System Memory Used & CPU Temperature show on some systems and not others?

[budget_Optiplex]

Hi, Thanks W1zzard / TechPowerUp for the GPU-Z utility, I have used it for years and it's been so very useful especially for watching GPU performance/temps while BIOS modding voltages and clock speeds to find the best balance.

Anyways, I have a question mostly out of curiosity. I have noticed that on some systems GPU-Z will display "System Memory Used" and "CPU Temperature" in the Sensors tab, but on other systems those two are not present at all. Is this dependent on Windows version, AMD vs Nvidia, or something else?

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[W1zzard]

Those two sensors should work on all hardware and software combinations. Any chance you're running an old version of GPU-Z ?

 

[budget_Optiplex]

Hi, I'm currently using the latest version, but I have observed this behavior for a few years now across multiple systems I have repaired/upgraded for friends/family. I regret not taking some notes on this.

For example on my current system (see System Specs) running Windows 7 x64, the latest Intel chipset driver, and AMD Adrenaline Dec 2019 driver, its not there (see screenshot) though CPUID HWMonitor reads CPU temps just fine. Yet when I had this same exact card and same version Intel chipset drivers, same Dec 2019 AMD driver, in a Dell Optiplex 790 running Win10 LTSB 2016, these two items were in GPU-Z.

Maybe others can chime in with their observations too?

 

[Naki]

I am confused! Are you trying to see CPU temps via a GPU-info tool? It seems you mixed up CPU & GPU, which are NOT the same thing.
Please note GPU-Z never showed motherboard or CPU info, its purpose is not that and never was.
For general mobo/PC info, you can use tools such as Speccy, AIDA64, HWiNFO, CPU-Z/etc.
For CPU temps some of those do that too, or use Core Temp, Real Temp/etc.

IF the CPU has a built-in GPU, you can see temp of that in GPU-Z, but that is not the CPU temp.

 

[budget_Optiplex]

While I don't have any personal screenshots from my last few systems where these two sensors were shown, I have attached a few screenshots from a Google image search showing these sensors being displayed in GPU-Z for other people. I suspect more often then not these sensors aren't displayed. In other words I'm asking this question because in many years of using GPU-Z on more systems that I have built/repaired/upgraded then I can count at this point, I have noticed very inconsistent behavior as to whether these two items get displayed or not. I personally find it fantastically useful when GPU-Z does show this info..................................

 

[Naki]

Can you post some screenshots of your own, instead of random ones from the Internet?

 

[W1zzard]

I am confused! Are you trying to see CPU temps via a GPU-info tool? It seems you mixed up CPU & GPU, which are NOT the same thing.
Please note GPU-Z never showed motherboard or CPU info, its purpose is not that and never was.

You are wrong. I added CPU temperature and system memory usage a while ago

Dell Optiplex 790

I checked my CPU temps code and you need Ryzen (Family 17h) or Intel Sandy Bridge (Family 6 Model 20h+).

The Xeon in your specs is Harpertown iirc, so Penryn, so too old

 

[Naki]

Okay, thanks - was not aware of this. IF so, IMHO this is confusing in its current state.

I would change this to something like:
* IF using Intel CPU, for sensor name to say "Intel CPU Temperature".
* If using AMD, to say "AMD CPU Temperature".

Also, why should GPU-Z, a GPU info tool show RAM/System Memory Used at all? This doesn't make sense.

 

[Assimilator]

Hi, I'm currently using the latest version, but I have observed this behavior for a few years now across multiple systems I have repaired/upgraded for friends/family. I regret not taking some notes on this.

For example on my current system (see System Specs) running Windows 7 x64, the latest Intel chipset driver, and AMD Adrenaline Dec 2019 driver, its not there (see screenshot) though CPUID HWMonitor reads CPU temps just fine. Yet when I had this same exact card and same version Intel chipset drivers, same Dec 2019 AMD driver, in a Dell Optiplex 790 running Win10 LTSB 2016, these two items were in GPU-Z.

Maybe others can chime in with their observations too?

View attachment 161337

My observation is that you really shouldn't expect anything to work if using a system that is over a decade old, and hence ancient in PC terms. W1zz only has so much time on his hands and adding code to handle legacy hardware is not a high priority.

Also, why should GPU-Z, a GPU info tool show RAM/System Memory Used at all? This doesn't make sense.

On the one hand, it's useful if you don't want to have multiple different monitoring utilities on-screen for each part of your system. GPU-Z is pretty minimal compared to most utils and puts a relatively large amount of info into a relatively small space, so I can understand why people would want this.

On the other hand, I do agree that having an ostensibly GPU-focused utility displaying other system information is outside its purview, and potentially confusing if it doesn't work - as in this case.

@W1zzard would be interested in hearing your reasoning for the inclusion of these CPU sensors, if you're willing to share?

 

[W1zzard]

would be interested in hearing your reasoning for the inclusion of these CPU sensors, if you're willing to share?

Makes my life easier during reviews, so I thought if it helps me, it might help others

 

[Assimilator]

Makes my life easier

Except when you get asked why it doesn't work

 

[Naki]

The issue here is looking at such screenshots from GPU-Z it appears to look like - but is in fact NOT! - that these CPU Temp and Memory Usage sensors are for the Nvidia RTX 2080 card (or whatever GPU the PC or laptop has), but obviously this is not the case.
To make this clearer and less confusing, I would either show this in a completely different view/tab, or as suggested in my previous post above rename the 2 sensors captions to something more meaningful & clear, so it is fully clear these 2 sensors do NOT relate to the GPU (or any of the GPUs, if more than 1), but to the CPU & system RAM instead.

Another suggestion for renaming:
Make the CPU Temperature and System Memory Used say:
* PC CPU Temperature
* PC System Memory Used
I think this way it would be clearer than now that these 2 sensors are not related to the GPU/its videoRAM, but to CPU+system RAM instead.

 

[budget_Optiplex]

I checked my CPU temps code and you need Ryzen (Family 17h) or Intel Sandy Bridge (Family 6 Model 20h+).

The Xeon in your specs is Harpertown iirc, so Penryn, so too old

OK that explains the problem, thank you! I have been doing IT work for 30 years, so I end up servicing alot of old machines for family/friends, most of whom aren't into computers at all and are on limited budgets too. So for them a 10+ year old system with an SSD/CPU/memory (and possibly a low-end GPU upgrade) is more then enough to keep them happy. Im on an extreme budget myself due to health issues, so I like to see what I can get out of old and low end hardware, and thusly GPU-Z is awesome as I BIOS mod and push every drop of performance out of the $10-$20 AMD cards like the R7 250, HD8570, FirePro W2100, etc. These cards are all way underclocked and overvolted in their stock form.

My 'system specs' machine plays new stuff such as Far Cry New Dawn, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein II New Colossus, Metro Exodus, and more at 1366x768 30FPS (I limit to 30FPS using AMD Frame Rate Target Control) with a combo of low/medium/high settings. The fact that I can play these games and have an enjoyable experience on a system I literally have less then $70 in makes me smile and not much does that for me anymore. And I couldn't have done it without GPU-Z allowing me to extract every drop of GPU performance I can via GPU BIOS tweaking. Thanks again W!zzard