New System, finally ordered

[InsanePerson]

So after much review, and several posts here at the [H] forums, I was finally able to order my new system yesterday. To all of those who may have commented on my various questions, thank you.

So now the next questions, after i get it, what should I throw at it?

Here's what I ordered

Antec Twelve Hundred Black
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Noctua NH-U12P
EVGA GeForce GTX 260 Superclocked Edition
OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066
CORSAIR CMPSU-550VX 550W
Western Digital Caviar Black WD6401AALS 640GB x2 (dont know if I'm going to RAID0/RAID1 or just leave em stand-alone yet)
Samsung 22x DVD-/+RW
SAMSUNG 2433BW 24" Widescreen
Logitech G15 Keyboard
Logitech G5 Mouse
(side note, hurray for Logitech partner discounts I got both keyboard and mouse for less then Newegg sells the keyboard alone)

I had a $1500 budget, I spent $1561 (also including a 2gb USB key for the wife and 16gb key for myself).

I am going to see what I can get from overclocking the system, but I may not stay overclocked, depends on how stable I can keep it. But what should I throw at this for benchmark/testing. I already assumed 3dMark, and I've got PassMark BurnIn Test.
I am not looking to spend any money on benchmark/test software, at the same time I am not going to go pirate any software either so whatever free tools are out there to help benchmark performance, or test stability with overclocking.

 

[Dangman]

Use Prime 95, OCCT, Orthos or Intel Burn Tool to stress test the CPU
Use Furmark or ATI Tool to stress test the GPU

And just for the hell of it:
[Testing the RAM]
Download Memtest+ v2.10 or whatever the latest version is, unzip it, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP install CD. Let Memtest+ run for at least three hours on each stick of RAM separately as well as test the RAM together. Go for a full 24 hours if you want to be completely sure that the RAM is not a problem. If you start seeing errors, than your RAM is defective or you have incorrect settings for the RAM.

[Testing the Hard drive]
Download the CD image of Hitachi Drive Fitness Test, burn the ISO file to a CD, and then boot from it, just like you would do with the XP/Vista install CD. Test the hard drive and see if any problems are found. DFT will run on most manufacturers' hard drives. Alternatively, you can use Seagate's SeaTools for DOS to test a Seagate or Maxtor drive. For a Western Digital drive, you could use Data Lifeguard Tools for DOS to test a Western Digital drive.

 

[xxshawnxx]

Very nice setup, OP!

 

[InsanePerson]

Very nice setup, OP!

Thanks, I'm hoping it works well, as I said I did a lot of review and questioning before deciding on those parts. Its not latest/greatest, but I do not enjoy "early adopter tax"

I am very anxious to build it, I used to do custom built PCs at a previous employment and I do miss being able to put them together.

And thank you Danny for the bench/test suggestions, I had forgotten about Prime95, used that back in the day to test my AthlonXP 1.4ghz overlcock

 

[engiNURD]

Don't forget to post pics!