Compare a range of Hardware and Software Troubleshooting Tools

• HARDWARE TESTING TOOLS 

Hardware testing tools are usually for testing a computer while it off, and to diagnose/fix more complex hardware problems. These tools I am about to compare all have different uses and so are hard to compare in this format

• MULTI-METER

 A multi-meter is used to measure the electrical properties flowing through a cable, such as amperage, voltage and electrical resistance. It can measure other electrical variables as well, but these are mostly not used for computer maintenance purposes. 

The multi-meter is generally just used to narrow down the problem to the power supply. However it can also be used to check if the power source the computer’s power supply is connected to, is also running within tolerances.

• ETHERNET CABLE TESTER 

An ethernet cable tester is used to test an ethernet cable’s ability to send/receive data. The tester will usually send some test data or power to the other end, which the tester then checks to see if it receives it at the other end. It also tests whether the cable has been wired correctly, which is very helpful since ethernet cables are very tricky to assemble, so mistakes are pretty easy to make. More advanced cable testers will even test the maximum data transfer rate of the cable and identify if it’s CAT6, 5, 5e, etc. This tool will probably be used when a problem with a network is determined to be not software or router related. Which means that the problem is most likely with the cable, if the cable is faulty re-crimping both ends may fix it or a full replacement may be necessary.

• TEMPERATURE PROBE 

A Temperature probe is not often used, because a software tool can get a more precise reading from a sensor built in to the hardware. However there are a few cases where it might be unsafe to wait for the system to boot up fully and load the software.

Most temperature probes work using an infrared laser to determine the temperature of the surface it is pointed at.

• SOFTWARE TESTING TOOLS 

Software testing tools are used to diagnose a system while it is still in a mostly working condition (powers on). I have chosen 3 testing tools with slightly different functionality, but might look very similar from their interfaces. They cover three of the main things you need when diagnosing a system:

• Temperature Readouts

 • Hardware Detailed Information & Voltages 

• Benchmarking Tests

• HWMONITOR

 HWMonitor is a temperature monitoring tool by CPUID. It can provide temperature readouts from every sensor in the computer, usually Hard Drive, Graphics Card, Processor and the general system/case temperature. It’s a very simple program with no configurable options, it just works “out of the box”.

HWMonitor also shows you the maximum, minimum and current values of all of these variables, so while running a benchmark you don’t need to actively monitoring the tool as it will store the maximum reached temperature.

• CPU-Z 

CPU-Z is also made by CPUID and gathers details on the hardware installed in a computer. These details can include the name of the part, manufacturer, model number and more specialist details for each part. On the CPU tab you can monitor the voltages, clock speed and bandwidth of the cache. These details can help when overclocking the CPU and making sure that it is a stable overclock, because if it isn’t the CPU could overheat or short-out due to the increased voltage outside of its specified range.

PASSMARK PERFORMANCE TEST

 The PassMark Performance Test unlike the other tools is not free to use but is one of the best tools to benchmark a computer. Like CPU-Z it also gives you the ability to look though all the hardware details through a graphically rendered mock-up of a motherboard, where you can click individual components for more details. Compared to CPU-Z it lacks some details and also does not auto update the values when they change.