Ludaz

A few main programs that every OCer/benchmarker should have are:

Benchmarks

3DMark2001se

Most people don't use this program anymore because it's quite outdated, but if you really want the most benchmark utilities you can get then it would be a good program to get. Gamers benchmark. Mediumly recommended.

3DMark03

A program that a lot of people still use. Gamers benchmark. Highly recommended.

3DMark05

A program that only gives good scores if you have very up to date components. Still useful. Gamers benchmark. Mediumly recommended.

PCMark04

Fairly useful benchmarking utility. Mediumly recommended.

PCMark05

An updated PCMark. Mediumly recommended. (Credit to ncsa for recommendation).

SiSoftware Sandra

Very useful benchmarking utility. Able to bench nearly all of you components seperately. Highly recommended.

Super Pi

Incase the name didn't give it away, this is a program that calculates 4,294,960,000 digits of pi. The benchmark comes in the form of a number (in seconds, perhaps minutes) that shows how long it took your computer to calculate those digits of pi. The simple score readout makes it very easy to compare scores. Highly recommended.

Aquamark3

An excellent gamers bechmark. Fun to watch (atleast the first couple times) and very fun UI. Highly recommended.

Overclocking

Clockgen

Overclocking utility used to...overclock. Used in windows for people uncomfortable with BIOS overclocking. Ofcourse not as good as BIOS, it still works reasonably well. Make sure you download the version for your motherboard. Lowly recommended.

Coolbits 2.0

Really nice utility to tweak Nvidia video card. Highly recommended.

RivaTuner 2.0

Incredible videocard overclocker. Can overclock ATI or Nvidia cards. Highly recommended.

A64 Tweaker
I personally have no experience with this program, but judging by the name I'm guessing it's an "in-windows" program used to overclock your Athlon 64 CPU. Recommendation pending (on feedback). Credit goes to ncsa for pointing out this program.

Stability
Note: If you use one stability program and find that through that program you're not stable, DONT just move on to another program. Make your system stable for each program!!
Prime95

Great for testing the stability of overclocks. Highly recommended.

F@H

Folding @ Home, as not so many people know, can actually be used quite well for a stability tester since it uses 100% of you CPU. Very Highly recommended.
Team Number: 37726
Team Name: Overclock.net

CPU Stability tester

Works reasonably well. Mediumly recommended.

Memtest86

Tests, I believe, mostly memory. Also for testing whole system stability though. Highly recommended. (Credit goes to steveo42024 for pointing this program out).
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Spec veiwers

PCWizard

Very extensive program used to view specific component stats, timings, etc. Mediumly recommended.

CPU-Z

Less extensive than PCWizard, but still gets the job done. Much simpler and easier to work with. Highly recommended.

Monitoring

Everest Home

Nice temp monitor and more. Highly recommended.

Motherboard Monitor (MBM5)

Hmmm...what might it do? Well, whatever it does, it does it well. Highly recommended.

Speedfan 4.24

A good enough program to monitor temps. Mostly used because you can reduce or increase the rpms of fans (connected by 3 pin to your mobo) in your computer. Personally I prefer the UI and the temp setup in MBM5. But still Highly recommended. (Credit goes to steveo42024 for pointing this program out).
vbmenu_register("postmenu_329092", true);



I know I've forgotten atleast a couple programs, so please tell me which ones I've forgotten. I thought that there was another FAQ like this but when I looked for one I couldn't find it :(

All (or almost all) credit goes to the authors of previously mentioned programs.

Ludaz

Woot! You go Ludaz...oh wait...:(

MikeEnIke

Nice FAQ man but you did forget Aquamakr and Nbench. :) Reps though.

steveo42024

Add memtest86 to stability and speedfan to monitoring. Very nice:)

ncsa

Need to add A64 Tweaker in the OC section

and PCMark 05 - esp. for those dual CPU systems

PROBN4LYFE

Add Crystal Mark...and OCCT

Ludaz

I can't seem to find Crystal Mark or OCCT. I'd like to keep this FAQ up to date, so a PM with adress would be repped.

Jori

I say 3Dmark05 should be high priority..

POGE

CPUCOOL is a much better version of clockgen, and has more features and supports more computers.

scarmulan

You should put ATI Tool in there for overclocking ATI cards. It also monitors the temperature, speed, FPS etc..You can change the fan speed with it too. Great utility.