Monitor CPU Temperature on Windows 10
Edited by Jay
With all the advancements made to the Windows Operating system over the years, there is one thing that still perplexes many users. The lack of an onboard tool or application to monitor or check the temperatures of various hardware components, especially the CPU and GPU. If you're a user that; plays resource eating games, experiments with overclocking, or someone with a half-decently powered laptop, at some point, you'll want to be able to check the temp of your CPU. If you've spent a nice chunk of change on a system, the last thing you want to do is run your CPU to the max on a regular basis.
If you notice that your computer is running slow, laggy, or randomly shuts down, there is a good chance it's due to overheating. If you live in a warmer climate or use your laptop outside often, you run an even higher chance of overheating your machine. Having a reliable application that actively monitors your systems sensors could save you a lot of hassle and money.
There are several free applications available that will help monitor your system's CPU temperature. For this article, we went with a popular tool called HWiNFO, not only because it's free, but it's also received a lot of positive feedback from its userbase. HWiNFO is pretty advanced and can monitor much more than your CPU temperature. If you download and enjoy the software, consider donating to the developers.
For this VisiHow, we used a Clevo laptop with an i7 quad-core processor, running Windows 10 Professional.
Please remember the ideal temperature for your CPU at idle and under load will depend on the manufacturers' specifications.
Download and Install HWiNFO for Windows 10
Check CPU Temperature on Windows 10
In the following steps, we're going to show the Core temperatures, as these are considered the standard for measuring the thermal output of a CPU. The sensors read in this case are closest the highest temperatures due to their location.
- 1If not, run the application from the Start Menu destination you chose during the setup phase. With the HWiNFO Welcome window open, select "Sensors-only", then click "Run".If you're continuing from the previous section and left "Launch HWiNFO64" selected in the final window of the installation wizard, the program will already be open.
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- 4In our example, we tested a quad-core processor, so there are four temperatures displayed. You'll see four different columns; Current, Minimum, Maximum, and Average. You'll also see "Distance to TjMAX listed under the main cores listed. This represents how far away from the maximum, in temperature, that your cores are based on the manufactures specifications. In our example, 100 Celsius is the maximum.From the Sensor Status window, scroll the section that displays your CPU, specifically the section that lists the different "Cores".
Change Temperature Units in HWiNFO
To change the temperature units from Celsius to Fahrenheit, follow the steps below.
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Add CPU Temp Monitoring to the System Tray Windows 10
If you'd like to see your core temps directly in the System Tray, follow the steps below.
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- 5The number is the current temperature of that core.To test, expand you System Tray, you'll see each core shown with a different colored background.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.