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KNOWLEDGE

Does Task Manager show your CPU temperature?

No. Task Manager shows you load, clock speed and memory for the CPU, but no temperature, and reading it out requires special privileges.

MythBeginner2 min readMeasuring and readoutsTemperature and cooling

Rigmint, Updated

The short answer

No. For the CPU, Task Manager shows load, clock speed and memory, but no temperature. Reading it out requires elevated privileges.

Key points, with evidence

  • For the CPU, Task Manager shows load, clock speed and memory, but no temperature.

    SourcedStated verbatim, or as plain arithmetic, in the source given.Jump to source 1

  • Programs that do display a CPU temperature need administrator privileges for some sensors.

    SourcedStated verbatim, or as plain arithmetic, in the source given.Jump to source 2

  • The Rigmint app therefore reports the CPU temperature as not measurable instead of inventing a number.

    From experienceA value from our own work, without an external source.

  • Take the temperature from the BIOS or from your motherboard vendor's own tool.

    InferenceFollows from the source given, but is not stated there verbatim.Jump to source 2

The myth

Just check your CPU temperature in Task Manager. You read this tip all the time, and it leads nowhere: Task Manager shows load, clock speed and memory, but no temperature for the CPU.

Why that is

This is not Microsoft being lazy. Microsoft's own documentation lists what Task Manager displays: processes, load, clock speed, memory and other performance data. A CPU temperature is not among them. The values sit in sensors that a normal program cannot simply reach.

The grain of truth

There are programs that do display a CPU temperature. The open source tool LibreHardwareMonitor itself states that some sensors require administrator privileges, and that is exactly why such tools ask for elevation at startup. Access at that depth is a responsibility you do not take on casually, which is why the Rigmint app deliberately goes without it: it reports the CPU temperature as not measurable instead of inventing a number.

What to do instead

Take the temperature from the BIOS or from your motherboard vendor's own tool. And if a program shows you a CPU temperature without ever asking for those privileges, be sceptical. A wrong temperature is worse than none.

Review status

Last checked against its sources
Next review
Evidence density
3 of 4 key points carry a source
Open question
No open question recorded

Sources

  1. Publisher
    Microsoft
    Published
    No publication date stated
    retrieved
    Supports
    What Task Manager shows: processes, utilisation, clock speed, memory and other performance data. CPU temperature is not among them.
  2. Publisher
    LibreHardwareMonitor (Open-Source-Projekt)
    Published
    No publication date stated
    retrieved
    Supports
    Some sensors can only be read with administrator privileges.

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