Thermal Monitor

A comprehensive PowerShell toolkit for monitoring and diagnosing system thermal issues on Windows. Includes two specialized scripts:

• ThermalMonitor.ps1: Main system thermal monitoring with CPU/GPU usage, temperatures, and thermal throttling detection
• ChromeTabMonitor.ps1: Real-time Chrome process analysis to identify resource-heavy tabs and extensions

Helps identify resource-heavy processes contributing to overheating. Optional integration with Open Hardware Monitor for enhanced temperature data. Ideal for diagnosing performance issues and Chrome-specific resource consumption.

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How the Script Works

• Logs Data: Saves output to a log file in C:\Temp with a timestamped filename (e.g., ThermalMonitor_20250722_083512.log).
• CPU Usage: Uses performance counters to get real-time CPU usage percentage for the top 10 processes, with intelligent aggregation of multiple process instances and fallback to CPU time if counters aren't available.
• GPU Usage: Attempts to retrieve GPU engine utilization using Windows performance counters with proper process name parsing and aggregation (availability varies by system and GPU).
• CPU Temperature: Tries Open Hardware Monitor first with silent fallback to Windows built-in thermal zones. Includes temperature averaging and validation. Displays temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit for convenience.
• Process Tracking: Maintains historical data for each process across all monitoring cycles to identify sustained heat sources.
• Heat Analysis: Calculates a "heat score" for each process based on average CPU usage, peak usage, memory consumption, and time presence to identify the most likely culprits.
• Thermal Throttling Detection: Compares current CPU clock speed to max clock speed and tracks throttling events throughout monitoring.
• Monitoring Loop: Runs for 5 minutes, checking every 10 seconds, and logs all data with real-time warnings for high temperatures and throttling.
• Visual Feedback: Displays progress bars, spinning animations, colored status messages, and a comprehensive heat analysis report at the end.

Prerequisites

• Run as Administrator: Performance counters and some WMI queries require elevated privileges. Right-click PowerShell and select "Run as Administrator."
• Open Hardware Monitor (Optional): For enhanced temperature data, download and run Open Hardware Monitor before executing the script. The script will attempt to use Windows built-in thermal sensors as fallback.
• Windows 10/11: GPU performance counters work best on modern Windows versions with supported GPUs and drivers.

How to Use

ThermalMonitor.ps1 (Main System Monitor)

1. Download and save the script as ThermalMonitor.ps1 to any directory of your choice.
2. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
3. Navigate to the directory where you saved the script (e.g., cd C:\Downloads or cd "C:\Your\Preferred\Path").
4. Run the script: .\ThermalMonitor.ps1.
5. Watch the progress indicators in the console.
6. Check the log file in C:\Temp for detailed results.

ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 (Chrome-Specific Analysis)

1. Save ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 to your preferred directory.
2. Open PowerShell (Administrator recommended for full access).
3. Navigate to the script directory.
4. Run with default settings: .\ChromeTabMonitor.ps1
5. Or customize parameters:

   .\ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 -RefreshInterval 3 -HighCpuThreshold 2 -ExportToCsv

ChromeTabMonitor Parameters:

• RefreshInterval: Update frequency in seconds (1-300, default: 5)
• TopProcessCount: Number of top processes to display (default: 10)
• ShowAll: Show all Chrome processes instead of just top ones
• HighCpuThreshold: CPU percentage threshold for highlighting (default: 1%)
• HighMemoryThreshold: Memory threshold in MB for highlighting (default: 100MB)
• ExportToCsv: Enable CSV export of process data
• ExportPath: Custom path for CSV export (auto-generated if not specified)

Interpreting the Results

ThermalMonitor.ps1 Results

Heat Analysis Report

The script automatically generates a comprehensive heat analysis report at the end, ranking processes by their "heat score":

• Heat Score Calculation: Combines sustained CPU load (average CPU × time present), peak CPU impact, and memory pressure
• Top Heat Culprits: Shows the top 5 processes most likely responsible for system heating
• Process Metrics: Displays average CPU usage, maximum CPU usage, memory consumption, and percentage of time the process was active
• Color Coding: Red indicates high heat scores (>50), yellow indicates moderate scores (>25)

Temperature Analysis

• Temperature Averaging: Shows average and maximum temperatures throughout the monitoring period in both Celsius and Fahrenheit
• High Temperature Warnings: Alerts when temperatures exceed 85°C (185°F)
• Multiple Sources: Uses Open Hardware Monitor data when available, falls back to Windows thermal zones
• Dual Scale Display: All temperature readings are shown in both °C and °F for user convenience

Throttling Detection

• Real-time Monitoring: Tracks CPU clock speed changes throughout monitoring
• Throttling Events: Reports frequency and percentage of time throttling occurred
• Performance Impact: Shows current vs maximum clock speeds to assess throttling severity

ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 Results

Real-Time Chrome Analysis

• Process Overview: Shows total Chrome processes, aggregate CPU usage, and total memory consumption
• High Resource Processes: Automatically highlights processes exceeding your configured CPU and memory thresholds
• Process Classification: Identifies process types (Main, Tab, Extension, GPU, Audio Service, etc.) with additional context
• Resource Metrics: Displays CPU percentage, memory usage, thread count, handles, and runtime for each process
• Problematic Process Alerts: Special highlighting for processes with very high resource usage that may need investigation

Chrome Process Types Explained

• Main/Browser Main: The primary Chrome browser process
• Tab: Individual website tabs (site-isolated for security)
• Extension: Browser extensions with extension ID hints when available
• GPU: Graphics processing for hardware acceleration
• Audio/Network/Storage Service: Specialized utility processes
• App: Chrome web applications

CSV Export (Optional)

When enabled, exports timestamped data including all process metrics for historical analysis and trend identification.

Advanced Features

ThermalMonitor.ps1 Features

• Process Instance Aggregation: Handles multiple instances of the same process (e.g., chrome#1, chrome#2) by combining their resource usage
• Smart GPU Detection: Automatically detects Windows version compatibility for GPU monitoring (requires Windows 10 build 17763+)
• Enhanced Error Handling: Graceful fallbacks when performance counters or temperature sensors are unavailable
• Sustained Load Analysis: Focuses on processes that consistently consume resources over time rather than brief spikes
• Memory Pressure Consideration: Includes memory usage in heat calculations as high memory usage can contribute to thermal load

ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 Features

• Performance Counter Integration: Uses Windows performance counters for accurate real-time CPU measurements with fallback to time-based estimates
• Batch WMI Queries: Optimized process information retrieval for better performance with many Chrome processes
• Configurable Thresholds: Customizable CPU and memory thresholds for highlighting problematic processes
• Process Type Intelligence: Advanced Chrome process classification with context clues (extension IDs, app URLs, etc.)
• Memory Management: Periodic garbage collection for long-running monitoring sessions
• CSV Data Export: Optional timestamped data export for trend analysis and historical review
• Error Resilience: Handles access-denied scenarios gracefully while preserving visible metrics

Customization

ThermalMonitor.ps1 Customization

• Duration: Modify $monitorDuration (default: 300 seconds) to change monitoring time
• Interval: Adjust $interval (default: 10 seconds) to change sampling frequency
• Process Count: The script tracks top 10 processes internally but displays top 5 in logs for clarity
• Heat Score Tuning: Advanced users can modify the heat score calculation weights in the Get-HeatCulprits function

ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 Customization

• Refresh Rate: Use -RefreshInterval parameter (1-300 seconds, default: 5)
• Display Count: Adjust -TopProcessCount to show more/fewer processes (default: 10)
• Threshold Tuning: Modify -HighCpuThreshold and -HighMemoryThreshold to match your system's baseline
• Export Configuration: Customize CSV export path and enable/disable with -ExportToCsv and -ExportPath
• Display Mode: Use -ShowAll to see all Chrome processes regardless of resource usage

Troubleshooting

General Issues

• Permission Errors: Always run PowerShell as Administrator for full functionality
• Performance Counter Issues: Both scripts include fallbacks if performance counters are unavailable

ThermalMonitor.ps1 Issues

• No Temperature Data: Install Open Hardware Monitor or check if your system exposes ACPI thermal zones
• No GPU Data: Ensure you have Windows 10 build 17763+ with WDDM 2.0+ drivers

ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 Issues

• No Chrome Processes Found: Ensure Chrome is running before starting the monitor
• Access Denied Errors: Some Chrome processes may be protected; run as Administrator for complete access
• High CPU Usage from Monitor: Reduce refresh frequency with -RefreshInterval 10 or higher
• CSV Export Fails: Check that the export directory exists and is writable
• Inaccurate CPU Readings: Performance counter availability varies by system; the script falls back to time-based estimates

Use Cases

Identifying System Overheating

1. Run ThermalMonitor.ps1 during normal usage
2. Check heat analysis report for top resource consumers
3. If Chrome appears as a major heat source, run ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 for detailed tab analysis
4. Use CSV export from ChromeTabMonitor for pattern analysis over time

Chrome Performance Optimization

1. Run ChromeTabMonitor.ps1 with low thresholds to catch all resource usage
2. Enable CSV export for trend analysis
3. Identify problematic extensions, tabs, or background processes
4. Cross-reference with Chrome's built-in Task Manager (Shift+Esc) for additional context