Windows Task Manager

Windows 11 has the ability to monitor your GPU temperature built-in, and Windows 10 has had it since the May 2020 update. The temperature monitor is found in Task Manager.

To open it, hit Ctrl+Shift+Esc, and then click “More details” if it is present at the bottom left.

Click on the performance tab at the top. Scroll down on the left-hand side until you see “GPU”, and then click that. The temperature is displayed at the bottom of the GPU page.

NVIDIA GeForce Experience

GeForce Experience is the software NVIDIA provides to monitor your GPU’s temperature. Launch it from your Start menu to get started.

To find the temperature monitor, you need to access the in-game overlay settings. Click the triangular icon in the top right.

On the window that pops up, click “Performance.”

You’ll see a bunch of statistics about your GPU here, including the GPU clock, temperature, fan speed, and power draw.

You can customize how this is information is displayed by clicking the gear in the bottom right. It even has an option for an in-application overlay, so you can keep an eye on your temperatures while you’re gaming.

AMD Radeon Software

AMD’s tool for monitoring your GPU is called Radeon Software. You can launch it from your Start menu.

To access the temperature monitor for the GPU, click on the “Performance” tab at the top left of the Radeon Software home screen.

The GPU temperature is displayed in the bottom left.

AMD’s monitoring software includes the ability to log data about your GPU into a CSV file. It is a convenient feature if you want to monitor your GPU temperature for extended periods of time, or if you want to compare how other GPU stats, like GPU utilization, correspond to GPU temperature.

Third-Party GPU Temperature Monitoring Tools

MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner is a popular choice among enthusiasts to monitor GPU performance because it works with almost all GPUs and allows for overclocking and other customization. Like the tools from NVIDIA and AMD, it can display the information while you’re in-game. It also provides the ability to log performance statistics, like AMD’s Radeon Software.

The temperature monitor is found directly on the main page.

EVGA Precision X1

EVGA’s Precision X1 has the same basic features as Afterburner and Radeon Software, except that it exclusively supports NVIDIA GPUs. Like Afterburner, the temperature indicator is in the middle of the first page, and it supports logging temperature data to a file.

HWiNFO64

HWiNFO64 goes above and beyond monitoring your GPU’s temperature, and has a different design from Precision X1 or Afterburner. It provides data about every component in your system in real time, and supports logging any metrics it can display. When you launch the program, you’ll be asked if you want to run “Summary-only” or “Sensors-only.” Click “Sensors-only” and then hit run.

Look for a section titled “GPU[#]:” — it should have the name of your GPU displayed to the right. Immediately under that will be your GPU temperature. If you have a CPU with integrated graphics (like an AMD APU or one of Intel’s CPUs with an iGPU) and a dedicated GPU, there might be multiple GPUs displayed.

These are only a few of the options available. All Add-In Board (AIB) GPU manufacturers have their own software comparable to EVGA’s Precision X1 and MSI’s Afterburner. Many other companies that make hardware aimed at gamers also offer monitoring software that can track your GPU’s temperature.

Most of these solutions offer the same set of features, so make your choice based on whichever you find the easiest to use and that you like the most.

How to Enable TPM 2.0

Windows 11 officially requires TPM 2.0. (However, there’s an easy way to install Windows 11 if your PC only has TPM 1.2, which we’ll cover below.)

If the tool reports that your computer doesn’t have TPM, there’s a chance your PC does have TPM—but it may be disabled by default.

For more information, run on online search for the model name of your computer and “enable TPM,” or examine its official documentation. (If you built your own PC, search for your motherboard model name instead.)To check for and enable TPM 2.0, you will need to enter your computer’s UEFI firmware settings (the modern replacement for the BIOS). 

Look for an option named something like “TPM,” “Intel PTT,” “AMD PSP fTPM,” or “Security Device.” You may find it in the main UEFI settings menu or in a menu named something like “Advanced,” “Trusted Computing,” or “Security.”

You may also need to install a UEFI update for your computer or its motherboard. Manufacturers have been rolling out updates that either enable TPM 2.0 by default—or add support for it. It may even be possible to upgrade from TPM 1.2 to TPM 2.0 with a firmware update on some PCs; it depends on your hardware and system manufacturer. Check with your computer (or motherboard) manufacturer for more information about updates for Windows 11.

After enabling TPM, re-run the PC Health Check tool. You should be able to upgrade normally if that was your only problem.

How to Enable Secure Boot

If PC Health Check reports your computer isn’t using Secure Boot, you should also look in UEFI firmware settings for a “Secure Boot” option and enable it, if possible.

You may have disabled Secure Boot to install Linux, or it may have come disabled on your motherboard. Modern Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora work on PCs with Secure Boot enabled, so you don’t necessarily have to disable this security feature to install Linux.

If you are able to enable Secure Boot, re-run the PC Health Check tool. You can now upgrade normally—assuming Secure Boot was the only problem.

How to Fix No UEFI (MBR Instead of GPT)

Windows 11 requires UEFI. Some older computers offer both modes: UEFI firmware or a traditional legacy BIOS. If you are currently using a “traditional” MBR partitioning setup but your PC does offer UEFI as an option, you will have to switch to a GPT partition table to use UEFI.

If this is your only problem, one easier way would be to perform a clean install. First, be sure to back up your files (we recommend backing up your files before upgrading anyway.) Then, use Microsoft’s Media Creation Tool to create bootable Windows 11 installation media on a USB drive or DVD.

 Now, use the installation media to perform a clean installation of Windows 11, wiping your drive—you may have to put your computer’s firmware into UEFI mode first. Windows 11 will erase your Windows 10 system and set up your drive in GPT mode.There are several ways to do this. Microsoft’s MBR2GPT tool may allow you to convert a drive from MBR to GPT format. Microsoft warns that you should only do this if you know your PC supports UEFI, and that you may have to change settings in your PC’s firmware to make it boot in UEFI mode rather than legacy BIOS mode afterward.

Registry Hack for Unsupported CPUs and/or Only TPM 1.2

If your only problem is that your computer has an unsupported CPU and/or that it only has TPM 1.2 instead of TPM 2.0, this is the easiest problem to get around.

If you so choose, you can get around this restriction with a simple Windows Registry change. Making this change will cause Windows 11 to ignore the CPU version check and install even if only TPM 1.2 is present. However, this won’t eliminate other checks—for example, if your computer doesn’t have a TPM at all, this registry change won’t let you upgrade.

Warning: The Windows Registry is complex, and you should be careful what you add, edit, or delete in it. You could cause problems with your Windows installation. If you’re not comfortable editing the registry, you may want to avoid upgrading. However, as long as you follow our advice here, you shouldn’t have any problems.

To get started, open the Registry Editor. You can press Windows+R, type “regedit”, and press Enter, or type “registry” into the Start menu’s search box and click the “Registry Editor” shortcut.

Type the following address into the address bar in the Registry Editor window (or navigate to it in the left pane):

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Setup\MoSetup

Right-click in the right pane, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and enter the following text as the name:

AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU

Double-click the “AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU” value here, set it to “1”, and click “OK.”

This downloadable ZIP file contains two REG files: One that enables upgrades on unsupported PCs (Enable Unsupported Upgrades.reg) and one that reverts the change (Undo Enable Unsupported Upgrades.reg). Just double-click the “Enable Unsupported Upgrades.reg” file and agree to add the information to your registry. If you want to undo your change, double-click the Undo file.

These files work in the same way as the above registry hack—they just set the “AllowUpgradesWithUnsupportedTPMOrCPU” value to “1” (to enable unsupported upgrades) or “0” (to revert to the default setting).

To ensure the change takes effect, reboot your PC before continuing.

You can now download and run the Windows Installation Assistant tool from Microsoft’s website to upgrade your PC to Windows 11, just as if it had a supported CPU or TPM 2.0. You’ll just have to agree to a warning first.