Temperature Monitor 1.31 (Freeware)
Marcel Bresink Software-Systeme

The good news is that Mac processors keep getting faster and faster, and with the G5, we may actually have a system that can meet or surpass the performance of an Intel machine in applications other than Photoshop. This performance comes at a price, however, namely heat. No matter if you are using a desktop or laptop, reducing the amount of heat generated by your processor is a Good Thing™.

Of course, the first step to reducing heat generated by your processor is to be able to measure the temperature. Fortunately, nearly all recent Macs have some method of measuring the processor temperature. Some have a dedicated temperature sensor, while others use a sensing feature of the PowerPC processor itself. If your Mac has a way of measuring temperature, then Temperature Monitor can report it.

Temperature History is Just One Option
(Click for a larger image)

Temperature Monitor offers several ways to measure your Mac's processor temperature. For the minimalist, the value can be reported in the menu bar, in Celsius, Fahrenheit and even Kelvin. One can also display the value in a window, or in the dock. To understand what activities cause high processor utilization and high temperatures, you can view a temperature history ranging from the past hour to the past week.

So keep your Mac cool and give Temperature Monitor a try.

Know about any other cool gadgets? Send an e-mail to John, and he'll fire it up.