Quick answer

Windows 11 has no built-in CPU temperature readout, so use a tool: Core Temp or HWiNFO on an Intel or AMD PC, Ryzen Master on a desktop Ryzen, or the BIOS for an idle number. On AMD, I watch CPU (Tctl/Tdie). Task Manager’s Performance tab shows temperature only for a dedicated GPU.

TL;DR · How to check CPU temp

  • Any Intel or AMD PC: Core Temp for a quick per-core number. HWiNFO, a free download, for several readings side by side.
  • A desktop Ryzen: AMD's Ryzen Master shows the current CPU temperature.
  • No software: the BIOS shows CPU temperature, but only while the PC sits in firmware. It is an idle number.
  • Which reading on AMD: I watch CPU (Tctl/Tdie). HWiNFO's author says the Die (average) value always runs somewhat lower.
  • GPU temperature: Task Manager's Performance tab shows it for a dedicated card. On NVIDIA, nvidia-smi prints it in one line.

Windows shows your graphics card’s temperature and hides your processor’s. How-To Geek’s long-running guide puts it flatly: “Neither Windows 10 nor Windows 11 has a built-in way to see your computer’s CPU temperature, so you’ll need a third-party program for this.”

I checked what my own desktop exposes, a Ryzen 7 7800X3D and RTX 5080 on Windows 11 Home 25H2. One command printed the GPU at 60 C. The two thermal sources Windows offers to scripts came back empty.

So the CPU number has to come from the firmware or from a tool that reads the chip’s sensors. This page covers the four routes that work and which reading to trust. It also covers two commands that came back empty on my desktop. Already have a number and want to know if it is too hot? The safe CPU temperature guide has the ranges by chip. If it is too hot, CPU overheating sorts out the cause by when it happens.

Which number to watch

Open a serious monitoring tool and you get several CPU temperatures. HWiNFO’s author explained why on his forum in June 2024, answering a 7800X3D owner who could not tell which to trust: “There are dozens of various temperature sensors inside the CPU (CCD or IOD) and each of those values takes a different set of sensors into account and uses a different evaluation formula.” He added that “AMD doesn’t fully disclose all details about the exact meaning.”

Two tools reading different sensors can disagree. That alone does not mean one is broken.

  • On a Ryzen, I watch CPU (Tctl/Tdie). The author labels Tctl the control temperature. HWiNFO shows that single CPU (Tctl/Tdie) line when the two values are the same. On a chip with an offset it lists Tctl and Tdie separately, and in 2018 he put a Ryzen 7 2700X’s gap at 10 C, with Tdie as the real temperature.
  • Expect CPU Die (average) to read lower. In the author’s words it “is the average value among multiple sensors during a certain period. So it will always be somewhat lower than the instant (max) value.”
  • On Intel, users on HWiNFO’s forum describe a CPU Package reading next to the per-core values.
  • Judge idle and load separately. A number means little until you know what the PC was doing.

Method 1: the BIOS, no software needed

Microsoft’s own route from Windows 11 starts in Settings. Select System, choose Recovery and select Restart now under Advanced startup. On the next screen select Troubleshoot. Choose Advanced options. Select UEFI Firmware Settings and choose Restart. The PC reboots straight into the firmware.

Where the temperature sits depends on the board maker. Check your manual. On ASUS boards that stop at boot with a CPU Over Temperature Error, the company’s support page tells owners to “Press [F1] to enter into BIOS Setup EZ Mode,” where the current CPU temperature is shown in EZ Mode, in red when it is too high. How-To Geek’s Windows 11 guide says you “might find your CPU’s current temperature next to the ‘CPU Core Temperature’ or a similar option.”

The catch is what the PC is doing at that moment. Nothing.

The same guide notes that “this method shows your CPU temp when Windows 11 isn’t loaded,” so it is good for spotting a cooler that is not mounted and useless for judging how the chip runs in a game.

Method 2: Ryzen Master on an AMD CPU

AMD’s own utility is the first thing I would open on a desktop Ryzen. AMD’s user guide lists desktop processors on the AM4 and AM5 sockets, plus SP6. AMD describes it as offering “real-time monitoring of per-core clock rates, temperature and voltages including average and peak readings,” and says that for the CPU “you can monitor individual CCDs.” The current download covers Ryzen 5000 processors and later, with separate builds for older generations. I have Ryzen Master 3.1.0.5185 installed on my desktop.

Read it while the load is still running.

A CPU’s temperature falls quickly once a load stops, as the Reddit example further down shows. AMD’s user guide defines the CPU Temperature gauge as the current processor temperature, so after twenty minutes of play the number you see when you alt-tab out has already started to fall. Keep the window on a second screen while the game runs.

Method 3: Core Temp, the quick check

Core Temp does one job. Its maker calls it “a compact, no fuss, small footprint, yet powerful program to monitor processor temperature and other vital information,” and says it is “capable of displaying a temperature of each individual core of every processor in your system.” It reads the processor’s digital thermal sensor, which the site says “provides more accurate and higher resolution temperature readings than conventional onboard thermal sensors.” It supports both Intel and AMD processors. The current release is 1.20.1, dated May 2, 2026.

Method 4: HWiNFO, every reading at once

HWiNFO is what I would use to settle an argument between two tools. It lists the instant and averaged CPU readings side by side. Its site offers it as a free download and describes it as “Comprehensive Hardware Analysis, Monitoring and Reporting for Windows and DOS.” On a Ryzen whose Tctl and Tdie match, CPU (Tctl/Tdie) and CPU Die (average) sit together in its sensor readings. The gap between them is the averaging the author described. I have not installed HWiNFO or Core Temp on this desktop, so the details for both come from their makers and from the HWiNFO author’s forum answers.

GPU temperature: Task Manager and nvidia-smi

Task Manager does show one temperature. Microsoft added it in August 2019: “If you have a dedicated GPU card, we will now bubble up the current temperature next to its listing in the Performance Tab.” It needs a graphics driver “which supports version 2.4 (or higher) of WDDM.” To check yours, Microsoft says to “press WIN+R and enter dxdiag. Under the Display tab, it will say your WDDM version next to Driver Model.” The value is shown in Celsius only.

On an NVIDIA card the driver’s own tool is faster. I ran this in a terminal:

nvidia-smi --query-gpu=name,driver_version,temperature.gpu,utilization.gpu,power.draw --format=csv

It printed my RTX 5080 at 60 C on driver 616.56, at 99 percent utilization and 350.20 W.

If your card runs far hotter under a similar load, the GPU overheating guide is the next stop.

The commands that came back empty on my desktop

Search results still hand out a PowerShell or Command Prompt query of MSAcpi_ThermalZoneTemperature as the no-download answer. On the day I checked, Bing’s answer box told readers to run the Command Prompt version as administrator. On my desktop the PowerShell version, run without administrator rights, answered “Not supported.” Windows’ own Thermal Zone Information performance counter did no better: “The specified instance is not present.” I did not run either one elevated. I would not send anyone down that route when the four above work.

Check that the reading is real

A real CPU temperature moves. It drops within seconds of the PC going idle and climbs as soon as a load starts. A poster on r/techsupport shared exactly that shape this month, reading a Ryzen 7 5800X on a 240 mm AIO: 34.1 C doing nothing, 60 C when Firefox opened before it “quickly returns to 35,” and 83.2 C during a game. Does your number barely change whatever you do? Then you are probably watching the wrong sensor.

Then compare the load number with your chip’s limit. On my 7800X3D that ceiling is about 89 C, lower than most Ryzen chips. The safe temperature guide lists the rest. If the peak climbs toward the limit on a light load, old paste is a common culprit, and the thermal paste guide covers when to redo it. On an X3D chip already near its limit, the 9800X3D undervolt guide can buy back a few degrees on its efficiency path, though the guide says neither result is guaranteed on your chip.

Sources

Frequently asked questions

How can I check the temperature of my processor?
Use one of four routes. Core Temp shows each core’s temperature on Intel and AMD processors. HWiNFO shows several CPU temperature readings side by side. On a desktop Ryzen, AMD’s Ryzen Master shows the current CPU temperature. With no software at all, restart into the BIOS from Settings, System, Recovery, Advanced startup, then Troubleshoot, Advanced options, UEFI Firmware Settings, and read the temperature there, remembering it is an idle number.
Can I see my CPU temperature in Task Manager?
No. How-To Geek’s guide says neither Windows 10 nor Windows 11 has a built-in way to see CPU temperature, and GeeksforGeeks says the same in its February 2026 update. The temperature Microsoft added to Task Manager in 2019 is for a dedicated graphics card, shown next to the GPU in the Performance tab. For the processor, use the BIOS or a tool such as HWiNFO.
Is 70 degrees hot for a CPU?
Not under load. 70 C while gaming or rendering is a comfortable number for a modern desktop CPU, with headroom left before the chip’s limit. It is only worth a second look if you see 70 C while the PC is idle or you are just browsing, which points at a cooling problem rather than an unsafe temperature.
Is 90 C bad for CPU?
It depends on the chip and the workload. Under a heavy load, 90 C is normal for a non-X3D AMD Ryzen 7000 or 9000 chip, which is rated to 95 C, and it is also fine on recent Intel Core chips rated around 100 to 105 C. On a Zen 4 X3D chip like my 7800X3D, held to about 89 C, it means you are at the ceiling. At idle, 90 C is a cooling fault on any of them.
Is 95C too hot for CPU?
95 C is the rated limit on AMD Ryzen 7000 and 9000 desktop chips, including the 9800X3D, so touching it during a heavy all-core load is within spec. Zen 4 X3D chips like the 7800X3D are held lower, to roughly 89 C. On any chip, 95 C while idle or browsing is a problem, and if the chip sits at its limit with clocks dropping during normal gaming, the cooling cannot keep up.
How do I check my GPU temperature?
Open Task Manager, go to the Performance tab and select the GPU; Microsoft shows the temperature of a dedicated card there, in Celsius, when the driver supports WDDM 2.4 or later. On an NVIDIA card you can also run nvidia-smi –query-gpu=temperature.gpu –format=csv in a terminal. On my RTX 5080 the fuller version of that command printed 60 C at 99 percent utilization.

Evidence ledger

Last updated
Methodology
See our methodology for research and review standards. It draws on 15 cited sources, listed below, each checked against the original page on the date above. What I read on my own desktop, on 2026-09-13: an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 on Windows 11 Home 25H2 build 26200.9445. nvidia-smi on driver 616.56 printed the GPU temperature; a non-administrator PowerShell query of MSAcpi_ThermalZoneTemperature returned ‘Not supported’, and Get-Counter on ‘\Thermal Zone Information(*)\Temperature’ returned ‘The specified instance is not present.’ I did not run either elevated. The same day, Bing’s answer box for ‘how to check cpu temp’ recommended the wmic version of that query run as administrator. AMD Ryzen Master 3.1.0.5185 is installed on this desktop; I did not open it for this page, and I have not installed HWiNFO or Core Temp here, so the steps and labels for those tools come from AMD, the Core Temp site and the HWiNFO author’s forum answers, named where they appear. The idle and load example is a Reddit user’s reading, credited to them. Every source was opened live on 2026-09-13.
Sources
Update log
  • 2026-09-13 — Scope corrections after a cross-family review, each re-checked against its source: Core Temp’s download page limits it to Intel, AMD or VIA x86 processors; AMD’s Ryzen Master guide defines the CPU Temperature gauge as the current temperature and lists AM4, AM5 and SP6 desktop support, so the ‘use the peak reading’ step is gone; the ASUS F1 step applies to its CPU Over Temperature Error screen; the MSAcpi and Thermal Zone results are described as my desktop’s, not as commands that never work; HWiNFO’s single CPU (Tctl/Tdie) line applies when the values match, with the author’s 2018 2700X offset example replacing the first-generation-only quote; the undervolt referral keeps that guide’s no-guarantee condition. No temperature figure changed.
Corrections
Spotted an error or a stale number? Email hello@techfuelhq.com. Confirmed corrections are added to the update log above.

About the author

Written by Lowell K. Wood IV, who builds and runs TechFuelHQ from St. Louis, Missouri.