NZXT CAM Monitor

[Wraith]

Today NZXT finally release their CAM "Computer Access Monitor" "Cloud Access Monitor" actually I don't know what it stands for so your guess is as good as mine.

I was lucky enough to be a part of the beta test team during the early stages of its development and now that it has been released to the public and the NDA has been lifted we can now discuss it without getting smacked bottoms.

What is CAM? CAM is a system monitor plain and simple which monitors your system hardware just like Corsair Link does but with the inbuilt ability to monitor your system via a cloud system, so you can monitor your home PC while at the office or from your laptop while on the move and very soon you'll have total mobile access via iOS and Android apps.

Now while I spent a good 2 months beta testing this, it really is not what I'd call "Finished" and it still has some minor issues the main one being it is rather RAM hungry and some CPUs do still suffer from incorrect thermal monitoring namely AMD FX series.. while NZXT have licenced and intergrated CPUID into its core to rectify this some (minor) issues remain, with all that said it is still a fantastic leap forward in system monitoring.

Onto the Features.

Real-Time Monitoring

CAM keeps a watchful eye on your PC with real-time monitoring of your computer's vital statistics. Stored in the Cloud, CAM allows complete access to detailed information to ensure optimal PC health and performance.

Real time Notifications including

CPU Temperature & Load Warnings, GPU Temperature & Load Warnings, Hard Drive Temperature & Capacity Warnings, Fan Connection Warning, Motherboard Battery level Warning.


CAM comes with full mobile support* and Cloud Integration, allowing you easy access to your PC’s vital information wherever, whenever.

If you are having issues with the cloud access and how to use it, it's simple, just install CAM onto a second machine and log in, once logged in click on your name (pictured above) and select the machine you would like to monitor.

*Mobile access is due for release in June 2014.

Give it a try >Here< and as always let's hear your opinions.

Source: Me & NZXT

~Wraithguard~​

 

[Wraith]

Tiny update. NZXT have rectified the monsterous RAM usage with a small update and all appears to be good now. Happy monitoring.

 

[MacLeod]

This isnt a bad app at all. Ive been using it all day and its pretty solid. Plenty of good information but its too big to leave on your desktop (I prefer looking at my HD picture of Tarja Turunen instead) but its no real problem to leave minimized to the task bar and a simple double click brings it down with all the info. Its no replacement for my CPU and GPU Gadgets but ever since Windows disabled them for some stupid security flaw, Ive been looking for something to replace them. There is a patch that Microsoft has that will re-enable them but every time I get a Windows Update, it zaps it and I have to re-download the stupid thing.

 

[KING_OF_SAND]

Just downloaded it. It's pretty sweet, looks like I may be able to replace my HWmonitor and CPUz lol, MAYBE!

 

[SuB]

You know when I went on that rant about GUI design for windows 8 ?

This right here.. 100% perfect example of design decisions led by crappy GUI. The app itself, looks like a cracking idea, the GUI.. absolutely, shit.

 

[Wraith]

You know when I went on that rant about GUI design for windows 8 ?
This right here.. 100% perfect example of design decisions led by crappy GUI. The app itself, looks like a cracking idea, the GUI.. absolutely, shit.

It was my bug bear from the beginning but NZXT went with it, the beta forum lit up with people saying "resizeable" & "skins" I made my own in the end with rainmeter.

But CAM does a good job and will get better I think, especially if its on multi monitor setups.

 

[paulstung]

I gave it a go but when gaming, about an hour into play, the game shut down with a cam warning pop up saying my GPU temp had reached 95, but according to GPU-Z, I was at 43.

With the amount of cooling, I've got, and the reliability of GPU-Z, I'm sticking with their results.

 

[tinytomlogan]

It was my bug bear from the beginning but NZXT went with it, the beta forum lit up with people saying "resizeable" & "skins" I made my own in the end with rainmeter.

But CAM does a good job and will get better I think, especially if its on multi monitor setups.

You need props for all the OC3D stuff you have!

 

[Wraith]

You need props for all the OC3D stuff you have!

:lol: Weird thing is I only signed up to ask a question, and ended up becoming hooked, best tech forum on the tinterwebs.

 

[SuB]

:lol: Weird thing is I only signed up to ask a question, and ended up becoming hooked, best tech forum on the tinterwebs.

we have that effect on people

ONE OF US, ONE OF US, ONE OF US

 

[barnsley]

oooh, this could be exactly what I need with that app. I could leave my pc on while I'm at work without worrying about temperatures :3.


I joined to enter that big competition in 2012. I decided to stay around a bit obviously .

 

[Wraith]

Just a small update from our friends at NZXT they have just released the 1.1.2 software update adding in Grid+ and Kraken support.

NZXT. is happy to introduce the availability of its first major CAM software update, version 1.1.2!

Earlier this month, we released a CAM automatic update to include Grid+ and Kraken+ software functionality. Unfortunately, the update caused a lot of issues for many of our users such as crashing and FPS drops. Despite our extensive in-house testing prior to the release, we were caught completely off guard and we’d like to apologize for the inconvenience and the delay. Thanks to the help of our great beta and camfeedback communities, we were finally able to track down the issue! If your CAM software was not automatically updated to 1.1.2, please download the latest version at cam.nzxt.com.


New Features

We are happy to introduce the first components of the CAM ecosystem: Grid+ and the Kraken™ all-in-one liquid coolers. Purchase and install a Grid+ or Kraken™ cooler to unlock their unique CAM software components! With this new CAM update, you will be able to control your Grid+ fan controller, Kraken™ X40, Kraken™ X60, Kraken™ X41 or Kraken™ X61. As an added bonus any Asetek-made liquid cooler can be controlled with the CAM Kraken+ software, regardless of manufacturer.

Grid+ software component has been added to CAM
Kraken+ software component has been added to CAM
Bug Fixes

CAM user screen name is now properly displayed
System freeze issue has been corrected
CAM software component settings are now properly saved
Grid+ fan settings are now properly saved
Inconsistent time/date settings have been corrected
Upcoming Features (Next Major Update Will Include)

New CAM Basic features that take advantage of linked computers
CAM Basic for iOS

So how are peeps finding this monitoring software, are you even still using it?

 

[MacLeod]

Im still using it. Ive got it on my secondary monitor (Sony 18") with it sitting on top and PrecisionX's GPU monitor on the bottom. Its pretty good. I just wish you could resize like everybody else does because it wont fit on my 18" completely. I have to close the "Specs" window to get the "Basic" and "Graph" sections to show up. Still works pretty well but if they ever come out with skins that would be awesome cause this thing is kinda gawdy.

Im always on the lookout for some good monitoring software but will stick with this and PrecisionX until something better comes along.

 

[Wraith]

Just a quick update for those who still use CAM, and for those who want to try it Download CAM

CAM V1.1.8 Release Notes
We know that many users have been frustrated with the resource intensity of CAM and has caused some users to stop using the application or uninstall. For a monitoring software to consume the amount of resources previously was simply unacceptable. We hope that you will give us another chance and try the new update. We spent much of this release optimizing resource load and we hope that you will appreciate the results. For many PCs, CPU usage should drop anywhere from 60-80% depending on your configuration and GPU usage should be at or near 0%. Keep in mind that as you start to interact with the application those usage numbers will start going up but in pure monitoring mode CAM should no longer be CPU and GPU intensive.

New Features:

• Added ability to customize PC names.
• Added CPU clock speed in advanced specs section.
• Added support for DDR4 detection.
• Added custom fan curve option to Grid+ configuration.
• Added GPU App catcher modules to detect app with highest gpu load.
• Added GpuApp in GPU load graph.
• Added GpuApp in data history.

Optimization:

• Reduced CAM’s CPU load by up to 80%
• Reduced CAM’s GPU load to 0% or near 0%
• Optimized the notifications process to avoid missing notification updates from server.
• After logging off, user will be taken to the BASIC view.
• Changed catch background process.
• Added cache for graph data on internet server.
• Added Latest Data in cloud (reducing time of swapping internet servers).
• Changed workflow to print graph directly if there exists cache data (reducing time of swapping internet servers).
• Added Public IP & OS version to saved data in the cloud.
• Optimized changing fan name user interaction in Grid+.
• Updated GPU application detection to be more accurate.
• CAM will now auto-link the first PC that user logs in with.
• Changed notifications detection interval to 10 minutes to cut down on notification overload.

Bug Fixes:

• Changed Kraken fan setting lower limit to 25% in MANUAL mode and on the fan curve in CUSTOM mode.
• Fixed loss of historical data issue when users logged off and then logged on.
• If there is no GPU card, CAM will now show N/A instead of “-1” on the specs.
• Fixed issue where top 5 app processes were not adding up to total load on day chart.
• Fixed error that required adding firewall rules.
• Fixed “Create Account” issue where users could not click on link.
• Corrected workflow to sync fan names from the cloud.
• Removed upload picture icon and functionality when user is in offline mode to prevent syncing issues.
• Removed PCPartsPicker icon and functionality when user is in offline mode to prevent syncing issues.
• Removed Wake on LAN feature and replaced with PC power status.

 

[MacLeod]

Still too big. Ive quit using it because you cant change or customize the size of the thing. I use my secondary monitor for all my monitoring programs and since is a different resolution than my main one (1280x1024) I cant get it to fit entirely on my screen.

 

[Master&Puppet]

Looks decent enough, though one thing I haven't seen mentioned is if it can managed on screen display? I tend to use HWinfo with msi server to post the details I want into the game screen so that I can monitor whilst I play. Us there any facility for OSD?