Cooling and Overclocking Specialty Retailers
Overclocking Software
- Hmonitor http://www.hmonitor.com/ is a real-time hardware monitoring application for systems featuring thermal and fan-speed sensors. Hmonitor allows for active monitoring. It can also alert users to potential problems associated with excessive heat generated through overclocking.
- SoftFSB http://www.voodoofiles.com/ is an advanced application designed to interface with the front-side bus clock controller from within Windows. SoftFSB is a valuable tool for obtaining maximized overclocking of today’s most popular platforms.
- WCPUID http://www.h-oda.com/ is a freeware application developed to analyze and display detailed information for current-generation processors and chipsets.
- WCPUZ http://www.cpuid.com/ is a freeware application that can provide information about most current processors. Categories of information include the following: processor name, vendor, core stepping, packaging, core voltage, internal clocks, external clocks, overclock detection, processing
features, cache architecture, and other motherboard information.
Benchmark Software
- MadOnion 3DMark http://www.madonion.com/ is the most popular 3D graphics benchmark available today. 3DMark offers effective system testing in both traditional and overclocked environments. The 3DMark 2000 v1.1 is designed for DirectX 7 graphics accelerators, while the 3DMark 2001 is best suited for DirectX 8.1-compatible video cards.
- SiSoftware SANDRA http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/ offers effective benchmarking and diagnosis for a multitude of system components. SANDRA is available in multiple versions, though the freeware edition offers all the benchmarking modules required to analyze overclocking performance
returns and system stability.
- Ziff Davis WinBench http://www.etestinglabs.com/ is a popular benchmark suite designed to test the graphics, video, and disk subsystems under all versions of the Windows operating system. The latest version was released in July 2001, but the highly optimized WinBench99 still provides a superior testing interface compared to competing applications.
Diagnostic Software
- Motherboard Monitor http://mbm.livewiredev.com/ is a popular Windows system tray utility that will display information from your motherboard's sensor chip. Details such as fan speeds, processor and motherboard temperatures, and voltage, are displayed to the user. It is a good way to monitor
your system and improve your tweaking and troubleshooting capabilities.
- TuffTEST #1 http://www.tufftest.com/ offers great diagnostic capabilities. It will help you assess any potential stability problems incurred through overclocking. TuffTEST builds a self-booting disk that requires no external operating system. As a result, this highly effective testing suite can be deployed across all ranges of x86 computing systems.
Helpful Resources
- TechIMO http://www.techimo.com/ is the premier online community in which to discuss all aspects of computing technology. TechIMO consists of an informative group of 60,000+ users who are capable of answering even the most challenging of troubleshooting or overclocking questions.
- Sandpile http://www.sandpile.com/ is an extensive resource for those interested in the technical aspects of nearly any x86 computing platform. Sandpile is updated regularly to ensure that it contains the best-quality information.
- Ace’s Hardware http://www.aceshardware.com/ offers a superb mix of both professional and enthusiast computing information. Common topics include the presentation and discussion of new computing technology.
- Google http://www.google.com/ is hands down the best search engine on the web. Those who operate other search engines spend their days trying to figure out how to be as good as Google. Google also acquired Deja news, the Usenet newsgroup archiving service, and they archive new newsgroup
postings as well. Whenever you have a question, go to Google, click on the Groups tab, and search. You will very likely find threads discussing and solving your question.
- HardOCP.com’s http://www.hardocp.com/ Kyle Bennett tells it like it is. Read no nonsense reviews of the latest hardware, get timely news and references to performance and overclocking related articles from all around the web, and participate in active discussion forums.
- Overclockers.com http://www.overclockers.com/ features timely overclocking related hardware reviews and a great overclocking survey database where users submit their own overclocking results. Use the overclocking database to see how well your CPU type/speed has been overclocked by other users.
- AnandTech.com http://www.anandtech.com/ features the very latest hardware reviews. The message board (http://forums.anandtech.com) has many useful forums, with the Hot Deals forum being this author’s favorite.
- TechTV’s http://www.thescreensavers.com/ "The ScreenSavers" is a live daily television show hosted by Leo Laporte and Patrick Norton, that covers hardware, overclocking, and various technology subjects. The show is a lot of fun and is highly recommended for overclocking enthusiasts. It is broadcast live from San Francisco every weekday at 4pm Pacific Time, on DirectTV Channel 354, Dish Network Channel 191, and a wide variety of cable networks.
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