How to stress test your Linux PC

Want to push your Linux PC to the limit? Want to see how well it can perform under stress? Check out GTKStressTest. It’s an easy to use GUI tool that will let you stress your Linux PC with almost no effort.

In this guide, we’ll show you how to install the GTKStressTest program on your Linux PC, and how to use it to perform stress tests.

Note: you may experience system errors and slow-downs when running the GTKStressTest tool as it is designed to push your hardware to the limit.

Installing GTKStressTest on Linux

Installing GTKStressTest on Linux is possible no matter what distribution you use, and the developers do a good job of documenting the dependencies required to compile the software. It is also supported via Flatpak on Flathub, for those that do not like building software from source.

To get the GTKStressTest app working on your Linux PC, open up a terminal window by pressing Ctrl + Alt + T or Ctrl + Shift + T on the keyboard. Then, follow the command-line installation instructions that correspond with the OS you use.

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu, if you want to get GTKStressTest working, you’ll need to compile the source code from scratch. To start, install the dependencies required to build on Ubuntu.

sudo apt install appstream-util dmidecode gir1.2-gtksource-3.0 git libcairo2-dev libgirepository1.0-dev libglib2.0-dev meson python3-gi-cairo python3-pip stress-ng git

After installing all of the required dependencies, use the git clone command to download the source code to your system.

git clone --recurse-submodules -j4 https://gitlab.com/leinardi/gst.git

Move into the gst folder with the CD command.

cd gst

Use the pip3 command to install the required Python3 requirements for building the software.

pip3 install -r requirements.txt

Use the meson command to set the build prefix to “/usr.”

meson . build --prefix /usr

Compile the code with the ninja build command.

ninja -v -C build

Finally, install the program with ninja build install

ninja -v -C build install

Debian

On Debian, it is possible to build the software with the source code, but the development page doesn’t specifically reference the operating system. If you’d like to build the code on Debian, follow the Ubuntu instructions. Otherwise, follow the Flatpak installation instructions for an easy way to get GTKStressTest set up on Debian.

Arch Linux

GTKStressTest is available as an AUR package on Arch Linux. To get it working, on your system, do the following.

First, download and install the Trizen AUR helper tool as it makes it easier to get AUR packages built without dealing with dependencies manually.

sudo pacman -S git base-devel

git clone https://aur.archlinux.org/trizen.git

cd trizen

makepkg -sri

With the Trizen tool set up, use it to install the GTKStressTest app.

trizen -S gst

Fedora

On Fedora, it is possible to build the code from source. However, on Fedora Linux, Flatpak is deeply integrated into the system. For this reason, we suggest Fedora users make use of the Flatpak instructions below.

Flatpak

Flatpak is a great way to install GTKStressTest, as it requires no source-code compilation. To get the app working on your system with Flatpak, ensure the runtime is set up on your Linux PC. Then, enter the commands below.

flatpak --user remote-add --if-not-exists flathub https://flathub.org/repo/flathub.flatpakrepo

flatpak --user install flathub com.leinardi.gst

Using GTKStressTest to stress test your Linux PC

Stress testing with GTKStressTest is quite simple, thanks to its thoughtful, well laid out UI. To start the stress testing process, open up the app on your Linux desktop by searching for it in the app menu. Then, follow the step-by-step instructions below.

Step 1: Once GTKStressTest app is open, look for the “Read all” button at the top left section of the window and click on it. This button, when clicked, will allow GTKStressTest to view system info that is only obtainable with the root user.

Step 2: Locate the drop-down menu with “CPU: All methods” written on it. Click on the drop-down menu and choose the best type of stress test to use on your CPU.

If you’re unsure about what type to choose, leave it at “All methods.” This option will go through all kinds of stress tests for the CPU.

Step 3: Locate the drop-down menu with “30 mins” on it, and click on it. Then, change “30 mins” to the desired time you want to stress test for. Or, leave it at 30 minutes.

Step 4: Find the “Start” button to start stress-testing the CPU on your Linux PC.

When you press the “Start” button, GTKStressTest will begin rigorously testing your Linux system for the time you selected. Sit back, watch the graphs, and wait.