How to Check CPU Temperature and Why Is It Important? — Kooling Monster
Processors & Cooling Systems
Written By Daniel Chen
Have you ever encountered a situation in which opening a folder takes a decade, your computer freezes when you do anything, your PC shuts down for no reason, and the only way to get the computer to work is to hit reset? Perhaps a possible explanation is that your CPU overheated and has stopped processing all of your work. These issues are commonly seen in old computers because hardware lacks maintenance or needs improvement.
What happens if my CPU overheats?
If the CPU overheats, terrible things happen. In the worst case, your processor, motherboard, and surrounding parts will be damaged, and this will be an irreversible change. Common signs that signal your CPU has overheated are regular system freezes, strange graphics pop-ups, sudden shutdowns, and… the blue screen of death. If your computer fails to reduce the CPU utilization rate to lower temperatures. CPU temperatures might skyrocket, damaging other internal components, possibly to the point of creating smoke! . So it’s critical to make sure your CPU stays within a safe temperature range.
How do I check my CPU’s temperature?
In general, there are two ways to monitor CPU heat: Windows built-in system tools and 3rd party software.
Windows built-in system tools
You can check the CPU temperature in the BIOS settings (or UEFI after Windows 10), but this method doesn’t provide much value as we don’t have access to the BIOS when we play video games. So 3rd party monitoring software is more useful.
3rd party system monitoring software
There are many monitoring programs, such as HWiNFO, Core Temp, NZXT’s CAM, and many others.
HWiNFO is believed to be the easiest to operate and can track CPU/GPU temperature over time (even while you are gaming)
Step 1
Visit HWiNFO website download page: https://www.hwinfo.com/download/
Step 2
Download an installer version (or portable version if you like) for your computer and install it
Step 3
Open it with Sensors-only
Step 4
A list of sensor data will show up
Step 5
Locate “CPU Package”, as it represents your CPU’s temperature readings. You can see current, minimum, maximum, and average of CPU temperature here
Step 6
If you double click “CPU Package”, a real-time temperature graph will be generated
What is the ideal temperature for my CPU?
First of all, it’s normal that CPU temperatures rise, especially when doing work because it means the CPU is working.
Certain work, by nature, consumes more CPU power (e.g. video editing or heavy gaming). When your computer is idle, a good temperature range is 40~55 degrees Celsius, depending on your other components. While under stress, a range of 65~80 degrees is also not something that you should worry about.
However, if you observe CPU temperatures of 95 degrees when you’re just watching YouTube videos, that would be a big warning sign. Watching YouTube videos typically doesn’t consume that much CPU power and 95 degrees Celsius is just way too high. In this circumstance, you would consider CPU temperature abnormally high.
How to lower CPU temperature?
Technically speaking, what we try to do is not to lower CPU temperature, but to improve heat dissipation efficiency for the entire cooling system. CPUs generate heat when processing your work (which is what it’s supposed to do), so what we should focus on is to allow more heat to be transferred out from the CPU in a short time, thus reducing temperatures as a biproduct.
A more expensive way is to replace your old components such as your fans or heatsink with new and more powerful model. However, not everyone has the budget or the time to replace everything, especially when there’s a much cheaper way to potentially solve this problem.
A cheaper but very useful way is to reapply thermal paste. A very common reason that CPUs overheat is that old thermal paste degrades or cracks, inhibiting external heat transfer and causing temperatures to rise. By simply reapplying thermal paste, it’s easy to see not only CPU temperature drops, but also increases in CPU utilization rates.
Daniel Chen
How To Check Your CPU Temperature In Windows 10/11
It might come as a surprise, but when the Microsft software engineers sat down and designed Windows 10 & 11 (likely drunk), they did not think it would be of any use at all for you to check your computer’s CPU temperature, nope, literally zero use.
Instead, I get Cortana popping up randomly asking me what I want today – like I even know myself.
Fresh CPU Paste applicatiomn
So it seems Microsft left us with no alternative other than installing any additional software to monitor system temperatures which is kind of a bummer considering Windows is the most popular operating system for gaming and competitive overclocking available.
Table of Contents
Well, if you can’t check your CPU temperatures while stress testing with Prime95 using native Windows functionality, how are you supposed to monitor your CPU temp? Let’s take a look at three of the best and most popular CPU reporting software available for you to use.
How to Check CPU Temperature
There are several ways to check the temperature of your CPU, including using software tools and BIOS/UEFI.AMD Ryzen CPU Monitoring
Software Tools
There are several third-party software tools that can be used to monitor the temperature of your CPU. Some popular options include:
- Core Temp
- CPU-Z
- HWiNFO
These software tools provide real-time temperature readings and some can also be set up to alert you when your CPU reaches a certain temperature.
Keep scrolling to find out where to download them.
BIOS/UEFI
Most modern motherboards come with a built-in monitoring system that displays the temperature of your CPU in the BIOS. To access this information, you will need to restart your computer and enter the BIOS or UEFI. Once there, look for the “Hardware Monitor” or “PC Health” section, where you will find the temperature readings.
Keeping Your CPU Temperature Within Safe Limits
Zalman
There are several things you can do to lower your CPU temperature/a>, including:
- Keep your computer in a well-ventilated area to allow for proper airflow
- Clean the dust from your computer regularly to prevent it from clogging up the air vents and obstructing airflow
- Ensure that your computer’s fans are functioning properly
- Avoid using intensive applications for extended periods without proper cooling
- Invest in a high-quality CPU cooler to reduce the temperature of your CPU such as the Noctua NH-D15.
It is essential to monitor your CPU temperature regularly and take the necessary steps to keep it within safe limits to ensure the stability and longevity of your computer’s components.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Normal CPU Temperature Range?
The normal temperature range of a CPU varies depending on the manufacturer and model, but it is typically between 35°C and 60°C. However, it is essential to refer to the manufacturer’s specifications for your specific CPU to determine its safe operating temperature range.
4 Tools to Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows
Below you will find four different tools that will let you monitor your CPU information on Windows 10 or Windows 11. Some of these applications also monitor other vital system information and components to give you a bigger insight into your computer.
1. Everything: AIDA64
Some reporting programs can be a bit iffy with modern hardware (I’m looking at you OpenHarwareMonitor), but, AIDA64 works flawlessly and reports everything you might need from a system information tool for your computer.
Not only does AIDA64 report on vital system health statistics but it also has a built-in stress testing tool and benchmarking system.
Overall, AIDA64 is the most complete tool available to monitor your CPU temperatures and the reason it is first on our list.
Download Page
2. AMD Only: Ryzen Master
Considering AMD has climbed the ranks and currently have some of the best CPUs available on the market, I thought I would start with AMD’s very own overclocking software – Ryzen master.
As the name implies, Ryzen master only works with AMD processors, which most probably doesn’t come as a surprise.
Not only will this piece of overclocking software report temperatures for all of your CPU cores, but it will also allow you to overclock from within Windows too but, as we said in another article we don’t recommend it.
Download Page
3. All CPUs: CoreTemp
CoreTemp has been around a while and has a very specific purpose; Report your computer CPU temperature and voltages.
This monitoring application supports a huge list of hardware, including Intel and AMD processors.
It does not check any other components. For example, suppose you need to monitor GPU temperatures. In that case, you should scroll down and check out HWMonitor instead which is a fully-featured tool for full computer monitoring and will allow you to check a huge variety of system information.
Download Page
4. Full System Monitoring: HWMonitor
HWMonitor doesn’t just report and monitor your CPU temperature no. HWMonitor also monitors a wide variety of other statistics as well. HWMonitor can pretty much watch and report on any hardware that has a sensor connected to your computer.
I don’t use anything else, and I know the same is true for a lot of our more experienced readers.
So, what does HWMonitor report apart from CPU Temperature? Good Question!HWmonitor in action
HWMonitors reporting capabilities are impressive and include statistics such as CPU Temperature, CPU Voltage, GPU Temperature, GPU Voltage, HDD Temperature and even Motherboard Chipset Voltages.
It is a fully-fledged monitoring suite that is perfect for gamers and overclockers.
If you like to program and develop your stuff, the HWMonitor DLL has a vast array of functionality that is publicly accessible using Visual Basic that will allow you to program your own software and Arduino applications. It’s pretty handy, and we will have an article coming at a later date showing you exactly how to extract all sorts of information.
Download Page
Conclusion
Checking your CPU temperature and keeping it within safe limits is crucial to ensure the stability and longevity of your computer. Whether you use software tools or BIOS/UEFI, monitoring your CPU temperature regularly is the best way to ensure that it is operating within safe limits. By taking the steps necessary to keep your CPU temperature within safe limits, you can prevent potential damage and ensure that your computer runs smoothly.
How to find out the temperature of individual parts of a PC
This task is quite easy.
All that is required of you is the installation of a small program that will do everything by itself. There is nothing complicated in installing this program.
How to start monitoring temperatures?
Just download the installer and run it. Further, you will not have to do anything except pressing the “forward” button. After installation — run the utility and check the temperature of your computer. Check the temperature recommendations online and compare your readings with those recommended by the manufacturers.
It is important to know that controlling the temperature of the computer is very important, as overheating of the components will lead to their early failure. In other words, your personal computer will stop working fully. You should especially worry about this if you are using a laptop that is even more prone to overheating (simply because the cooler of the required power simply does not fit in the compact size of this device).
Which programs to use?
Speccy
Speccy is a free utility from the makers of CCleaner perfect for Windows users.
Immediately after installing the application, run it — and it will immediately display all the information about the heating of your PC on the display. The program is incredibly easy to use and its use is possible even at an intuitive level.
Particularly easy to use adds good optimization and excellent translation into Russian. That is, there will be no problems either in performance or in mastering.
HWMonitor
For more advanced technology users and owners of more advanced PCs, we recommend using the HWMonitor program.
This application, although a little more difficult to use, gives more detailed information about the state of your computer.
It works in the same way, but in addition to the current temperature, it also shows other indicators, including the minimum and maximum temperatures both when the PC is turned on and during its operation.
Macs Fan Control
For Mac owners, Macs Fan Control and iStat Menus are the best.
The first is free and according to its characteristics it can be considered an analogue of Speccy, but only for Apple users, and the second is an improved version, but it is paid (it costs its money, but, like all products in the App Store, by our standards, it costs quite well — $ 2.99).
What temperature is considered normal?
There is no exact answer to this question, since for different parts of different manufacturers — the norm is different. First of all, you should pay attention to the work of the video card, processor and drive. These parts are most likely to overheat and break down.
The average maximum temperature looks something like this:
- Processor — up to 95 °C.
- Video card — up to 95°C.
- HDD drive — up to 50°C.
- SSD drive — up to 70°C.
Please pay attention to the words «average» and «maximum». We emphasize this because the «average» temperature is relevant because it’s just an average.
This value was influenced by both the products with the minimum performance and those with the maximum. At the same time, the “maximum” temperature is the extremely high temperature, which can still be considered a safe heating temperature at which nothing threatens your device YET (but this is not accurate, until you know the exact figures specifically for you ). Bringing the device and its components to these indicators is not recommended.
In order to find out more accurate values, you need to search the Internet for recommended indicators from manufacturers or refer to the device manual. Just google the model name of the part you are interested in and add the word «specs» to it. So you will find the manufacturer’s website with a complete listing of the characteristics, among which there will be min, avg and max (minimum, average and maximum) heating temperatures. You will find them in the section Operating temperature (operating temperature range) or Junction (maximum values in degrees).
And the last problem that may arise is an elementary ignorance of the names of PC spare parts models. There is a way out, and it is very simple: this information is contained in the above programs. We hope that the article was useful for you and our tips will keep your PC from overheating and breakdowns!
Look at the site for a link to the hydra in the torus.
AIDA64 program. We measure the temperature of the processor
In the process of repairing computers, masters often have to diagnose processor overheating. Overheating of the processor is a very unpleasant phenomenon, since it automatically shuts down the computer due to it.
That is, if you are working on a serious project on a computer, and at the same time this project requires a lot of computer resources, a large load is placed on the processor, then at that moment the computer may simply turn off without any warning. Also, this situation is typical for laptops. In this case, you need to contact a computer laptop repair service.
DOWNLOAD AIDA64 Extreme Edition
Overheating of the processor is often caused by dustiness of the computer cooler. In this case, you just need to replace the cooler and re-replace the thermal paste on the processor and clean the laptop from dust. After replacing the cooler, the temperature should drop.
If the cooler is not dusty and works properly, then most likely the thermal paste has dried up at the junction of the cooler and the processor. In this case, you need to replace the thermal paste, wipe off the old layer and smear a new layer of thermal paste.
Let’s get back to measuring the processor temperature. For measuring the temperature of a processor running Windows, the AIDA64 program, the former Everest, is ideal. You can download the AIDA64 program from the official website of the developers of this program. The AIDA 64 program is shareware. This means that you can use it for a certain period of time, or use this program with limited functionality.
If you need all the functionality of the AIDA64 program, then you need to purchase it.
However, the temperature measurement functionality is available in a shareware version, which we will use. Download the program from the official site and install it. Installation is very simple and hassle-free. After installation, launch the AIDA 64 program. In the main menu, go to Service — System stability test.
The window displays various heating values for parts in a graph format. You can also select those elements on which you want to produce a synthetic load. Each device is displayed in a different color. These include:
Stress CPU — load on the processor
Stress cache — load on the processor cache
Stress local disks — load on the hard disk
Having checked the necessary checkboxes, you can start loading the processor to check its temperature. We press the Start button and the processor temperature indicator begins to rise in the graph.