Hardware Monitor details?

HWMonitor is FREE hardware monitoring program from the creators that brought us CPU-Z and GPU-Z that reads PC systems main health sensors such as voltages, temperatures and the speed of your fans. HWMonitor has impeccable support for even the latest and newest hardware. HWMonitor even supports notebook hardware, giving battery-power levels, capacities, and even wear levels. With its temperature readings it makes the perfect tool for any overclocker trying to find the maximum performance gain at the perfect heat balance. If you're in a noise free environment or just want a quiet PC this program is for you as it monitors all fans directly connected to your motherboard so you can easily isolate noisy fans and turn them down a bit.

In this tip I'll guide you through the download and the installation as well as explain all temperature readings in detail.

Installing HWMonitor
You can download HWMonitor FREE edition here or if you've already tried it out and want further monitoring support you can buy the PRO version, it's about $27, from their website here.

If you prefer to avoid the installation dialogue altogether, you can download either the 64-bit or 32-bit runtime directly in zip format. Simply extract the .exe file from the zip file and you're ready to start monitoring your hardware. Because this .exe file is self-contained, you can also drop it onto a flash drive to use as part of a diagnostic toolkit. If you plan to use HWMonitor regularly, be sure to extract the .exe somewhere you'll be able to find it easily, because by bypassing the installation dialogue, you will not have a Start menu folder or desktop shortcut unless you create them manually.

If you're unsure whether you have a 64-bit or 32-bit system, you should download the setup.exe and run the installer as circled below in red. It will automatically check your system and install the appropriate version.

Once HWMonitor has finished downloading you will have an executable file called hwmonitor_1.17-setup.exe. Just double click it and the following window may appear:

This is just a security warning, it may or may not pop up when you double click the executable depending on your computers level of security. Don't worry there is no risk. Click Run.

Once you click run you will get the first page of the installer:

Just click Next.

Then you will be prompted for an installation directory, the default being C:Program FilesCPUIDHWMonitor. If you're happy with this then click Next.

Next you will be asked if the shortcut can be placed on you Start Menu, click Next.

The installer will ask you to install the Ask.com toolbar, and although it appears to be required, you can actually continue the installation without any of the boxes checked. Uncheck the boxes if you don't want the Ask Search engine cluttering up your Internet browser or if you already have Google Search.

Then tick the box next to the heading Create a desktop shortcut and click Next. The page following should just give you a summary of the locations of the files and shortcuts. Click Install to start installing the program.

The install should take a few seconds and after which you will be prompted to click Finish on the next page. When the install is complete you can double click the icon to start the program. Yours will look something like this, depending on your operating system:

Using the free version of HWMonitor is very straight forward. Because it doesn't have the logging and graphing features of the Pro version, the free version is best used for keeping an eye on the current status of your various system stats; however, it still monitors your system when running in the background and will record the maximum and minimum values over a given time. This way, you can clear the Min/Max values under the View menu before running a benchmark or stress test, and return later to check the maximum values your components reached

I will give a brief description of each sensor heading:

Motherboard - HWMonitor will give you the details of the various components attached to the motherboard. It shows CPU fan speed as well as the fan speed of any other fans connected directly on your board. THRM under Temperatures under your motherboard is your Northbridge temperature

CPU - HWMonitor will give you the name of your CPU as well as temperatures for each core it has. If you have a dual core you will have temps labeled Core #0 and Core #1; and if you have a quad core CPU it will have Core #0 to Core #3.

Hard drives - HWMonitor will give the individual internal temps for each hard drive that you have as well as the external Air Flow temps.

Graphics Card - Under your display card HWMonitor will show the current temperature of the card; and voltage being delivered to it as well as the fan speed in RPM and what percentage this speed is at.

That about wraps up the FREE version of HWMonitor. I suggest you check out what the maximum temps each of your components can handle and then use this monitor to make sure they are much cooler than that.