The hardest part of a build like this is bridging live PC numbers to real moving needles, and the maker handled it with a chain that starts in HWiNFO's shared memory, passes through a helper program written with AI, travels over USB serial to an Arduino, and ends with parsed values stored in variables that drive the dials. There is one catch: reading that shared memory requires a purchase, which the maker openly calls a downside, and a free option such as OpenHardwareMonitor might work similarly instead.
The hardware itself is tidy. Four circular gauges sit in grey faceplates fastened with socket screws, each dial turned by a Switec stepper. The dual needle dials use X40 motors while the single needle ones use X27 units, the same steppers found in car instruments, cheap on AliExpress, and able to run directly from the Arduino. A Mega board ties everything together through an array of multicolored jumper wires, and a green status LED glows on the board.
The layout reads like a cockpit. The CPU and GPU gauges each carry two needles, one tracking temperature and one tracking load, with temperature spanning 30 to 110 degrees Celsius and load covering 0 to 100 percent. A GPU power gauge runs from 0 to 6, labeled W X100, and a RAM gauge completes the set. The gauge faces were printed on photo paper with an inkjet printer and sit behind an acrylic cover; the maker feared they would look bad, but reports they look right under it.
One thing stands out to me: the GPU power needle only moves between roughly 1.0 and 1.5 on a scale reaching 6. Most of that dial stays unused at typical draw, and in my view a finer scale might show the swings better. The RAM needle, for comparison, rests around 42 percent.