Guide for Testing New/Old Laptop for Issues

abcxyz

Journeyman
Hey guys I recently bought a laptop and wanted to test it thoroughly, just to avoid issues after I start using it full blown. So I researched and found various methods for testing from different sources(NBR,Eteknix), I have aggregated them and posting it over here.

Getting a new laptop is exciting, but before you throw away the box be sure to follow these steps to verify if your new laptop is in proper operating condition.

Laptops go through a quality control process, but it’s always possible atypical issues can slip thorough — or worse, something could go wrong during shipping (such as rough handling). In this guide we take you through eight essential steps to verify the computer’s operation and double-check you received what you paid for.

Step 1: Inspect the Box
Visually inspect the box when your computer arrives:
  • Look for noticeable dents, rips and other signs of abuse.
  • Check to see the box is still sealed (e.g. it hasn’t been opened and re-taped)
If anything is out of the ordinary, take pictures of the box’s condition before proceeding! This way you have potential recourse if any of the box’s contents are damaged.

Step 2: Assess Contents
Your notebook will at the very least include the computer itself, the battery and a power adapter. Note that some notebooks have the battery built-in; if it’s user-replaceable, chances are it will be packaged separately and you’ll have to install it.

Step 3: Inspect the Notebook
Now it’s time to look at the notebook itself. Leave any plastic wrap, stickers, or protective material on the notebook while going through this process; should you have to send it back, the process will be that much easier.
  • Look at each corner of the chassis and verify there are no cracks, fractures or marks.
  • The top and bottom of the notebook should also be free of any signs of abuse.
  • Open and close the notebook’s lid several times; it should operate smoothly with no unusual noises.
  • Press each of the keyboard’s keys; make sure each one goes down and comes up in the same manner.
If the notebook checks out, install the battery (if applicable), connect the supplied power adapter and turn it on.

Step 4: Verify Computer Specifications
Your new computer was advertised with certain specifications: a specific operating system, processor (CPU), storage drive capacity and amount of memory. We can verify most of these by looking at the system properties window.
Access the System Properties window by doing the following:
All versions of Windows: press the [Windows] + [Pause] keys simultaneously
OR:
Windows 7: right-click My Computer > Properties
Windows 8: Open Windows Explorer, right click “This PC” on the left > Properties

Compare the following against what your computer was advertised with:
  • The “Windows edition” (e.g. if the computer was sold with a Professional/Pro edition, verify it’s stated on this screen).
  • The “Processor.”
  • The “Installed Memory.”
The next item to check is the computer’s storage drive capacity. Open the Run menu by pressing the [Windows] + [R] keys simultaneously; then type diskmgmt.msc and click OK.

Your computer’s storage drives will be listed at the top of the screen; verify the “Capacity” (usually listed in Gigabytes or GB) matches what your computer was advertised with. Note that it won’t be an exact match; the available storage capacity in Windows will always show about ~92% of the drive’s theoretical capacity due to NTFS formatting. This is perfectly normal.

Lastly we’ll verify the notebook has the correct graphics card. Open the Run menu by pressing the [Windows] + [R] keys simultaneously; then type devmgmt.msc and click OK.

Expand the “Display Adapters” section by pressing the arrow next to it; verify what’s listed there matches what your notebook was supposed to come with.

Step 5: Run Memtest86+
Memory errors are a typical cause of seemingly random errors or unexplained behavior such as the computer freezing. Memtest86+ is a bootable program which runs against your computer’s memory (RAM) and tests for errors.

Download memtest86+ here: Memtest86+ - Advanced Memory Diagnostic Tool

There are two ways to run the program; create a bootable memory key or burn the disc image to a CD/DVD. Restart your computer with the media inserted and your computer should boot to memtest86+. Memory testing will start immediately and continue until the computer is turned off (accomplished by pressing the computer’s power button). Let the test run for 24 hours (yes, a full day); you’re good to go if no errors are detected during that period. Arrange for your computer to be sent in for service if even one error is detected.

Step 6: Check for Dead Pixels
Not all displays are manufactured equally; it’s possible during manufacturing that some of the display’s pixels were defective. To check for this we’ll use an all-black image.

In Windows 7/8: right-click the desktop > choose “Personalize” > click “Desktop Background” at the lower left > select “Solid Colors” from the drop-down > click the black icon > click the Save Changes button.

Once you’ve done the above, carefully inspect the screen for any green or discolored pixels. In the rare event you find one (or two), call the computer company’s customer support line and ask for repair or replacement. The company may refuse to do so unless you have five or more as some dead pixels are considered “normal.” Of course, you can potentially take advantage of any 30-day return periods and send the notebook back for a refund if necessary.

Step 7: Verify Battery Life and Power Adapter Operation
This is pretty easy; make sure the notebook has a 95% or greater charge then unplug and use it until battery life runs out. Keep track of the time and compare it to the computer’s advertised battery life; it should be within 20-25% of that time (computer makers typically state the absolute maximum life; most of the time you’ll come in under that).

The second part of this test is to plug in your notebook and run it up to a full charge (100%). Make sure the computer reaches full charge in a reasonable amount of time (usually a few hours). This has the double effect of ensuring the power adapter works correctly.

Step 8: Verify Input/Output Ports
This step involves plugging something into each of the ports on your notebook to verify they function as expected. Try each of the USB ports using an external storage device, a cell phone or other USB device. Also check the video output such as VGA and HDMI ports — you should be able to connect to an external monitor or projector without issue. Lastly, play audio through both the computer’s speakers and the headphone jack.

Statistically speaking most notebook computers will arrive aesthetically and functionally sound; as good as today’s quality control is however, some oddballs will slip through. If your new notebook passed the quality control test you gave it courtesy of this guide, chances are it’s a good egg and will continue to be so for years to come.

Additional Stress Tests
*******NOTE - DANGER Ahead :D *******
Perform these tests at your own risk. These test needs to be performed by professionals(someone who knows what he is doing). Some of these test will damage your hardware like,

There is Furmark that puts on an unrealistic load on the cpu/gpu which would never happen under normal gaming circumstances and should probably be avoided. Some still use Furmark (it causes the absolute worst case scenario), others steer clear of it
*******NOTE - Ends Here :D *******

So with the danger note in check lets go forward,
To test each system or notebook, we want to stress every component of the system to check stability and performance, giving us an idea as to why those particular components were picked for this particular system. We can use wide variety of applications to gain a broad spectrum of results for comparing diverse aspects of system performance.

Hardware
  • Acoustic dBA meter
  • AC “Killawatt” power meter
Software
  • 3DMark
  • AIDA64 Engineer
  • Cinebench R15
  • CrystalDiskMark
  • CPU-Z
  • GPU-Z
  • HW-Monitor
  • MSI Afterburner
  • Passmark PerformanceTest 8.0
  • PCMark 8
  • Prime95
  • WPrime
  • Unigine Heaven 4.0

PC Mark 8 (Download here)
The PCMark 8 Home benchmark includes workloads that reflect common tasks for a typical home user. These workloads have low computational requirements making PCMark 8 Home suitable for testing the performance of low-cost tablets, notebooks, and desktops. Home includes workloads for web browsing, writing, gaming, photo editing, and video chat. The results are combined to give a PCMark 8 Home score for your system.

3D Mark (Download here.)
The new 3DMark includes everything you need to benchmark your hardware. With three all new tests you can bench everything from smartphones and tablets to notebooks and home PCs, to the latest high-end, multi-GPU gaming desktops.

Cinebench R15 (Download here)
Cinebench is a widely respected benchmark for testing the performance of x86 CPUs. The program allows you to test single and multi-threaded performance as well as GPU performance by rendering with Open GL.

WPrime
WPrime is a computer program that calculates a set number of square roots using Newton’s method for estimating functions verifying the results by squaring them then comparing them with the original numbers.

AIDA64 Engineer Edition (Download here)
AIDA64 Engineer is a streamlined Windows diagnostic and benchmarking software for engineers. It has unique capabilities to assess the performance of the processor, system memory, and disk drives. AIDA64 is compatible with all current 32-bit and 64-bit Microsoft Windows operating systems, including Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. Memory and cache benchmarks are available to analyse system RAM bandwidth and latency.

CrystalDiskMark (Download here)
CrystalDiskMark is a portable storage drive benchmark utility that enables you to measure sequential and random read/write speeds on different block size data. CrystalDiskMark will work with any storage drives including hard drives, SSDs and USB flash drives.

Passmark
The PassMark Advanced Network Test (which is part of PerformanceTest) is designed to test the data transfer rate between two computers both of which must be running PerformanceTest. One of the computers must act as the server and will sit waiting for a connection. The other computer acts as a client. It connects to the server machine and sends data to it for the duration of the test. You can download a trial version of PerformanceTest from here.

Acoustic Performance
The amount of noise produced by any computer is a vital consideration for most buyers, even gamers don’t really want a noisy PC because less noise is always better. We use an acoustic dBA meter held 2 feet behind our test system at idle and under load to get the idle and load noise levels for the system. For idle we allow the system to sit at the Windows desktop, for load we let Unigine Heaven 4.0 and Prime95 to loop together – we take the acoustic measurements 5 minutes into both of these scenarios.

Battery Life
To accurately test battery life, the Powermark benchmark is run in balanced mode which emulates the typical usage scenario including web browsing, photo editing, light gaming and other basic tasks. From my experience, this is a pretty reliable tool and provides a great insight into a laptop’s battery life.

Power Consumption
To test power consumption we measure the total system power draw during idle and load scenarios. For idle we allow the system to sit at the Windows desktop, for load we let Unigine Heaven 4.0 and Prime95 to loop together – we take the power measurements from the “Killawatt” AC power meter 5 minutes into both of these scenarios at the same point.

Temperatures
To test thermal performance we measure average CPU and GPU core temperatures during idle and load scenarios. For idle we allow the system to sit at the Windows desktop, for load we let Unigine Heaven 4.0 and Prime95 to loop together – we take the temperature measurements from within CPUID HWMonitor 5 minutes into both of these scenarios at the same point. For load we take the average of the maximum temperatures, for idle we take the average of the minimum temperatures.

- - - Updated - - -

Will be updating with tutorials for above tests.
I request other members also to provide they inputs and tutorials.
 

bssunilreddy

Chosen of the Omnissiah
Wow such an extensive detailed guide even for laptops.

Such tests are for gaming PCs I thought till now to test its performance.

Sent from my ASUS_T00K using Tapatalk
 
OP
A

abcxyz

Journeyman
Wow such an extensive detailed guide even for laptops.

Such tests are for gaming PCs I thought till now to test its performance.

Sent from my ASUS_T00K using Tapatalk

With the new GTX10 Series the bridge between gaming laptops and gaming PC is reducing drastically. Apart from that the first part of the post is applicable for any new laptop and for second part(stress tests) some of these test can also be done on normal laptop to check CPU stability, temperatures, HDD, Noise etc.,
 

jackal_79

Get Digit ized
With the new GTX10 Series the bridge between gaming laptops and gaming PC is reducing drastically. Apart from that the first part of the post is applicable for any new laptop and for second part(stress tests) some of these test can also be done on normal laptop to check CPU stability, temperatures, HDD, Noise etc.,
Thanks!. Just bought a new laptop and sure to test it with these.

Sent from my LG-D802T using Tapatalk
 
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A

abcxyz

Journeyman
Got Hp Au-116TX.

Sent from my LG-D802T using Tapatalk

Great you can do the following test on this laptop,
CrystalDiskMark
CPU-Z(details)
HW-Monitor
Battery Test
Dead screen pixel
PCMark 8(Home)
Passmark

Kindly post some screenshots of your testing along with results.
 
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