MSI Afterburner: Can’t See Graphics Card

MSI Afterburner Features Brief

• Overclocking the video card and adjusting the fans by controlling the frequency and voltage of the GPU;
• Hardware monitoring to track key technical information;
• Adjustment of GPU voltage, RAM and automatic frequency control system;
• Interface customization and personalization;
• Screen Recorder Module

The video card is not noticed by the utility

This problem is very common, as there are many reasons for its occurrence. And it is not always possible to find out what the problem is in five minutes. Therefore, we will analyze this issue in more detail.

The main causes of the problem:

• Unofficial installation distribution. Copies of the utility on file-sharing resources often contain errors (especially if changes have been made to the program) that can negatively affect the operation;
• Incorrectly working or outdated drivers. During the operation of the driver, a failure and / or accumulation of errors may occur, and in the case of obsolescence – problems with hardware access;
• Compatibility issues. They consist either in the mismatch of the software requirements of the MSI version for your computer and the OS on it, or in incompatibility with the drivers.
• Not all required permissions may be issued or overclocking parameters set incorrectly.
• Incorrect location. Sometimes the problem appears due to the wrong directory of the utility, which was installed at boot time, which may lead to incorrect interaction with other applications.
• Hardware damage to the video card, due to which it is difficult or impossible to recognize it.
• OS problems. Sometimes the fact that MSI cannot see the graphics card is due to errors in the operating system.
• Clogged memory. With long-term use of the utility, the cache and logs, accumulating, can begin to affect the operation of the program.

Ways to solve the problem

Distribution kit. Reinstall MSI, preferably from the official site, before removing the existing program. But, you can alsodownload MSI Afterburner we have

Driver. Update the driver on the official website of the video card manufacturer. Before that, you should remove old versions and traces of their work using the DDU and / or CCleaner utilities.

Version compatibility. Select an older (or, conversely, a newer) version of the utility, suitable for the operating conditions for your computer and video card driver. Sometimes you need to check multiple versions to select the only one that works.

Note 3. The latest version of Afterburner and the Beta version are available on the official website, so you will have to look for older versions on third-party resources.

Settings. Issue all permissions and configure the video card and display parameters in accordance with the system capabilities. It is also sometimes necessary to allow low-level (with extended rights) access to the GPU.

Directory. Move (or better reinstall with the default location) Afterburner to the root folder (Program Files × 86 recommended).

Failed video card. Repair or replacement of the video card.

From left to right: unscrew the fastening screw, turn off the additional power supply (if any), bend the latch and remove the released video card.

Operating system problems. Roll back the OS to the last working state (you need to have a restore point), clean files and optimize work. As a last resort, reinstalling the OS.

Recovery process

Clogged memory. Clearing memory with the aforementioned CCleaner. It is recommended to do it regularly.

In general, the solution to the problem is to iterate over the above solutions. Sometimes the utility can display a notification-hint about the not found video card, which should not be neglected.

If none of the above helps, then there may be a unique problem with the utility. In this case, you should contact MSI support.

Afterburner Mini-Guide

Interface customization

When you start the utility for the first time, this window appears:

Note 1. If you want to change the skin, then go to the settings (gear icon), and there, in the “Interface” section, change the view of the panel (“Apply” – “OK”).

For example, we changed the launch bar display to default (Default MSI Afterburner v3 skin).

Other settings

By clicking on the “Settings” button of the standard skin, we will go to the settings section.

Here the following types of settings are available to us: “Basic”, where you select a processor, issue permissions and start methods; “Cooler”, where the video card cooler is configured; “Monitoring”, where the output of technical information is configured; “Profiles”, where the saved modes of operation of the video card and key combinations are configured; “Interface”, where the interface elements are configured.

Also, depending on the version installed, the settings may contain sections “EDM”, where the overlay is configured (a small window with the output of the data stream); “Benchmark” – checking the performance of a video card; Screenshot Capture and Video Capture, where screenshots and screen recordings are configured accordingly.

Monitoring

To enable monitoring, go to “Settings” – “Monitoring” in turn and select the parameters that you want to display.

To display information about the parameters in the overlay, check the box “Show in the EDM” for the selected parameter.

You can also choose three display methods: text, graph, text + graph. For some parameters like “Frame rate” text output of information is enough.

Note 2. The overlay may have an awkward default layout, covering up some of the content. To drag a window, you need to open the RivaTuner utility and manually change the position of the overlay.

In the same utility, you can change other parameters of information output (text color, size, etc.).

Overclocking the graphics card

The window on the left shows us a list of video card settings:

1. Core Voltage– voltage per graphics processor (GPU);
2. Power Limit– maximum power consumption of the video card;
3. Temp Limit– maximum temperature of the graphics processing unit (GPU);
4. Core Clock– the clock frequency of the graphics processing unit (GPU);
5. Memory Clock– video memory clock frequency;
6. Fan Speed– rotation speed of coolers on the video card.

There are several buttons below this window. One of them – “Settings” – is already familiar, it leads to the settings; “Profile” opens a list of profiles with saved settings of the video card, “Save” saves the current profile and its settings, “Apply” applies the changed settings, “Reset” resets the settings to the standard ones.

The window on the right shows the current state of the video card.

Overclocking the video card is not the main topic of the article, so it is only worth noticing that before making the settings and using them, you should familiarize yourself with the factory data on the operation of your video card.