Hardware Monitor (suggested from 0.9z-8 onwards)

[Calibrator]

With the inclusion of XTweaks in v0.9z-8, it has been suggested to use a hardware monitor to keep an eye on CPU temps etc. While most manufacturers provide a tool to do this, I have generally found them quite bloated in nature and resource hungry.

CPUID's Hardware Monitor is a viable alternative, and will provide all you need. It is very tiny in size, and runs as a process. The standard free version should be all you need, but if you desire graphs and other features there is a Pro version for a small fee.

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

HWMonitor should see most modern motherboard chipsets. It works fine with my Asus P5Q, and even monitors the harddrive and graphics card temps.

You can simply drop the executable on your desktop and run as needed. You will need to include an entry under the "Keep this Process" box in the system settings.

In my case, as I run the 64bit version, i specified (HWMonitor_x64)

Cheers,

Russ

[PeterSt]

Hey Russ. Thanks for that.

During my "investigations" regarding this I found that no general tool could exist, just as that I could not make it myself for the sort of same reasons. But if this covers close to all, great.

What I would not advise is to have this running always. Is it necessary for this tool (I obviously did not try ) ?
Also, as the help text tells somewhere, it isn't necessary at all to check this against playback. Attempt to explain :

When all settings are normal (say like in Normal OS Mode) it will show something (playback may incur for higher temperatures). But as soon as the stuff is engaged what this is all about (stability) it won't change a thing. But, when it does, it means that the part concerned again runs in normal mode and nothing is to worry about (normal cooling will be active etc.). So, you might want to know what happens in that case but this would not be different than with earlier XXHighEnd versions. So summarized :
Only when changing the settings it is necessary to observe all. Seen it and all ok ? then the tool can quit and you don't need to look at it anymore. Maybe once in a while at changed ambient temperatures.

Maybe an additional remark for the users of the "XXHighEnd PC" :
You were already provided such a tool. This tool also allows for real time over/under clocking, BUT/AND this is extra dangerous. So, you may (for your own reasons) set things to limits, but if now XTweaks are engaged things may go through the roof. This is because the lot is tuned for silence and works in normal circumstances. But not with XTweaks. Example : cpu temperature can go from 40C to 60C within one second. So, while the XXHighEnd PC is a sort of tweaked the other way around (all stays cool because of this same "knowledge", never mind it runs at 4GHz in that small cabinet with fans hardly running), XTweaks will undo that. However, with how we tuned the PC (and with the fan speeds provided) a Balanced Load of 65 is sustainable easily. E.g. 85 is not. But since the fans can be revved up (knobs at the back and via the utility provided) you can get it "higher" again, but watch the noise.

Peter