How to check CPU temperature - CPU temperature Software, Reasons for Overheating CPU
84Checking CPU Temperature and Motherboard Temperature
So there are two basic ways to check the temperature of your system and this is either through the BIOS or using a software application that comes with your motherboard.
Not all motherboards are able to monitor CPU and motherboard temperature's but nowadays most motherboards should be able to.
You are also able to monitor fan speeds in rpm (revolution per minute) and sometimes alter them in order to keep your CPU running at a lower temperature and some motherboards even have a feature that allows you to specify in what temperature range you wish your CPU to run at.
Checking CPU temperature through BIOS
So the first way to check your cpu temperature and motherboard temperature (often reffered to as system temperature) you have to enter your systems bios / setup.
Sometimes it can be hard to enter the bios especially when you have a very fast loading computer, so here are the basic steps
1. Upon Startup press DEL to enter SETUP (another name for BIOS) it may differ from motherboard it may be F1 or sometimes F2, if you having trouble seeing what key to press it should tell you at the very bottom of the screen press the PAUSE BREAK key on your keyboard so you pause your screen to take a closer look.
2. Once in BIOS , navigate to your motherboards Power or PC health Menu
3. Here you will see CPU TEMP, SYSTEM TEMP
Checking CPU temperature while in Windows/Linux
So for this method you can check the CD that came with your Motherboard for any software that allows you to check your CPU temperature. For this example I am using an ASUS motherboard which uses the ASUS AI Suite program to monitor CPU temperature, System temp and Clock speeds.
So you can simply install the program from your Motherboard CD, and open the program up which looks like below using the cpu temperature monitoring software
CPU temperature software
So it is common to find your motherboard does not come with a cpu temperature software application but there are a few free ones out there, below is a list of some free cpu temperature software.
Remember it will only work if your motherboard supports cpu temperature monitoring not all motherboards do so you may need to try out a few cpu temperature software programs to see which one works for you.
Everest - Monitor for PC and MAC (worked for my intel cpu temperature monitoring)
Safe Temperature Ranges
So safe temperature ranges can vary a lot depending on the type of CPU you have and the temperature is greatly affected by
- Type of Cooling you are Using
- Whether or not you've overclocked your CPU
- General Air flow in Case and Room
AMD and Intel CPU temperature
From my experience Intel CPU temperature can run much hotter than AMD Cpu's especially the Pentium Prescott range, and I had problem with an old cpu that used to run at around 100 degree's celcius , If you find your intel cpu temperature running extremely hot dont totally freak out as the chances of your burning out the chip are very low as Intel have an inbuilt thermal protection system allowing the CPU to reach temp's above 100 and still be fine. But this does not mean you should allow this to go on for a long time.
Intel CPU temperature
Idle: 40 - 55 Load : 55 - 85 (intels are known for running hot so dont stress too much unless your close to 100 or so, you can setup alerts for when your CPU hits a certain temp)
AMD CPU temperature
Idle: 30 - 45 Load: 50 - 70
Keeping your CPU running cool
Reasons CPU is overheating
It is not uncommon for a CPU to run hot and usually it is quite an easy fix the following are the most common reasons
1. Thermal Paste underneath your CPU has been applied poorly and not in a nice thing layer, if this is the case you can simply go out and buy some more , its very cheap and look for a thermal paste that comes with a brush to make applying it easier.
2. Your CPU needs a desperate clean and is clogged with dust , this is very common in old houses that get dusty easily, simply clean it out with a brush or can of compressed air. My secret method , cheap method is too use a simple manual foot pump for a swisse ball:P works great and cheaper than buying cans of compressed air.
3. You CPU cooling system has not been fitted properly or is generally poor, this being said the stock fan's that come with CPU's are usually adequate aslong as you aren't overclocking or doing anything extreme.
Signs of High Temperature on CPU
Running your CPU constantly at a high temperature can be very damaging and may have the following implications
- Reduce the Life of your CPU
- Randomly Freezes or Resets your computer
- CPU totally burns out (this would take some time, at very high temps to occur, remember intel cpu temperature can get very hot especially prescott series)
Another great way to monitor your cpu temperature is to include desktop widgets to monitor your CPU temp at all times.
Let me know if you have any questions as I've played around with CPU temperatures a lot overclocked a few CPU's and have setup some watercooling too cool some of the hotter CPU's. goodluck :)
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nice article you got here.. well i have a question hmm i check my temp @ speed fan and the temp for my cpu is about 47-50 idle and when im playing games or watching video thru net it became 66-70c is it still be ok??i check the thermal paste and i think it became dust or hmm its still have some.. i cant buy thermal paste around here well im planning to buy but not today or tomorrow im too busy to buy..my processor is intel p4..
and i cant seem to find my temp at bios..well i hope you understand me and tell some tips. im scared of playing games when the heat up to 70c >.<
Hey thanks for sharing this info. Iam going to try it out. Cheers
i hope you reply ASAP need help badly
well about adding extra fan i dont have that extra.. well if i reach about 60-70c the cpu fan start to spin like it dont wanna stop.. thanks for info i really appreciate it.. im really nervous coz last time i got problem of always auto restarting i clean the cpu fan but not using vacuum or anything that pop out the dust. dont know where to buy can of compress air here.. but today its running good doesnt restart at all but yeah about the 70c.. well if you say so about 70c is still safe..thank you
but others say that running at 55-70c for cpu is not good >.<
well about the restarting that just about 1week ago but for now its running ok.. dont have any errors when restarting its just i heard my cpu fan start to run and stop and it will trigger restart..
i lol'ed about the straw thing that is one of my weirdiest method i use last time im really desperate cos i dont have any air blowing item here so i used it haha..
for more info i have intel p4 prescott...
it is good if i dont put yet a new thermal grease??
and how can i sure i have a good air flow??
sorry for a lot of question i just want to someone enlighten me about im tired of searching thousand of thousand of comments that will just spin my head off.. thanks to this really
well about the restarting hmm if i remmember well its usually spin and stop to trigger the restart its like switching the light on and off..
and i supposed i ruin the layer of grease i dont see much grease on the heatsink and i think some of the grease stick to the fan hmm what you called it errr the metal part of the fan that usually bump in the heatsink..
its been 4yrs when i buy this computer ^_^
and can i left my pc open around 8hrs??cos im playing online game and i usually left my pc on when im sleeping
i hope its still ok when im wake up lol
thank you
thank's for the tips maybe i need to reapply some of thermal grease i hope i found one selling here in our place
nice topic you got here sir. but are you sure about running the cpu heat to 55 - 85 at full load without burning the processor??
oh i see.. is there a possible way that the cpu will auto shut down if it reach it heat level limit so that it can prevent further major problem??
Nice information CPU heating but i have a different problem with my PC.
My monitor is not starting, the green light on monitor is remain blinking and no screen.
What will be the problem and how to solve it.
hey sir need help again T_T well my cpu fan does not spin when my cpu temp reach 60-70 i dont know why but if it spin again its going to auto restart again.. like i said before its autorestarting when its start spin noisy and it will stop and go but this past few days i can use my computer perfectly but today its illness comes back again
hmm i guess the problem is in the power supply itself i dont know cos i think the cpu fan and motherboard are quite fix.. now the only cost i think is the power supply and what with the size power supply?? god damn even in the booting process i get restarted.. even in idle or even it didnt reach 60-70c it will just restart... i cant use it well hohoho damn damn
if it is the problem and the only solution is to buy new one T_T i guess i cant use my computer.. i dont have enough money to buy a new one so.. i guess this is it good bye good old days using computer
Wow, this is a good article. Whenever I see the cpu heat temperature in my motherboard software, I used to just ignore it. I really din't bother about it anytime. After reading this article, I came to find out that, cpu temp should be under control.
hey there wow its been a while since the last time i used my computer and i dont even know "how" on earth happen that i can use my computer now >.< is this some kind of miracle??last time i ask about here is was my pc cant even turn on..well it can but the psu didnt cooperate with me so today wow believe me it works like a magic that i didnt even buy or fix things really what the hell happen to my computer it happen 2x already -.-"
CPU heat up and shut down reason for me was bad external power supply . My CPU shutting off at merely 50-57 celcius
solution i tried : I came to know that my Ac input power supply was fluctuating .I checked the and repaired the Fuse on the AC circuit and my problem solved. You all can also check this.
Hello, i've read the previous posts and i've found it
really interesting and helpful. i have a problem on my pc, when i turn on my pc it displays a message that "cpu fan failed" then after 5 sec it turn off. i've replaced and cleaned my cpu fan several times, yet it's still the same.. any idea what could be the cause? thanks
is everest home edition the best software for checking these things?
and also when the message shows it says press F2 to boot. and that's what i've been doing every time i power on my pc. i can boot up my pc with no problem. but i've noticed something unusual, when i'm not running any applications my cpu fan stops running, but if i run an application it begins to turn again. i think when my pc is idle it stops turnin. by the way my pc is a desktop compact presario 061.
I have always wondered about this question. You have clearly mentioned how to measure the temperature of the CPU. It is highly informative too. Thanks for sharing this valuable information.
I did not realize that you could do this. I have a laptop that the fan was not coming on and the cpu was getting hot enough it would shut down. Thanks for the software tip.
thanks for the advice, i'll check my bios setup.
Hi, i have problem with the overheated problem... i'm not sure whether my computer is overheat.. But from what i see in HWMonitor it shown that my CPU temperature are 50c when not doing anything, but when i started to play games or doing any transfer file, it reached to 85c is that consider too hot?
I have no encounter any often restart or auto shut down, but like what you said that i should keep my cpu cool down, right? Should i buy a casing and Heatsink to prevent of over heat?
Hi, thanks for the useful tips. I tried to buy a new thermal Paste from computer shop. When i open up my cpu heatsink i saw my Cpu thermal paste actually dried up! and so i apply a new layer of Thermal paste on my Heatsink and guess what? it worked! suppose my temperature was 50C-60C and now i only got 30C-40C degree! but of course the heat will rise when play games but only 45C. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
my cpu temperature is above 77 degree and it restarts automatically
Really knowledgeable article u have written thanks for it....I have a lenovo laptop 3000 N 100 which shuts down repeatedly after a bit of googling i came to the conclusion that wenever my cpu temp. is 185 deg.F(85 deg C)it shuts down and the cpu reaches this threshold more often.Please tell me how can i change the auto shutdown temp or wat else can i do to solve the prob.Thanking u in anticipation
Thanks for the info on this site. I downloaded Speedfan and am curious, which do you go by Temp1 or Core? Core is always about 4C higher. I just installed a new fan/heatsink and its about 20C cooler on average. Thanks a lot.
So, My computer keeps rebooting (I know same as every one) well not completely, it only shuts off but not on. The problem occurs 10 minutes after I've started playing a game.
I checked my cpu heat right after the system crashed and it we're on ca 95C so there's obviously a problem there. But the computer is brand new and almost top notch. It's a intel core 2 quad q9400.
Every part of this computer is brand new and in a package so it should work fine together. Any idea whats wrong? My thought is that it is the grease, about how much can it differ? Like if u have it poorly inserted to if u have it on the right spot? Thanks in advance.
Heating up even above 102C is not a big deal for Intel. But this should not long for months. Proper fan(s) should be installed to solve the problem
Thanks for info. Although I never get this problem. I check computer temperature and fan regularly. no problem at all.
Where and how can we apply thermal grease?Why it is necessary?
so I have software on my laptop and I've been having issues with it turning off. the last time it didn't turn of and instead said there was a major problem with the cooling system and to shut it of and turn it in for maintenance it seamed to me like the fan had shut down but its working alright right now I've noticed that whenever my software says the CPU temperature is 65% or higher my fan instantly jumps to 90% is that because of a default setting as to where I want my CPU temperature at? also I think my fan is working harder then it needs to when the CPU temperature is at 58 to 60% the fan is running at 78 to 80% does that seam normal to you? and any low cost solutions you might have? things are really tight on money right now
I recently downloaded SpeedFan. Upon tinkering with it I've noticed turning it up slows my fan and turning down speeds my fan. Backwards if u will. So I can't set the temps. So then, uninstalling it didn't reset the fan settings at all. I had to reinstall SpeedFan so I can get a grip on my temps. The problem is I have to do this manually. Two questions: How do I reset the fan settings; Will running the fan full speed constantly (loudly I might add) damage or reduce the life of anything? THANKS!
Hi I'm running 2600k i7 series on a Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H-B3 Board. I have overclocked it to just 4.2GHz I was afraid getting it hot.. the temp goes like 40 - 55 range idle and loaded with games goes 55 - 80. This is a sandybridge motherboard.. And I dont have any cooling system or whatsover. My CPU fan is stock and my casing is quite okay.. cool i think coz its aluminum.. anyways I wanted to know if this is still acceptable.. Running it 24/7 Literally. What could be the complications?
good article man. Well explain and easy to follow
hmm, i recommend getting this: http://www.corsair.com/hydro-series-h60-cpu-cooler
My CPU is at 16 C idle and a maximum of 36 C in games like Crysis 2 etc.
Hi,
I have intel 2 duo core E6400 and temperature is around 70 C and can go up to 74 C at times. Of course lower when idle or after shutting computer for long period fo time. I don't use heavy video games. So wondering if i should worry.
My reason i am wondering if all ok is because sometimes (not always) all of a sudden i start hearing a ticking noise and computer freezes and i need to reboot.
Any idea what is happening?
I checked for disk errors and all ok plus keep computer clean and free from viruses and spywwares with protection softwares.
Thanks in advance and by the way interesting topic you written.
Hi,
Just to let you guys know. My sony vaio has an Intel Pentium M (mobile)740J that runs at 75 degrees celsius (167 degrees F) and it runs great. I removed my fan 1 time to give it a thorough cleaning and it runs very quit. I use Everest Home Edition to keep track of my chip temp and hard drive temp.I have no slow downs or freezes or restarts. Usually you have a failsafe that allows your computer to shutdown automatically if it gets too hot. Mine has never done this and I do a lot of work on it. Hope this helps.
I have been having some problems lately. A couple of online games (Rift and World of Warcraft) have been making my monitor screen go 1 solid colour with a zazazazazaza type of sound (has also happened 1 time when opening up IE9). The screen colour is greyish or purple or green or a blue colour.
Anyways i thought it may have been 1 of several things, so i took it to a shop to have new thermal paste put in (as i think it may be a heating issue), why, well booting up my PC my cpu clocks in at 48-53 degree's C, running a game with the side panel on will have it clockign in at 75-83degree's C (sidepanel off at 70-74degree's C). The processor is an intel i7 950 3.06mhz (running at 3.07mhz) not overclocked either.
My motherboard is an asus p6x58d-e (1366) and idle runs at 41degree's C, gaming with side panel off 61-68degrees c (higher with sidepanel on).
Graphics card (BFG 250 series) idle runs at 57degrees, using pc but not gaming 65-68degree's c and when gaming 75-80degree's c (without side panel on) higher with side panel on.
I have 2 fans extra at the back, all fans are working and it hits these temperatures within seconds of startign a game, takes a couple minutes to come back down normal temperatures after exiting games.
I really done know what to do, havent had a crash since repasting but the heat has gone up by 20degree's or more since having it re-thermal pasted (used to be a steady 59-65degrees c before i had it done).
I have tried a few things without success, the only other thing i can think of is leavign teh side panel off (permanently), buying a desk fan and placing that by the open side and having that turned on (but would become annoying as those things are noisy as hell).
Not sure what temps my memory are runnign at but the hard drives hardly move in temperature (Drive 1 at 48degrees c, drive 2 at 46degrees c) if they do move its only by 1 or 2 degree's higher.
Anyone any idea's??
my pc temperature is showing 43*c ... is it good or bad
hay. i remove Thermal Compound from processor!!!
i use intel pentm 4 (2.8ghz) and a intel i3.
what should i do now???!! is it important to bye new Thermal Compound & paste there again???
please reply me . .
see me so that you can know more things.......
Hey guys ,well where do i start,i have a home built system which ibuilt myself after aquiring the parst from a cousin, and by the way they all work fine,lol.
The problems i have at the mo are
1,I keep getting the message CPU fan fail at boot up press F1 to continue.
2,when i have Spedfan 4.4 running i,m not sure if i,m getting correct readings. At the moment as i,m typing this the readings are !
GPU: 35c
Temp1: 44c
Temp2: 29c
Temp3: -55c
Temp1: 21c
temp2: 19c
temp3: 28c
CPU:-64c
internal Temp: 29c with side panel off.
Remote Temp:-64c
HDO: nothing
But if i start palying World of warcraft Temp 1 goes from 45c straight up to 76c in minutes and its been as high as 87c at one point which doesnt seem right to me, i may be wrong but it seems t jump up to a higher level too quick.
My motherboard specs are
Asus P5n32-E sli
4 gig ram ( geil)
Intel pentium D 2.8 Dual Core (Oc to 2.94) which according to the motherboard is 5%,with an Nvidia GeForce 9500 graphics card in x16 slot.
As far as fan's go there are 6 inside the pc but only five of them are running,
The CPU fan which my pc says has failed but is actually running, 2 back case fans drawing cold aire in form window above 1 fan sat on the case bootom blowing cold air onto graphics card just to try and keep it that bit extra cool and the sidepanek case fan which also draws cold air form outside the Pc. Now i have sat and looked hard at Speedfan becaue when i first installed it it registered the fan on my graphics card and now it isnt,also i have noticed there is no way to reset it to its default settings when you first instaled it,no matter what i do it still doesnt recognise the fan.Anyway like i said when i play WOW the temps shoot rite up and i,m concerned that i may be over heating my cpu. Any advice would greatly appreciated as when it comes to the techy side of things i,m afraid my knowledge is somewhat lacking.Although on the build side its the oppsite,i can actually build a Pc up get it running and online ( thats the easy part) lol
P.s sorry for the long post but wnted to try and get as much info in as possible. Many thanks if anyone replies.
same here..i was playing warcraft and from an idle temp of 48C...temp went way way high to 102C in minutes..tried replacing the thermal paste and clean the processor but still no go..can anyone help us? thanks!
details:
CPU: amd - am2+ 5600 dual core (brisbane)
MOBO: ecs black series A780G
VC: ATI radeon 4650
PSU: generic
2 fans (back and heatsink fan)
idle temp based on core temp and everest: 48C - 59C
just adding warcraft: temp goes 90C - 125C
-can anyone help me please? thanks!
Hi, your article helps me a lot. My Desktop is fine, but the system keep freezing every few mins and back to normal ( again and again )
Speedfan details
Temp1 • -3c
Temp2 • 104c (icon is HOT)
Temp3 • 30c
Core • 39c
Temp2 is reached 104c, so this is the cause of freezing??
I put Thermal Paste, but still keep freezing.
Should I buy new CPU?
I'm using Intel Pentium 4 2.8Ghz Prescott
Anyone help me? TIA
I am also very happy about this software
I am also very happy about this software
m using a laptop with i3 350 processer and facing with heating problem. Heating is excessive one when i am opening a big application, at that time the the temp of core is around 65. the drop in frequency is visible only at dat time. simple applications of few MBs are taking up a lot of time to execute..! when i close d application d frequency becomes normal....!
Got many computer bits; including Shuttle XPC. Fitted its hot-pipes & fan @ back of computer. Should it also have 1 on Athlon µpu? (Normal fins & fan on µpu would mean removing CD drive as small case used.) Over-heating so changed 1800 MHz Athlon for 1 @ 800 MHz & running it @ the slowest speed of 900 MHz (FSB 100 × 9). Running OK & gets only up to 41°C in BIOS. Would fitting a 1500 MHz Sempron not over-heat as much as 1800 MHz Athlon (underclocked to 1500 MHz)? & how hot = OK?
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hi, m suffering unexpected shut down often ... after shut down if i change the RAM then it works for an hour approx.(I m using 512 ram & i've an extra).its a p4 processor with intel mother board... i think its a over heating problem ... cause the fan of processor is very dirty ... and it sounds too much ... after shut down properly it sounds click .......... click ...... for long time ... maximum time shut down unexpectedly when i surf internet for 3 or 4 hours ... some times it happens within 1 hour also ... & when i see video (like youtube) or in a video chat .... what shud i do ? pardon me for poor english & thnx in advance ...



















psychicdog.net Level 4 Commenter 2 years ago
My Compaq can get very hot. I live in a warm climate but I've heard the heatsinks in them are really good.
Thanks for the article. Interesting to see software that lets you check temp while running...I suppose checking from start-up/bios would be limited unless the computer has had time to warm - restarted?