Computer NIC monitoring

 I am looking for something or some way I can tell what kind of throughput etc in realtime I am getting from a PCs NIC. 

I have two computers hooked up to a linksys 4 port 10/100/1000 workgroup switch.  It seems if I transfer 3 or 4 gb of data, it should only take a few minutes, but it takes a lot longer.  I know the task manager will show the % util, but I am looking for more info.

I prefer a util I can run directly on the machine and not a monitoring program running from a server.
 

Thanks 

EDIT: I have 1gb NICs in each computer and one is running XP and the other Vista.  I know I can't expect to get actual 1gb/min throughput but I think I should be getting better than what I am.   

Netlimiter is a great program but it's also a shaper.

 http://www.netlimiter.com/

DUmeter will also give you the transfer rate on each PC.
It's an oldie but goodie.
 

Shouldn't be a port speed issue.  Both PCs are set to auto and the unmanaged linksys 10/100/1000 switch is autosensing.  The PCs show a 1GB connection.

 So hence a program that could grab NIC data for me and let me know if packets are getting dropped etc would be nice.  In this thread http://thwack.com/forums/t/4303.aspx I have suggested that maybe Toolset could include some sort of portable util for things like this that could possibly run on a USB key. 

 
I haven't looked at DUmeter, but read it was similiar to bandwidth monitor www.bwmonitor.com which I am trying right now.  It also ties in with tcpview which is really nice.  The stop watch is also a lot better than trying to use the system clock when timing transfers.
 

If you want to measure throughput, then iPerf is a good program for that.
It's a freebie and runs on almost any OS.
 

BakerD:

Shouldn't be a port speed issue.  Both PCs are set to auto and the unmanaged linksys 10/100/1000 switch is autosensing.  The PCs show a 1GB connection.

Check your cabling? Cat5 and Cat5e aren't gonna give you full gigabit speeds. At most you'll get 400Mb/s