HWiNFO

First time I needed a system monitoring tool was 25 years ago when my PC was running hot and wondered if there’s any clever program that can help me see what’s going on - apart from the Windows Task Manager. Back then, I found out of many programs from the CHIP magazine. I think that’s how I also found HWiNFO for the first time.

Obviously, I tested a lot of tools, some of them were super-popular such as CPU-Z, Speecy, the one from MSI (I even forgot its name). There were many but the one that I kept coming back was HWiNFO.

Why I use it and why you need such an app.

HWiNFO is overkill for the regular user but it saved me numerous times when I was looking for a specific hardware.

Dealing with computers, I had friends, family and myself changing laptops or PCs and each time I needed to see what kind of SSD was running so I can lookup for the right drivers or why the CPU was going crazy, what chipset was on the motherboard etc.

In one phrase it is a tool that gives you great information fast about any hardware part that runs, all in real-time.

Of course, you can use it for advanced things such as overclocking but except for two laptops I used - an Asus ROG G75 and a Helios Predator I never used this feature.

Speaking of features, I can mention a few that are important to me:

• Real-time data for your - CPU temperature, GPU, fan speed, voltage (power) etc.
• Full system details - from your BIOS version and up to RAM/CPU/motherboard type. If you ever upgraded your hardware - most likely you needed this kind of info.
• Record keeping - you can log performance data and lookup for any issues later - this is used mostly by advanced and pro users.
• Clean interface and portable - this app never integrated malware and it also offers a portable version - without installing - I used to keep a copy of Hwinfo on a USB drive all the time.

Although, there are quite a few other popular alternatives, HWiNFO hits the perfect balance: powerful, accurate, free, and regularly updated. If you're building, improving, or fixing any Windows computer, you should definitely have this tool.

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