Okay, so this HWMonitor 1.65 update, it’s a big deal for anyone running NVIDIA’s RTX 50 series cards. CPUID just pushed it out and it brings back hotspot temperature readings. Remember how NVIDIA basically shut off public access to that data when the Blackwell GPUs first launched? Yeah, that was a headache. The RTX 50 series, the Blackwell architecture, it actually launched back in January 2025.

The RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 hit shelves on January 30, 2025, and then more models like the 5070 Ti and 5070 came out in February. So these cards have been out there for a while now. Hotspot temperature, it’s not just some random number. It’s the highest temperature reading from any sensor on the GPU die. It’s different from the average GPU core temperature, and a big difference between the two can signal problems.

Like, maybe the thermal paste application is bad, or the cooler isn’t mounted right, or the airflow isn’t good enough. These things can cause thermal throttling, which means your card slows down to protect itself, and nobody wants that, right?NVIDIA had removed the ability for tools like HWMonitor and GPU-Z to get this hotspot data. They only showed a lower GPU temperature number. This made it really hard for users to diagnose if their cards were underperforming because of a high hotspot temp, even if the average GPU temperature looked fine.

An extreme overclocker, “Madness” on X, tested HWMonitor 1.65 on a water-cooled RTX 5090, pulling over 900 watts. The hotspot was around 68°C while the normal temperature was 51°C, a 17°C delta. That delta is not ideal but it gives information. A 30°C delta between core and hotspot is considered normal for modern GPUs, but if the hotspot goes over 110°C, that usually triggers thermal throttling. CPUID hasn’t said how they did it, how they bypassed NVIDIA’s restrictions.

But they did it. And now other monitoring apps, like CapFrameX, are also working to add hotspot temperature support for RTX 50 series GPUs. This means more detailed information for overclockers and enthusiasts. The market for NVIDIA is still pretty strong, you know. NVDA stock is moving higher.

KeyBanc just raised its price target on NVIDIA to $330 from $310. That’s a good sign for the company, for the whole AI hardware and chip sector. There’s renewed investor optimism, and NVIDIA’s China business, it might be slowly reopening. The U.S.

Commerce Department confirmed that NVIDIA’s H200 AI accelerator chips have started shipping to China, in small quantities, under strict review. Three Chinese firms, ZTE Kangxun, Maginfra, and a Kingsoft subsidiary, have gotten licenses to buy H200 chips or comparable AMD chips. On the gaming side, “Gears of War: E-Day” is coming out soon. October 6th, that’s the launch date. It’s going to feature DLSS 4.5 and Ray Tracing.

That’s a big title, always good to see new games pushing graphics technology. I bought AMD stock, ticker AMD, on January 15, 2024, at $160.00 a share. I’ll sell it when it hits $600 or if the AI chip market completely collapses, whichever comes first. It’s a long play, you know. Just hoping for that continued growth in the AI and gaming sectors.

What else can you do?