Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about FurMark usage, safety, and troubleshooting. For more context, visit the forum or the main FurMark page.

Temperatures & Health

Why does my GPU get so hot during FurMark?
FurMark is designed to maximize sustained graphics load. High power draw and temperatures are expected. Improve case airflow, clean dust, verify mount pressure, and always supervise laptops or small-form-factor PCs. Stop the test if fans scream past your comfort level or if hotspots look unsafe.

How should I monitor sensors while testing?
Use GPU vendor tools, HWiNFO, or similar overlays to watch GPU core hotspot, memory junction (if exposed), clocks, and power limits. Compare the same metrics at idle and under load, and log a short run rather than staring at a single snapshot.

Compatibility & Values

What is the difference between OpenGL and Vulkan modes?
They exercise the driver stack through different APIs. Performance, CPU overhead, and stability can differ even on the same card. Pick one mode per comparison session and keep resolution, anti-aliasing, and fullscreen settings identical when benchmarking.

Why do benchmark scores change between runs?
Ambient temperature, background apps, driver power states, and Windows scheduling all shift results slightly. Always do multiple runs, discard outliers, and test on a clean reboot when you need publication-grade consistency.

Detection & Troubleshooting

What are rendering artifacts and should I worry?
Artifacts are visual glitches such as sparkles, z-fighting, or corrupted textures. They often point to unstable overclocks, overheating VRAM, or driver bugs. Stop the test, cool the system, reduce clocks or power limits, update or roll back drivers, and retest.

FurMark closed or my PC rebooted—what happened?
Heavy loads can trigger GPU driver restarts, PSU shutdowns, or VRM throttling. Note whether Windows logged a TDR event, reduce settings, check PSU capacity and cable seating, and test with stock clocks before blaming the application.

Antivirus flagged the download. Is that normal?
Aggressive GPU utilities sometimes trigger heuristic warnings. Download only from sources you trust, verify hashes when published, and review the publisher information on the file. False positives are common but should never be dismissed blindly.

General

Which operating systems does FurMark target?
FurMark is built for Windows desktops and laptops with discrete GPUs. Windows 10 and Windows 11 are the primary focus; behavior on older releases depends on drivers. It is not a macOS or Linux tool.

Is FurMark free?
Community builds emphasize free GPU stress testing and benchmarking. Some distributions may offer optional paid bundles elsewhere—this site focuses on explaining safe use, integrity checks, and responsible thermal testing rather than upsells.