Why do antivirus tools warn about Core Temp?

Some scanners warn about the built-in driver Core Temp uses to read CPU registers. The author has said the program contains no keylogger and no spyware. False positives have been reported for years. A file from an unofficial repack is a different risk and has installed extra software. Read the trust page before you override a warning.

Why would a core show a question mark?

A question mark means that sample was not marked valid. Some older Intel chips, including parts of the 45 nm Core 2 line, do not report very low temperatures. Older AMD K10 processors often expose one sensor for the whole package. A Ryzen reading that froze after sleep or reboot was addressed in 1.20.1, which is included in 1.21.

What does the portable zip skip?

The portable zip is the Windows build that does not run the installer, so it does not show the optional Goodgame Empire shortcut. It is still Core Temp 1.21. The button on the download page is ready and delivers the Core Temp installer.

Does Core Temp read Ryzen 9000?

Version 1.19.5 added Zen 5 support, including Granite Ridge. The home page screenshot is Core Temp on a Ryzen 9 9950X with 16 cores, Tj. Max at 95°C, and Tdie listed separately from the cores. Support still depends on the exact model exposing a sensor.

Will Core Temp run on Windows Server?

Yes, on the server releases listed for version 1.21: Windows Server 2025, 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2008, and 2003. The processor still has to be Intel, AMD, or VIA x86.

How does the temperature log work?

Core Temp can write temperature samples to a text file on an interval you choose. You can open that file in a spreadsheet. Version 1.21 corrects a bug where a custom log path was not applied when the program started. A separate grapher add-on can plot load and temperature for each core.

What does Tj. Max mean?

Tj. Max is the junction temperature Intel uses as the top of the scale for the digital thermal sensor. Core Temp works out an Intel core temperature as Tj. Max minus the delta the sensor reports. On the 2600K screenshot, Tj. Max is 98°C. On the 9950X screenshot it is 95°C. AMD and VIA use different registers.

Does Core Temp change clock speed or voltage?

No. It reads processor data and can hibernate or shut down Windows when a temperature limit is crossed. It is not a tuning utility and it does not set the CPU multiplier.

How do you uninstall Core Temp?

If you used the installer, remove Core Temp from Windows Settings or from Programs and Features. A portable copy is removed by deleting its folder. Uninstalling does not remove a game shortcut you already accepted. Delete that shortcut yourself if it is still on the desktop.

Version 1.21 · 3 October 2026 · Free of charge

Read every CPU core with Core Temp

Core Temp 1.21 takes the temperature from the digital thermal sensor inside each processor core and shows it on screen. Get it for Windows 10 or Windows 11 when you want per-core temperature, load, and Tj. Max, instead of a single number from a motherboard diode.

Get it for Windows

Windows 10 or 11 Intel, AMD, or VIA x86 Arthur Liberman

The installer buttons on the download page are not linked to files yet. The 1.21 version note does not give a file size, so none is shown here.

Figures taken from the Ryzen 9 9950X image below. They are not a reading from your PC.
Sensor	Now	Min	Max	Load
Tj. Max	95°C	Granite Ridge
Tdie	47°C	47°C	47°C	n/a
Core 0	28°C	28°C	28°C	2%
Core 8	27°C	27°C	27°C	2%
Core 15	30°C	30°C	30°C	2%

Core Temp main window on an AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, with 16 cores, a Tj. Max of 95 degrees Celsius, a Tdie of 47 degrees Celsius, and per-core temperatures near 26 to 30 degrees Celsius at 2 percent load — A Ryzen 9 9950X in Core Temp. Choose the image to view it larger.

What the readings come from

Core Temp is a small Windows program for processor temperature and the CPU details around it. Each core value comes from a digital thermal sensor near the hottest part of that core. On Intel chips the published method is Tj. Max minus a delta taken from a model-specific register. AMD and VIA expose registers of their own. A diode on the motherboard is not part of that path.

The window also lists model, socket, frequency, multiplier, VID, revision, lithography, TDP, and, when the chip provides them, power, Tdie, and Tccd. Load is shown per core. The minimum, the maximum, and the current value stay on screen, so a brief spike is still visible after it falls.

The complete sensor method, including the AMD K8 and K10 formulas, is on the features page.

What it is used for

These are the jobs people leave Core Temp running to handle. Each one is described on the features page.

Temperature for each core: A row for every core the processor exposes, plus Tj. Max. On Zen parts, current builds also show a reading per CCD on most models.
Protection from overheating: A temperature limit can put the PC into hibernation or shut it down. Version 1.21 keeps that warning as the top-most window. Events can also be written to the Windows Event Log.
A temperature log: Samples can be written to a file at an interval you choose, then opened in a spreadsheet. Version 1.21 fixes a custom log path that was ignored at startup.
Icons in the notification tray: Core temperatures can stay in the tray. Version 1.21 rebuilds the tray configuration dialog and corrects missing icons and their order.
Plugins and shared memory: Other programs can read the same structure Core Temp publishes: temperatures, load, Tj. Max, frequency, VID, TDP, and power flags.

Why it stays on the taskbar

Checking a cooler on a new build

After a cooler is seated, the rows for each core show whether one core runs hotter than the rest. In the 9950X image, cores sit between 26°C and 30°C at 2% load while Tdie reads 47°C. That gap is visible because the package and the cores are separate rows.
A limit that can hibernate the PC

Overheat protection is meant for unattended renders and stress tests. You choose the temperature. The program can hibernate or shut down, rather than only showing a number.
A log you can chart later

The log is a text file written at an interval you choose. People open it in a spreadsheet when they want a curve, not another monitoring suite.
A computer in another room

The remote monitor add-on shows the name, online status, clock, VID, Tj. Max, and a bar for each core. A sample on the features page is an Intel Core i3-540 (Clarkdale) at about 1203 MHz, with core 0 at 37°C / 17% and core 1 at 39°C / 21%.

How it compares with other monitors

HWMonitor and HWiNFO read a wider set of board sensors. Core Temp stays with the CPU thermal sensor and the actions around it. Real Temp is the older Intel-only relative: distance to Tj. Max, without AMD, VIA, or this plugin interface.

How CPU temperature tools compare on the jobs Core Temp is built for.
Question	Core Temp	HWMonitor	HWiNFO
Source of the CPU temperature	Digital thermal sensor in the core	Whichever sensors the board and chips expose	MSR and board sensors in one long list
A separate row for each core	Yes, when the CPU exposes a core sensor	Sometimes, mixed in with fans, disks, and voltages	Yes, inside a full hardware report
Hibernate or shut down when a core is hot	Yes, through overheat protection	No	Alerts and logs, not this compact tray action
Other programs reading the same data	Shared memory and plugins	No plugin platform of this kind	Its own way of sharing sensors
What else it sets out to cover	CPU fields: frequency, VID, TDP, power	Voltages, fans, disks, GPU	Most of the machine

Read this before installing

Core Temp is freeware written by Arthur Liberman. This website, coretemp.software, documents the program and will host the Windows downloads. It is not the author’s own site. A repack from an unrelated download portal is not the same file.

The program includes a driver so it can read CPU registers. Antivirus products have warned about that driver before. The author has said Core Temp contains no keylogger and no spyware. A detection does not prove either side: check the file you actually received, and read the trust and security page before you dismiss a warning.

Recent installers have included an optional shortcut to the game Goodgame Empire. Skip it if you do not want that icon. The portable zip is the build that skips the installer offers. Both buttons still need files attached on the download page.

Version 1.21, dated 3 October 2026, also notes a mitigation for older 64-bit driver issues tracked as JVN#23328936.

Developer: Arthur Liberman
Version: 1.21, 3 October 2026
License: Freeware
Systems: Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, and Server 2003 through 2025
Processors: Intel, AMD, or VIA x86
File size: Not stated for 1.21

What people say about it

These notes restate public comments. They were not sent to this website. Hover the strip to pause it.

Each core shows up without any sensor setup. That is why it stays on the bench PC.

Public remark, bench use
Overheat protection is set to hibernate, and it caught a cooler that was seated badly. I still clear the game shortcut. A temperature program should not offer Goodgame Empire during setup.

Public remark, installer
On Windows 11 the tray icons get more use than the main window. Dark mode is available for Windows 10 and newer, yet many dialogs still look like a classic control panel. After a stress run I check Tj. Max and the high column.

Public remark, Windows 11
I placed a language file in the folder and the menus stayed in English. Logging still worked.

Public remark, language pack
64-bit plugins have been difficult to use. Shared memory is the part I rely on, so another small program can read the same core temperatures.

Public remark, plugins
Each core shows up without any sensor setup. That is why it stays on the bench PC.

Public remark, bench use
Overheat protection is set to hibernate, and it caught a cooler that was seated badly. I still clear the game shortcut. A temperature program should not offer Goodgame Empire during setup.

Public remark, installer
On Windows 11 the tray icons get more use than the main window. Dark mode is available for Windows 10 and newer, yet many dialogs still look like a classic control panel. After a stress run I check Tj. Max and the high column.

Public remark, Windows 11
I placed a language file in the folder and the menus stayed in English. Logging still worked.

Public remark, language pack
64-bit plugins have been difficult to use. Shared memory is the part I rely on, so another small program can read the same core temperatures.

Public remark, plugins

Quick answers

No. Arthur Liberman releases Core Temp as freeware. Version 1.21 has no license fee. Recent installers have offered an optional desktop shortcut to Goodgame Empire. Skip that shortcut if you do not want it.

Yes. The current requirements list Windows 11 and Windows 10, along with Windows 8.1, 8, 7, and XP, and Windows Server from 2003 through 2025. The processor must be Intel, AMD, or VIA x86. Version 1.21 no longer supports Windows 2000.

Some scanners warn about the built-in driver Core Temp uses to read CPU registers. The author has said the program contains no keylogger and no spyware. Repacks from unofficial sites are a different risk and have installed extra software. The trust page has the details.

A question mark means that sample was not marked valid. Some older Intel chips do not report very low temperatures. Some older AMD processors expose one sensor for the whole package. A Ryzen reading that froze after sleep was addressed in 1.20.1. The reading guide lists the checks.

The main window is a CPU reading: temperature per core, load, frequency, VID, TDP, and power when the chip exposes them. Version 1.21 fixed a crash with more than one Intel GPU. That fix does not add a GPU temperature display.

Open the complete FAQ

Get Core Temp 1.21 for Windows

The download page lists the changes from 3 October 2026, the Windows versions that are supported, and separate buttons for 64-bit, 32-bit, and the portable zip. Those buttons do not point at files yet.

Get it for Windows

Version: 1.21
Date: 3 October 2026
License: Freeware
Tray dialog: Rebuilt in this release
No longer supported: Windows 2000

Read every CPU core with Core Temp

What the readings come from

What it is used for

Why it stays on the taskbar

Checking a cooler on a new build

A limit that can hibernate the PC

A log you can chart later

A computer in another room