CPU-Z

A tool to benchmark your computer

To be able to know exactly what hardware components are installed on your computer, you can do two things: open the box with a screwdriver an check it out for yourself or download and install a benchmarking and component analysis program of the likes of CPU-Z.

It's a useful tool that can help you to find out exactly how your computer is configured, collecting data about the main devices that are part of the system.

What PC components can CPU-Z analyze?

This program offers us an interface split into several sections that are really easy to explore by simply visiting the correct tab. These are each one of them and their role played during the benchmark:

• CPU: find out all the data about your PC's processor here. Discover the manufacturer, the exact model and its power among other details.
• Cache: obtain data about the computer's internal cache memory.
• Mainboard: don't you know what motherboard you have installed or any of its features? Have a look in this section and discover the vendor, model, and the BIOS date, its chipset, graphic interface...
• Memory: information about the RAM memory installed on the computer. Find out all kinds of data about the RAM, like the exact amount or the working speed it offers.
• SPD: specifications of the RAM memory modules installed.
• Graphics: specifications relative to the graphics card installed.
• Bench: here we can check the performance of the processor and carry out stress tests to check its yield.

Solve any problem resulting from your hardware's performance or compatibility or foresee any trouble with a thorough analysis of your PC's components.

This PC component audit will mainly help us with two things: to know if we've got any compatibility or hardware requirement problems when it comes to running a program (especially useful if we were thinking of purchasing a game but we're not sure how it's going to work) and to find out if we need to expand our computer's components.

In turn, it also offers us the possibility to export the information in TXT or HTML format to be able to handle it better.

This interesting tool comes along with a version for Android in APK format that allows us to do exactly the same with our smartphones and tablets. In turn, it can also be downloaded in a portable format, which would allow us to take it with us wherever we went on a USB stick. However, the versions for Mac and Linux you may come across haven't been developed by CPUID, the company behind the Windows version.