Handy Programs (ongoing)

#1

Ok Guys, looks a bit lonely in here so I thought I would put a quick programs thread in here that will provide many tools that will come in handy for over clocking and troubleshooting in general. I have been getting a lot of questions about this in the past so it may be worth having a thread dedicated to it.

Due to the massive amount of applications that are out there, this thread will be a working progress as there is far too much for me to mention in one go. This will consolidate a lot of previously written guides from members from other popular pc forums.

Let’s begin…

[SIZE=4]Monitoring/Information Tools
[SIZE=2][COLOR=Red]These are programs that all people should at least have a few of on their PCs, whether you OC or not.
[/COLOR][/SIZE][/SIZE][COLOR=Blue]
CPU-Z[/COLOR] Shows timings, CPU speed/core/multiplier/stepping.
HWMonitor Monitoring program that displays voltages, temperatures and fan speed.
[COLOR=Blue]Core Temp[/COLOR] Monitors your CPU temperatures.
[COLOR=Blue]Real Temp[/COLOR] Monitors your CPU temperatures (alternative to Core Temp).
[COLOR=Blue]RivaTuner[/COLOR] Lets you play with your graphics card, whether it be fan speeds to OCing.
Everest Ultimate Edition v5.3 Monitors practically everything and more, also has a nice memory benchmark tool.

[SIZE=4]Stability/Testing Programs & Benchmarking
[/SIZE][COLOR=Red][SIZE=2][B]These Stability programs will come in handy in determining whether your PC is stable and the benchmarking programs give an indication of true performance.

[/B][/SIZE][/COLOR][COLOR=Blue]Prime95[/COLOR] Test your RAM and CPU.
[COLOR=SeaGreen]LinX [/COLOR]A very quick and stressful CPU test. Will net CPU temps up to 10’C hotter than Prime95, also much quicker in making a PC fall over than Prime.
[COLOR=Blue]Memtest86[/COLOR] Test your RAM.
[COLOR=Blue]MemTest for Windows[/COLOR] Allows you to run Memtest in Windows.
[COLOR=SeaGreen]3DMark06 [COLOR=Gray]Not so hard on a PC, but it will show weakness in a poorly tuned OC[/COLOR]
3DMark Vantage [/COLOR][COLOR=Gray]Latest version of 3DMark, Vista or newer is needed for compatibility[/COLOR]
[COLOR=SeaGreen][COLOR=Blue]FurMark[/COLOR] [/COLOR]OpenGL Benchmark and Graphics Card Stability Test (use with caution, very hard on graphics cards)

[SIZE=4]System Maintenance
[/SIZE][COLOR=Red][SIZE=2]These are programs to help you keep your PC running smoothly. [/SIZE][/COLOR]

ccleaner Does a good job of getting rid of temp file/log files/browers bs etc…
Registry mechanic Checks your Registry for errors that can slow down and crash your computer.

#2

Nice collection :yes:

#3

Thanks Guru

#4

maybe dragon should change nippers name colour…pink? :tongue2:

#5

I think carbs is jealous he doesn’t have his own subforum :laugh:

#6

i still have moar POWA!!!

#7

I can fix that…

#8

Haha, if you were going to change my name colour, please not pink, lol.

#9

I meant fixing cabbys power level.

#10

ah, that’s a good idea also.

#11

any program for cleaning up the OS registry, keep my computer loading quick :wink2:

#12

You generally don’t need anything like that tbh. I can’t recommend a good one as I’ve never used them and don’t recommend using them. They can do more harm then good. Most of the time, the reason your pc isn’t loading quick is because you have to many apps and services loading on startup. You can disable these by going to run, type “msconfig” go to the services or startup tab and untick anything that doesn’t need to be running 24/7.

#13

may need a hand with this.
don’t know what all of them are for. :bored:

#14

I’ve always used registry mechanic which is good and has never rooted my system…otherwise ccleaner does a good job of getting rid of temp file/log files/browers bs etc…
http://www.ccleaner.com/
http://www.pctools.com/registry-mechanic/ its not free but there are plenty of places you can get if you know what i mean…(torrent)…

#15

thanks guyz

#16

Added them to the list, CCleaner is very handy I’ll admit, but I still maintain the point that you should never really need to use a registry cleaner, though they all let you back up before you change anything so it’s easy enough to restore any stuff ups.

#17

This is just something very handy I’ve only known about for a couple of weeks now. If you go to run and type “snipping tool”, windows 7 has a built in application that lets you select what you want to take a screenshot of.

What this means is if you want to take a small screenshot only focusing on one aspect of the screen, you don’t need to take a normal “print screen” and then crop the image in a paint application, it cuts out the last step.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-au/windows-vista/Use-Snipping-Tool-to-capture-screen-shots

#18

nice find. alot handier.

#19

wow that’s awesome! I use a tool at work for similar jazz, didn’t realise 7 had it built in tho. Nice find!

#20

This isn’t exactly in line with everything else here, but thought I’d throw it down anyway since it’s awesome.

http://www.gixen.com

The site allows for auto ebay sniping! Just won an ipod for the folks. Checked and gixen put my bid in with 4 seconds to go on the auction :shades:.

It also has the nifty extra of being able to group items. What this means is you can spam multiple items with a bid, and once one of them wins it cancels all other bids in that group, very handy!

I’ve scoured through forums and whatnot, am yet to come across anyone who has had problems as a result of using the site (in terms of giving out your ebay pw). But if you were paranoid you could simply change your password when you wish to use gixen, then change it back after. Still, it’s been running for over 3 years, i reckon it’s safe enough for my dealings.