Each download listed below has been used by us, and have passed Geoff The Goat's approval process (you do NOT want to know what that involves), so you can be absolutely sure that it won't screw up your PC or anything, unless you do something stupid.  However we're taking no liability if you do that (after all whose fault is it if you're stupid?)

Downloads For Your Hardware

GeForce Tweak Utility - This is the must-have tweaking package for all NVIDIA card owners.  Tweak ALL your D3D and OpenGL settings, and even undocumented system settings!

NVMax - As of March 25th, NVMax has been discontinued.  They will also stop hosting the file, so for die-hard fans of NVMax, you can download it from us right here.  The source code has also been released (Visual Basic and C++).

Riva Tuner - A very powerful Nvidia tweak util, but not very user friendly at all... Change a ton of undocumented registry bits and fry your OS! w00p!

PowerStrip - Go absolutely insane tweaking your video card and monitor with this program.  You can overclock just about any card with this.  Highly recommended if you want to tweak your card beyond settings found in the drivers.  Also, it's the best tool around for any refresh rate problems.

RadClock - We have all these NVIDIA tuners, how about one for Radeon users? RadClock installs an overclocking tab right into your Radeon drivers.  Very handy! It is even capable of overclocking locked Radeon 9600's.

Rage3DTweak - Another Radeon tweak utility, this one with a lot more features.  It too installs directly into your Radeon drivers, and features some nice backgrounds.

WCPUID - Displays all the CPU information you could ever need, including the Internal/External Clock, Multiplier, Cache info, CPU features, AGP info, etc....

4 Way Interleave Enabler - If you have a motherboard based on a VIA chipset, but the crappy BIOS doesn't allow you to enable 4-way memory interleaving, thus giving you a boost in performance, install this app to do it manually.

Motherboard Monitor - Use this handy app to monitor all the built-in thermal meters on your motherboard.  Also reads the on-die thermal diode included on Intel and AMD CPU's!

Mouse Acceleration Fix - Mouse Acceleration was supposed to be a useful feature for Windows XP, you've tried playing almost any FPS game, you know how annoying it is (it essentially makes accurate mouse movement impossible).  Turning this feature off in the Control Panel only works in the Windows GUI.  In order to disable mouse acceleration in games like Counter Strike and Ghost Recon, you're going to need to download this reg file, and merge it into your registry.  Do a backup first!

Downloads for your OS

DirectX 9.0b Full EXE - If you want to keep a copy of DirectX 9.0b on your drive, rather than download it each time you want to install it, you can download it directly from Microsoft's server at this link (it was intended to be used by developers to include on game CD's). Very handy! 32MB

Windows Boot Disc - This will save your life one day.  Simply insert an empty floppy in A: and run the EXE.

TweakUI - This actually comes on the Win98 CD, but is kind of hard to find.  I personally can NOT use Win98 without it! Tweak all sorts of settings.  This file installs directly to your control panel.  Works for Win9X (including ME), WinNT and Win2K.

TweakXP - If you're like me, you have to tinker with every setting possible until you break your OS, and have to start over... This is the tool to do just that if you're using Microsoft's flagship OS, WinXP.

TweakME - Like above, only for WinME, 98, and 95... Older PC's will want to have this installed for sure.

PowerToys WinXP - This is a whole suite of tools release by Microsoft.  Includes stuff like a graphical calculator, an "enhanced" task switching method, which does nothing but slow alt-tab down, a quick method for switching users, and more.  Most importantly though, it includes the latest version of TweakUI for Windows XP

ICQ - Maybe not a Tweaking file, but it is probably the most widely used instant messenger right now.  If you install it, be sure to apply an Adkiller Crack, so you're not bombarded by banners! Alternatively, you could install an older, less bloated, version of ICQ.  Take your pick! All the way back to version 1.1!

Benchmarking

Wanna be l33t and use the exact same benchmark utils we do to test hardware? Here's a list of what we use that is publicly available... More apps will be added as we use them.

Video Game Benchmarks

3DMark2000 - The first must-have.. Uses technology found in Direct3D games prior to say, mid 2001... It's a synthetic benchmark, so use the final score to scale the performance of your PC.  Pretty much obsolete now.

3DMark 2001 SE - Like above, only it uses a lot of DirectX 8 features... GeForce 3 cards will be strong in this benchmark... Ideally you should use both this and 2000 to gauge your performance.

3DMark 03 - The newest, prettiest, and toughest version of 3dMark.  This is a DirectX9 featured test, so best suited for DX9 capable cards.  You'll still get a score out of your GeForce 4, but it ain't gonna be pretty.

Vulpine GLMark - Similar to the two above, but uses OpenGL rather than Direct3D, and it is looks like crap compared to them.  Can't fault the engine though, I just don't think anyone at Vulpine has ever seen a human before.

DroneZmark - Based on the next-gen OpenGL game known for its beautiful GF3-features and awful gameplay.

Evolva Rolling Demo/Benchmark - Although slightly outdated, this D3D7.0 benchmark provides some insight on video performance.  It also allows you to directly compare performance with DOT3 bumpmapping turned on or off.

Commanche 4 Benchmark - Based on the DirectX 8.1 game of the same name, this next-gen benchmark is another that will push your system to the limits.  A DirectX 8 video card is a must (GF3, GF4 Ti, Radeon 8500)

Codecreatures Benchmark Pro - This DirectX 8.1 is guaranteed to bring your system to its knees.  Don't even think of trying it with anything short of a GeForce 3 or Radeon 8500.

Fraps - An extremely useful little utility that allows you to see the current frame rate in "every" D3D and OpenGL game.  Nice for those games that don't have a built-in timedemo function.

System Benchmarks

PCMark 2002 - An handy "quick and simple" benchmarking system to easily compare your PC to others.  It gives a separate arbitrary CPU, memory, and HDD score.

SiSoft Sandra - This is a very robust benchmark app; it tests the performance of several hardware parts in your PC, including the CPU, RAM/motherboard chipset, hard drive, CD-Roms, and more!

Aida32 - Works a lot like SiSoft Sandra above, but does not require installation.  Just run the EXE and go through a ton of benchmark tests and system information!

Prime95 - This actually 3 for the price of one! For the hardcore tweakers, you get both a benchmark AND stress test for your CPU (which comes in VERY handy if you happen to be having lockups... Run the stress test for a while to see if it is related to overclocking).  For the nerds, you can leave it running in the background and try finding a Mersenne Prime number... wow...

SPECviewperf - A suite of non-gaming OpenGL tests... This is cross platform too! Test out your video card in these high end OpenGL tests.

Other Benchmarks

KribiBench - Based on the Kribi 3D rendering platform.  Runs in 100% software mode, so makes for an excellent CPU benchmark.  Registration required to download.

dBpowerAMP Music Converter - We use this for MP3 encoding benchmarks because it is simple, and includes a timer.  Makes use of the LAME MP3 Codec, which is included in the install.

CineBench 2003 - Another 3D Rendering application, CineBench supports OpenGL as well as a pure Software mode.  This makes it a useful overall test.  It also supports discrete multithreading, so is a good way to show performance increases from dual CPU's and Intel's Hyper-Threading.