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System (game overlay)

Skins that monitor system information
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killall-q
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Joined: August 14th, 2009, 8:04 am

System (game overlay)

Post by killall-q »

Unobtrusive system monitor, designed to be overlaid on top of games.

What good is system monitoring software if you can't see it when it's needed most?

Image

Monitor:
  • Time
  • RAM %
  • CPU %
  • CPU °C
  • GPU °C
  • Battery % (automatically shown whenever battery is below 100%)
Optional graphs. Right-click menu › Custom skin actions to show/hide meters.

Requires SpeedFan for temperature monitoring.

Download from DeviantArt
Last edited by killall-q on September 26th, 2022, 9:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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alexis92
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by alexis92 »

I might actually give this a go, looks handy!
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sl23
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by sl23 »

killall-q wrote: August 22nd, 2022, 1:01 am What good is system monitoring software if you can't see it when it's needed most?
Exactly why I keep those important skins on the task bar :D
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Yincognito
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by Yincognito »

sl23 wrote: March 31st, 2023, 11:49 am Exactly why I keep those important skins on the task bar :D
They can be placed at the top of the screen as well, if their height is small enough (like mine). ;-)
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sl23
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by sl23 »

Yeah I noticed, you made a seriously compact top bar didn't you? I liked that, but it interferes with my browser tabs :(
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Yincognito
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by Yincognito »

sl23 wrote: March 31st, 2023, 4:32 pm Yeah I noticed, you made a seriously compact top bar didn't you? I liked that, but it interferes with my browser tabs :(
Actually, it does not (at least, not for me)... 8-)
Browser Tabs.jpg
This assumes one sets only "one row" of skins in the suite to be always topmost - currently, 11 of my main 17 skins fit in that space at minimum reasonable size on my 1920 wide laptop screen. They don't interfere while watching movies either. Of course, scaling skins to be bigger cancels that advantage, unless the top bar gets bigger too - but then, one can freely select and place the skins wherever desired anyway, say, vertically in one or more "columns" instead of horizontally in "rows".

By the way, placing them on the taskbar also takes space that is normally used by various "quick launch" icons, programs that are running, or system tray icons.
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sl23
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by sl23 »

I use Firefox, and found it overlapped the tab bar. Maybe there's a trick to force apps not to encroach on that space? I know there are apps out there that can do that sort of thing. But I'm not keen on losing screen space to other apps. So I used the unused task bar space.

I know what you're saying, re task bar, but I've always used Rainmeter that way. My open and pinned apps on left never interfere as my skins are central and to the right. I never have more than about 10 apps open and only a couple are pinned, so it never conflicts with skins. Same on the right regarding notification area.

Thats just my preference though. I always thought, what's the point of a monitor you can't see? :D
So I've designed my skins for the task bar sections I never use. It's not really pretty, but I prefer function and minimalism over aesthetics.
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Yincognito
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by Yincognito »

sl23 wrote: April 1st, 2023, 6:42 am I use Firefox, and found it overlapped the tab bar. Maybe there's a trick to force apps not to encroach on that space?
Ah, I see, but for me, Firefox (107.0.1 x64) actually leaves more space than Chrome (111.0.5563.147 x64) at the top, by default (100% scaling):
Browsers Top Space.jpg
I don't know why or how for you it's different (FYI, right clicking on a side of the address bar allows you to customize the bars, panels and look of the Firefox window, so maybe that helps). There are some tricks for apps to not extend beyond a certain limit, even in Rainmeter, via DesktopWorkArea, but unfortunately they are reset at resolution change, moving the taskbar and so on. Plus, such methods don't cover the full screen desktop apps (nor should they).

The only minor drawback to my layout is that when in some older school apps that have a title bar of a lesser height (i.e. not "metro style"), the skins cover the top half of that, but then, like you can see in the screenshot from my earlier reply, I made a small "button skin" placed at the top right corner of the screen (i.e. the one with a H on it) that hides, loads or unloads the entire suite except itself when clicking on it, so I can easily clear the area / fill it back when desired.
sl23 wrote: April 1st, 2023, 6:42 am I know what you're saying, re task bar, but I've always used Rainmeter that way.
Yeah, it crossed my mind too when designing my skins and their layout, but gave up on the task bar almost immediately for two reasons: one, the taskbar is hidden for full screen desktop apps, and two, some apps like video players and others have controls at the bottom and they would interfere with the skins if I placed them there (since the skins would be always on top). Of course, one can place the task bar at the top of the screen (or even make it "taller"), but it's a bit awkward like that...
sl23 wrote: April 1st, 2023, 6:42 am It's not really pretty, but I prefer function and minimalism over aesthetics.
I prefer that too. In my case, it would be pretty if all apps would have a sufficient title bar height - after all, I only need 12 pixels of height for any of them. The Firefox screenshot above is quite close to the ideal, but not all apps are like that. Sure, having images, bars, histograms and such in the skins would have made them more appealing visually; the problem is that text guarantees that the size is the minimum, any other form of displaying things needs more space to offer the same effect as the text. Plus, I have images (and, in theory, I could place literally anything) in my custom tooltips anyway, since they don't occupy space unless triggered to show, for more details on the matter.
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sl23
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by sl23 »

Yeah it is a great skin, but too small for my poor eyes nowadays! O.O

Here's my Taskbar:
Taskbar Skins.png
Some Info...
Space on left half for Start and open Apps.
  • Centre skin is a clock with CPU, RAM and Download values on the left. When Foobar is open, it shows the Media player.
  • Next is a Launcher skin that has the current volume level displayed, (25), with FFT display contained in the RoundMeter. Clicking the volume with X1 mouse button, toggles the Output Device. Along with this are icons for launching apps. An invisible button to the right of this, switches between two pages of icons. Also, to the right of the invisible button, is a bluetooth switch.
  • Above the BT switch is a simple weather skin showing current temp.
  • Lastly, there's a drive skin which shows tooltips when hovered. Although these are meters and not conventional tooltips. They show read/write status and can open or eject that drive.
Notification area on the right.
When a Game or VLC is run, then all but the clock are hidden.
Works for me :D :thumbup:

Only things not here are Recycle Bin and Shutdown shortcuts. These are on the desktop due to lesser need for them. But I may change that in the future! 8-)
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Yincognito
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Re: System (game overlay)

Post by Yincognito »

sl23 wrote: April 1st, 2023, 4:34 pmYeah it is a great skin, but too small for my poor eyes nowadays! O.O
LOL. It's not a skin (or a bar), but a suite of around 20 (separate, like "modules", just like yours) skins for almost everything (except mail and bluetooth, since I handle one via the browser and I'm not sure I understand the purpose of the other, unless you shed some light on that). Eyes are not important since all of them bar the Settings one are scalable, so they can be made as big as desired (I keep them minimal simply because of their placement and the fact that they fit a laptop screen nicely). Not trying to convince you of anything, by the way, but I realize the screenshots on my system can give the wrong impression, hence the clarification.
sl23 wrote: April 1st, 2023, 4:34 pmHere's my Taskbar
It looks good, don't know why you said that it's not pretty. :thumbup: In fact, mine are pretty too on the taskbar, after using their settings to make them transparent and without any bevel in order to blend in better (too bad the taskbar location isn't feasible for full screen video players):
On Taskbar.jpg
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