It’s a deceptively simple task but between thermal throttling, power optimization, and motherboards that will reset their settings if they think the computer is unstable, both make for highly effective tools in ensuring that an overclocked computer is running at what it should be.

The most immediate value of both of these programs however is for their use in overclocking to determine what frequencies and timings the CPU and memory are running at. Although intended for programmer use, the information can be equally useful for users in the certain cases that these programs cover. The fundamental aspect of both programs is that they’re based around one of the x86 instructions, CPUID, which was originally intended to allow programmers to easily query the processor to see what features are supported, and has since then been expanded to other features. They’re more akin to a surgical knife than a Swiss army knife, but they’re also the most essential of all the tools we work with, which is why we list them first. Both tools are profilers, which are routinely used in basic identification of system components and discovering at what frequencies and what timings various motherboard components and the CPU are running at. We’ll start with the well known CPU-Z and CrystalCPUID, two utilities that cover the most basic of needs. Over the years there are specific tools we have turned to often and have become essential in our work and personal needs and these are our favorite tools.

There are many tools out there to do this, far more than we could cover in a single article, so we must whittle down the list. Identification & Basic Information: CPU-Z & CrystalCPUIDīecause motherboard tweaking should be handled in the otherwise feature-limited CMOS, we need tools beyond the CMOS to validate the operating state of a computer.

Cpu z 64 bit asus