Recommended Tests

Here are some OC diagnostic, info, benchmarking, cleaning and monitoring tools
that may be useful to use or try.
[feel free to add more]


EVEREST Home Edition
Author: Lavalys
Size: 4 Mb
License: Freeware
Operating System(s):
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 98

EVEREST Home Edition is a system information, diagnostics and benchmarking utility, based on the award-winning EVEREST Technology. It offers the world's most accurate system information and diagnostics capabilities, including online features, memory benchmarks, hardware monitoring, and low-level hardware information.

Lavalys has discontinued the free edition,
but you can still Download it from MajorGeeks.com
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4181

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AIDA32 - Personal System Information 3.93
Author: Tamas Miklos
[Lavalys Appointed Tamás Miklós as CTO and Executive Vice President
of Software Engineering Research & Development]
Size: 2.9 Mb
License: Freeware
Operating System(s):
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 98

AIDA32 is a professional system information, diagnostics and benchmarking program running on Win32 platforms. It extracts details of all components of the PC.

you can still Download AIDA32 from MajorGeeks.com
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=181

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Sandra 2005 Lite
Author: SiSoftware
License: Free trial
Operating System(s):Windows XP, Windows 2000

Sandra ~ System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant is an information & diagnostic utility w/benchmarking, diagnostic, testing, and tune-up tools to gather and report information about your system's hardware and resources. SANDRA can check components ranging from your CPU, BIOS, and PCI bus, to your printer, CD-ROM drive, and modem. Built-in wizards help you gather the information to optimize your system.

Download Sites for Sandra Lite
http://www.sisoftware.net/index.html?dir=dload&location=sware_dl_3264&langx=en&a=
 
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Belarc Advisor
Author: Belarc
License: Freeware
Operating System(s): Any Windows installation

This program produces information on installed software and hardware, as well as a history on installed hotfixes for Windows. The output is a .html file, so distribution of it is easy.

Alternative download site for Belarc Advisor
http://www.download.com/3000-2094_4-10007277.html

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Fresh Diagnose
Author: Freshdevices
License: Free
Operating System(s):
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 9.x

Wondering if your PC's performance lives up to the manufacturer's claims? Fresh Diagnose scans your system and gives you a complete report about your computer's hardware and software, including mainboard information, video system information, PCI/AGP buses information, peripheral (keyboard, mouse, printer, etc.) information, and network information. The program tests your system performance, such as CPU, hard disk, CD/DVD ROM, and compares it with other systems.

Download Fresh Diagnose
http://www.freshdevices.com/download.html

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System Information for Windows
Author: Gabriel Topala
Size: 1157KB
License: Free
Operating System(s):
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 98

S.I.W. provides detailed information about your PC's properties and settings, as well as specs for your CPU, motherboard, chip set, BIOS, PCI/AGB, USB and ISA/PnP devices, memory, monitor, video card, disk drives, CD/DVD devices, SCSI devices, ports, network cards, printers, operating system, installed programs and security patches, processes, services, serial numbers (CD keys). It also provides information about your system's users, open files, system uptime, network, network shares, and offers real-time monitors for CPU, memory, page file usage and network traffic. It displays currently active network connections, passwords hidden behind asterisks, installed codecs, and more.

[requires no installation, what you do with the information it provides is up to you]

System Information for Windows ~ Download Sites
http://www3.sympatico.ca/gtopala/siw_download.html

or Download S.I.W. from MajorGeeks.com
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4387.html

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Motherboard Monitor
Author: Alex van Kaam
Size: 1253KB
License: Free
Operating System(s):
Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 9.x

An overheated computer is an unhappy computer. Motherboard Monitor reads temperature and fan RPM data collected by your systems sensor chips, displays it in the Windows system tray, and alerts you when there's trouble. It can sense temps from Cpu, HDD, GFx and Mobo.
[Its recomended for all home built systems]

Download MBM from MajorGeeks.com
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=311

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CCleaner
Author: Ccleaner.com
Size:1278KB
License: Free
Operating System(s):Windows XP

CCleaner  searches through programs and remove useless files. Many cleaners scrub out just your browser cache or your temporary files folder, but CCleaner was developed to go several steps further. It cleans temporary files from a number of applications, including Adobe Acrobat, eMule, eTrust EZ Antivirus, Firefox, Google Toolbar, Kazaa, Nero, Netscape, Office XP, OpenOffice, Opera WinAce, Windows Media Player, WinRAR, and WinZip. An advanced Registry scanner removes old and unused entries, including file extensions, ActiveX Controls, uninstallers, shared DLLs, fonts, help files, application paths, icons, and invalid shortcuts.

Download CCleaner from filehippo.com
http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

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Driver Cleaner Professional Edition
Author: Ruud "Spike" Ketelaars
Size: 2.68MB
License: Free
Operating System(s):
Windows XP + XP64, Windows 2000, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 9.x

Driver Cleaner Professional Editon is a program which helps you to remove parts of drivers that are left after uninstalling the old drivers. The program is for ATI, nVidia, Creative, Realtek, SIS, 3Dfx, S3 and more drivers.
[read the readme file included in the zip file, as it contains a detailed step by step description]

Driver Cleaner Professional Editon Download
http://www.drivercleaner.net/professional.html

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3DMark06
Author: Futuremark
Size: 590 Mb
License: Shareware
Requires: Win XP

3DMark06 is the latest version in the (worldwide standard) 3DMark series and is the fundamental benchmarking tool for 3D graphics and performance. It can fully utilize 100% of the features of DirectX 9. In fact, DirectX 9 hardware with support for ShaderModel 3.0 is required to run all the tests of 3DMark06, resulting in the ultimate tool for DirectX 9 hardware performance comparison. DirextX 9 graphics cards limited to ShaderModel 2.X are still capable of running most of the tests, and getting a perfectly valid and comparable 3DMark result. It also includes single, multiple core and multiple processor CPU tests as part of the 3DMark score!

3DMark06 Basic (Free Limited Version) Download
http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark06.shtml

or Download 3DMark06 from MajorGeeks.com
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4935

or 3DMark05 Download
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=4376

or 3Dmark03 Download
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=1712

or 3Dmark01 SE Download
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=99


PC Performance Analysis

PCMark®05 is everything you need to reliably and easily measure the performance of your PC and determine its strengths and weaknesses. With PCMark05, you will be able to select the optimal upgrades for your existing PC, or choose the right new PC that fits your specific needs. This easy-to-use product gives you the same tools and knowledge that virtually every professional tester in the industry uses.

PCMark05 Basic (Limited Free Version) Download
http://www.futuremark.com/download/?pcmark05.shtml

Other Futuremark Series
http://www.futuremark.com/products/

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. . .almost forgot; 

MemTest
evaluates the ability of your computer's memory to store and retrieve data accurately.

and

Prime95
The "Torture Test" that allows maximum stress testing on the CPU and RAM. There are several options allowing the stress test to focus on the memory, processor, or both.