In order to return all the colors of life and again feel how your computer launches a new game at high settings, it is necessary to overclock with a program such as, for example, MSI Afterburner. "How to use it?" - a logical question. A little clarification is needed for the answer.
Why can video cards be overclocked?
After manufacturing a small batch of graphic cards, the company (conditionally Nvidia) performs a stress test and overclocking limits, and then simply exposes the same stable values for all released video cards.
The manufacturer simply can not check every video card made for overclocking resistance. It just sets the bar on the value at which the tested cards work flawlessly. And it may well be that the video card installed in your PC is capable of demonstrating high overclocking rates. The FPS growth indicators after overclocking fluctuate from game to game: it happens that it barely reaches 10%, and sometimes it increases by 50%. It also depends on whether you know how to use MSI Afterburner.
Security
The logical question is whether this is dangerous. After all, we increase the indicators tested and recommended by the manufacturer. This is not entirely true. Sometimes it happens that manufacturers themselves recommend a little overclocking the video card when they realize that they have "cheapened" and set the values too low.
Even when overclocking is not recommended by the manufacturer, it can still be done. All modern video cards are protected by various technologies, the meaning of which is as follows: when it overheats, it just turns off and resets the overclocking values to the initial level. The same thing happens if you overdo it and set the acceleration values too high. The computer will reboot and reset your video card settings.
Download and install the program
This article will talk about MSI Afterburner 2.3.1, how to use it, and other aspects of the work.
You can download the program on the official website, on the program page, first by going to the Downloads tab.
And then click on the button next to the first program presented on the page.
During the download process, you will need to select the language, installation folder and installed components. It is recommended that you install RivaTuner Statistics Server, a program that will expand the ability to track the operation of your computer.
Interface
In order to understand how to use MSI Afterburner, you need to familiarize yourself with the interface. It consists of four main elements:
- Highlighted by the number 1 shows the current clock of the video adapter.
- Under the number 2, you can observe the temperature and voltage indicators, without even delving into the statistics window.
- Number 3 marks the main part of the program responsible for overclocking.
- In the area highlighted by the number 4, there is a statistics center.
But still, the main question when using MSI Afterburner is: "How to overclock a video card?" Therefore, we will familiarize ourselves with the acceleration sliders in more detail:
- Core Voltage (mV) - (eng. "Core voltage") - this parameter is responsible for the power of the video card. The more energy is supplied, the higher the temperature and the more you can raise the frequency of the video card.
- Power Limit (%) - this setting sets the threshold for the inclusion of protective technology - throttling. During the game, if suddenly the video card begins to exceed this parameter, trotting is turned on and resets the frequencies to standard, and sometimes even to a lower level. People asking questions about how to use MSI Afterburner, and only familiar with the program, should know that excessive exceeding of the permissible limits (which can be found on the official websites of the video card manufacturer) leads to problems, although often Power Limit is blocked and not available for editing.
- Temp Limit - the parameter sets the temperature threshold, after which the video card will enable trotting, that is, it works as Power Limit, only with temperature, not power.
- Core Clock (MHz) - (English "core frequency") - the most important slider for overclocking. It is worth increasing its values carefully, by 10-15 points, each time saving and checking the operability of the new frequencies in graphic applications.
- Memory Clock (MHz) - (English "memory frequency"). When taking up overclocking, it is worth remembering that it is almost useless to overclock a Memory clock - this parameter does not affect performance without overclocking, as does the Core clock.
- Fan speed (%) - slider for adjusting the cooler on the video card.
Useful features
There is the possibility of changing the MSI Afterburner interface in the program. Many people like the old style of the program:
The Default MSI Afterburner v2 Skin interface is shown below.
It may seem inconvenient that to apply acceleration, you must open the program each time. In this case, you can apply the Apply overclocking at system startup setting. But you need to do this only if you are confident in the operability of the frequencies.
Also very convenient is the ability to save settings in profiles and then apply them as needed. To do this, under the inscription Profile click on the icon and select the profile number.
Later, in order to apply the settings, just click on the number.
Under the Start Up sign is a Windows icon. If you put it into active mode, then MSI Afterburner will start with the operating system.
The statistics center by clicking on the Detach button creates a separate data window.
Conclusion
Of course, when the game produces 65-70 FPS, it makes no sense to overclock your graphics chip and increase the load on it. Another thing is when the computer somehow pulls 15-20 FPS. In this case, even an increase of 5-10 frames per second will already give a significant improvement in the picture, and overclocking the video card can give this increase. Moreover, it is not dangerous (as it was some time ago, when a video card could literally be burned), and sometimes it is recommended, even if you do not know how to use MSI Afterburner.
MSI Afterburner is the best of its kind at the moment. It definitely needs to be used by most players - those who do not have 3 GTX 1080TI in conjunction. But the main thing is to remember that overclocking a video card in any case leads to its faster failure, even if you know how to use the MSI Afterburner program.