Twenty years of stability testing

2003 : When it all started

OCCT started as a project when I was an exchange student in Oklahoma, USA, back in 2003.

Everything began following a conversation on ICQ about verifying overclocking builds sent to a database.

This led me to implenent the first CPU test of OCCT, and building a GUI around it. Despite being only launched on forums, OCCT was quickly spread through the overclocking community, and rised in popularity very quickly.

The building in Norman, OK, USA, where the first version of OCCT was developed

2004 - 2009 : You play for fun, I dev for fun

I returned back to France, living in Lille, then Douai, and I started working as a System administrator.

OCCT became a hobby - something I would work on during evenings. Some people were doing raids on World of warcraft - I was coding and releasing OCCT in my free time.

I started pumping more features in OCCT : Linpack, test reports, the 3D standard test... the latter got me the headlines when it revealed a design flaw in AMD's flagship GPU at the time : Radeon HD4870.

This led AMD to issue a response : they called OCCT a "Power virus", as if it was a malicious program. I still hear that today.

The town of Douai, France, where I live currently

2009 - 2020 : Personal life kicking in, but still there for the app

I met my wife, bought a house, got my first daughter, then the twins, all while maintaining the app in my free time.

I worked in the ECM / Document management industry as a consultant then.

Looking at the release cycles, the biggest pauses in OCCT's development was when my kids were born. Especially with twins !

Trying to balance work, personal life, and OCCT was tough. I was usually developing when in public transports or during evenings.

Family going strong !

2021 - OCCT as a full time job

In my last, non-OCCT related job as a lead dev, my colleagues were stunned to learn I was the guy behind OCCT. I didn't make a fuss about it. They led me to rewrite the tool from the ground up.

I did so, releasing OCCT v5, and gained an even larger audience. Then Covid hit, and I ultimately got the opportunity of leaving my job - I started OCCT as a full-time job.

I went from v5 to v11, and I had a total BLAST working on my own project, being able to promote my own values of listening to user feedback and trying stuff that may not lead anywhere, but potentially can.

OCCT v5, the version that saw OCCT's download count triple in a year

2023 - 20 years of OCCT

And here we are, with OCCT reaching 5.5 million downloads per year in 2022, with a real community behind it. I'm the first one amazed at the current situation i'm in. I'm so lucky to have the support of so many people, ideas flowing in, and being able to make a living for my family on what has been my passion for 23 years !

My way of thanking everyone is organizing this Stableversary. It's a lot of work, it's a ton of fun, it's really a thrilling experience.

Old me at work !

THANK YOU !

Stability testing since 2003

OCCT is the most popular all-in-one stability check & stress test tool available.

Design by Loic Lallemand