How to measure CPU and GPU temperature on your PC using monitoring software

Your PC is, literally, a small stoveIt doesn't get as hot as a radiator at home, but when you start gaming, editing video, or rendering, the processor and graphics card start drawing power, and that power consumption translates into heat. If you notice the room getting too hot or the tower blowing very hot air, it's time to wonder what's going on inside.

Before changing fans or buying expensive liquid cooling, the smartest thing to do is Measure the actual temperature of the CPU, GPU, and other componentsOnly then will you know if everything is within reasonable limits or if you have a serious temperature problem that could cause performance losses, crashes, or even permanent damage. For this purpose, there are many hardware monitoring programs that we'll review in detail.

Why is it so important to monitor hardware temperature?

All PC components consume energyProcessor, graphics card, RAM, SSD, motherboard chip… None of them are 100% efficient, so some of that energy is dissipated as heat. If that heat isn't properly dissipated, temperatures rise and problems begin.

Modern CPUs, GPUs, and storage units include thermal protection mechanismsWhen they reach a certain temperature threshold, they automatically reduce their frequency (and sometimes the voltage) to protect themselves. This is known as Thermal throttling This translates into a PC that suddenly runs slower, games lose FPS, or demanding programs take forever to load, and on laptops, this is sometimes necessary. limit the maximum processor state to lower temperatures.

If things get really bad, some components reach a critical temperature and the equipment shuts down. It suddenly shuts down or restarts as a safety system. Furthermore, continuous operation at high temperatures shortens the lifespan of the CPU, graphics card, motherboard VRMs, and even SSDs.

For all these reasons, it's worth using good monitoring software for Check the temperatures regularly, detect cooling bottlenecks and react in time by changing the thermal paste, cleaning the dust or by adjusting the fan curve.

The main symptoms of an overheated PC They are usually quite clear if you know what to look for:

• Fans always on full blastIf even during light tasks or at the desk the fans sound like a plane taking off, something is overheating inside the case.
• Thermal throttling and performance dropsThe system feels sluggish with any task, FPS drops wildly in games, or the CPU never reaches the frequencies advertised by the manufacturer.
• Unexpected restarts or shutdownsThe PC shuts down or restarts unexpectedly, especially under load (gaming, video editing, rendering). This is often due to thermal protection.
• Blue screens and crashesFrequent BSODs or applications that freeze for a few seconds when the processor or graphics card is under heavy load can also be related to heat.

In addition to all this, it is very common to notice the following in poorly ventilated laptops and desktops: excessively hot surface or see how disk usage skyrockets to 100% because a drive that's frying starts giving internal errors.

Normal and dangerous temperatures in CPU and GPU

To know if you need to worry, it's helpful to have some approximate temperature referencesNot all processors or graphics cards work the same, but there are reasonable ranges for most current PCs.

For a typical modern desktop CPU, with a decent heatsink, we can consider indicative values ​​like these:

• Rest / basic tasks (browsing, office work, video streaming): between 25 °C and 35-40 °C, depending on the heatsink, the case and the ambient temperature.
• Moderate load (multitasking, some editing, light gaming): around 40-65 °C is normal.
• prolonged high load (Demanding games, 3D rendering, video editing): Operating between 65-80 °C is usually acceptable for many models, provided they are not kept close to the ceiling for too long.
• Dangerous areas: Above 85-90 °C sustained, it is advisable to check thermal paste, airflow and whether the heatsink is insufficient.

In gaming GPUs, the values ​​also vary depending on the architecture, but it is generally assumed that a GPU at 75-80 °C during intense gaming This is within expectations, and it starts to be scrutinized from 90°C onwards if it is maintained for a long time.

It should also be taken into account that the ambient temperature and room ventilation They have a big impact. A PC in a very hot room or placed against a wall with no room to breathe will reach higher temperatures even if the hardware is the same.

What the Windows Task Manager offers (and doesn't offer)

Windows has included a basic tool for years to see what the system is doing: the Task ManagerIn addition to showing processes and their CPU or memory consumption, the "Performance" tab lets you see real-time graphs of CPU, RAM, disk, network, and GPU usage.

However, as a thermal monitoring utility, it falls quite short. It does not display the temperature of the CPU, RAM, or SSDsIn the most recent versions of Windows 10 and 11, it only offers the temperature of the main GPU, and not always on all models.

This means that, although it can be useful for detecting if a component is constantly at 100% load, the Task Manager is not sufficient for diagnose overheating problemsFor that, it is necessary to resort to specific applications capable of reading the sensors integrated into the motherboard, processor, graphics card, and storage units.

Programs focused on CPU temperature

If your main concern is controlling what your processor does, there are utilities designed almost exclusively for that purpose, although most users end up preferring more comprehensive tools that cover all the hardware.

Core Temp

Core Temp It's a classic for anyone who wants to see the precise temperature of each CPU core. It's a tiny, lightweight, and easy-to-use program that works perfectly with Intel, AMD, and even some VIA processors, thanks to its direct reading of the Digital Thermal Sensor (DTS) integrated into the chip.

With Core Temp you can see minimum, maximum and current temperature per coreThe report includes the load on each component, frequencies, voltage, estimated power consumption, and basic CPU data such as model, socket, and lithography. The information is very concise and not overwhelming, ideal for those who simply want to know if the processor is within safe operating parameters.

One interesting feature it offers is the possibility of remote monitoring You can check temperatures from your mobile device using a dedicated app (Core Temp Monitor) that connects to your computer. This is useful if you leave your PC running a stress test for many hours and then leave the room.

It's free, takes up very little space, and although its options aren't extensive, It perfectly fulfills its function: closely monitor the CPU without consuming almost any system resources.

SolarWinds CPU Load Monitor (Professional Environment)

In business or systems administration environments, more advanced tools are used, such as SolarWinds CPU Load MonitorIt's not just a temperature reader: it's a solution for in-depth monitoring of the load and status of multiple devices, both network and server, with more than 60 integrated utilities.

In this case, the CPU section allows you to see not only usage and temperature, but also define thresholds and alerts These notifications are sent via email, SMS, desktop notification, or even mobile phone. This allows you to relax while long-running tests are running and only intervene when something goes wrong.

In addition, it supports advanced configurations such as devices with dual socketThis allows you to monitor both processors at a glance on powerful servers or workstations without opening multiple instances.

It's paid software with a trial period of about two weeks, clearly aimed at administrators of systems and corporate environmentsnot so much to the home user building their first PC.

Programs to monitor all PC components

Most users prefer to use tools that display, on a single screen, the temperature and status of virtually all the hardware: CPU, GPU, motherboard, disks, RAM, fans, voltages… This is where several well-known applications come into play.

HWMonitor

HWMonitorCreated by the developers of CPU-Z, it's one of the most widely used programs for monitoring PC health in real time. Its strength lies in... It makes the most of the sensors integrated into the board and components. to display very complete data, but it does so with a simple interface in the form of a drop-down list.

In HWMonitor you will see, for each component, its current, minimum and maximum temperature Since you opened the program, it displays voltages, frequencies, usage percentage, power consumption, and fan speeds. It also shows the free/occupied space of the drives and, on laptops, battery information.

If you prefer something even lighter, there's a portable version you can carry on a USB drive and run on any PC without installing anything, perfect for diagnose other people's equipment.

HWiNFO

If you like to have everything under control down to the millimeter, HWiNFO It's probably the most comprehensive tool you can install. It's free for personal use and offers a massive amount of information: from detailed identification of each chip to readings from hundreds of internal sensors.

Upon startup, HWiNFO may display a window with a hardware summary and another with the list of real-time sensorsFrom there you can see CPU temperatures (per core), GPU, motherboard VRM, chipset, memory, disks, RAM modules with thermal sensor, fans, voltages of each power supply line, power consumption of each component and much more.

In addition, it allows generate extensive reports in formats such as HTML, CSV or XML to compare before and after hardware changes or overclocking, and integrates with overlays and external tools to display on-screen data, tray icons or even dedicated LCD panels.

It's so comprehensive that it can be overwhelming at first, but for enthusiasts, overclockers, and technicians, it's a Swiss Army knife for diagnosisIt is no coincidence that it is used even in very demanding organizations such as space agencies.

AIDA64 Extreme

AIDA64 Extreme It is a very popular paid solution among hardware and technical service professionals because it combines everything into a single program monitoring, stress testing and benchmarks High-level. It has a time-limited trial version, but full features require a license.

Its sensor module allows you to check the temperature of virtually anything with a monitoring chip: CPU, GPU, hard drives, motherboard, RAM modules with sensors, VRM, etc. The display of readings is quite similar to HWMonitor, showing minimum, maximum, and current values.

One of its strengths is that it offers very demanding stability tests These features push the processor, graphics card, and memory to their limits, while simultaneously monitoring real-time temperature levels. It also supports displaying information on external screens, gadgets, desktop OSDs, and devices like keyboards with integrated displays.

In return, its interface is somewhat more convoluted than other free options, and on some motherboard brands (especially ASUS) it requires activate specific compatibilities in the preferences menu, such as access to the SMBus bus via ACPI or support for thermal sensors in DIMM modules, so that it detects all sensors correctly.

NZXT CAM

The well-known case and cooling system brand NZXT offers its own software, NZXT CAM, initially designed to manage its ecosystem (fans, pumps, lighting), but which has become a fairly complete monitoring suite for any PC.

With CAM you can see at a glance CPU and GPU temperature and loadRAM usage, basic disk information (used/free space), and resource-intensive processes. It also includes an in-game overlay that displays FPS, temperatures, and other relevant data with very little impact on performance.

The most interesting part if you have hardware from that brand is that you can control it all from the same interface. fan curves, RGB lighting, and performance profiles It's very visually appealing. For anyone wanting an all-in-one program with a modern design, it's an attractive option.

Speccy

SpeccyFrom the creators of CCleaner, this is a very easy-to-use system information tool that also includes basic temperature readings. It's not intended to be a sensor hub, but rather to give you a... clear summary of installed hardware and its most important values.

In the main view you will see data for CPU, motherboard, RAM, GPU and disks, including the temperatures of those key componentsFrom there you can enter each section to see more specific details, such as the type of memory, slots occupied, exact graphics card model, or disk characteristics.

It allows you to save the results as a screenshot, text file, or XML file to share them in forums or with technical support, making it useful when you want quickly show your PC settings without getting into too many technicalities.

It has a free version that's sufficient for most users, and a paid version with additional features. However, for very detailed temperature diagnostics, it's usually better to use HWiNFO or AIDA64, which offer greater granularity.

Open Hardware Monitor and Libre Hardware Monitor

Open Hardware Monitor For years, it was one of the leading open-source software tools for monitoring system temperature and other parameters. It allows you to view CPU and GPU temperatures, voltages, fan speeds, frequencies, and load, organizing everything in a very clear tree view.

Its main attraction was the Windows 7 type floating gadget which kept temperatures always visible without taking up much space, ideal for keeping an eye on the CPU and GPU while working or playing in windowed mode.

The problem is that its development stalled a long time ago, so even with very modern hardware it may not recognize some sensors correctly. That's why it appeared Libre Hardware Monitor, a community-maintained fork that continues where the original project left off.

Libre Hardware Monitor maintains the same open-source philosophy and adds Updated support for recent Intel and AMD processorsas well as for the latest GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD, in addition to various temperature controllers on disks, network cards and other devices.

It can be downloaded for free from its GitHub repository, and even installed from the command line using tools like Winget. It's a great option for anyone who wants modern open source software with broad compatibility and no advertising.

SpeedFan

SpeedFan It's a veteran tool with a dual purpose: on one side, it allows you to read temperature, voltages, and fan speeds; on the other, it's designed to manually or automatically modify the fan speed connected to the motherboard based on the sensor readings.

With it, you can see in list and graph form how temperatures evolve as you change the fan curves, making it easier to find a balance between noise and coolingIt is especially useful for identifying which component is overheating and adjusting the corresponding fan.

Although it hasn't received major updates for years, it still works on current systems like Windows 11 and is compatible with a wide range of motherboards dating back to the Windows 9x era. For many advanced users, it remains an indispensable tool for fine-tune the PC's thermal behavior.

EaseUS Partition Master (disk monitoring)

Although it is primarily known as a partition management utility, EASEUS Partition Master It includes functions to check the health and temperature of hard drives and SSDs from its monitoring section.

With a couple of clicks you can see the current temperature of each unitRun I/O tests and check the overall health of the disk. It's a quick way to detect if an HDD or SSD is overheating or experiencing errors that could lead to data loss.

MSI Afterburner: the favorite of gamers and enthusiasts

You can't talk about measuring the temperature of the graphics card and CPU without mentioning MSI AfterburnerAlthough it originated as an overclocking tool for GPUs, today it is the de facto standard among gamers and advanced users for monitoring performance in real time.

The best part is that, despite being developed by MSI, It works with virtually any graphics card. from NVIDIA or AMD, regardless of the brand (ASUS, Gigabyte, EVGA, Sapphire, etc.). This puts it ahead of proprietary solutions limited to a single brand.

Afterburner allows you to adjust GPU and memory frequencies, voltages, and fan curves, but its star feature for most is the overlay in games: a configurable box that displays FPS, GPU and CPU temperature, usage of both, frequency, consumption and other data in a corner of the screen while you play.

Behind the overlay is RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), which is installed alongside Afterburner and is responsible for drawing the sensor data over the game image with minimal impact on performance.

In addition, Afterburner allows record graphs with the temperature history and other values ​​during a session, something very useful to check afterwards if at a certain point the GPU got extremely hot or if the CPU started throttling in the middle of a game.

How to configure MSI Afterburner to display temperatures on screen

The beauty of Afterburner lies in leveraging the overlay. The basic configuration for displaying temperatures while gaming is as follows:

• Install MSI Afterburner From its official website and, during installation, uncheck any additional software you don't need (such as security suites) to avoid putting bloatware on your system.
• Open Afterburner and click on the gear icon to enter settings.
• Go to the tab "Monitoring" and select the sensors you want to display: GPU temperature, CPU temperature, GPU usage, CPU usage, FPS, etc.
• For each sensor selected, check the box. "Show in On-Screen Display" so that it appears in the overlay.
• Apply the changes and make sure RTSS is running in the background, as it is responsible for painting the overlay within the game.

From the RTSS interface itself you will be able to adjust size, position and style The information box is hidden so it doesn't get in the way while you're playing. It's a very convenient way to instantly detect if the bottleneck is in the CPU, the GPU, or thermal limits.

Other temperature monitors and complementary tools

In addition to the more well-known uses, there are other temperature monitors that may be a better fit depending on the user's profile and the type of use of the equipment.

Applications like CPU-Z (and its sister GPU-Z) are not thermal monitors themselves, but they help to accurately identify each component (exact CPU model, chipset, memory type, etc.), something very useful before choosing heatsinks, updating BIOS or checking compatibility.

On the other hand, many motherboard and graphics card manufacturers offer their proprietary monitoring and control suites (ASUS GPU Tweak, Gigabyte Aorus Engine, motherboard utilities for controlling fans and RGB). These are usually convenient if you only use hardware from that brand, but they are often heavier or less universal than options like Afterburner or HWiNFO.

It should also not be forgotten that, if you want to check temperatures before even installing Windows or LinuxYou can access the BIOS/UEFI as soon as you assemble your PC. Almost all motherboards display the CPU temperature, sometimes the chipset temperature, and fan speeds in a "Hardware Monitor" section, which is ideal for ensuring the heatsink is properly installed and making good contact with the CPU.

Which program to choose based on your user profile

With so many tools available, it's easy to get overwhelmed. While you can have several installed without issue, choosing wisely from the start saves you time and unnecessary testing. Depending on your needs, some will be a better fit than others.

To Beginners for those who just want to keep an eye on the temperatures without getting too complicated, options like Core Temp (CPU-centric) or Speccy (Overview of the system with basic temperatures) are more than enough to know if the equipment is overheating or not.

If you are a gamer And if your priority is to see how the CPU, GPU, and FPS are performing while you play, the recommendation is clear: MSI Afterburner with its overlay via RivaTuner. It's free, works with almost any graphics card, and gives you just the data you need in real time, as well as allowing you to adjust the GPU fan curve to keep it cool.

To enthusiasts and advanced users For those who overclock, test hardware, or like to log data from their equipment, the ideal tool is to use HWiNFO or a combination of HWiNFO + AIDA64The first gives you total control without paying; the second adds stress tests and extra diagnostic and presentation capabilities.

And if you're particularly concerned about disk health because you handle important data, complement the above tools with utilities such as EASEUS Partition Master or the SMART readings integrated into many of these programs will allow you to anticipate failures of overheated units.

Ultimately, having one or two good temperature monitors installed and checking them from time to time saves you from unpleasant surprises, extends the life of your hardware, and helps you understand much better how your PC behaves when you push it to its limits—something that's always useful whether you're just browsing the web or pushing your CPU and GPU to the limit in games or heavy workloads.