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I just love 3rd party firmware. It expands your device and lets you do things that were not possible before. DD-WRT is no exception. It can offer options and settings beyond what you can imagine. I've been running it for over a year now and I couldn't be happier.

Couple of things I've been able to do (your mileage may vary):
QoS by physical LAN port - Basically, I can torrent and game at the same time. I had my upload used 90%+ (256kbps upload) and maintained a lag-free connection in BF2 with around 130 ping. Now, keep in mind in my setup I have a seperate computer that does the downloading/uploading so I use 2 physical ports on the router and can prioritize one over the other and that's all that QoS does. It see's packets coming from my server and puts them on hold until the packets from my main computer have gone through, thus lower latency.
Ad-blocking - This is much better than an extension for Firefox. It means that ANY program on ANY computer connected to the router will not see ads. It uses DNS to re-route the traffic for advertising websites to a location of your choice. You can null it out (which you will see a "page not found" instead of an ad) or you can host PixelServ on a computer connected to the router and re-direct ads there. The beauty of this is that pages load faster too since requests never leave your local network.

Check this out and TONS more at http://www.dd-wrt.com

There is absolutely no reason why everybody shouldn't try Windows 7. It's time to give up XP, it's too old. Vista was and still is great. The problem was that people still haven't realized you can't upgrade and upgrade software without getting newer hardware. Try running a modern game on a Pentium 3. It probably won't even start. There were driver mess-ups with Vista but still, it was a very solid OS. Windows 7 is much better. Everything is easier to use and customize and I can't even count the features that I love. Yes it will require more RAM to run but... it's totally worth it and if you don't have enough RAM to run it, I don't know how you're able to browse the web on XP. If anybody has any questions about it, feel free to ask. I've been running it since before the release and I won't use any other OS for my personal computers.

Hardware, Software or whatever you're proud of!

I'm lazy and don't want to re-type everything, if anyone wants to see my rigs specs and pictures, go here:
http://natescomp.co.cc/?page_id=7#main

Hey everybody. After years of haitus, I have risen the spirit of the site from the dead. This cannot and will not be the same exact Headshot! you remember but keep in mind a few things. I'm doing my best to have the old aspects as well as improvements (you will see aspects from a certain site of mine & Knight/Kody's that never really took off). This site is also hosted on a free server and has a default theme. If this takes off, we can move to a paid server and get some sexy images up and some forum mods. In the mean time, browse around, make suggestions in this thread and just have fun. That's what it's all about. Remember, this site is for YOU, your opinion and suggestions matter. Thanks!

URL's to reach this site:
http://hsc.natescomp.com
http://headshotcommunity.tk/
http://hscforum.tk

Personally, I recommend Antec. I run them in all of my computers and they just work great and reliably. This thread will help you make a wise decision on a Power Supply and not just pick the first one with blue lights.

Power Supplies, like many other computer parts, are usually re-badged from other manufacturers. Company A (i.e. Seasonic) will make the unit, Company B (i.e. Antec, Corsair) will put it in a nice case, possibly wrap the cables, add a custom fan and provide a warranty.
Manufacturer Info:
http://www.10stripe.com/articles/who-made-your-power-supply.php
http://forums.legitreviews.com/about6443.html
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDArticles&op=Story&ndar_id=24

I'm going to be updating this thread with useful programs that some of you may not know about. They will help you get the most out of PC and possibly make it run better and last longer.

Archive & Backup:

• 7-Zip

Open source compression and archive program.

• Dropbox

Allows you to sync files on your computer with files on the internet for backup or sharing.

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Burning & Emulation:

• VirtualBox

Test, install and employ Operating Systems inside your OS.

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Burning & Emulation:

• Daemon Tools

Virtually mounts ISO's and other disc formats.

• ISORecorder

Burns ISO's and other disc formats.

• IMGBurn

Burns ISO's and other disc formats. Also look out for advertisements on the website and during install; they're sneaky.

• Burrrn

(Original site is down.)
Burns music cd's using any format (FLAC, MP3).

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Cleaning:

• CCleaner

All around free generic cleaner.

• Windows 7 Manager / Vista Manager / XP Manager

These programs get some of the deep stuff and have awesome features but it comes with a price.

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Defragging:

• MyDefrag

Great program, plenty of options to defragment different drives and even schedule defragging.

• Defraggler

Made by the same company as CCleaner, this is a good and easy to use defragger.

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Internet:

• Google Chrome

Fast, small & open source web browser.

• Firefox

Open source web browser with tons of customizations and extensions.

• JDownloader

Download manager. Works with sites like YouTube and Rapidshare.

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Internet:

• uTorrent

A very tiny yet powerful Bittorrent client.

• Trillian

Powerful instant messaging client that supports MSN, AIM, YIM, ICQ, IRC and many more. Has iPhone and web support.

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Internet:

• PeerBlock

An updated version of PeerGuardian2. This program blocks IP addresses and ranges at your computer. People can still connect to your computer as they have to in order to be denied information. Also use IBlockList's lists in PeerBlock.

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Media:

• VLC

Plays everything, small footprint. Easy to use.

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Media:
For better quality but a more complicated setup on Windows-Based computers, I recommend using the following combination:

• Windows Media Player
• ReClock
• CoreAVC 2.0
• Xvid Codec
• Haali Media Splitter
• AC3 Filter

*Note: For Audio, Visit the following thread:
http://hsc.natescomp.com/index.php/topic,5.msg7.html

• Mp3tag

Powerful tool to edit metadata of common audio formats (flac, mp3, ogg) and more.

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Misc.:

• Blender

Open Source 3D content creation suite.

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Misc.:

• TeamViewer

Remote support program, similar to RDC.

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Misc.:

• File Hippo Update Checker

Checks for updates to software and programs.

• DriverMax

Finds and downloads the latest drivers for your computer.

• HashCheck

Shell extension to create and verify checksums (sfv, md5, etc) and hashes for any file.

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Text Programs:

• Open Office

Open source Microsoft Office alternative.

• PDF Split and Merge

Split and merge PDF files. Also rearranges pages in a PDF.

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Text Programs:

• Foxit Reader

Alternative to Adobe, this will read your PDF's faster and with less memory usage.

• Notepad++

Awesome text editor, has all the features you will need and more. Great to use for coding.

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Tweaking Programs:

• EVGA Precision

Quick and easy overclocking tool for Nvidia-based graphics cards. Also has in-game temp, fan speed, time and FPS meters.

• Windows 7 Manager / Vista Manager / XP Manager

Tweaks you never even thought about, but it comes with a price.

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Specs & Information:

• Speccy

Beta program from Piriform (Makers of CCleaner & Defraggler) that can tell you everything you need to know about your computer and share it in a file.

• GPU-Z

Shows everything you could possibly want to know about your graphics card.

• SpeedFan

Shows temperatures, voltages, S.M.A.R.T. info and more.