How to Monitor the GPU Temperature on Gaming PCs

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The secret to getting the maximum visual performance out of your graphics card is to keep your GPU (graphics processing unit) temperature under control. When your GPU temperature rises, it may be a warning that more significant issues are arising internally.

When you know this, you’ll realize that it’s essential to keep your GPU temperature under control, particularly when your GPU is under a lot of stress, such as when playing resource-intensive games on your PC. Fortunately, this is not difficult to accomplish and if you’re not already familiar with the process, this guide will teach you how to monitor the GPU temperature. So, pay attention to the instructions we’ve outlined in this guide to get the best out of your gaming computer.

Playing resource-intensive games on your PC requires that you monitor the GPU temperature.
Playing resource-intensive games on your PC requires that you monitor the GPU temperature.

Why Should I Monitor The GPU Temperature?

The need to monitor GPU temperature might arise for a variety of reasons, but they all revolve around achieving the best performance on your device. Below are some of the most common reasons to carefully monitor your GPU temperature.

Overclocking

If you’ve attempted overclocking your GPU, you should pay special attention to the temperature that the slightly faster clock on your graphics card is causing. When overclocking the GPU, it is essential to maintain that sweet spot temperature.

It’s important to take into account the potential requirement for additional cooling. This is the secret to maintaining the ideal temperature for your GPU. This is thus the first thing you should typically think about doing to address the issue if you are experiencing overheating on your device.

Playing Heavy-Resource Games

The GPU could be stressed even if you’re just playing a game with better visuals for a longer amount of time. This can then result in more serious issues.

Knowing how well your graphics card can manage the load is crucial in this situation. In many cases, even if your GPU meets the minimal or even recommended system requirements, it could still have problems running the game for a few hours at higher graphic settings.

Your device may sustain varying degrees of damage depending on how long you continue to overlook the obvious issues while playing (such as stuttering or beeping from inside the PC casing). This is why it’s important to continuously watch the temperature of the GPU.

How Do I Monitor The GPU Temperature?

An overheating GPU can lead to some major problems, as we’ve already explained. Fortunately, there are several techniques to monitor the GPU temperature and make sure it stays below that perilous line. We intend to teach you enough about the advantages and disadvantages of each of these alternatives so that you can make an informed choice.

Use Manufacturer-specific Software

AMD and NVIDIA are among the most popular GPUs, and companion software will typically be available for graphics cards from AMD and NVIDIA. This is primarily used for actions like updating your drivers and turning on extra performance-enhancing features exclusive to the particular manufacturer.

An overclocking tool (OC tool) is included in the drivers from both NVIDIA and AMD (you will need GeForce Experience for NVIDIA GPUs). With AMD’s approach, the user can modify the power delivery, clock rates, and fan speeds. Additionally available is automatic overclocking.

Being a little bit late to the party, NVIDIA’s OC tool is still considered inferior to AMD’s. The GPU clock speeds can be automatically overclocked using the ‘Automatic Tuning’ option, however, there is no option for manual overclocking.

Both companies have included a performance monitoring function along with some sort of overclocking tool in their drivers. Both monitoring programs provide a wealth of data, like as temperature, fan RPM, memory clock, and GPU clock.

These monitoring tools will typically suffice to monitor your GPU temperature, but you could consider using third-party applications if you require even more data.

Use Third-Party Monitoring Tools

With advancements in technology, it was only natural that there would be a large number of enthusiastic individuals eager to discover every nuance of a PC’s operation. These people naturally made a lot of people aware of competent monitoring programs, some of which are still in use today.

The majority of these applications will have additional features that let you keep an eye on other components of your PC, which is always advantageous.

HWiNFO

HWiNFO has to be the finest of the lot since you can obtain temperature readings on practically every component in your computer. This applies to everything, including your disks and GPU. The option to control voltage, clock rates, and even RAM timings is also available. You can easily remove the sensors you aren’t interested in because it is also customizable.

There are also add-ons for HWiNFO, such as an add-on to use the On-Screen Display tool from EVGA Precision, MSI Afterburner, or Riva Tuner. There are numerous additional add-ons providing further details and functions.

Open Hardware Monitor

Although it has an outdated appearance, this tool is just as dependable as the first one. It can monitor your RAM much like HWMonitor can, but more crucially in the modern era, it lets you manually change the fan speed.

This is quite helpful because the fan speed doesn’t always change when the card is put under increased stress. You can increase those RPMs and play a smooth game at the expense of more electricity.

MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner must be mentioned when talking about hardware monitoring software. This program has a handy overlay that informs you precisely how hot your GPU temperature is, making it the ideal choice for monitoring your GPU performance while you’re playing a game.

It’s a nice option for a stress test that can help you alter your in-game settings or fan speed, which MSI Afterburner can also assist with. Note that you shouldn’t want to run every game constantly with this overlay despite this.

In summary, monitoring your GPU temperature is crucial to keeping your device in good shape and performance. The tools we’ve described in this guide will help you monitor your GPU successfully, so keep them in mind.

Also make sure to recommend this article to other gamers you know, so that they can also get the best performance out of their gaming devices.

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