Check Your GPU Stability with Our Free GPU Stress Test

So, what exactly is a GPU stress test? Think of it like a treadmill test for your graphics card. Its one job is to push your GPU to its absolute maximum workload and hold it there. While playing a game like Cyberpunk 2077 or Valorant certainly uses your GPU, the load is constantly changing. You go from a menu, to a loading screen, to a quiet scene, to an intense firefight. Your GPU usage might bounce between 60% and 99%, but it rarely stays pinned at 100% for an extended period.

A stress test is different. It's designed to create a synthetic, worst-case scenario that demands every bit of processing power your GPU has. Our browser-based tool does this by rendering thousands of complex shapes and gradients every single frame, forcing the GPU's core and memory to run at full tilt. This sustained, heavy load is the perfect way to expose hidden problems that might not show up during a normal gaming session.

Why should you care? If you've just built a new PC, a stress test is your first step to verify stability. It confirms your new RTX 4070 SUPER is seated correctly, receiving enough power, and staying cool under pressure. If you're an overclocker, it's an absolutely essential tool. An overclock that seems stable for an hour of Apex Legends might cause a system crash just five minutes into a proper stress test. It's the ultimate validation for your settings. It's also a powerful troubleshooting tool. If you're experiencing random game crashes, freezing, or weird visual glitches, a stress test can help you quickly determine if your GPU is the source of the problem. It isolates the component, saving you hours of guesswork.

Knowing *what* a stress test is is one thing, but knowing *when* to use it is just as important. It's not something you need to run every day, but it's a critical tool in a few specific situations. Here are the most common times we recommend firing up a stress test.

First, after building a brand-new PC or installing a new graphics card. This is non-negotiable. Before you even install your first game, you should run a stress test for at least 30 minutes. This confirms that the GPU is physically installed correctly, the power cables are secure, and your brand new power supply is up to the task. It's your initial system validation.

Second, and most obviously, after overclocking your GPU. You might have found a YouTube guide for your RX 7900 XTX and nudged the core and memory clocks up. The PC boots fine, and you might even play a round of CS2 without issue. But is it truly stable? A stress test will tell you for sure. It pushes the card in ways that specific games might not, revealing instability that could cause a crash at the worst possible moment.

Third, when you're troubleshooting. Are you getting random crashes to desktop? Seeing strange colors or flashing squares on your screen? Before you blame the game or start reinstalling Windows, run a stress test. If the test triggers the same crash or visual errors, you've successfully isolated the problem to your GPU or its related components, like drivers or power delivery. It's a massive time saver.

Finally, run a test after any physical maintenance. If you just took your GPU apart to replace the thermal paste and pads, or if you installed a new water block, you need to test it. A 'before' and 'after' test is a fantastic way to see quantifiable data on how much your temperatures have improved. It also ensures you put everything back together correctly and the new cooling solution is making proper contact.

You might be wondering how we can tax your GPU right from a web browser, with no downloads or installs needed. The magic behind it is a technology called WebGL, which is a JavaScript API for rendering interactive 2D and 3D graphics within any compatible web browser. It gives web pages direct access to your GPU's processing power.

Our tool is specifically designed to create a heavy, consistent workload. When you click 'Start', it begins using the HTML5 Canvas API, powered by WebGL, to draw an enormous number of complex shapes every single frame. We're talking about over 2,000 individual objects: circles with complex gradients, rotated rectangles, and intricate paths. To make it even more demanding, we instruct the tool to run this entire rendering loop five times per frame. This multiplication of tasks is what ensures your GPU load quickly ramps up to 99-100% and stays there.

While this is happening, the tool provides you with real-time data. You'll see your GPU Load percentage, which tells you how much of its processing power is being used. You'll see the Frame Time in milliseconds (ms), which is how long it takes to render a single frame. A lower, stable frame time is better. You'll also see the total number of iterations and the elapsed time, so you know how long the test has been running. The live graph gives you a visual history of the GPU load, making it easy to spot any sudden dips or inconsistencies. When you stop the test, you get a summary: peak load, average load, average frame time, and the total number of frames rendered. This simple, accessible approach makes it a great first-line tool for quick stability checks without the hassle of installing bulky software.

We're proud of our browser-based tool, but it's important to understand where it fits in the ecosystem of testing software. Let's be clear, dedicated desktop applications like 3DMark, Unigine Heaven, and OCCT are incredibly powerful and have features our tool doesn't. 3DMark, for instance, runs tests using realistic game engines with DirectX 11, 12, and ray tracing, giving you a performance score that's comparable to other systems. It’s fantastic for benchmarking and seeing how your rig stacks up.

Then you have tools like FurMark and OCCT's GPU test. These are often called 'power viruses' or 'synthetic burners' because they are designed to generate an extreme, often unrealistic, amount of heat and power draw. They push GPUs harder than almost any real-world game ever could. While they are very effective at testing thermal limits and PSU stability, some people in the hardware community feel they put unnecessary stress on components. We've seen cards that are perfectly stable in every game crash in FurMark simply due to the sheer power draw causing a momentary voltage drop.

So, where does our browser test fit in? We see it as the perfect middle ground and a fantastic first step. It's incredibly convenient, there's nothing to install, and it's safe. It creates a genuine 100% load that is more akin to a very demanding, but still realistic, workload. It's perfect for a quick 15-30 minute stability check after a driver update or a new build. If a system passes our test, it's very likely to be stable for gaming. If it fails our test, you've found a problem without needing to subject your card to the extreme, and some would argue excessive, stress of a tool like FurMark. For deep, multi-hour overclock validation or competitive benchmarking, a desktop app is the next step. For everything else, the accessibility of a browser test is hard to beat.

The number one metric you should be watching during a stress test is the temperature. Pushing your GPU to 100% load generates a lot of heat, and the primary goal of the test is to see if your cooling system can handle it. If it can't, your GPU will protect itself by thermal throttling, which hurts performance. So what's a safe temperature?

Generally, we break it down into three zones for modern graphics cards like NVIDIA's RTX 40 series and AMD's RX 7000 series:

Ideal Zone (Under 85°C): If your GPU stays below 85 degrees Celsius under full load, you're in great shape. This means your cooling solution, whether it's the stock air cooler, an AIB partner cooler like an ASUS ROG Strix, or a custom water loop, is doing its job effectively. Your card will be able to maintain its maximum boost clocks, giving you the best possible performance.

Acceptable Zone (85°C - 90°C): Things are getting hot here, but it's not necessarily dangerous yet. Most GPUs have a thermal target of around 83-85°C. Once they hit this, they might start to slightly reduce their clock speed to keep temps from rising further. You might be losing a tiny bit of performance, but it's generally considered safe for the hardware. If you're consistently in this range, you may want to consider improving your case airflow or setting a more aggressive fan curve.

Problem Zone (90°C+): If you're hitting 90°C or more, you have a problem that needs to be addressed. At these temperatures, the GPU will be significantly thermal throttling, meaning it's aggressively cutting its clock speeds to avoid damage. This will result in noticeable performance loss, stuttering, and instability. Sustained temperatures this high can also shorten the lifespan of the GPU components. Common causes are poor case airflow, dust-clogged heatsinks, dried-out thermal paste, or a poorly mounted cooler.

Also, keep an eye on the 'Hot Spot' or 'Junction' temperature, which is often 10-15°C higher than the main core temp. This is the hottest single point on the GPU die. While it's expected to be hotter, you don't want it creeping past 105°C.

Running the test is easy, but understanding the data it gives you is key to diagnosing your system. Let's break down the main metrics you'll see in our tool and what they mean for your PC's health.

First up is GPU Load. During a stress test, this number should jump to 99% or 100% within a few seconds and stay there. This is good. It means the test is working and your GPU is fully engaged. If the load is fluctuating wildly, dropping to 50% and then back up to 99% repeatedly, that's a red flag. It often points to either thermal throttling (the GPU is slowing down to cool off) or a potential CPU bottleneck, where your processor can't feed the GPU data fast enough, although the latter is very unlikely in a synthetic test like this.

Next is Frame Time, measured in milliseconds (ms). This is arguably more important than frames per second (FPS) for judging smoothness. Frame time is the time it takes to render a single frame. A smooth experience comes from a consistent, low frame time. If your average frame time is 16.7ms, that equates to 60 FPS. If it's 8.3ms, that's 120 FPS. What you're looking for is stability. A flat, steady line on the frame time graph is perfect. If you see large, sudden spikes in the frame time, say from 10ms up to 50ms and back down, that's what you feel as a stutter or a freeze in a game. These spikes during a stress test can indicate driver issues, background processes interfering, or system instability.

Finally, you need to interpret the overall picture. Look at the graphs together. Did a big spike in frame time happen at the exact same moment the GPU load dropped from 99% to 70%? That's a classic sign of throttling. The GPU got too hot, cut its power, and as a result, took much longer to render that one frame. By learning to read these simple metrics, you can move beyond just a 'pass/fail' result and truly understand how your GPU is behaving under pressure.

Thermal throttling is the most common issue uncovered by GPU stress tests, especially in systems with less-than-ideal airflow or on aging cards. It's a built-in safety feature. When your GPU's core temperature hits a predetermined limit (often around 83-90°C), the card will automatically reduce its clock speed and voltage to lower the temperature and prevent damage. While this is great for protecting your hardware, it's terrible for your gaming performance.

A stress test is the perfect tool for revealing throttling because it creates the sustained load needed to build up heat. In a game, a brief dip in clock speed might go unnoticed during a loading screen. In a stress test, it's glaringly obvious. To properly diagnose it, you'll want to run a monitoring tool alongside our browser test. We highly recommend MSI Afterburner with the RivaTuner Statistics Server overlay, or HWiNFO64. These tools will show you the nitty-gritty details.

Here's what to look for. Start the stress test. As you watch your monitoring software, you'll see the GPU temperature climb steadily. At the same time, watch your GPU's core clock speed. On a modern card like an RTX 4080, it might boost up to 2700 MHz or higher. As the temperature rises and approaches the thermal limit, you will see the core clock start to drop. It won't be a sudden crash, but a step-down. It might drop to 2650 MHz, then 2600 MHz, and so on, as the card tries to find a balance between temperature and performance. In our stress test tool, you'll see this reflected as a wavering GPU load percentage and potentially more erratic frame times.

If you confirm you're thermal throttling, the fix isn't a software setting. It's a physical cooling problem. The first step is to clean your PC. Dust is a huge insulator. Use compressed air to clean the GPU heatsink fins and all your case fans. Next, evaluate your case airflow. Do you have enough intake fans pulling in cool air and exhaust fans pushing out hot air? If cleaning and improving airflow don't work, it might be time to consider replacing the GPU's thermal paste, which can dry out and lose effectiveness after a few years.

Sometimes, a stress test doesn't cause a crash or overheating. Instead, you might see things on your screen that definitely shouldn't be there. These are called visual artifacts, and they are a sure sign of GPU instability. Artifacts can manifest in many different ways, and they're often a precursor to a full system crash.

Common types of artifacts include flashing black or colored squares that appear randomly on the screen, almost like a checkerboard. You might see geometric shapes, often triangles or polygons, stretching across the screen from a central point, sometimes called 'space invaders'. Other times, textures might appear corrupted, with shimmering, incorrect colors, or a 'sparkling' effect on certain surfaces. In our stress test, which uses many simple shapes, you might see lines shooting out from the rendered objects or entire shapes flashing in and out of existence with bizarre colors.

So what causes these visual errors? The most frequent culprit is an unstable overclock, specifically on the GPU's VRAM (video memory). When you push the memory clock speed too high, it can start to produce errors in the data it's processing. The GPU's error correction can't keep up, and the result is visual garbage on your screen. If you see artifacts, the very first thing you should do is reset your GPU clocks to their default factory settings and run the test again. If the artifacts disappear, you've found your problem: your overclock was too aggressive.

If you're not overclocking and you still see artifacts, the situation can be more serious. It could indicate a hardware problem. The VRAM chips themselves could be failing due to heat or age. In some cases, it could even be a sign that the GPU die itself is beginning to fail. Artifacts can also be caused by an insufficient power supply that isn't providing stable voltage to the card under load, or even a faulty display cable. But more often than not, if you see artifacts during a stress test, it's pointing directly at a VRAM instability issue.

It's easy to forget about the humble Power Supply Unit (PSU) tucked away at the bottom of your case, but it's one of the most critical components for a stable system. A GPU stress test is just as much a test of your PSU as it is of your graphics card. A high-end GPU like an RTX 4090 can pull over 450 watts on its own, and a stress test demands that power consistently, which can reveal weaknesses in your power delivery.

One of the most common failure points is a system that just completely shuts off during the test. No blue screen, no error message, just black. This is often a sign that a PSU protection feature, like Over Power Protection (OPP) or Over Current Protection (OCP), has been tripped. This can happen for two reasons. Either your PSU's wattage is genuinely too low for your components (for example, trying to run a power-hungry i9-13900K and an RTX 4090 on a cheap 650W PSU), or the PSU itself is aging and can no longer deliver its rated wattage reliably.

Modern GPUs are also known for having very high 'transient spikes' in power draw. These are incredibly brief, millisecond-long spikes where the card can draw two or even three times its rated power. A high-quality PSU is designed to handle these, but a lower-quality unit might see that spike as a dangerous fault and shut down to protect the system. A stress test, by rapidly loading and unloading the GPU's processors, can trigger these spikes and expose a PSU that isn't up to the task.

If you experience a hard shutdown during a test, what should you do? First, double-check all your power connections. Make sure the GPU's 8-pin or 12VHPWR connectors are fully seated on both the GPU and PSU side. If the connections are good, it's time to evaluate your PSU. Is it old? Is it a reputable brand? Is its wattage sufficient for your hardware? We generally recommend at least a high-quality 750W PSU for a mid-range build (like a Ryzen 5 7600X with an RTX 4070) and 850W-1000W for high-end systems. A stress test failure can be a good, early warning that it's time for a PSU upgrade before it fails completely and potentially damages other components.

For PC enthusiasts, overclocking is a rite of passage. Pushing your hardware beyond its stock specifications to squeeze out extra performance is satisfying, but it comes with a huge catch: stability. An unstable overclock is worse than no overclock at all, leading to crashes, data corruption, and frustration. This is where a GPU stress test becomes your single most important validation tool.

Let's say you've just overclocked your AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT. You've increased the core clock by 150 MHz and the memory clock by 200 MHz using AMD's Adrenalin software. You boot up a game, and it seems to run fine for a while. You might think you're done, but you're not. Gaming workloads are variable. A specific scene in a game might not stress the exact part of the GPU core or memory that your overclock has pushed to the edge of instability. A synthetic stress test, however, is designed to load everything at once, constantly.

The process should be methodical. After applying a small overclock, run a stress test for 15-20 minutes. During this time, watch for three things. First, an immediate crash or driver failure. This is an obvious sign the overclock is too high. Second, watch for visual artifacts. Even one small flashing pixel means the overclock, likely the VRAM portion, is unstable. Dial it back. Third, watch your temperatures. Your overclock will increase heat output, and you need to ensure your cooling can still keep the GPU in a safe temperature range (ideally under 85°C).

If the 20-minute test passes, you can either try increasing the clocks slightly more or move on to a longer-term stability test. For a final validation of what you believe is your maximum stable overclock, we recommend running a stress test for at least an hour, or even longer. This extended run allows heat to fully build up in your case, testing the absolute worst-case thermal scenario. A system that can survive an hour-long stress test without crashing, artifacting, or thermal throttling is very likely to be 100% stable for any gaming session you throw at it.

You can have the most powerful graphics card on the market, like an RTX 4090, but if you put it in a case that can't breathe, its performance will be severely handicapped. A GPU stress test is a fantastic way to visualize the direct impact of your case's cooling performance. The test generates a consistent, high thermal load, essentially turning your GPU into a space heater. Your case's job is to efficiently get that hot air out and replace it with cool ambient air.

Poor airflow creates a feedback loop of heat. The GPU heatsink gets saturated with heat, and its fans spin up to dissipate it. But if there's no path for that hot air to exit the case, the fans just end up circulating the same hot air. The ambient temperature inside the case rises, making the GPU cooler less effective. This forces the GPU to thermal throttle, reducing its clock speed and your performance, all because of the box it's in.

When running a stress test, take the side panel off your case for a few minutes and see what happens to your temperatures. If you see a significant drop, say 5-10°C or more, you have an airflow problem. The ideal setup is to create a clear path for air to travel through the case. This typically means having intake fans at the front of the case pulling in cool air and exhaust fans at the rear and top of the case pushing out hot air. This is called a positive or neutral pressure setup and it ensures your components are always being fed with fresh, cool air.

Don't underestimate the impact of dust either. Over time, dust buildup on fan blades and heatsink fins acts as an insulator, trapping heat. If your stress test results are worse than they used to be, a thorough cleaning might be all you need. The results from a stress test provide direct, actionable data. If your new i5-13600K and RTX 4070 build is running hotter than you'd like, the test proves it. You can then make a change, like adding an exhaust fan, and run the test again to see the real-world temperature difference. It takes the guesswork out of optimizing your system's cooling.

Over time, the thermal paste that sits between your GPU die and its heatsink can dry out and become much less effective at transferring heat. For cards that are 3-4 years old or have seen very heavy use, replacing this thermal paste and the thermal pads on the VRAM and VRMs can lead to a dramatic improvement in temperatures. But how do you know if the procedure was successful? By using a stress test to get hard data.

This is a scenario where a 'before and after' test is invaluable. Before you even pick up a screwdriver, run a GPU stress test for about 20 minutes. Let the temperature stabilize and write down the final peak core temperature and hotspot temperature. Pay attention to the average clock speed the GPU was able to maintain. This is your baseline. It tells you exactly how the card was performing in its original state.

Then, proceed with the maintenance. Carefully disassemble the card's cooler, clean off the old, crusty thermal paste from the GPU die and heatsink using isopropyl alcohol, and apply a small, pea-sized amount of new, high-quality thermal paste (like Arctic MX-4 or Noctua NT-H1). If you're replacing the thermal pads, make sure you use pads of the correct thickness, as using the wrong size can prevent the cooler from making proper contact with the die.

Once you've reassembled everything and installed the card back in your PC, it's time for the 'after' test. Run the exact same stress test for the same duration. Now you can compare the results directly. Did the peak temperature drop by 10°C? That's a huge success. You'll likely also notice that because the card is running cooler, it's able to maintain a higher average boost clock speed, which translates directly to more performance in games. Without this methodical testing, you're just guessing. The data from the stress test proves that your work paid off and your card is now running healthier and faster than before.

While the principles of stress testing are the same for both laptops and desktops, the context and expectations are very different. A desktop PC has the luxury of space. You can have multiple large fans, big heatsinks, and excellent airflow. A gaming laptop has to cram high-performance components, like a mobile RTX 4070, into a chassis that's maybe an inch thick. This creates an extreme cooling challenge.

When you stress test a desktop GPU, you're primarily testing the stability of the card itself and the cooling capacity of its heatsink and your case. When you stress test a gaming laptop, you're testing the limits of the entire laptop's shared thermal solution. The heatpipes for the CPU and GPU are often interconnected, meaning a heavy load on one will impact the temperatures of the other. It's almost guaranteed that a gaming laptop's GPU will run hotter and thermal throttle more readily than its desktop counterpart.

This isn't necessarily a sign of a defect. It's a deliberate design trade-off. Laptop manufacturers tune the power limits and thermal targets to operate safely within the confines of the small chassis. A stress test on a laptop is less about seeing if it can maintain maximum boost clocks indefinitely (it probably can't) and more about checking if the cooling system is functioning as designed. Does the temperature stabilize at a reasonable point, even if it's a high one (e.g., 85-90°C)? Do the fans ramp up correctly? Does the system remain stable without crashing?

A stress test can also help you optimize your laptop's performance. You can test different power profiles, use software to undervolt the GPU (reducing voltage to lower heat), or even see the impact of using a laptop cooling pad. By running the test after each change, you can find the best balance of temperature and performance for your specific machine. For laptops, stress testing is a tool for understanding and managing thermal limits, rather than just a simple pass/fail stability check.

You're running a stress test, and suddenly the screen goes black for a second, then recovers with a notification saying the 'display driver has stopped responding'. Or, the entire application just closes without warning. This doesn't always mean your GPU hardware is failing. In fact, it's very often a software or driver issue, and a stress test is a great way to trigger the problem consistently so you can solve it.

Graphics drivers are incredibly complex pieces of software. A bug in a new driver release can cause instability under specific types of load that a stress test generates. If you recently updated your NVIDIA or AMD drivers and started experiencing crashes, the driver is the prime suspect. The first step in troubleshooting is to perform a clean driver installation.

Don't just install the new driver over the old one. We recommend using a tool called Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). This free utility completely removes every trace of your current graphics driver from your system in Windows Safe Mode. After running DDU and restarting, you can install a fresh driver. It's best to download the latest stable version directly from the NVIDIA or AMD website. After the fresh installation, run the stress test again. In our experience, this solves a surprising number of driver-related crashes.

If a fresh install of the latest driver doesn't work, try rolling back to an older, known-stable driver version. Sometimes new releases have bugs that affect certain hardware combinations. Software conflicts can also be a cause. Overlays from other programs (like Discord, game launchers, or even some antivirus software) can sometimes interfere with the GPU and cause instability under load. Try disabling all non-essential background applications before running the stress test. If the test passes with the apps closed, you can re-enable them one by one to find the culprit. This methodical process of elimination helps you determine if your problem is a software conflict or a genuine hardware fault.

Okay, so your PC failed the stress test. It either crashed, shut down, artifacted, or overheated. Don't panic. This is actually good news, it means you've successfully reproduced an instability in a controlled environment. Now you can fix it. Here's a step-by-step checklist to follow.

1. Check Temperatures First: Was your GPU temperature soaring above 90°C? If so, your problem is almost certainly heat-related. Stop all testing until you address the cooling. Clean your PC thoroughly, check that all GPU and case fans are spinning, and evaluate your case airflow. Throttling or crashing due to heat is a cooling issue, not a faulty GPU.

2. Remove All Overclocks: This is the most important step. Reset your GPU's core clock, memory clock, and power limits to their factory default settings. If you've also overclocked your CPU or RAM, reset those to default as well for now. The goal is to get back to a known-stable baseline. Run the test again. If it passes, your overclock was the problem. You can now re-apply it in smaller increments, testing along the way, to find the stable limit.

3. Verify Power Connections: If the PC is shutting down completely, check your power supply. Open your case and make sure the GPU power cables are firmly plugged into both the graphics card and the PSU (if it's modular). A loose connection can easily cause a shutdown under load.

4. Perform a Clean Driver Install: As we've mentioned, corrupted or buggy drivers are a common source of crashes. Use Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU) to completely wipe your current drivers and install a fresh copy from the manufacturer's website. This resolves a huge number of software-related issues.

5. Reseat the Graphics Card: If you're still having issues, it's time to check the physical installation. Power down the PC, unplug it, and carefully remove the graphics card from its PCIe slot. Inspect the slot for any dust or debris. Then, firmly reinstall the card, making sure it clicks into place and the retention clip is secure. A card that isn't fully seated can cause all sorts of bizarre problems.

If you've gone through all these steps and the test still fails on a stock, well-cooled, and properly powered GPU with fresh drivers, you may be looking at a hardware fault with either the GPU or the PSU. At that point, testing the card in a different PC or testing a different card in your PC can be the final step to confirm which component is the source of the failure.