How to measure the temperature of your computer's CPU

BySigismondo Eisenhower 2019-07-24 1289

Heat is one of your computer's greatest enemies. When the processor or CPU gets too hot, you may encounter errors, some unexpected restarts or notice that the computer is performing below expectations. That's why it's important to measure your computer's temperature from time to time.

That's why today we're going to show you how to measure the temperature of your CPU. We are going to do it in two simple ways, the first from the BIOS or UEFI of your computer, and the second with an open source software that does not require installation and shows you in an even easier way all the information of your computer.

Measure CPU temperature in BIOS or UEFI

To enter the BIOS or UEFI of your computer you will need to press a specific key just when you turn on the computer, before it loads Windows. Normally this button is said on the manufacturer's screen as soon as you restart it, and it is usually F2, F10 or Delete. Still, depending on the manufacturer it may be another F button.

When you press this button just as your system is booting you will enter the BIOS directly. In it, which can have different aspects, you have to look for a category of information called Systema Information. It can also have other similar names like H/W Monitor, Computer Status and others of that type.

The hardware information screen will show you, as its name suggests, all the information about the components of your computer. There has to be, or at least there usually is, a space in which the temperature of the processor of your computer is indicated to you.

As we told you before, depending on the BIOS your computer has, how it looks can vary a lot, and the way this information is shown to you as well. In fact, there may not even be temperature information, and that's why we're going to teach you another method that goes beyond BIOS.

Measuring CPU Temperature

There are several programs with which you can measure the temperature of your CPU in Windows. But because it is open source, free and easy to use today we are going to suggest you use Open Hardware Monitor. The first step, therefore, is to enter their website and click on the Download Open Hardware Monitor 0.8.0 Beta button, which will take you to a screen where you must now click on Download Now.

The application will not be downloaded in any .exe installation file, as you do not need to install it. Instead you will have a compressed .zip file, so you just have to right click on it and choose the decompression option. If you don't have a good decompressor, remember that you can download many alternatives.

This will create a folder called OpenHardwareMonitor. Enter it and double click on the OpenHardwareMonitor.exe file to run it. It is a file that requires administrator permissions, so before running it Windows will tell you if you are sure you want the program to make changes to the system. Say yes.

When you run it, the program will show you ALL the information about your computer. To find the temperature of your CPU you only have to look for the name of your processor, and under it you will see all its information including the temperature of each nucleus and of the set or Package. With this program you can also look at the temperature of your graphics card, your hard disks and any other element.

Normal temperatures for your processor

But since knowing the temperature of the computer itself won't tell you anything either, here is a graph showing you what are the normal temperatures that your processor should have. The data have been compiled in BuildComputers.net, and in them you can see the normal temperature at rest, when you work normally and the maximum temperature.

PROCESSOR	STANDBY TEMPERATURE	NORMAL TEMPERATURE	MAXIMUM TEMPERATURE
INTEL CORE I5-6600K	24 - 28 °C	42 -52 °C	72 ° C
INTEL CORE I7-6700K	26 -35 °C	53 -70 °C	72 ° C
INTEL CORE I3-4130	34 -38 °C	50 -61 °C	72 ° C
INTEL CORE I5-4670K	28 -35 °C	47 -60 °C	72 ° C
INTEL CORE I7-4770K	34 -39 °C	55 -65 °C	67 °C
INTEL CORE I3-3220	28 -35 °C	50 -60°C	65°C
INTEL CORE I5-3570K	28 -35 °C	50 -62°C	67°C
INTEL CORE I7-3770K	30 -40 °C	55 -65 °C	67°C
INTEL CORE I3-2100	30 -37 °C	50 -62°C	69 °C
INTEL CORE I5-2500K	35 -41 °C	55 -65 °C	72 ° C
INTEL CORE I7-2600K	32 -40 °C	47 -60 °C	72 ° C
AMD A6-7400K	28 -35 °C	50 -63 °C	70 ° C
AMD A10-7850K	28 -33 °C	49 -60 °C	72.4 ° C
AMD A6-6400K	28 -37 °C	49 -57 °C	70 °C
AMD A10-6800K	28 -35 °C	50 -55 °CC	74°C
AMD A6-5400K	25 -35 °C	45 -55 °C	70 °C
AMD A10-5800K	28 -35 °C	50 -55 °C	74 °C
AMD FX-4300	30 -35 °C	45 -55 °C	61°C
AMD FX-6300	35 -40 °C	50 -60 °C	61°C
AMD FX-8350	35 -40 °C	50 -55 °C	61 °C
AMD FX-4100	35 -40 °C	50 -60 °C	70 °C
AMD FX-6100	30 -35 °C	45 -55 °C	70 °C
FX-8150	30 -35 °C	50 -58 °C	61 °C

These are the average temperatures for each moment. It does not mean that it cannot be higher, for example, the maximum can exceed 90, but it is not something recommended. If you exceed these temperatures, it could be because you are venting badly or there is a problem with one of your components.

If you subject your equipment to too high temperatures you may experience performance losses, restarts or even permanent damage to some of the components, although many processors stop working automatically to avoid these irreversible damages.

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