks with queue depth 1 and number of threads 1.
The result is determined by the magnitude of the obtained values: the larger they are, the faster the drive works. The RND4k Q32T1 and RND4k Q1T1 indicators are especially informative, since more than 80% of the disk time falls on random read and write processes.