Show CPU temperature in OSD - Tutorial

[proton_chain]

Hello there,

I was wondering if there was any utility to monitor CPU usage and/or CPU temperature while in game. I know that you can easily view GPU temperature using rivaturner OSD (or EVGA Precision and MSI afterburner which uses technically the same thing) while you are playing. So, you can always monitor the temperature level. But what about CPU? You can find lots of utilities like realtemp, coretemp, Everest . . . (the list goes on). But they monitor the temperature outside the game, and even if you Alt+Tab out, you can't get the perfect temperature as the CPU gets hotter and cooler depending on load very quickly, so you lose a few degrees in between switching applications. Then comes logging to graph. That gives you an overall idea, not instant results. It would be best to have that in game. . .

So, I discovered a way to have On Screen Display (=OSD) show CPU usage and core temperatures. First of all you need ATI Tray Tools. Grab the link here => http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=733

Nvidia users, don't worry. Technically, it is supposed to work on your hardware as well. After installing, run it and right click the ATI Tray tools icon => Tools & Options => On Screen Display...

Then under OSD tab, check Show on screen display. Other settings are up to you.

After that, click on Flash OSD tab and set it to Show All Time. Then in Select Active Fields Section, check what you want. I checked CPU usage and GPU temp. Then go down and check Use Flash OSD plugin. Click Configure and Choose Intel Coretemp if you have Intel CPU or AMD Coretemp if you have AMD CPU. You might have to set the TJmax value if it is incorrect. Then click OK and its done!

Here is how it looks like inside a game.

Let me know your thoughts on this subject.

 

[NitrousOxide]

Hello. Got a small problem here with my ATI Tray Tools. I am doing your guide step by step and it is only showing the fps in the top right corner. As i see in your screenshot it is showing all the temperatures you selected, but in my case i selected the same things you did and it is showing only the fps. My version of ATI Tray Tools is 1.6.9.1486 BETA and i am using Windows XP 32bit with Vista skin.

Here are some screenshots from my ATI Tray Tools and an ingame screenshot:

Thanks in advance.

 

[proton_chain]

Well, is the manufacturer of your CPU Intel or AMD? For AMD CPUs, there is another option called "AMD core temp", try that. If it still fails, then use another version of ATT. Beta versions are likely to have compatibility issues. Do other games other than NFS MW show the desired info?

I just tried it on NFS MW (as per your screenshot) but it is working By the way, I am using ATT verion 1.6.9.1486

 

[hellrazor]

I use Afterburner, works fine.

 

[NitrousOxide]

I run a Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 and a HD4870 1Gig. I tried in other games (COD-Black Ops, Race Driver GRID) and it is showing only FPS like in Most Wanted. I installed version 1.3.6.1044 of ATT and it is the same like 1.6.9.1486. Is there a chance that the ATT OSD don't run on XP or 32bit OS ?

 

[proton_chain]

I run a Intel Pentium Dual-Core E5300 and a HD4870 1Gig. I tried in other games (COD-Black Ops, Race Driver GRID) and it is showing only FPS like in Most Wanted. I installed version 1.3.6.1044 of ATT and it is the same like 1.6.9.1486. Is there a chance that the ATT OSD don't run on XP or 32bit OS ?

Sorry, can't guarantee. But it should work... I can't confirm as I left XP long before I got to know ATT.