Gadgets showing the temperature of the processor and video card.  Best Free System Resource Monitors Display CPU Usage on Desktop

Introduction

The loading indicators we'll talk about are not only an improvement appearance, but also have purely practical benefits.

This article consists of two independent parts: CPU and hard drive load indicator.

Hard drive loading indicator

Before starting to create the indicator, I decided to look for the most optimal scheme. After browsing through a number of sites, I found a relatively small variety of schemes. One of the most important criteria is to get a high-quality mod for relatively little money. Most circuits use LM3914 chips, which are not that cheap. Therefore, I began to look for a level indicator chip with an output of 5-8 LEDs. The choice fell on AN6884 due to its low price and wide availability. This microcircuit has five LEDs at the output, and passes 7mA current through each.

To read the signal, two wires are used coming from motherboard, to which the hard drive indicator LED located on the front panel is connected. Instead of an LED, an optocoupler input is connected to them (see diagram). Even if you reverse the polarity, nothing will burn. The optocoupler in the diagram is necessary for electrical isolation of the circuits of the motherboard and the indicator (this is primarily necessary to protect the motherboard).

At zero load - the phototransistor inside the optocoupler is locked - while C6 is discharged through R11. When the hard drive load increases, the phototransistor is open, and C6 begins to charge through it. The voltage on C6 changes in proportion to the load level. Depending on the capacity of C6, the rate of change in the load level changes.

The voltage from C6 is removed through the divider R12, R14. Trimmer resistor R14 is used to change the sensitivity of the indicator.

You can install any LEDs at your discretion. For myself, I set the three smaller levels to green, and the two larger levels to red.

Hard drive indicator circuit

Setting up the indicator comes down to setting its sensitivity using R14.

CPU load indicator

When the hard drive indicator was already made, I began to think about an indicator for something else. The choice fell on the processor load indicator.

During the search, two options were found - through LPT and through COM.

I chose the COM port only because it was not used, unlike LPT. While searching, I found an article by Clear66, in which he talked about connecting a car tachometer to a COM port. I liked this idea most of all because there is no need to make special circuits for converting digital values ​​into an analog signal. The PCTach program is used for control (download link is at the end of the article).

But since there was no tachometer of any kind at hand at that moment, I had to make a homemade version of the factory one. After assembly and configuration, the processor load indicator began to show more or less accurately.

But I didn’t like the increased speed of displaying the load level, which was expressed by excessive twitching of the indicator arrow when the processor load was uneven. But this was corrected by adding an additional capacitor in parallel with the microammeter.

The appearance of the dial indicator did not suit me much, and I decided to look for an alternative. Ultimately, the indicator became LED, and not a scale of LEDs, but two LEDs of different glow colors directed towards each other. The load level is displayed by smoothly changing the brightness of the LEDs.

To make the indicator, I used 4-5mm plexiglass and two LEDs: red and blue. A strip measuring 150mm by 15mm is cut out of plexiglass. After this, places for LEDs are cut out along the edges of the strip. The ends and one side of the strip should be sanded with zero-grade sandpaper to a uniform matte finish. This is necessary for uniform dispersion of light. A strip of foil is glued to the back side (which is not sanded) and to the sides of the strip to reflect the rays of the LEDs. When the strip is ready, the LEDs are glued.

Arrangement of LEDs in a strip of plexiglass

When the LEDs are already glued, electrical tape or self-adhesive film is glued to the ends of the strip. This is necessary so that the LEDs shine only in the desired part of the strip.

Blue on top symbolizes cold, i.e. low CPU load. Red below symbolizes heating, i.e. big load. The processor load is proportional to the transition of colors between each other. The wires going to the board and a 68-100 Ohm resistor are fixed at one edge of the strip using hot-melt adhesive.

To smoothly change the brightness of the LEDs, a PWM signal generation circuit is used. With this control method, the brightness of the LEDs varies depending on the ratio of the time it is lit and the time it is not lit. This way better control voltage in that the brightness of the LEDs changes proportionally to the voltage.

The scheme consists of the following blocks:

voltage driver on DA1.1

Ramp generator on DA2

voltage comparison unit for DA1.2 DA1.3

The resistor divider R4, R3 sets the voltage to 1.2 volts, which is approximately equal to the minimum voltage of the sawtooth pulses DA2. Pulses are taken from the third pin of the computer's COM port. When the input level is high, capacitor C1 is charged through resistor R1 and diode D1. When the input level is low, capacitor C1 is discharged through R2. A voltage proportional to the processor load level is generated at C1. Since the amplitude of this voltage is less than the amplitude of the sawtooth pulses DA2, there is an amplifier on DA1.1 in the circuit. The maximum level of the indicator is adjusted by changing the gain using R6. The R7, C3 chain finally smoothes out the voltage ripple from the amplifier output. PWM is generated by comparing the measured voltage and sawtooth pulses.

DA1.2 generates a direct, and DA1.3 an inverted PWM signal. These two signals are then sent to LEDs, pre-amplified by switches on transistors T3, T4.

Processor indicator circuit

Execution

Since both indicators are located on the front panel, I made a common board for them. On one edge of the board there are two strip-shaped tracks. Two M3 nuts are soldered to these strips. In the front of the housing frame, two 3mm holes are drilled so that they correspond to the distance between the centers of the nuts on the board. Next, two M3 screws are screwed into these nuts on the board, which pass through the holes in the frame.

CPU load indicator with different load levels:

Overheating problem threatens any computer or laptop. And as you know, prolonged overheating can result in much more serious consequences and costs. The two computer components most susceptible to overheating are the processor and video card. To prevent this, we advise you to install gadgets that display the temperatures of the processor and video card directly on your desktop. With their help, you can always monitor the temperatures of your computers and promptly clean and replace thermal paste. The functionality of the gadgets has been tested on Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

We present to your attention the best desktop gadget that displays a ton of useful information real-time information about your processor, including its temperature! All Cpu Meter also shows the name of the processor, its logo, the frequency at which it operates, the name of the computer, total and free space RAM, the load on each processor core and their temperature. The performance of this CPU temperature gadget has been tested on windows 7, windows 8.1 and windows 10. PCMeter is required for the gadget to work correctly.

1.Download and install the All Cpu Meter gadget;

2.Download and run the PC Meter program as administrator;

4. Check that all the boxes are checked in the settings;

With these settings, the program will launch itself along with Windows and you will not have to launch it manually each time in order to display the temperature of the processor and video card.

5.Go to the gadget settings;

6.On the "Options" tab, in the "Show CPU temperatures" line, select "ON(PC Meter)";

7.Apply the settings by clicking on the Ok button;

GPU Meter - Video card temperature gadget for windows 7, Windows 10 and Windows 8.1

GPU Meter is the best Windows desktop gadget to display your graphics card temperature in real time! Thanks to it, you can monitor the temperature of your video card at any time. In addition, the gadget shows the manufacturer and name of the video card, its clock frequency, total and used video memory, fan speed. If you need a graphics card temperature gadget, then GPU Meter is best solution this issue.

Dear readers, if you use Windows 10, then I suppose you have wondered where the usual gadgets (processor load indicator, clock, weather, etc.) are in this operating system, as in Windows 7. I will answer you - they are not there. Windows 10 developers decided not to install gadgets, as they were replaced by new application tiles. However, you can easily install familiar gadgets on Windows 10 thanks to special third-party programs.

Today we will look at two such programs that can add gadgets to Windows 10. So, let's go!

Windows Desktop Gadgets
This utility will return gadgets to the new Windows 10 OS in the form in which they were in the “seven”. Also, everything is in Russian, with the same interface. You can download it at http://gadgetsrevived.com/download-sidebar/

We install the program and after that we see the usual gadgets window. Here we see all the gadgets as in Windows 7 - clock, calendar, weather, puzzle and other original utilities.

By double clicking on the gadget you can display it on desktop,

To open the gadgets window, you need to right-click on the desktop and select Gadgets.

As you can see, everything is easy and simple. In a couple of clicks, gadgets returned to the new operating system.

8GadgetPack
8GadgetPack is another free analogue, thanks to which you can return gadgets to the operating room Windows system 10. This utility is more functional than the one described above, but it is partially in Russian. Download from the website http://8gadgetpack.net/

Although the program is partially in Russian, I think it won’t be too difficult to figure it out. It has a much larger selection of gadgets, as they say, for all occasions.

So, let's summarize. We looked at two programs that return gadgets in Windows 10. One and two programs allow you to download other third-party desktop gadgets. But there is one caveat: not all gadgets will work, as the developers note. However, a standard set of gadgets is enough for most users.

If you have questions, ask in the comments. All the best!

This stylish arrow display serves to present data on the operation of servers. It displays the load percentage of the computer's processor, RAM and hard drives. Data is displayed using three analogue pointer-type instruments - voltmeters DC at 10 V (or any suitable ones; choosing a resistance to fully deflect the needle is not a problem). The Raspberry Pi Zero module is responsible for controlling the operation of the system along with a system consisting of two LM358 operational amplifiers powered by a 5>12 V boost converter (ready module from Ali).

Electrical diagram

In order to connect voltmeters to the outputs, you need simple program, written in Python, which generates three PWM signals proportional to the load of a given element of the controlled server. The op-amp circuit is an analog PWM voltage signal converter.

The DAC converts the 3.3V PWM signal coming from the Raspberry Pi into a voltage ranging from 0 to 10V. The analog outputs - 1, 2 and 3 - are connected directly to the sensors on the panel, and the PWM inputs - 1, 2 and 3. connected to the controller.

Indicator design

The most difficult thing here is not to assemble the diagram - but to print beautiful 3 scales. Here is a drawing you can use for your device.

Then cut it out and paste it on top of the original dial gauge scale.

Type of finished device

The indicators are mounted on a plate painted gray. You can build it into the computer case, or you can arrange it in the form of a separate box. The entire system is mounted in a compact housing, so there is nothing outside but dial indicators not visible.

Everything is powered by one common voltage of 5 Volts from the PC power supply. On the one hand, it powers the Raspberry Pi Zero, and on the other, through a 12 Volt converter, it powers an analog circuit that generates a control voltage from 0 to 10 V for switchmen. The circuit diagram and firmware of the MK are not given - since this is a separate story...