Furmark: how to use? Overview, specifications, instructions, reviews

To reproduce graphics and video in computer systems, special devices are used, called graphics cards or video cards. But not every card can meet the requirements, for example, the same computer games. How to check, so to speak, the pain threshold of a graphics chip. For this, the application FurMark 1.17.0.0 is useful. How to use this program or any other version of it, will be discussed further. Let's talk at once: do not think that this utility is a tool for overclocking graphics accelerators. Further it will be clear why. It's enough just to look at the capabilities of this application. And immediately it becomes clear what it is capable of.

Is it possible to use FurMark and what is this program for?

The application itself, produced long ago, was originally intended to be developed as a specialized means of carrying out so-called crash tests. What is this test? This is testing devices at maximum peak loads. Analogy can be carried out with automobile tests, only in this case the card is subjected not to such a load that it is out of order.

How to use the FurMark program will be discussed further, but from the very beginning it is worthwhile to understand that testing is not limited to video chips only. Based on the results of the test, you can even get information about whether the power supply chosen for the computer is appropriate, whether it is suitable for ensuring the normal and correct operation of some "iron" components.

FurMark: how to use? Main Features

It is believed that the application is basically designed to control the temperature settings of the graphics accelerator, which, when passing games where modern 3D graphics with complex textures are used, has the property of heating up. Thus, we need to find out this very threshold, without bringing the map to failure.

Immediately I want to say that during the verification process the system may shut down or perform a spontaneous reboot. But this is considered normal, but the power supply will have to be replaced, since the video card is corny not enough power.

Download, installation, and accompanying kit

Now a couple of words on how to use FurMark 1.9.2 or some other version. As expected, you first need to download the application from the official site or another resource, and then install. There, however, there is one very delicate moment. The matter is that the module of automatic or manual updating in the program is absent initially. And each new version may contain some fixes or improvements. Therefore, you will have to download each newly introduced modification yourself, but install with the use of uninstalling previous versions.

Talking about how to use FurMark, one can not help but note the fact that the program supports full integration with tools such as GPU Burner, GPU-Z and GPU Shark (they are in some way embedded in the software shell of the application). They are useful for tracking changes in loads and parameters in real time.

Getting to know the interface

Now directly on how to use FurMark. First of all, you should pay attention to the interface. Although it seems very simple, since it contains only one main working window, when choosing an action or test, you need to pay attention to some important nuances.

Alarms for temperature alarms in the settings should preferably not be set to the maximum value. It is doubtful, of course, that in games the chip can flare up to 100 degrees, nevertheless it is recommended to set the Temperature alarm threshold at 80-90 degrees.

Running a video card test

How to use FurMark in terms of crash tests? As easy as pie! To do this, it is initially desirable to run the built-in GPU Shark and GPU-Z tools so that you can get a clear idea of the graphics accelerator behavior under different real-time loads.

Please note that if the card is warmed up to 70 degrees or higher at the current moment (without loading the load), it is not recommended to run the test, since the device can simply fail.

Next, you need to set the 8x MSAA value for the Anti-alias filter, select the screen resolution and, if necessary, check the Log Save option.

To start testing, simply select the appropriate test mode and press the GO button. Be careful: with a stress test with the set maximum temperature, when it reaches the test, it will not be checked, and the accelerator simply overheats. Perhaps the lack of automatic termination of the test is the biggest drawback of the application. As many experts recommend, during stress-testing from the computer it's better not to go away, and when the critical value of the temperature index is reached, the test should be stopped immediately, and independently.

Verification results

At the end of the test, the user will be presented with a full report of the results, indicating both the parameters set and the parameters used during the test. Because during the test, you can observe the change in parameters in real time, in this case the report in terms of informativeness is purely nominal.

Conclusion

It remains to add that the use of this utility looks quite simple. However, do not forget about some of the nuances that were mentioned above. In particular, this applies to the user-set peak temperature loads, as well as the choice of the stress test mode. In the rest of the difficulties, in theory, should not be. As for the overclocking of video cards, the program can only be used as a means to determine if the accelerator will withstand such loads, nothing more. Therefore, overclockers will need to use other utilities to disperse or produce it in a purely physical way, which in some ways resembles the overclocking of the CPU in the old manner with the change in the setting of the jumpers.