How To Safely Overclock GPU With MSI Afterburner?

Overclocking is a method used to obtain more performance from a computer’s component, such as GPU, by increasing its megahertz performance via third-party software, i.e., MSI Afterburner.

MSI Afterburner enables you to set your component’s clock speed and voltage. It allows you to manually increase the performance according to the capacity of your component under safe limits. Moreover, it also indicates the temperature to prevent the component from overheating.

This article will discuss how you can safely overclock your GPU using MSI Afterburner to get maximum performance. This topic will answer all of your overclocking-related questions and further discuss its features. So, without further ado, let’s dive into it.

How To Safely Overclock GPU With MSI Afterburner?

You can safely overclock your GPU to its full potential to get maximum performance and frames-per-second by using any trusted third-party software, but many manufacturers recommend MSI Afterburner for its safe and easy installation setup and simple overlay.

MSI Afterburner is a popular software that overclocks or controls the GPU’s performance and mechanism via different settings and tweaks. By doing it correctly, you can enhance your gaming experience by unlocking your GPU’s 100% capability, which increases the FPS, which can be the difference-maker.

Identifying your GPU’s maximum capability is crucial to determining “how much” overclocking your GPU supports. Because too much can permanently damage the processing unit and can also affect its performance. It is safer to say that you should never overclock your GPU to its 100% overclocking capability.

Safety is above all; you need to monitor your GPU’s temperature and power voltage and calculate according to the results that can help you determine your GPU’s overclocking percentage. MSI Afterburner can easily help you to monitor and change these settings in real time.

1. Download and Install MSI Afterburner

The first step is downloading the MSI Afterburner software from their official website. Always use an updated version to avoid issues. After installation, the software will automatically identify your GPU. A real-time interface monitor shows you the actual GPU memory, voltage, and temperature.

You can control and change almost everything from the customizable panels below. PSU voltage plays a very important role in overclocking your components. You must have the recommended voltage PSU for your GPU to overclock it, or it can result in complete failure. Be cautious if you don’t want your GPU to burn with low voltage fluctuations.

2. Open MSI Afterburner

After opening your MSI Afterburner, you will be greeted with a panel. The left bar provides information, settings, and statistics about your GPU. In the lower section, you will see three sections for Voltage, Clock, and Fan, and your GPU’s model name is mentioned below, with each and everything customizable.

You must acknowledge your GPU’s overclocking capability before increasing any given values (MHz). To do that, you must check your GPU’s core clock and memory clock limit, and boostable (MHz) limit according to the model mentioned in MSI Afterburner.

3. Adjust Settings

Increase the core clock megahertz according to your GPU in the clock section. A GPU’s core clock is the most important factor in increasing its performance, which allows multiple calculations and tasks to complete much faster. For example, loading, rendering, and sampling.

Memory performance can also be increased by increasing memory clock megahertz, which is essential to increase the GPU speed, allowing it to access the memory faster for more frames. The higher core clock can perform faster by executing more instructions per second given by the user.

4. Run A Benchmarking Test

Benchmark tests will help you determine the results of overclocking. The before and after comparison of frames clearly shows a huge difference. Performance has increased, but CPU and RAM usage with a slight riserise in the temperature, which is completely normal. The built-in benchmark app is MSI Afterburner’s RivaTuner Statistics Server.

MSI Afterburner’s built-in benchmark app can be modified to show actual temperature, memory usage, and frames per second for you to see clear results of overclocking and boosting the performance of your GPU. It uses real data that generates a customizable graph as per the user’s needs.

Does MSI Afterburner Hinder Performance?

No, it doesn’t affect your GPU’s performance. MSI Afterburner takes a few resources and little memory consumption while running in the background. It can process the applied settings without any power or memory consumption. So your PC can run games without any complications.

If you are experiencing any performance degradation, this might be due to overclocking. Overclocking must be done correctly to get the maximum performance. But if you are doing anything wrong, you will face performance issues. Any mismatch in voltage and clock speed may lead to permanent component damage.

Does Removing MSI Afterburner Remove Overclock?

No, removing MSI Afterburner doesn’t remove the overclock settings because once it is applied from the software, the commands move to the hardware chipset that changes the stock settings to new settings. Even after uninstalling MSI Afterburner, it will not affect the applied settings.

MSI Afterburner is just software used to increase your overclockable components’ clock speed and voltage. These components include CPU, GPU, and RAM. Deleting the application won’t remove the overclocking. But removing it may stick your overclocked component on the set frequency, and you must install it again to change it.

Is Overclocking Safe?

To some extent, yes, it is completely safe to overclock your GPU because today’s technology has a built-in mechanism (thermal throttling) to shut down computers if anything becomes too hot or heavy. Modern motherboards allow your computer to push the limits to get maximum performance.

An overclocked GPU requires more power, airflow, and stable voltage. If you have a premium build, you will face no issues overclocking the GPU, but in older versions of branded computers, it can be a hassle to achieve performance even with the latest GPUs.

Overclocking with MSI Afterburner is the safest method to increase the performance of a GPU to get more frames per second. In competitive gaming, more frames mean smoother gameplay and fast reaction times which can be a game changer in the modern era of Esports.

How Do I Know If My GPU Is Overclocked?

You can use third-party apps like CPU-Z or Windows default program “Task Manager” to identify whether your GPU is overclocked. Before overclocking any used GPU, it is a must to determine if its manufacturer or the previous owner does not already overclock it.

To avoid the hassle, there are a few methods to check if the GPU is not already overclocked. MSI Afterburner also helps. In MSI Afterburner, if the clock speed is higher than the stock speed of the GPU, that simply means it is overclocked. Many overclocked versions of some GPU models are manufactured for greater performance, faster memory, and more frames.

Windows task manager is the best method to find the overclocked GPU. Just press CTRL+ALT+DEL and open the Task Manager. Go to the Performance tab and monitor your GPU’s clock speed while gaming. 

If it is showing more clock speed then the default, it means your GPU is now overclocked. Alternatively, you can also try GPU-Z to check the clock speeds of your GPU.

GPU-Z can provide complete information, from default clock megahertz to boostable megahertz limit, to help you overclock your GPU.

In the sensors tab, you can track your GPU’s performance to determine the results and effects of overclocking.

How Do I Know If My GPU Overclock Is Stable?

You can easily determine if the overclock is unstable by comparing your GPU’s power consumption and temperature to its performance. Unstable overclocking of the GPU can lead to a serious rise in temperature, which can cause the thermal pads to melt away, resulting in permanent damage to its processing unit.

Power consumption and temperature play a very crucial part in the performance of a graphic card. GPU temperature can also be monitored with MSI Afterburner, and core voltage is changeable in the settings below. Still, changing your GPU’s voltage without any expertise about volts is not recommended.

Pros And Cons of GPU Overclocking

Overclocking undoubtedly enhances your GPU’s overall performance by exceeding the clock speed. But it also has a few risks. Before you begin overclocking, there are a few things you need to think about, including the following pros and cons.

Pros	Cons
Overclocking increases the overall performance of the GPU.	Overclocking makes your GPU unstable.
You can render more heavy graphics.	It will cause overheating, which may lead to system instability.
You can multitask much faster and much quicker.	Overclocking consumes more power.
Memory overclocking allows the GPU to access more memory to gain more frames.
Overclocking enhances the processing power of the GPU.

Conclusion

Overclocking increases the component’s processing capacity from stock to a higher frequency, increasing the component’s performance, speed, and power. It can be beneficial for competitive gamers as well as 3d rendering artists. Many users overclock their old components to gain more performance.

MSI Afterburner is a software that helps you to overclock your GPU easily. Its safe and user-friendly design helps you to monitor, change and apply the settings in real-time, with its huge compatibility options and support for almost all GPU models from AMD to NVIDIA.

Overclocking is safer than we might think because many safe mode options in the latest motherboards and BIOS automatically detect the anomalies of a PC to safely shut it down before anything goes sideways. It can be a hassle to overclock anything in old branded computers.

You can easily identify if your GPU is not already overclocked by using MSI Afterburner by simply comparing the GPU’s stock core clock and memory clock to its actual MSI Afterburner panels below. It will also help you calculate your GPUs capability to overclock.

Stable overclocking is very important to gain more performance from the GPU. Instability can cause your GPU to reduce the frames instead of increasing them because the rise of temperature and voltage can be a serious problem for your motherboard and PSU.