MSI Afterburner is designed to overclock a video card, monitor its current state and adjust the cooler speed. The program also provides the ability to take a screenshot of the desktop and video recording from the screen. Next, we will look at how to use MSI Afterburner, the setup process and its functionality.
How to use MSI Afterbarner
MSI Afterbarner has a direct impact on the performance of the graphics card. Therefore, if the setting is incorrect, there is a possibility of damage to the video card. It is recommended to follow the instructions and not take risks.
MSI Afterbarner supports NVIDIA or AMD graphics cards. If you have a different video card, the program will not work correctly. You can find out the data about your video card yourself through the “task manager” or in MSI Afterbarner (Figure 1).
Figure 1 – Installed video card (highlighted in yellow).
MSI Afterbarner setup with launch
After installing the program, its shortcut will appear on the desktop. After launching the program through a shortcut, you need to carry out basic settings for the program to work correctly. Figure 2 shows an example of a basic setup to guide you.
Figure 2 – Basic setup
Please note that if you have two video cards in your PC, you should check the “Synchronize settings of the same GPU” item. At the end of the setup, click “OK” and you will be prompted to restart the program. Click “Yes” and wait for the process to complete.
There are various sliders, indicators and buttons in MSI Afterbarner interface. The first slider “Core Voltage” (Figure 3) should become active after restarting the program. If after restarting it remains inactive, then the video card does not provide such a function.
Figure 3 – Core Voltage
Then there are two important points: Core Clock and Memory Clock (they can also be seen in Figure 3). The first is responsible for the frequency and overclocking of the video card begins with an increase in this indicator. It is recommended to drag the slider to a maximum of 50 MHz at a time and carefully monitor the temperature – it should not exceed 90 degrees. If the temperature exceeds this indicator, the video card may burn out.
After increasing the indicator by 50 MHz, test the video card (there is additional software for this). If everything is normal, then we continue to gradually increase the indicator until the image starts to distort on the screen. Then lower the Core Clock by 20 MHz. Perform the same procedure with the Memory Clock item.
After making changes to the above indicators, start a game that has high system requirements. This will allow you to test the settings in the process and see the state of the device with new settings. To simplify observation during the game, we recommend setting up monitoring in the program.
Monitoring setup
You need to go to the program settings. Next, you will see a list of indicators. In it, select the desired one, for example, “Loading GP1”. Check the box “Show in OSD Overlay”. See Figure 4.
Figure 4 – Configuring monitoring
You can add any number of metrics to track. You can also customize hotkeys and OSD mode. These settings are made in the “OEL” tab. Figure 5.
Figure 5 – Settings for hot keys and monitoring mode
On some computers, you can customize the operation of the cooler. To configure the cooler in the corresponding window (Figure 6), select the “Enable user software mode” item (if this item is available).
Figure 6 – Enabling cooler settings
Information about the operation of the cooler is shown on the graph showing the temperature of the video card and the speed of the cooler, which can be changed by moving the squares on the graph (Figure 7). It is important to note that this is not recommended.
Figure 7 – Schedule of the cooler
Saving settings
After configuring MSI Afterburner, you need to save your changes. You must click “Save” (in the lower right corner of the main window). In this case, one of the proposed profiles is selected. Finally, you need to click on the “Windows” button for the new settings to take effect when the system starts. See Figure 8.
Figure 8 – Saving settings
Now you need to go to the “Profiles” section (this is in the program settings) and select your settings in the “3D profile” line (your profile to which you saved the settings). See Figure 9.
Figure 9 – Selecting a profile
The program allows you to save 5 profiles. This allows you to enable the desired profile with settings for the appropriate situation.
Now, having examined how to overclock a video card via MSI Afterburner, I would like to clarify that modern video cards are capable of automatically overclocking to the required level, depending on the workload. Therefore, it is recommended not to interfere with the operation of the system without urgent need.
