How to check the CPU temperature on a Windows 10 PC

The CPU temperature is almost always displayed in real-time by the system's BIOS, but that's rather difficult to view whenever you'd like. As a result, for situations when you need a quick glimpse at the temperature of your CPU, while the OS is also running, specialized hardware monitoring applications have been developed. Here we will present the best choices for checking the CPU temperature on a Windows 10 PC.

Speccy

Speccy is a powerful and reliable system information tool from Piriform, the creators of the acknowledged CCleaner system utility. It's a comprehensive system information tool that displays all kinds of details about the hardware configuration of your system, but it also displays real-time data about various parameters including the CPU temperature. In order to view the CPU temperature using Speccy, just start the tool and its Start window (the "Summary" one) will display the CPU temperature in real-time, as well as the temperatures for the motherboard, GPU card, or the HDD. As you can see, with Speccy viewing the CPU temperature is a matter of one single click. Last but not least, Speccy can be used for free.

Speccy's Start Window

Open Hardware Monitor

Open Hardware Monitor is another accurate and handy system monitoring tool that can also be used for free, as it's open source. Viewing the CPU temperature using this tool also requires nothing else but launching it. As soon as it's started, the real-time CPU temperature is visible on the main interface.

Open Hardware Monitor showing the CPU temperature

Core Temp

Unlike the previously mentioned two applications that aren't specifically created just for monitoring the CPU parameters, Core Temp is specialized on displaying real-time data about the processor of your system. It can display the temperature of each individual core of every processor in your system. Though also free, its installer comes with adware offers, so you should pay attention to uncheck this kind of offers during its installation. Anyway, Core Temp is easy to install and to use: once started, it will show the CPU temperature on its main screen.

Core Temp's main window

Conclusion

There are other tools that can be used to check the CPU temperature on a Windows 10 PC, and these three aforementioned ones are just a few examples. Other suitable names include SpeedFan, Real Temp, HWMonitor, and HWinfo. Anyway, the conclusion is that in order to keep an eye on the temperature of the CPU, all you need is the right tool. It's a rather easy because plenty of suitable tools are available, and most of them are free.

Alternative downloads

Core Temp free windows Core Temp screenshot Core Temp is a compact, no fuss, small footprint... Download
HWMonitor free windows HWMonitor for Windows® x86/x64 is a hardware monitoring program that reads PC systems main health sensors : voltages... Download
HWiNFO free windows From a quick overview unfolding into the depth of all hardware components. Download
Real Temp free windows RealTemp is a temperature monitoring program designed for all Intel single Core... Download
Speccy by Piriform Ltd. free windows Speccy is an advanced System Information tool for your PC. Download
SpeedFan free windows Program that monitors voltages, fan speeds and temperatures in computers with hardware monitor chips. Download