If a game stutters, your fans roar, or a new graphics card does not seem as fast as it should, you need numbers before you start changing settings or buying parts. Three free tools cover almost everything: HWiNFO for detailed sensor readings, MSI Afterburner for an in-game overlay and graphics card fan control, and the NVIDIA app if you have a GeForce card.
Forge PC has not benchmarked these tools against each other for this article. The steps and feature descriptions below come from the developers' own pages, read on 13 November 2026. Menu names can change between versions.
Tool | Best for | Cost | Where to get it |
|---|
HWiNFO | Every sensor in the system: CPU, GPU, motherboard, drives | Free for non-commercial use | hwinfo.com |
MSI Afterburner | In-game overlay, GPU fan curves, overclocking and undervolting | Free, works with any brand of graphics card | msi.com or Guru3D only |
NVIDIA app | Quick FPS and latency overlay on GeForce cards | Free | nvidia.com |
Step 1: Download from the official sites only
This matters more than it sounds. MSI's Afterburner page warns about phishing sites that impersonate Afterburner and steal data, and says the only genuine sources are msi.com and Guru3D. Treat any other "Afterburner download" site as fake.
HWiNFO is published by REALiX. Its download page offers an installer for 64-bit Windows 7 and later on x64 or Arm64, plus a portable version. Version 8.60 was current when we checked. HWiNFO describes itself as freeware for non-commercial use only, with a paid Pro licence for commercial use. The developer also says HWiNFO does not collect personal information or send data over the network.
Step 2: Read your sensors with HWiNFO
HWiNFO's main job is detailed hardware information plus real-time monitoring of every component. Once it is installed:
Open HWiNFO and choose the sensors view, which lists every sensor it can read.
Find your CPU section and look for the main CPU temperature reading, plus clock speeds and power.
Find your GPU section. Look for the GPU temperature, hot spot or memory temperature if your card reports them, plus fan speed, clocks and board power.
Check your drives. NVMe SSDs report their own temperature, which is useful if a drive slows down during long file copies.
Run a game for 15 to 20 minutes, then look at the Maximum column rather than the current value.
HWiNFO can also log readings to a file, which is useful if a crash or shutdown happens when you are not watching. Its site lists status logging and reporting among its main features.
Do not judge temperatures against numbers from forum posts. Every CPU and GPU has its own official limit, and many are designed to boost until they reach one. Our guide to stopping a PC overheating explains how to find those official limits and what to do if you are hitting them.
Step 3: Add an in-game overlay with MSI Afterburner
MSI describes Afterburner as free software that works with graphics cards from any brand, not just MSI's. Its main features are:
Hardware monitor: live graphs of GPU temperature, usage, clocks and fan speed.
On-screen display: real-time stats in the corner of the screen while you play.
Custom fan curves: set your own graphics card fan speed against temperature.
Overclocking tools and OC Scanner: OC Scanner automatically searches for a stable overclock.
According to Guru3D, which hosts the official downloads, Afterburner's on-screen display works through its integrated support for RivaTuner Statistics Server. The exact menu names vary between versions, but the setup goes like this:
Install Afterburner from msi.com or Guru3D, and accept the RivaTuner Statistics Server component if the installer offers it.
Open Afterburner's settings and go to the monitoring tab.
Tick the readings you want, such as GPU temperature, GPU usage and frame rate, and enable "Show in On-Screen Display" for each.
Launch a game. The overlay should appear in a corner of the screen.
MSI's current final release when we checked was version 4.6.6, released in September 2026. Guru3D notes that beta builds sometimes expire, while final builds do not, and recommends using a final build.
Step 4: Or use the NVIDIA app overlay on a GeForce card
If you have an NVIDIA graphics card, you may not need Afterburner just for an FPS counter. NVIDIA says its app's overlay shows real-time FPS and performance statistics. You can choose to display GPU and CPU utilisation, 1% low FPS, and PC and system latency, with integrated NVIDIA Reflex Analyzer support. The overlay is part of the NVIDIA app, which also handles driver updates. Our graphics driver update guide covers that side of it.
What to look for
GPU usage well below 100% while FPS is low: the graphics card is waiting on something else, often the CPU, memory or a frame-rate cap. Our gaming PC performance checklist walks through the usual causes.
Clocks dropping as temperatures climb: this is thermal throttling. Clean the dust filters, check case airflow and look at the cooler.
1% lows far below the average FPS: this shows up as stutter even when the average looks fine. Check background apps, and check that RAM is running at its rated speed.
Very high SSD temperature during big copies: a drive heatsink or better airflow over the M.2 slot can help.
Don't change things blindly
Afterburner can also overclock and change voltage, and its fan-curve controls make it easy to set a curve that is too quiet for your card. Start by monitoring only. If you later experiment with fan curves or OC Scanner, change one thing at a time and keep HWiNFO or the overlay open so you can see the effect.
Our verdict
Install HWiNFO for an accurate picture of every sensor in your PC, and add MSI Afterburner, downloaded only from msi.com or Guru3D, if you want temperatures and frame rate on screen while you play. GeForce owners can use the NVIDIA app overlay instead for FPS, 1% lows and latency. Measure first, compare against official limits rather than forum figures, and only then start changing fan curves or settings. We have not run comparative tests on these tools; the descriptions come from their developers' own pages.
