Whilst waiting for the Ryzen CPU and AMD MoBo to arrive will do a Part 2 on Test Benches.

A test bench or testing workbench is an environment used to verify the correctness or soundness of a design or model … The term has its roots in the testing of electronic devices, where an engineer would sit at a lab bench with tools for measurement and manipulation, such as oscilloscopes, multimeters, soldering irons, wire cutters, and so on, and manually verify the correctness of the device under test (DUT) … In the context of software or firmware or hardware engineering, a test bench is an environment in which the product under development is tested with the aid of software and hardware tools.

Far from being an expert, I have mainly wanted a test bench for testing new parts and/or assembling a MoBo before installing it in a new case (test it there also). As mentioned in Part 1, I have checked out various computer test benches over the years, i.e. looking at the online setups of such and their prices. They can be quite expensive for a top notch one or ‘Dinky’ & limited for a cheap one. The one that I’m currently experimenting with and/or ‘Jury-Rigging’ is just an old Dell case that had been stripped and moved into a shed. It can handle the mini-ITX and various sizes of the micro-ATX, but more ‘Jury-Rigging’ would be needed for other MoBo forms (like a rubber pad or standoffs for an ATX MoBo). The above pic shows what size of MoBo this test bench can handle…it also shows where some of the framing was removed. I could remove more framing in the front, but that would probably weaken it too much – thus I’ll leave it like that and use it to put test drives into OR store a couple parts/tools OR place a DVD-Rom on top of, etc. Left the power supply section intact, since adding or removing it in a fully-opened frame is quick and easy (also provides good stability for power supply). 15 inches wide, 10.5 inches tall on one end, 14.5 inches tall on the power supply end, and 6.625 inches deep. Can be worked on standing up or laying flat on side. Could have saved $67 on the InWin build if I had thought to convert that old Dell case sooner. Anyway, valuable lessons learned, including the fact that a MoBo plus CPU can be purchased fairly reasonably – then put into a Test Bench and/or later switched into a case like Rose’s or InWin’s. Which reminds me to start planning for a storage area that unused boards, CPUs, and other components can be stored (with easy access to). Here is another pic of the bare Test Bench:

Had noticed that many professional type of test benches had planned areas for power supply, stable Cards expansion slots, etc. so decided to leave such areas intact on this test bench. Here are 2 more pics, of the Test Bench with old MoBo put back in for testing power switch without case front-panel cover, and another one with dimensions:

That old MoBo is the max micro-ATX size of 9.6 x 9.6 and most of my future testing will involve the recently purchased ASUS Prime A320M-K “uATX” MoBo (just a smaller 8.9 x 8.7 micro-ATX MoBo) and/or Rose’s Intel Gigabyte H310M A MoBo (8.9 x 7.3 micro-ATX). Probably test some more Ryzen processors, some Intel’s also possibly, and GPU’s since most Ryzens require a “Discrete Graphics Card”.

Here’s my favorite professional Test Bench

Top Deck Tech Station @ $139.99 plus whatever else, e.g. taxes, probably shipping costs and any extras you might add. They also have some ‘Girly’ colored ones for no extra charge. It can handle any MoBo and here is some info:

‘Mo info

Here’s a video

They have other test bench styles, and even a Tech Tray for $29.99:

There are many more other professional or custom built test benches, but that is probably my favorite professional setup. However, the converted 2009 Dell will do fine, and leaves me some more budget money to spend in the future.

Adding this to the Ryzen™ ‘Stuff‘ page.

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