Testing Gpu

I recently bought an early 2009 Mac Mini. But, I can run Windows 7 on it (through Bootcamp, which is kind of a virtual machine), as that probably has a better selection of software for testing a GPU. The motivation for testing the GPU is that I bought it on Ebay and I am still basically in the return period. The GPU is on board, it's a GeForce 9400M. Obviously when an on board GPU like this fails, it's about the toughest repair job, as the Mac Mini is essentially a laptop that's not portable. The CPU might be saudered (sp?) down.

I understand that there are GPU stress tests and GPU benchmarking. I am not clear on the differences between these, except that I think stress test try to put a full load on the GPU for a period and benchmarking gives you scores to compare to other users of the same hardware. Given that these could cause the GPU wear, I would also consider "manual" methods, like playing a game, or displaying resource intensive graphics. But, I know basically nothing about gaming in the modern era and I don't know what else would be GPU intensive (I know nothing about video editing, etc). About all I can think of is to play DVDs. I am not planning to use the computer for anything graphics intensive but I suppose the graphics card can totally stop working and I don't think Apple supports any external graphics, so that would be a difficult spot to be in (repair wise).

 

Also, I can install Linux on the computer, if that helps. But, I'd have to confirm that there are GPU drivers available.