Like a check-up for your computer
Ditch the screwdriver. There’s a better way to get a look inside your computer.
View your computer’s vital statistics
Crashing, glitching, or going dark? See why your computer’s system isn’t up to speed.
Open Hardware Monitor check the guts of your computer. You know, the voltages, the memory load and clock speed, and the CPU load. It looks at the bus speed and the CPU fan speed. View the temperature of each core of CPU as an individual.
The point of this program, and any other hardware monitoring software, is to keep tabs on your Windows laptop to ensure it’s functioning the way it should.
When you load up a game with heavy graphics and stellar sound or when you have twenty tabs open in your Chrome browser, you are putting extra pressure on your computer’s system. At first, or at least once in awhile, it isn’t a big deal. But over time, those extra loads can slow down your system. Your computer can only handle so much.
As the years go by, the pieces inside your computer can become overtaxed, overworked, and stressed. Minor manufacturing defects or the slow breaking down of equipment that comes with age and almost constant use can heat up your desktop computer or laptop. Sometimes your internal cooling fan may stop working the way it should.
See inside your laptop or desktop fast
Unlike other monitoring programs, Open Hardware Monitor doesn’t install into your system. After you download the file, you unzip and extract the contents, and run it from a folder. When you run the file, you will see a chart containing the components of your computer and various percentages or temperatures.
You don’t have to guess what’s going on inside your computer. Each element has a value and a maximum. Your computer’s numbers appear under the “value” header. If they bypass the maximum counts, you will know that, like Taylor Swift sings, you have “trouble, trouble, trouble.”
Problems? See them as they happen
Everything occurs in real time. You can see what is happening inside your system at this moment with a glance at the software’s window. You don’t need to refresh a page or shut down and restart the program for any effects to take place.
Getting an instant read on your computer while it’s running is invaluable. You don’t have to guess if something is off -- you can see it for yourself.
If you have random crashes or feel any heat stemming from your keyboard, you should take a closer look at what’s happening inside of your computer. This simple monitoring software will help you do that.
Open Hardware Monitor can reveal the internal temperature of your hard drive and your drivers. You can see at a glance how hot your system is and if you need to do something to keep your computer from getting any hotter, like changing the fan speed, blowing a fan at your computer, or using a cooling fan desk underneath your laptop.
Downsides to Open Hardware Monitor
You have to understand what the numbers and percentages suggest to know if you have a real computer issue or if something isn’t too bad. Since the program is in Beta, it means it is still in a testing phase. You could mess up your computer’s operating processor.
You won’t find an alert system. If something goes wrong, like your computer is heating up fast or you are consuming too much memory, Open Hardware Monitor won’t let you know there has been a change. There is no way to set your current system specs and compare them to future change for a customized alert.
You must use the program enough to know what’s normal for your system and have the advanced knowledge to understand the information you find.
Where can you run this program?
You can run Open Hardware Monitor on your Windows computer if you have Windows XP, Vista, or Windows 7.
Is there a better alternative?
Other programs provide more detail. If you are not a computer nerd, take a look at HWiNFO or Speccy. Both perform the same functions as Open Hardware Monitor but HWiNFO can predict upcoming failure so you can fix the problem now and avoid the unwelcome surprise later.
Speccy, on the other hand, helps you locate your specs, see any issues, and find any upgrades to improve your system’s performance. Why is that important? If you want to know if your system can handle a new download, you can see your PC’s specifications to check that they align.
You can view a short summary or, if you know what you’re doing, you can go deep into your system’s analytics. Take and share a snapshot, so if you are ever stuck dealing with tech support, you can speed up the process by providing an actual look into your system.
Sometimes you don’t want or need the extras. If heat is the issue, SpeedFan watches your CPU fan speed. This could be a better alternative to Open Hardware Monitor. You can switch the fan speed to help cool down your system, and keep it cool, from within the SpeedFan program.
Our take
Open Hardware Monitor is a Beta program for folks who know what they are doing. It offers a range of important PC metrics, but not the insight you might need to fix any issues.
Should I download it?
Yes, you should try Open Hardware Monitor if your computer is slowing down or overheating and you aren’t afraid of its Beta status. This free software can show you what’s going wrong -- if you know what you are looking for.
