See CPU temperature Windows 10

What temperature should a processor normally be?

Measuring the CPU temperature on a PC is not difficult.

Today there are many apps that allow us to carry it out effortlessly, but it is not always known which tests should be carried out and in what way. interpret the results and which of those results are truly essential.

For example, more than once people have told me that “these results must be wrong, I have the exact same processor as you and it doesn't go over 50 degrees”. I have also been told, with a shocked face, "my CPU reaches 85 degrees, it can't be normal, a friend told me it should be 60 degrees."

It is necessary to contextualize appropriately.

This kind of comments affirm that there is still an endless number of misinformation about this topic, and that it is necessary to contextualize appropriately how the different CPU temperature measurement tests were carried out so that, in the end, we have the possibility to properly interpret the results that were obtained.

I give you an example case following what I have commented before. I asked the person who told me that his CPU doesn't go above 50 degrees what he was doing when it reached that temperature and he told me that he was playing an arcade game through MAME while listening to music on YouTube.

Yes, it's a real farce, and I didn't want to go any further, I didn't waste time explaining anything. For reference, as I write this I have YouTube open with my favorite music, Telegram and multiple tabs, Steam and also iCUE and the CPU usage is between 1% and 3% causing my Ryzen 7 5800X temperature to be at around 36 degrees on average.

From the above, you will now have deduced something that I have commented on in several analyses, and it happens that the temperature that a component reaches depends on various causes, but among the most essential is the workload to which it is subjected.

A processor that is working with minimal load will register a much lower temperature than one that is under much more stress. Hence, it is so essential to measure the temperature of your computer's CPU under different workloads, in order to have a real and adequately contextualized vision of those values.

Application to measure CPU temperature – PC

How to see my CPU temperature in Windows? How to check the temperature in real time?

As I told you at the beginning of the product, there are currently many reliable apps with which we have the possibility to measure the temperature of the CPU.

One of my favorites is AIDA64, which has a free version quite complete for this purpose, since it can show the temperature of each CPU core and provide an average of CORE TEMP (core temperature), which is the value we should take as a reference.

However, to monitor the temperature of your PC in Windows 10 and 11 operating systems, we have the possibility to use apps such as Ryzen Master, if we have an AMD central processing unit, or the program Extreme Tuning Utility, if we have an Intel central processing unit.

With the two apps we can check the temperature for free, it will allow us to monitor the temperature of our equipment, it has a very easy-to-use interface, with detailed information on fundamental points of the processor, introducing the CPU temperature, the load of work to which it is subjected and also if some kind of "thermal throttling" is being generated, which is not much more than a loss of performance caused by excess heat.

Some of these apps will help you to correctly measure the temperature of the processor, be it a laptop or a desktop computer. They are very easy to use, since you don't have to go into complex configurations, just download, install and launch them. However, if you have any questions you can leave it in the comments and I will help you solve it.

See Windows 10 CPU temperature – Tips to know the CPU temperature on your Windows 10 and 11 PC

The first thing you have to be clear about is the specification of your CPU based on three keys that I will explain to you now:

• Does it work at the manufacturer's standard frequencies or is it overclocked? Overclocking can increase performance, but increases consumption and temperatures.
• Do you use a top-of-the-line cooling system or something more affordable? The dissipation system can make a very big difference, in controlling the temperature, as a fan that can put out 65 watts is not going to do the same job as one with the ability to put out 150 watts.
• Do you have the power limiter enabled? This influences the maximum consumption of the CPU. It may improve performance, but it will also increase normal working temperatures.

These three keys give us a fundamental context of how to check the temperature, but we're not done yet.

We must add other essential keys that will allow us to close all the information that we require to measure, and also interpret, the temperature of your CPU properly.

The first is the room temperatureAlthough this is only relevant when we are in times with very high temperatures, since they can affect the capacity of the cooling system, causing extra overheating, with an increase in the temperature of your CPU.

Next we have the workload to which we put the CPU, an issue that we talked about at the beginning of the product.

If we subject the CPU to a very small load, it is normal for it to register very low temperatures.

On the other hand, It is also very normal for their temperatures to soar if we sustain a workload that uses them to a hundred%.

A CPU can average 60 degrees under a heavy single-thread load, but hit 85 degrees when used over an hour under a 100% load. Both values would be normal.

Also, we must bear in mind that making a game is not in all cases equivalent to having the CPU in a hundred% of use.

There are levels where it is this way, like for example when we use processors that have only 4 threads, and in some cases 4 core 8 thread processors can catch up too% of employment when we run some games, but when using 6 cores and 12 threads processors (or much more) your employment rate is never going to be that high.

To place them at one hundred% of employment, it will be necessary use concrete evidenceas to give an example Cinebench R23.

This test is one of the best ways to measure the temperature of a processor under single load conditions and the 100%, and it will also give us an idea of its performance.

To end

It is also necessary to take into account the characteristics of each architecture, and of each type of processor, since there are designs that they are ready to work, pushing the consumption and temperature range to the limit, all in an effort to provide the maximum possible performance by pulling the scaling of the turbo mode, which works actively.

For example, a processor like the Intel Core i9-12900K has a very aggressive turbo method and a maximum junction temperature of one hundred degrees.

This chip can exceed 90 degrees and work normally, while it will actively adjust the working temperatures to avoid damage and to sustain the highest possible performance.

This is what I have also told you in several reviews, that most of the recent processors trigger the perfect turbo mode to achieve the maximum possible performance, which causes them to reach very high temperatures, but once at that peak they begin a stabilization process to avoid drawbacks. It's not something we should be worried about.

See CPU temperature Windows 10 – How to interpret the results and why it is good to measure, in a true way, the temperature of the CPU

Each CPU can achieve a different temperature under the same performance test for very different reasons.

We've already named many of them, but two of the most essential, and least often considered, are the architecture and the maximum number of cores and threads.

An architecture that is much more advanced than another will usually be much more efficient in terms of performance per watt, and will have much more controlled temperatures.

At the same time, 2 processors using a same architecture but have a different number of cores and also threads They will also register different temperatures doing a job at full load.

For example, a Ryzen 3 3300X, which only has 4 cores and 8 threads, is much cooler than a Ryzen 9 3950X, which has 16 cores and 32 threads.

It is completely normal, since the difference between the two is colossal.

Also, it is possible that a CPU with fewer cores will register much higher temperatures due to the fact that it works more continuously.

I have loved to qualify this because it is important when interpreting the results when we are going to measure the temperature of the CPU.

Analyzing temperatures.

Continuing with the previous example, a temperature of 85 degrees is going to be abnormal for a Ryzen 3 3300X, but it can be completely usual for a Ryzen 9 3950X.

Hence, the context is so essential, and understand the peculiarities of the CPU whose temperature we want to measure.

When it comes to the results we get, the single-thread benchmark is a pretty good indication of the temperatures a CPU can achieve with fast multi-thread load.

A much more intensive multi-threaded test now lets us test CPU security, but the perfect way to do a full test is Master it at a 100% charge for at least 30 minutes.

Hence, it is good to truly measure the temperature of a CPU by carrying out tests of different intensity, because we will be able to see how it behaves, if it registers any anomaly in terms of performance or temperature, and if you experience any serious security issues, such as hang, reboot problem or blue screen "of disappearance".

Doing the tests.

Not carrying out these tests can end up giving us much more of a scare, and I can give you a sample case.

A few years ago a popular man mentioned to me that he had pushed his Ryzen 7 2700X to 4.3 GHz on each and every one of the cores, and that it worked fine.

I told him if I had tested it extensively and he said yes, he had used "certain games", and that was excellent.

In the end it turns out that I had only tried it with Destiny 2, a game that uses very little central processing unit, and that In relation to trying a much more rigorous title, the device hung continuously.

Under normal use, it is very difficult for us to take a CPU like the Ryzen 7 2700X to a hundred% of use, but there are games and apps that can be demanding, and for this reason it is convenient to take our central processing unit a bit to the max, to check that it is capable of supporting without inconvenience, and that it will not give us any displeasure.

On the other hand, this will also allow us to check that the cooling system we use is capable of keeping the temperatures of our processor under control.

Ok, so how should I interpret the results of measuring the CPU temperature?

You must place them in context with everything we have said, and Be clear about where the limit of your central processing unit is.

For example, a Core i9-12900K has that 100 degree limit, but a Ryzen 9 5950X has a maximum temperature of 90 degrees.

In the first case, a temperature of 95 degrees with an extreme workload sustained over a long time would be acceptable, but that temperature would not be acceptable in the Ryzen situation.

On the other hand, it is also a good initiative Leverage results from a benchmark like Cinebench R23 to give you even more context for monitoring.

You can compare the results that your CPU obtained with the databases that are available on the Internet, and see if those performance results are normal or if they are below what they should be.

This could indicate a serious issue, usually temperature but possibly power as well.

I want to return to an essential topic: Don't obsess over what you've read on the internet, and I mean things like "my central processing unit runs at 60 degrees, it's not very normal for yours to go up to 80 degrees".

In addition, the comparison, to be validated, the computer being monitored should have the same hardware and software, the motherboard, components of the PC, graphics card with the same GPU, hard drive and temperature of each CPU measured with the same hardware monitor, fan speed with the same rotation, equivalent thermal environment, etc.

That a processor today works at 80 degrees can be perfectly normal, in fact in certain cases it can even be an excellent result.

Many of those comments that you will find on the Internet are based on tests carried out with a load on the central processing unit of only the 30% or 40%, so do not worry and follow the advice that we have just offered you in this guide.

To finish, and as a reference, be clear that in no case is it positive that a processor reaches, or stays, in the range of one hundred degrees.

If this happens, you may want to stop testing and consider getting a higher cooling system, or if you overclocked back down, as you could radically shorten processor life, especially if you've cranked up the voltages to keep said overclock.