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Version: 2.24
License: free
OS: Windows
overclock or cool your graphics card - alternatives to MSI Afterburner
What to replace the popular program to manually adjust the GPU performance and fan speed
In January it became known that the programmer Alexey "Unwinder" Nikolaychuk will stop supporting MSI Afterburner. Due to the "political situation" MSI (Taiwan) can not fulfill financial obligations to the developer.
MSI Afterburner is one of the two most popular programs for graphics card overclocking, manual control of fans and power consumption, as well as performance analysis. The second, EVGA Precision X1, is also no longer supported because EVGA no longer makes graphics cards.
PC enthusiasts fear that in the absence of alternative third-party software on the market, video card manufacturers will begin to limit the overclocking potential of video cards. They are already doing so, but not to the same extent as, for example, Intel. Onlya small number of "blue" processors lend themselves to overclocking - and as a rule, these are the models of the upper price segment. It is an open question of what Unwinder itself will do next. Practically all the programs similar to Afterburner work on the basis of the RivaTuner Statistics Server service, which is also developed and supported by Nikolaychuk. What will become of this software, if the programmer gives up RTSS? Probably nothing good.
It's unlikely that such a unique talent would go to waste, though. Nikolaychuk can create his own application to replace MSI Afterburner and make it paid, offering unique features unavailable in competitor programs.
But until that happens, enthusiasts are worried about one question: what will replace MSI Afterburner?
- NVIDIA GeForce Experience
Copyright holder: Private
Last version: 12/2022
For Graphics Cards: NVIDIA
Along with the NVIDIA GeForce graphics card driver, you can install the GeForce Experience program. It is not necessary for the functioning of the video card, but it is quite useful. It allows you to automatically update the driver, and monitor the graphics processor and video card memory frequency, temperature, voltage, power consumption, frame rate, and other indicators.
In addition, easy overclocking and fan speed control are available. These features can be found in the Performance tab by pressing Alt+Z. The settings are not too flexible and consist more of presets.
Pressing ALT+R will open an overlay with information about performance - framerate, rendering delay, and if you have a connected monitor and mouse with NVIDIA Reflex support, also the total delay from click to action on the screen.
The main disadvantage of the program is that it requires obligatory registration.
- AMD Radeon Software
Copyright holder: Private
Last version: 20.12.2022
For AMD graphics cards: AMD
AMD has control and statistics built directly into Radeon Software, not an external overlay like NVIDIA's. There are several presets for performance and power consumption - economy, balanced, and "turbo". Full manual control is also provided.
Frequency and voltage can be set using a flexible curve - not only by changing levels but also by setting specific values with sliders or by specifying numbers. It's also convenient to adjust fan speed, video memory frequency and timings, and other parameters.
AMD has approached its software more thoroughly than its competitors - it has a stylish and user-friendly graphical interface, rich functionality, and a lot of automatic settings for people who do not want to spend hours learning the intricacies of each slider.
- Intel Arc Control
Copyright holder: Private
Last version: 12/30/2012
For video cards: Intel Arc
Updated Intel Arc Alchemist graphics card drivers allow you to monitor performance, temperature, and consumption values, load during the game, as well as overclock the GPU and video memory. The set of basic, inferior software from AMD in the flexibility of settings, but quite workable.
The only confusion is the crazy size of the driver - 1.2 GB. And that Arc Control opens not as an application but as an overlay - the window is semi-transparent, you cannot move it on the screen, and any click over the application border closes it. It's a strange and inconvenient solution, but maybe this will be fixed in the next versions.
- EVGA Precision X1
Copyright holder: private
Last version: 10/21/1922
For Graphics Cards: NVIDIA
If MSI Afterburner still has a ghostly chance of development or rebirth under another name, its closest competitor from EVGA is likely to fade into oblivion. Perhaps by the next generation of GeForce. Nevertheless, now it is a worthy alternative, relatively recently updated, and supports the latest NVIDIA video cards - including RTX 4080.
The program offers automatic overclocking, and manual settings of GPU and video memory frequencies, but does not allow fine-tuning of the fan speed curve. Precision X1 is a fast and stable application with a user-friendly interface, available on Steam, and easy to update via Windows Game Bar.
- ASUS GPU Tweak
Copyright holder: Private
Last version: 10.01.2023
For NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards
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The last remaining application is from a major graphics card manufacturer. Like Afterburner, the program works with both NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards. From any competing vendor. Except that the non-intuitive interface, making some functions non-obvious, had a negative impact on the popularity of this software.
Nevertheless, GPU Tweak III is supported by developers and allows performing all the tasks of similar software - adjusting memory and GPU frequencies, power consumption, and most important - it allows editing the fan speed curves separately for each "turntable".
- Open Hardware Monitor
Copyright holder: Open source
Last version: December 27, 2020
For Graphics Cards: NVIDIA, AMD, Intel
The classic of sensor monitoring - Open Hardware Monitor. Allows you to monitor performance under load not only on graphics cards but also the performance of all major components of the PC, regardless of the manufacturer.
But the main disadvantage lies in the name - it is a program for monitoring frequencies, temperatures, and power consumption. It will not allow you to control the operation of devices, you will have to use other applications for adjustment.
- CapFrameX
Copyright holder: Open source
Last version: 11/08/2012
For Graphics Cards: NVIDIA, AMD, Intel
A relatively new program for monitoring performance in games. Like many others, it uses RivaTuner Statistics Server, adding to it a nice and modern graphical interface.
CapFrameX allows you to monitor a huge number of parameters, easily group them using color markers and separators, and then analyze the performance in the interface of the program itself.
Overclocking or other video card management is not provided by the program, but as a performance analysis tool, CapFrameX works perfectly.
Ending support for MSI Afterburner and EVGA Precision X1 is a serious blow to computer enthusiasts. As long as both programs work, there is a very close counterpart from ASUS, and the chipmakers provide basic tools along with drivers.
But there is no guarantee that one of them will not stop developing their software and block the possibility of fine-tuning the "iron". But until they do, feel free to use the provided alternatives. Who knows - maybe Unwinder will really create a new software based on Riva Tuner under its own brand.
