There are many ways to accomplish what these tools can, though I’ve found these get down to the core of the need in a focused manner and perform quite well.

The following are extremely helpful in tuning the Rig, setting up for success, and squeezing every ounce of power out of the investment and into DCS.

GPU Graphics Benchmarking

• Heaven DX11
• Superposition

CPU Benchmarking

• Cinebench
• Intel Extreme Tuning Utility

CPU/GPU Info and Compare

• GPU-Z
• CPU-Z
• CPUID-HWMonitor

Overclocking

• Intel Extreme Tuning Utility
• EVGA Precision X1
• MSI Afterburner

USB Management & Clean-up

• USB DView
  • USB info, device removal, reset, fixer of USB evil.

Network Tuning & Management

• CFosspeed
  • Network optimization, traffic shaping.
    Only for your LAN, doesn’t fix your ISP connection issues.

OS Tuning & Management

• Process Lasso
  • CPU Core assignment by process, real-time process management, OS performance enhancement.

Anti-Virus

• Kaspersky
  • Lowest process load and overhead on a gaming Rig, with the best protection.
  • Bad press over the last two years, still the best for Rig purposes.

Cloud Connection Management

• ExpanDrive
  • Manage connections to cloud resources and connect only when you need.
  • Significant reduction in connection clogging and services related performance loss.