Have you ever wondered about the inner-workings of your Windows 11 desktop, laptop, or tablet computer? If you've ever been tempted to peak under the technical covers, even just for a moment, then you're in luck. There happens to be an entire sub-category of desktop applications dedicated to real-time PC monitoring and to chronicling various hardware specifications. Even better, these apps are generally free of charge and are readily available to download from the web.
Radiograph
Monitor your computer in style
Radiograph
Radiograph is a computer management tool for Windows 11 that lets you monitor key PC behaviors and health metrics in real time.
By far the most visually pleasing application on this list, Radiograph lets you conveniently monitor temperatures, RAM usage, external storage drive health, and just about everything else you could think of. Unlike so many other solutions out there, Radiograph fits in with the Windows 11 design language, looking and feeling entirely like a native piece of software. It's got modern icon glyphs, tons of animations, and the Mica material covering its interface window. Radiograph is entirely free and can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft Store.
HWMonitor
Keep tabs on all your PC's vitals
HWMonitor
HWMonitor is a Windows 11 program that lets you keep tabs on your PC's hardware, with live statistics about voltages, currents, fan speeds, clock speeds, and more.
HWMonitor is a classic solution for monitoring the various hardware components of your Windows 11 PC. Available as a free download from the CPUID website, HWMonitor specializes in CPU and GPU monitoring, fan speed monitoring, clock speeds, temperatures, power, voltages, currents, and more. Visually, HWMonitor looks and feels like a classic-era Windows application, but everything is laid out in a well-organized manner using a hierarchy tree UI.
CPU-Z
Explore everything there is to know about your PC
CPU-Z
CPU-Z is a PC program that consolidates information about your Windows 11 system's hardware components into a single, data-dense window.
Another free CPUID-owned PC application, CPU-Z specializes in gathering details about the hardware of your Windows 11 computer and surfacing it all in a single, information-dense package. Processor name, memory type, real-time measurement of processor core internal frequencies, and plenty more are all readily available within CPU-Z. From a user interface perspective, the app is rather dated, but I find it's tabbed organization to be intuitive nonetheless. Unfortunately, text appears slightly fuzzy on PCs with higher resolution displays, but I actually find this to add to the charm of the software.
HWiNFO
Trusted by NASA for use in high radiation fields
HWiNFO
HWiNFO is a popular real-time hardware analysis, monitoring, and reporting program for Windows 11 that can predict failures in advance in certain instances.
HWiNFO is a popular, free solution for those interested in in-depth hardware information pertaining to their Windows 11 PC. Real-time system monitoring, an extensive system summary, and even the ability to flag certain hardware issues before they're able to cause any system failures are all on deck here. HWiNFO's interface can be a bit overwhelming at first with how much it throws at you, but I find things to be organized fairly sensibly. Uniquely, this app is used by NASA to monitor potential computer failures within high radiation field settings, making it a well-vetted software package.
Speccy
A specification geek's dream
Speccy
Speccy is a Windows 11 application that surfaces key PC specifications, with detailed breakdowns for a given system's CPU, RAM, motherboard, peripherals, and more.
Last but not least, we have Speccy. A classic option owned by the same team behind the iconic CCleaner program for Windows, Speccy is a free app that identifies key hardware specifications and displays them on-screen in an easy-to-understand manner. Aside from a main summary page, the app surfaces details about your Windows 11 PC's operating system build, CPU, RAM, motherboard, graphics card, storage drive(s), optical drive(s), audio hardware, external peripherals, and connected network. As with most other entries on this list, Speccy is a bit dated from a UI perspective, but I do have a nostalgic soft-spot for its retro design language.