How to interpret the results of s-tui stress test

[stevecoh1]

Newbie question, I suppose. I've purchased a new computer that has been extremely flaky. In fact, the vendor will be shipping me a new one. A bad CPU is suspected. I'd like to run tests on the old and new ones. But how does one INTERPRET the results of an S-TUI stress test. It doesn't seem to have any pass-fail indications. What am I missing?

[stevecoh1]

Another question. What do the colors shown on the display, particularly the temp display, mean? While running a stress test, I noticed the temp display going red for a second or two. How to understand that?

[amanusk]

Indeed there is no pass/fail notion.
To understand the metrics, look at the frequency and/or power graphs and see if they are affected by the long stress test.

If the cooling system is inadequate, the temperature will rise, and CPU frequency will be reduced to prevent the CPU from catastrophic damage (throttling). This is normal behavior, but you can measure how much performance is "left on the table" due to the system's cooling capabilities.

In an ideal scenario, temperatures would remain low, and frequency would never be reduced, but this is not always easy to achieve.

The temperature graph turns red at 80C. I arbitrarily picked this as a "high" number, but CPUs can operate normally at even higher temperatures.

[stevecoh1]

I did get a couple of entries where temps were above 80 degrees C. Would this possibly be a cause of system failure?