A way to monitor CPU/GPU temps in real time?

I have an old 2011 Mac mini with discrete AMD GPU that I use for retro gaming. On paper, its (relatively) powerful GPU that should be many times faster than the 2010 Mac mini/NVidia 320m it replaced.

Edit: This is in Windows 10 - not macOS. Forgot to say that!

In practice, as soon as CJ starts walking down the street, the Mac gets super hot, the fans rev up, and the system starts throttling. In the end, I'm stuck with the graphics settings that work on the nvidia setup.

I tried replacing the thermal paste with fresh stuff, no change at all.

Before I give up and just go back to the 2010, I'd love to KNOW what is actually going on. Like for all I know, the issue isn't the GPU at all, maybe its the CPU that is over-revving, over-heating, and causing the system to throttle.

So what I would really love is software that can show me little realtime floating windows with CPU/GPU load and temp data that I can have on the screen while I'm playing, so when I hear the fans speed up, I can actually see what is going on and stop guessing.

Someone suggested "hwinfo" in a different thread but every time I install that and try to run it, it instantly gives me fatal errors and won't run.

What OS are you using?

Does Steam have the Steam Overlay on MacOS? If so you could add the game/emulator to Steam and then use the overlay to see what's happening.

Oh sorry guys my bad, the problems are happening when I'm running Windows 10, playing classic GTA games.

The most popular monitoring app is MSI afterburner with Riva Tuner. After installing you to into options and check/uncheck the monitors you want/dont want. Then in Riva Tuner you tell it which part of the screen to show the statistics.

HWInfo
HWMonitor

try this: https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control/download
iirc it displays but doesnt log temps and can control the mac's fans properly. ive used it on 2014 mac minis an imacs, works good. also, if you are missing any drivers, look for "brigadier"

wait a tick, we've done this before....
https://hardforum.com/threads/new-thermal-paste-in-old-mac-mini.2047514/#post-1046315926

Indeed we have. I've used that program on macos for years but I've never used it on windows. HOW does it display temps? The games will be full screen so the task bar will not be visible. Can it overlay temps on full screen apps?

l008com said:

Indeed we have. I've used that program on macos for years but I've never used it on windows. HOW does it display temps? The games will be full screen so the task bar will not be visible. Can it overlay temps on full screen apps?

Click to expand...

oh misread, not sure if it can do that. sorry.

OSD through MSI Afterburner is probably the best way with Windows 10, which Drexion mentioned already.

I just run CUPID the background then check it when I'm done. My license expired in 2024 but it still works.