How can I check my CPU health to ensure it's performing optimally?

Question

I've been noticing some sluggishness and occasional crashes on my PC lately and I'm wondering if it might be related to my CPU. I built this system about 3 years ago and it's been running great up until the past few months.

I'm looking for some advice on how I can check the health of my CPU to see if that's what's causing the issues. Are there any good software tools or diagnostics I can run to assess CPU performance and health? I'd like to check things like:

Current CPU temperatures
Clock speeds and throttling
Any errors or issues logged
Benchmarks compared to expected performance

My CPU is an Intel Core i7-11700K if that helps. I have a decent cooler on it (Noctua NH-D15) and I haven't done any overclocking.

If the CPU checks out okay, what other components would you suggest I look at next? The crashes seem to happen most often when gaming if that provides any clues.

Any guidance is greatly appreciated! I want to get to the bottom of this and have my system running smoothly again.

tech335 · Accepted Answer

There are several good software tools you can use to check your CPU health and performance. Here are a few I would recommend:

Core Temp ( https://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/ ): Monitors CPU temperature, clock speeds, load, and logs data. It supports most Intel and AMD processors.
Prime95 ( https://www.mersenne.org/download/ ): A CPU stress testing program that really pushes your CPU to the limit. It can help identify issues with cooling or stability. The "Blend" test stresses both the CPU and RAM.
PassMark PerformanceTest ( https://www.passmark.com/products/pt.htm ): Includes a variety of system benchmarks, including specific CPU tests. You can compare your scores to other systems with the same CPU.
HWiNFO64 ( https://www.hwinfo.com/ ): An in-depth system monitoring tool that can log sensor data over time. It provides detailed info on temps, clocks, voltages, etc. across many system components.

I would start by checking your CPU temps both at idle and under load using Core Temp or HWiNFO64. Your i7-11700K has a max temperature rating of 100°C, but you generally want to stay quite a bit below that, like under 80-85°C while gaming.

If temps look okay, I would then run some Prime95 stress tests for a while to see if any errors or crashes occur. If it passes that, follow up with some PassMark benchmarks and compare your scores to others with the same CPU.

Assuming the CPU tests check out, some other things I would look at:

RAM: Run a memory test using something like MemTest86. Faulty RAM can cause crashes.
GPU: Check GPU temperatures, and stress test it with a tool like FurMark. Make sure you have the latest stable drivers installed.
Drive: Check your drive health using the SMART monitoring tools built into Windows or a third party program. An SSD or HDD on the verge of failing could cause crashes while gaming.
Power Supply: Make sure your PSU is providing stable power and is not overheating. An insufficient or faulty PSU can cause system instability.

Hopefully this gives you a good starting point to diagnose the issue.