How to Use MSI Afterburner: The Complete 2026 Guide

How to Use MSI Afterburner. You installed it. You launched your game. Nothing appeared on screen.

Or maybe the overlay worked fine for months and then one game update broke it completely. Or your fan curve settings are not applying. Or you can see temperatures but not FPS. Or FPS but not temperatures.

Every one of these problems has a specific fix. And beyond the fixes, MSI Afterburner can do far more than most people who use it every day actually realize.

This guide covers all of it. Installation done correctly so nothing breaks from the start. Overlay setup that actually works. A fan curve that keeps your GPU cool before it throttles. Safe overclocking in simple steps. And every common problem with its exact solution.

One user on Steam wrote: “I just want to see some dang numbers for my hardware in game. I have Afterburner installed and RivaTuner too, but this app won’t even launch. What am I missing here?”

Another on Tom’s Hardware posted: “Fan curve on MSI Afterburner won’t work. I can adjust it manually but the curve won’t apply no matter what I do.”

And a third from a gaming forum: “My overlay worked fine for years and suddenly stopped showing in certain games after an update. Tried everything.”

Three different problems. Three different causes. All fixed in this guide.

The reason I built mypcbottleneck.com is exactly this. Good hardware, confusing tools, and no clear answers anywhere. This is that clear answer.

Let us start.

MSI Afterburner is a free GPU monitoring and overclocking tool. It was made by MSI but works with every graphics card from every brand. NVIDIA, AMD, Intel. RTX 5090, RX 9070 XT, GTX 1060. It does not matter. The name is misleading but the software is completely universal.

Here is what it actually does and why millions of gamers use it:

It shows you live hardware data while you are playing. Your GPU temperature, GPU usage percentage, FPS, CPU temperature, CPU usage, VRAM usage, RAM usage, GPU clock speed. All of this displayed on screen while your game is running, as an overlay you can see without ever alt-tabbing.

It lets you control your GPU fan speed. You can create a custom fan curve so your GPU fans spin faster as temperatures rise, keeping the card cooler before it thermal throttles.

It lets you overclock your GPU. You can push your GPU clock speed higher than the factory setting to get more FPS out of the same hardware for free.

It lets you limit your FPS. Cap your frame rate to reduce GPU load, lower temperatures, or stop your GPU from running at 100% on simple menus and desktop tasks.

Everything is free. No subscription, no account, no limitations. This is why it has been the most used GPU tool in PC gaming for over a decade and remains the go-to in 2026.

This sounds simple but getting the download wrong is where many problems start. MSI themselves warn that there are fake versions of this software on phishing sites that steal your data.

Only download from these two sources:

Option 1 (official): msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards

Option 2 (trusted mirror): guru3d.com/files-details/msi-afterburner-download.html

Do not download from any other site regardless of how official it looks.

How to install correctly:

Step 1: Download the installer from one of the two links above.

Step 2: Run the installer. When it asks about additional software, make sure you say YES to installing RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS). This is not optional. RTSS is the separate program that actually draws the in-game overlay on your screen. Without it, the overlay feature does not work at all. This is the single most common reason people install Afterburner and then wonder why nothing appears in their games.

Step 3: Complete the installation. Both MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server will now be installed.

Step 4: Restart your PC.

Step 5: Open MSI Afterburner. The main window will open showing your GPU information and a set of sliders.

Step 6: Go to Settings (the gear icon near the top of the window) and tick Start with Windows and Start minimized. This means Afterburner loads automatically every time you start your PC, always running in the background ready to monitor and overlay.

Step 7: Click Apply, then OK.

You are now set up. Afterburner is installed, RTSS is installed, and both will launch automatically with Windows.

The in-game overlay is the most used feature of MSI Afterburner. It is what lets you see GPU temperature, FPS, CPU usage and more while you are gaming without leaving the game.

Many people install Afterburner and see nothing in their games. This happens because the overlay requires two things to work: the correct settings in Afterburner AND RivaTuner running in the background. Most guides only tell you about the first one.

Step by step setup:

Step 1: Open MSI Afterburner.

Step 2: Click the Settings icon (gear wheel near the top of the window).

Step 3: Click the Monitoring tab.

Step 4: You will see a long list of metrics: GPU Usage, GPU Temperature, GPU Core Clock, Memory Clock, Fan Speed, CPU Usage, CPU Temperature, Framerate, Frametime, RAM Usage and more.

Step 5: Click on each metric you want to see in your overlay. For each one you select, tick the box that says Show in On-Screen Display. Do this for every stat you want visible while gaming.

Recommended starting set for most gamers:

• Framerate (FPS)
• GPU Usage
• GPU Temperature
• CPU Usage
• CPU Temperature
• RAM Usage
• VRAM Usage

Step 6: Click Apply, then OK.

Step 7: Now check that RivaTuner Statistics Server is actually running. Look in your taskbar at the bottom right of your screen (the hidden icons area). You should see the RTSS icon. If it is not there, open it manually from the Start menu. RTSS must be running for the overlay to appear.

Step 8: In RivaTuner Statistics Server, make sure On-Screen Display Support is set to On. This is the master switch for the overlay.

Step 9: Launch your game. The overlay should now appear in the top left corner of your screen showing the stats you selected.

To move or resize the overlay:

In Afterburner Settings, go to the On-Screen Display tab. Here you can set the position (X and Y coordinates) and the size of the overlay text.

To set a keyboard shortcut to toggle the overlay on and off:

In the same On-Screen Display tab, set a toggle shortcut key. This is useful when you want to hide the overlay during screenshots or video recording.

Now that your overlay is running, here is exactly what each number tells you and why it matters for your gaming performance.

Framerate (FPS) How many frames your PC is producing per second. Higher is better. This is the most direct measure of gaming performance.

GPU Usage % How hard your graphics card is working. Should be 95 to 100% during gaming for maximum performance. If it is significantly lower and your FPS is also lower than expected, something is holding your GPU back. We covered every cause in our guide on why GPU usage runs low.

GPU Temperature How hot your graphics card is running. For most gaming sessions this should stay below 85°C. Getting close to 90°C on AMD cards or 87°C on NVIDIA cards means you are approaching thermal throttling territory. Read our GPU Temperature Range guide to know exactly what is safe for your specific card.

CPU Usage % How hard your processor is working. If CPU usage is near 100% while GPU usage is low, you have a CPU bottleneck. Your processor cannot prepare frames fast enough to keep the GPU busy. Use our PC Bottleneck Calculator to check if your CPU and GPU are properly matched.

CPU Temperature How hot your processor is running. Should stay below 90°C for modern AMD Ryzen 7000/9000 chips and below 95°C for Intel 12th to 14th Gen. For older chips aim to stay below 80°C during gaming. Read our CPU Temperature Range guide for the full breakdown.

VRAM Usage How much video memory your GPU is using. If VRAM usage is constantly at or above your card’s total VRAM, you will get stuttering and FPS drops because the game has to swap data to system RAM. This is a sign to lower texture quality settings or consider a GPU with more VRAM.

Frametime The time in milliseconds between each frame. Even if average FPS looks fine, high frametime spikes indicate stuttering. Smooth gaming requires consistent frametimes. If your average FPS is 60 but individual frametimes spike to 50ms, those spikes feel like stutters. Frametime is what separates truly smooth gameplay from gameplay that looks smooth on paper but feels rough to play.

GPU Clock Speed How fast your GPU core is running in MHz. If your GPU clock is dropping significantly below its rated boost clock while gaming, thermal throttling is happening. Your GPU is slowing itself down because of heat.

The default GPU fan behavior in most cards is to stay at 0% fan speed (completely silent) until temperatures reach around 60°C, then ramp up slowly. The problem is that by the time the fans spin up enough to cool the card, temperatures have already climbed significantly.

A custom fan curve lets you tell your GPU exactly how fast the fans should spin at each temperature. More aggressive curves keep temperatures lower, prevent thermal throttling, and protect long-term GPU health. The trade-off is more fan noise.

How to set up a custom fan curve:

Step 1: Open MSI Afterburner.

Step 2: Click the Settings icon.

Step 3: Click the Fan tab.

Step 4: Tick Enable user defined software automatic fan control.

Step 5: A graph will appear. The X axis is temperature in degrees. The Y axis is fan speed in percentage. You can click and drag the points on the curve to set exactly how fast the fans spin at each temperature.

Step 6: Here is a good starting fan curve for most gaming GPUs in 2026:

GPU Temperature	Fan Speed
0 to 40°C	0% (silent, card is cool)
50°C	30%
60°C	50%
70°C	70%
75°C	85%
80°C	100%

Step 7: Click Apply.

Step 8: Go back to the main window and click the Save button (the floppy disk icon) and save it to Profile 1.

Step 9: In the Settings menu, make sure Apply overclocking at system startup is ticked so your fan curve loads automatically every time Windows starts.

One common issue with fan curves: A user on Tom’s Hardware had their fan curve working on one fan but the other fan was running at 100% constantly after a driver update. The fix was ticking Force fan speed on each period in the Fan settings. If one fan is not following your curve, this is the first thing to check.

Overclocking means running your GPU faster than the factory setting to get more FPS without spending money on new hardware. The gains are typically 3 to 10% depending on your specific card.

Before starting: overclocking is safe because modern GPUs have built-in protection systems that reduce clocks or shut down before any damage occurs. However any damage from overclocking is not covered by warranty. Save all your work and close all applications before starting.

What you will need:

A stress testing tool like FurMark (free) or Unigine Heaven (free) to test stability after each adjustment.

Step by step overclocking process:

Step 1: Open MSI Afterburner. Note your current baseline GPU clock speed, memory clock, temperature, and FPS in a game you regularly play. Write these down for comparison.

Step 2: Go to Settings, General tab. Enable Unlock Voltage Control and Unlock Voltage Monitoring. Click OK and restart Afterburner when prompted.

Step 3: Back on the main window, find the Core Clock (MHz) slider. This is the main slider for GPU core performance.

Step 4: Increase Core Clock by 50 MHz. Click Apply.

Step 5: Run FurMark or play your game for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch for artifacts (visual glitches, flickering pixels, random colors), crashes, or black screens. If everything is stable, continue.

Step 6: Increase by another 50 MHz. Apply. Test again.

Step 7: Keep repeating until you find instability. When artifacts or crashes appear, reduce the Core Clock by 25 to 50 MHz to find a stable setting just below the limit.

Step 8: Now do the same for Memory Clock (MHz). The GPU memory can usually be pushed quite a bit, often 200 to 500 MHz above stock. Again, increase in steps of 50 MHz, test, and find the stability limit.

Step 9: Once you have both stable values, click the Save icon and save to a Profile slot (1 through 5).

Step 10: Enable Apply overclocking at system startup in Settings so your overclock loads automatically.

For the easiest approach: OC Scanner

If you do not want to do manual adjustments, MSI Afterburner includes OC Scanner. Click the magnifying glass icon with OC written on it. Click Scan. The tool automatically finds the best stable overclock for your specific GPU. This takes about 20 to 30 minutes and works well for most cards.

Important note for 2026: On NVIDIA RTX 40 and 50 series GPUs, traditional core clock overclocking has diminishing returns because these chips already boost very aggressively at stock settings. On these cards, undervolting (running the GPU at lower voltage for the same clock speed) is often more effective than overclocking. It reduces temperatures and power consumption while maintaining the same performance.

These are the problems that appear constantly across Steam forums, Reddit, Tom’s Hardware, and Discord servers. Every one of them has a specific fix.

Problem 1: The overlay is not showing in my game at all

This is the most reported problem with MSI Afterburner and it almost always comes down to one of these causes.

Fix 1: RivaTuner Statistics Server is not running. Look in the taskbar (hidden icons, bottom right). If the RTSS icon is not there, open it from the Start menu manually. The overlay cannot work without RTSS running.

Fix 2: You did not enable Show in On-Screen Display for any metrics. Go to Afterburner Settings, Monitoring tab, and make sure at least one metric has the Show in OSD box ticked.

Fix 3: On-Screen Display support is disabled in RTSS. Open RTSS and make sure On-Screen Display Support is set to On.

Fix 4: A conflicting overlay is blocking RTSS. Steam overlay, NVIDIA GeForce Experience overlay, Discord overlay, and Xbox Game Bar can all conflict with RTSS. Try disabling them one by one. In RTSS, set Application Detection Level to Low and enable Stealth Mode.

Fix 5: The game uses Easy Anti-Cheat or a kernel-level anti-cheat that blocks third-party overlays. Some games like Apex Legends and specific versions of Call of Duty block RTSS at the kernel level. In RTSS, try setting Detection Level to Low and enabling Stealth Mode. Update to the latest version of RTSS (7.3.6 or higher as of 2026) as newer versions have better anti-cheat compatibility.

Fix 6: MSI Afterburner is closed rather than minimized. The overlay only works when Afterburner is running in the background (minimized to taskbar). Do not close it. Minimize it.

Problem 2: Fan curve is not working properly

A user on BleepingComputer posted: “I tried reinstalling the drivers and even reinstalling an older version of MSI Afterburner but the fan curve won’t work. I can adjust it manually but the curve won’t apply.”

Fix 1: Make sure you ticked Enable user defined software automatic fan control in the Fan tab of Settings. Without this ticked, Afterburner shows you the curve but does not actually apply it.

Fix 2: Tick Force fan speed on each period in the Fan settings. This solves the problem of one fan following the curve while the other runs at 100% or does not respond at all.

Fix 3: Make sure you clicked Apply after making changes to the curve. The changes are not saved automatically.

Fix 4: Reinstall Afterburner. Sometimes after a driver update, the fan control integration breaks. A clean reinstall usually fixes it.

Problem 3: MSI Afterburner is not detecting my GPU

Fix 1: Make sure your GPU drivers are fully up to date. Go to nvidia.com/drivers for NVIDIA or amd.com/support for AMD and download the latest stable driver.

Fix 2: If you have both integrated graphics and a dedicated GPU, Afterburner may be showing the integrated chip instead of your gaming GPU. Open Afterburner, click the GPU information area at the top, and use the arrow to switch to your dedicated card.

Fix 3: After installing a new GPU, restart your PC fully (not just sleep/wake) before opening Afterburner.

Problem 4: Overclock is not being applied after Windows restarts

Fix 1: In Settings, make sure Apply overclocking at system startup is ticked.

Fix 2: Make sure you saved your settings to a Profile slot. Apply overclocking on startup only works with saved profiles, not with unsaved temporary adjustments.

Fix 3: The Profile lock icon must be in the unlocked position. If it is locked, the Apply at Windows Startup button is greyed out and cannot be activated.

Problem 5: MSI Afterburner is causing game crashes or stuttering

Some games, particularly Call of Duty titles and certain anti-cheat protected games, are known to conflict with Afterburner and RTSS.

Fix 1: Disable the overlay for that specific game. Open RTSS, find the game in the application list, and set its detection level to None. This stops RTSS from injecting into that game while still monitoring in the background.

Fix 2: Disable any overclocking profile before playing that game. Run at stock settings to rule out the overclock as the cause.

Fix 3: Update to the latest version of both MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server from guru3d.com. Outdated versions cause compatibility problems with new game engine updates.

These are the three most common free GPU monitoring tools. Here is when to use each one and what each does that the others do not.

Feature	MSI Afterburner	GPU-Z	HWiNFO64
In-game overlay	Yes, via RTSS	No	No
GPU specs display	Basic	Detailed	Moderate
Fan curve control	Yes	No	No
Overclocking	Yes	No	No
FPS limiting	Yes, via RTSS	No	No
Per-core CPU temps	Yes	No	Yes
Log data to CSV	Yes	Yes	Yes
Throttling indicators	No	No	Yes
Ease of use	Medium	Very easy	Complex

The honest recommendation:

Use MSI Afterburner for in-game monitoring, fan curves, FPS limiting, and overclocking. It is the tool for active gaming sessions.

Use GPU-Z when you want detailed GPU specifications and a quick sensor check without the overhead.

Use HWiNFO64 when you want the deepest level of system data, per-core CPU temperatures, throttling detection, and long-term data logging to CSV for analysis.

For bottleneck diagnosis specifically, run Afterburner’s overlay while gaming and watch GPU usage and CPU usage simultaneously. If GPU usage is low while CPU usage is high, you have a CPU bottleneck. Check our guide on why GPU usage is low and use our PC Bottleneck Calculator to find the exact mismatch percentage and best upgrade path.

Here is everything covered in this guide as a quick reference:

Installation:

1. ✅ Download only from msi.com or guru3d.com
2. ✅ Install RivaTuner Statistics Server during the installation process
3. ✅ Enable Start with Windows and Start minimized in Settings
4. ✅ Restart your PC after installation

Overlay setup:

1. ✅ Go to Settings, Monitoring tab, tick Show in On-Screen Display for each metric
2. ✅ Confirm RivaTuner is running in the taskbar (not closed)
3. ✅ Confirm On-Screen Display Support is On in RTSS
4. ✅ Set Application Detection Level to Low in RTSS if overlay does not appear

Fan curve:

1. ✅ Settings, Fan tab, tick Enable user defined software automatic fan control
2. ✅ Set a curve that keeps temperatures below 85°C
3. ✅ Tick Force fan speed on each period if one fan is not responding
4. ✅ Save to a Profile and enable Apply at startup

Overclocking:

1. ✅ Enable Unlock Voltage Control in Settings first
2. ✅ Increase Core Clock in 50 MHz steps, testing stability between each step
3. ✅ Run FurMark or play a game for 10 to 15 minutes per step
4. ✅ Save to a Profile and enable Apply at startup

MSI Afterburner looks complicated when you first open it. A lot of sliders, a lot of settings, a lot of graphs. But the core features you actually need are straightforward once you understand what each one does.

Start with the overlay. Get your GPU temperature, GPU usage, CPU usage, and FPS showing in your game. That data alone will tell you more about your PC’s performance than any other single source of information.

If your GPU usage is consistently below 80% while FPS is low, something is holding your GPU back. If temperatures are climbing above 85°C while gaming, your cooling needs attention. If CPU usage is near 100% while GPU sits low, you have a CPU bottleneck.

The overlay tells you what is happening. Our PC Bottleneck Calculator tells you why and what to do about it.

Once the overlay is set up, the fan curve is the next most valuable thing to configure. A properly tuned fan curve keeps your GPU 5 to 10°C cooler during gaming sessions with no hardware changes and no money spent.

Then overclocking, if you want to push further. But the overlay and the fan curve alone are worth installing this tool for.

Now go set it up.

Have you run into a problem with MSI Afterburner that is not covered here? Drop a comment below. If it is a common issue we will add it to the guide.