PC Hardware Monitor with Graphs for 4 Different Performance Metrics

Every day you push a button or fiddle around with your mouse to wake your computer. It then labors tirelessly all day to let you work with CAD software, browse Reddit, and/or watch cat videos, unappreciated and unnoticed until things run poorly or a program crashes. If you think it’s time for your faithful electronic companion to get some recognition for the job it does well (most) every day, or if you’d like to monitor how hard it’s working, one great option is this PC Hardware Monitor by “cbm80amiga.”

As shown in the video below, this monitor comes in two different versions. The first numerically shows the CPU temperature, load, and clock speed, as well as your system’s used RAM and a single performance graph. The second version also gives these four stats, but breaks out each element into a separate graph for info and trend data at a glance. An Arduino Pro Mini is used to power the device with a separate USB to serial converter, or you could use a Nano or other USB-capable hardware if you so prefer.

Code for the first monitor can be found on GitHub, along with the second 4-graph version. More info on the ST7920 LCD can be found in this separate video if you’d like to examine its capabilities further.