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    How to test VRAM for faults?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by AU4U, Feb 19, 2012.

  1. AU4U

    AU4U Notebook Evangelist

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    Windows gives a test for on board RAM.
    You can SMART test an SSD/HDD.
    Soooo,
    How do you test the VRAM on the Radeon HD 7690M XT (1 GB DDR5 dedicated)?
     
    AU4U, Feb 19, 2012
    #1
  2. tijo

    tijo Sacred Blame

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    The only thing i could find is a rather old utility called video memory stress test, so i'm not certain it is still relevant. Any reason why you want to test your video memory?
     
    tijo, Feb 19, 2012
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  3. Greg

    Greg Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    ATITool used to be the stability tester of choice but it isn't supported anymore. You could use Furmark and look for visual artifacts yourself, but do that with the laptop plugged in and do not leave the laptop unattended. If the laptop gets too hot, kill Furmark ASAP.

    If the VRAM has any functionality problems you'll see the results in the form of improperly rendered images, pixelations, or patterns of dots/lines/stripes on the screen.
     
    Greg, Feb 19, 2012
    #3
  4. Peon

    Peon Notebook Virtuoso

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    If all else fails, the 7690M XT supports OpenCL so there might be a GPGPU port of memtest86+ out there that will run on it.
     
    Peon, Feb 19, 2012
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  5. sniper_sung

    sniper_sung Notebook Evangelist

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    Run Unigine Heaven (with max settings to eat around 1GB vram) and loop it for a whole night. If it doesn't crash and if you don't see any artifacts then I'd say it's fine.
     
    sniper_sung, Feb 19, 2012
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  6. yknyong1

    yknyong1 Radiance with Radeon

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    yknyong1, Feb 19, 2012
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  7. AU4U

    AU4U Notebook Evangelist

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    To answer everyones question as to why I want to test my vRAM:

    I'm receiving a new HP ENVY 17-3090nr 3D HP ENVY 17 as a warranty replacement.
    I want to THOROUGHLY stress, test and burn in the components (screen/ram/ssd/hdd/vram) before I start loading in my software.
    ANY problems, it goes back.

    Greg +1
    Sniper Sung +1
    yknyong1 +1

    Soooo helpful, thanks!
     
    AU4U, Feb 20, 2012
    #7
  8. sniper_sung

    sniper_sung Notebook Evangelist

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    Screen: AIDA64 Monitor Diagnostics for simple spot of dead/stuck pixels. If anything wrong spotted then return it.
    RAM: memtest86+ for 2 passes, then LinX (with latest Linpack library) for 20 passes. No error should happen at all.
    SSD: Anvil's Storage Utilities Endurance-testing for 10 loops (which should consume no more than 1% of the SSD's total lifespan). If it BSOD (e.g. 0xF4) or gets any error then return it.
    HDD: use MHDD to scan it (in IDE mode). If any green block is detected then I'd recommend return it, or at least bear in mind not to heavily rely on the reliability of this HDD.
    VRAM: in order to stress vram you'll need to run something that eats around 1GB vram. Furmark/OCCT doesn't fill up your vram but instead stress the GPU most. As said, run Unigine Heaven with max settings to eat around 1GB vram.
    GPU: Furmark shouldn't crash for several hours and shouldn't be able to force the laptop to shutdown if the cooling design is good.
     
    sniper_sung, Feb 20, 2012
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  9. jotm

    jotm Notebook Evangelist

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    I don't know of any tool that tests specifically VRAM, but GPUTool's inbuilt stress tester is great for finding artifacts caused by the video memory when overclocking...
     
    jotm, Feb 20, 2012
    #9