PC Stress Test Tool 🔥

A comprehensive, cross-platform stress testing utility with adjustable intensity levels to test your PC's performance under load.

Features

• Multi-Component Testing: Stress test CPU, Memory, and Disk I/O
• Adjustable Intensity: 4 levels from light to extreme
• Real-time Progress: Visual progress bar and elapsed time display
• Safe & Controllable: Easy to stop with Ctrl+C, automatic cleanup
• Color-coded Output: Clear visual feedback during testing

Installation

No installation required! Just make sure you have Python 3 installed:

python3 --version

Make the script executable (macOS/Linux):

chmod +x stress_test.py

Usage

Basic Usage

# Run with default settings (medium intensity, 60 seconds, all components)
python3 stress_test.py

# Or if you made it executable:
./stress_test.py

With Options

# Light stress test for 30 seconds
python3 stress_test.py --intensity light --duration 30

# Heavy CPU stress test for 2 minutes
python3 stress_test.py --intensity heavy --duration 120 --components cpu

# Extreme stress test until manually stopped
python3 stress_test.py --intensity extreme --duration 0

# Memory stress only, medium intensity, 90 seconds
python3 stress_test.py -i medium -d 90 -c memory

Options

Intensity Levels

Level	CPU Threads	CPU Load	Memory	Disk I/O	Use Case
light	25% of cores	30%	100 MB	Light	Quick test, background running
medium	50% of cores	60%	500 MB	Moderate	General stress testing
heavy	All cores	85%	1.5 GB	Heavy	Performance testing
extreme	2x cores	100%	3 GB	Intensive	Maximum stress, stability testing

Command-line Arguments

• -i, --intensity: Choose intensity level

  • Options: light, medium, heavy, extreme
  • Default: medium

• -d, --duration: Test duration in seconds

  • Range: 0 (infinite) to any positive number
  • Default: 60
  • Use 0 for infinite duration (stop with Ctrl+C)

• -c, --components: Which components to stress test

  • Options: cpu, memory, disk, all
  • Default: all

Examples

# Quick 30-second light test
python3 stress_test.py -i light -d 30

# 5-minute heavy stress on CPU only
python3 stress_test.py -i heavy -d 300 -c cpu

# Extreme test until you stop it
python3 stress_test.py -i extreme -d 0

# Test memory only with medium intensity
python3 stress_test.py -c memory

What Each Component Tests

CPU Stress

• Spawns multiple worker processes (based on intensity)
• Performs intensive mathematical calculations
• Uses multi-processing for true parallel execution
• Tests: sqrt, sin, cos, log operations in tight loops

Memory Stress

• Allocates large blocks of memory
• Writes random data to ensure actual memory usage
• Keeps memory active with random access patterns
• Automatically cleans up when stopped

Disk I/O Stress

• Performs repeated write and read operations
• Uses temporary files (auto-deleted on exit)
• Forces synchronization to disk (fsync)
• Tests sequential read/write performance

Safety Features

1. Graceful Shutdown: Press Ctrl+C at any time to stop
2. Automatic Cleanup: Temp files and memory are always freed
3. Progress Monitoring: Real-time feedback on test status
4. Configurable Intensity: Start light to ensure system stability

System Requirements

• Python: 3.6 or higher
• Operating System:
  • macOS (tested)
  • Linux
  • Windows
• Disk Space: At least 1 GB free for extreme disk tests
• Memory: Varies by intensity (100 MB to 3 GB)

Warning ⚠️

• Extreme tests can significantly heat up your system
• Ensure adequate cooling before running heavy/extreme tests
• Don't run extreme tests for extended periods without monitoring
• Close important applications before stress testing
• Monitor system temperature during testing

Troubleshooting

Script won't run

# Make sure Python 3 is installed
python3 --version

# Or try with just python
python stress_test.py

Permission denied

# Make the script executable
chmod +x stress_test.py

Out of memory

• Use a lower intensity level
• Test components individually
• Reduce duration

System becomes unresponsive

• Start with light intensity first
• Test individual components before using all
• Reduce duration for extreme tests

Tips for Best Results

1. Start Light: Begin with light intensity to see how your system handles it
2. Monitor Temperature: Use system monitoring tools to watch temperatures
3. Individual Components: Test CPU, memory, and disk separately first
4. Cooling: Ensure good ventilation and cooling
5. Benchmarking: Run multiple tests and compare results
6. Stability Testing: Use for extended periods to test system stability

Example Output

============================================================
           PC STRESS TEST UTILITY
============================================================

Intensity Level: HEAVY
Components: ALL
Duration: 60 seconds
CPU Threads: 8
Start Time: 2025-10-12 14:30:00

WARNING: This will stress your system resources!
Press Ctrl+C to stop at any time.

============================================================

[CPU Worker 0] Started
[CPU Worker 1] Started
...
[MEMORY] Started - Allocating 1500 MB
[DISK I/O] Started - 100 operations

Progress: [████████████████░░░░░░░░] 65.5% | Elapsed: 39s | Remaining: 21s

License

Free to use and modify. Use at your own risk.

Support

If you encounter issues or have questions, check the troubleshooting section above or modify the script to suit your needs.

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Remember: Stress testing is intended to verify system stability and performance. Always monitor your system and stop the test if anything seems wrong!