Extreme Temperature Spike

Tubby_Dumplings · Post by **Tubby_Dumplings** » November 10th, 2023, 1:30 am

I'm new to Rainmeter, wondering if anyone has any input on this.

I'm running Windows 11 on a Beelink SER5 Mini PC.

I installed a couple different skins and mainly use 3. Mondtholomew's clock, player, and visualizer.

But when I run these three my CPU temperature shoots up almost 43%.
It hovers above 80 degrees consistently when they're loaded. This seems.....high.

Here are some screenshots and basics on my machine.

Before: (57 degrees)

After: (82 degrees)

Specs:

Is this normal? Anything I can do?

Post by **Yincognito** » November 10th, 2023, 10:36 am

Tubby_Dumplings wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 1:30 am I'm new to Rainmeter, wondering if anyone has any input on this.
[...]
Is this normal? Anything I can do?

I'm running Windows 10 on my laptop, but I have the same CPU you do and I get the same results for the said skins (usage more than 13% and temperature more than 80 degrees for the CPU). Having a visualizer skin using the CPU more than other "regular" skins is normal since it does audio signal analysis and fancy graphics a couple of milliseconds apart in order to show the animation, but having it that high is not exactly typical. The quick solution is simple, just unload the visualizer or even look for another on that's more usage friendly. Other more advanced solutions would be to either alter the variables the skin uses (via right click on the skin and choosing Edit Variables from the context menu) or the code itself to get a lower, more reasonable CPU usage / temperature. Normally, one should be able to do that by changing the visualizer's FPS and slow motion the visualizer a bit, but then changing that value in the variables file doesn't seem to produce the desired effect.

That being said, the CPU you have is designed to run till 100 or 105 degrees without any issue (or so they say), therefore overly panicking on this subject is not needed (I used to do the same right after switching from my older 80 degrees tops laptop to this one). Obviously, that shouldn't stop you from wanting a lower CPU usage/temp visualizer (or any Rainmeter skin, for that matter), it's a normal expectation.

Post by **Yincognito** » November 10th, 2023, 12:08 pm

Tubby_Dumplings wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 1:30 am I'm new to Rainmeter, wondering if anyone has any input on this.
[...]
Is this normal? Anything I can do?

Alright, here's a similar, but minimal resource intensive implementation. Just unload the original visualizer, paste this into a newly created skin / .ini file and it will solve your usage / temp issue:

Code: Select all

[Variables]
Update=50
GapX=10
BarW=10
BarH=100
CornerS=5
StrokeW=0
StrokeC=0,0,0,0
AngleG=270
StartC=255,255,255,255
StartP=0.0
FinalC=0,0,0,255
FinalP=1.0
ScaleX=1.0
ScaleY=-1.0
StartX=0
StartY=100

[Rainmeter]
Update=#Update#
AccurateText=1
DynamicWindowSize=1

---Measures---

[AudioLevelOutput]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Port=Output
RMSAttack=15
RMSDecay=250
RMSGain=1.5
FFTSize=4096
FFTOverlap=2048
FFTAttack=150
FFTDecay=300
Bands=24
FreqMin=20
FreqMax=24000
Sensitivity=25

[AudioLevelOutput_Band0]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=0

[AudioLevelOutput_Band1]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Band2]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=2

[AudioLevelOutput_Band3]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=3

[AudioLevelOutput_Band4]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=4

[AudioLevelOutput_Band5]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=5

[AudioLevelOutput_Band6]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=6

[AudioLevelOutput_Band7]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=7

[AudioLevelOutput_Band8]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=8

[AudioLevelOutput_Band9]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=9

[AudioLevelOutput_Band10]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=10

[AudioLevelOutput_Band11]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=11

[AudioLevelOutput_Band12]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=12

[AudioLevelOutput_Band13]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=13

[AudioLevelOutput_Band14]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=14

[AudioLevelOutput_Band15]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=15

[AudioLevelOutput_Band16]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=16

[AudioLevelOutput_Band17]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=17

[AudioLevelOutput_Band18]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=18

[AudioLevelOutput_Band19]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=19

[AudioLevelOutput_Band20]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=20

[AudioLevelOutput_Band21]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=21

[AudioLevelOutput_Band22]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=22

[AudioLevelOutput_Band23]
Measure=Plugin
Plugin=AudioLevel
Parent=AudioLevelOutput
Type=Band
BandIdx=23

---Meters---

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar0]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band0]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar1]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band1]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar2]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band2]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar3]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band3]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar4]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band4]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar5]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band5]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar6]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band6]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar7]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band7]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar8]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band8]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar9]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band9]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar10]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band10]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar11]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band11]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar12]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band12]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar13]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band13]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar14]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band14]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar15]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band15]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar16]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band16]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar17]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band17]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar18]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band18]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar19]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band19]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar20]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band20]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar21]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band21]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar22]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band22]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

[AudioLevelOutput_Bar23]
Meter=Shape
X=#GapX#R
Shape=Rectangle (#StartX#),(#StartY#),(#ScaleX#*#BarW#),(#ScaleY#*[AudioLevelOutput_Band23]*#BarH#),#CornerS# | StrokeWidth #StrokeW# | Stroke Color #StrokeC# | Fill LinearGradient FadeG
FadeG=#AngleG# | #StartC# ; #StartP# | #FinalC# ; #FinalP#
DynamicVariables=1

You can adjust stuff from the [Variables] section, if you want. For more bars, new measures and meters would need to be created.

Post by **balala** » November 10th, 2023, 3:55 pm

Tubby_Dumplings wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 1:30 am Anything I can do?

As Yincognito said, generally speaking, all visualizer skins use lot of resources, which can lead to a temperature increase. Besides his recoomendation what you could try is to lower the Update value of your skin. I don't know the skins you're using, but I definitely would try to open the code of the visualizer skin (most probably this skin is causing the high temp, not the others) and would try to increase the Update value in the [Rainmeter] section. How large it should or can be, depends on many things, so a few tries are definitely needed and you are the only one who can do those tries in order to get a decent result: a lower temperature but a still convenient animation of your visualizer.
If you get a proper result, please let us know. I also would be curious what the initial Update value was and what is the new value with which you get the right result (assuming you get it).

Post by **Yincognito** » November 10th, 2023, 5:11 pm

balala wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 3:55 pmI also would be curious what the initial Update value was and what is the new value with which you get the right result (assuming you get it).

Good idea, somehow missed it.

The value of the Update option is "0" aka the 16 ms minimum in that skin suite (i.e. the ...\Mondtholomew\Visualizer\Visualizer.ini file). Setting it to 50 drops the CPU usage to around half of what it originally was, with a similar effect on the temperature, so it definitely works. Looking forward to a confirmation by the OP, when he'll be available.

Post by **balala** » November 10th, 2023, 7:16 pm

Yincognito wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 5:11 pm The value of the Update option is "0" aka the 16 ms minimum in that skin suite

I didn't check the skin, especially that a link has not been provided, just a name. But if the Update was set to 0, this explains a lot of things, I think. Good catch!

Tubby_Dumplings · Post by **Tubby_Dumplings** » November 10th, 2023, 7:42 pm

Here's a link to the skin:
https://github.com/reisir/mondtholomew

I opened the Visualizer .ini file to change that "Update option" but I'm not seeing that anywhere in the settings.

I've tried to get up to speed on this kind of stuff before. But I have no coding/technical background, so it's like trying to learn German from someone speaking German to you.

If a setting in the .ini file is clearly labeled with examples I can tinker with some basics but that's about it.

I don't know where that setting is or how to make a new skins. I'm not a very sophisticated user (shocker) so I'll just make do with unloading that visualizer. Really appreciate you guys helping out.

Post by **balala** » November 10th, 2023, 8:11 pm

Tubby_Dumplings wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 7:42 pm I opened the Visualizer .ini file to change that "Update option" but I'm not seeing that anywhere in the settings.

You have to open the Skins\mondtholomew-main\Visualizer\Visualizer.ini file. Check its [Rainmeter] section. The Update option is placed into this section and as Yincognito said, it is set to Update=0. In such a case, Rainmeter considers it being set to the lowest valid value, which is 16. So you have in fact the option set to Update=16. Increase it to for instance to Update=50. Alternatively you can try figuring out a better value, which doesn't increase too much the temperature of your CPU, but this requires a few tries. In any case, make sure you refresh the skin after each change of any option (for instance after altering the Update value). To do this, right click the skin and click Refresh skin in the context menu.
If you're using a modern text editor like Notepad++ for example and you have installed the RainLexer as described on the previously added link, for a refresh of the skin you can click the Plugin > RainLexer > Refresh skin command in the menu of Notepad++, while the Visaulizer.ini file is open.

Tubby_Dumplings wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 7:42 pm I don't know where that setting is or how to make a new skins. I'm not a very sophisticated user (shocker) so I'll just make do with unloading that visualizer.

This is the easier, but not-recommended way. If you just unload a skin when you get trouble with it, you never will learn how to work with them. So recommend you to try out what have been described above.

Post by **Yincognito** » November 10th, 2023, 8:50 pm

Tubby_Dumplings wrote: ↑November 10th, 2023, 7:42 pm I've tried to get up to speed on this kind of stuff before. But I have no coding/technical background, so it's like trying to learn German from someone speaking German to you. If a setting in the .ini file is clearly labeled with examples I can tinker with some basics but that's about it.

I don't know where that setting is or how to make a new skins. I'm not a very sophisticated user (shocker) so I'll just make do with unloading that visualizer. Really appreciate you guys helping out.

To get up to speed with the basics, you can check the following links from the Rainmeter manual:
https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/getting-started/using-rainmeter/
And to create a new skin, even if you might not need it this time, it could be useful going forward:
https://docs.rainmeter.net/manual/user-interface/manage/new-skin/

Extreme Temperature Spike

Extreme Temperature Spike

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