How to Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

The CPU is responsible for processing all the data and for managing all your commands and operations. Due to all the brain-work that a CPU is responsible for, it sometimes gets heated up. Now, if your CPU runs too hot for a very long time, it may cause you a lot of trouble, including sudden shutdown, system crash or even a CPU failure. While the CPU’s ideal temperature is room temperature, a little higher temperature is still acceptable for a short time period. Don’t fret, and the CPU can be cooled down by  adjusting fan speeds using Fan Speed Controller Software. But, how would you, in the first place, find out how hot your CPU actually is? So, there are a few “thermometers” for your CPU. Let us see two of such apps, which will tell you what exactly your CPU’s temperature is.

How to Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

How to Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

Core Temp: Monitor Your Computer’s CPU Temperature

Core Temp is the basic CPU temperature monitoring app that is available for free. It is a lightweight app that enables you to monitor the temperature of each core, and the temperature variations can be seen in real-time. You can download it from alcpu website. To use core temp,

1. Download Core Temp from the given site.

2. Launch the downloaded file to install it. Make sure that you uncheck any option to download other extra software with it.

3. Once installed, you will be able to see the different core temperature in your system tray. To see them, click on the upward arrow on your taskbar.

Able to see the different core temperature in your system tray | How to Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

4. You will see as many temperatures as the total number of the core of all the processors in your system.

5. Right-click on any temperature and click on Show/Hide to show or hide the details.

Right-click on any temperature and click on Show or Hide

6. The Show option will open a new window where you will see more information about your CPU like the model, platform, etc. For every individual core, you will see its maximum and minimum temperatures, which will keep on changing as you use different programs and applications.

Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10 using Core Temp

7. At the bottom of this window, you will find a value named ‘Tj. Max’. This value is the maximum temperature limit that your CPU shall reach. Ideally, the actual CPU temperature should be lower than this value.

8. You can also customize its settings as per your needs. For that, click on ‘Options’ and then select ‘Settings’.

To customize settings click on Options then select Settings

9. In the settings window, you will see several options like temperature polling/logging intervals, logging on startup, start with Windows, etc.

Inside the settings window you will see a number of options

10. Under the ‘Display’ tab, you can customize the Core Temp display settings like field colours. You can also choose to view the temperature in Fahrenheit or hide taskbar button, among other options.

Under the Display tab, you can customize the Core Temp display settings

11. To customize what is visible at your notification area, move on to ‘Notification Area’ tab. Select if you want to see temperatures of all the cores individually or if you only require to see the maximum core temperature per processor.

Under Notification Area, you can customize notification area settings | How to Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

12. Additionally, Core Temp has Overheat Protection feature to save you when your CPU is running too hot automatically. For this, click on ‘Options’ and select ‘Overheat protection’.

13. Check the ‘Enable overheat protection’ checkbox.

Check the ‘Enable overheat protection’ checkbox | Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

14. You can choose when you want to be notified and even decide if you want your system to be put to sleep, hibernate or shut down when a critical temperature is reached.

Note that Core Temp shows your core temperature and not CPU temperature. While CPU temperature is the actual temperature sensor, it tends to be more accurate at lower temperatures only. At higher temperatures, when the temperature is rather more critical to us, core temperature is a better metric.

HWMonitor: Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

For those of you who need a better picture of your system temperatures, HWMonitor is an efficient app you should try. With HWMonitor, you can check temperatures of your CPU and your graphics card, motherboard, hard drives, etc. Just download it from this website. If you download the zip file, there is no need for installation. Just extract the files and double click on the .exe file to run it.

HWMonitor: Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10

You will be able to see all the system details along with CPU temperatures. Note that HWMonitor shows both core temperature as well as CPU temperature.

What Temperatures are Safe?

Once you know your CPU’s temperature, you should know if it is safe for operation or not. While different processors have different permissible temperature limits, here are general approximate temperature ranges that you should know about.

  • Below 30 degree Celsius: Your CPU is working too well.
  • 30 degrees to 50 degrees: Your CPU is under ideal conditions (for a room temperature around 40 degree Celsius).
  • 50 degrees to 60 degrees: This temperature is fine for slightly higher room temperatures.
  • 60 degrees to 80 degrees: For load temperatures, anything below 80 degrees works fine. However, you should be warned if the temperature is continuously increasing.
  • 80 degrees to 90 degrees: At these temperatures, you should be concerned. CPU running too long at these temperatures should be avoided. Look out for reasons like overclocking, dust build-up and faulty fans.
  • Above 90 degrees: These are extremely dangerous temperatures, and you should consider shutting down your system.

How to keep the Processor cool?

The processor performs best when it is cool. To ensure your processor stays cool, consider the following:

  • Keep your computer in a cool and ventilated environment while using it. You should ensure that it is not enclosed in tight and close spaces.
  • Keep your system clean. Remove dust from time to time to allow efficient cooling.
  • Verify if all the fans are working fine. Consider installing more fans if you really need to overclock or if your CPU turns quite hot frequently.
  • Consider re-applying thermal paste, which allows heat to be transferred away from the processor.
  • Re-install your CPU cooler.

Using the above-mentioned apps and methods, you can monitor or check your CPU temperature and prevent any trouble that high temperatures may cause. Apart from Core Temp and HWMonitor, there are many other apps that you can use to monitor CPU temperature like HWInfo, Open Hardware Monitor, etc.

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I hope this article was helpful and now you can easily Check Your CPU Temperature in Windows 10, but if you still have any questions regarding this tutorial then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

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