Looking for your recommendations for a free temperature-monitoring utility, for my PC (Core 2) and graphics card for Vista.
(Question reposted with the hyperlinks now I have 10 reputation).
I don't want all the geeky details, I don't overclock, I don't see the need to mess with my fan speeds or motherboard settings, I just want something fairly basic to help with basic troubleshooting of intermittent overheats on video card and/or mobo:
must run on Windows Vista (yes, don't laugh).
ideally displays temperature when minimized to toolbar, and/or:
automatically alerts me when temperature on either core or the
video card exceeds a threshold
ideally measures temperature of video card and system as well, not just the cores. HDD temperature is not necessary I think.
logging is nice, graphs are also nice
portability to Linux and Mac is nice
Apparently Everest is the best paid option, but I'm not prepared to spend $40.
I found the following free options, but no head-to-head at-a-glance comparison:
CoreTemp (only does cores, not video card?)
Open Hardware Monitor (nice graphs, displays when minimized to toolbar, no alerts)
RealTemp (has alerts, works minimized, lightweight install)
HWMonitor (no alerts, CNET: "[free version is] simple but effective") from CPUID
CPUCool (not free: 21-day trialware, then $18)
SpeedFan from Almico (too geeky, detail overload; CNET: "most users won't be able to make head or tail of the data this utility provides")
Motherboard Monitor (CNET: not recommended, requires expert knowledge of your mobo, dangerous)
Intel Thermal Analysis Tool (only does cores, not video card? has logging)
Useful discussions I found: hardwarecanucks.com , superuser.com 1, 2 , forums.techarena.in
(Update: I downloaded Real Temp 3.60 and it meets all my needs, the customizable alert temperature is great.
Open Hardware Monitor seems to be the other one that mostly meets my needs, except no alerts; but it is portable.
I tried SpeedFan but the interface is very cluttered, too much unnecessary detail (needs a Basic/Advanced mode and a revamp of the interface.)
The answer to my underlying issue is nVidia Geforce LE 7500 video card which runs very hot.)
