Setting up MSI Afterburner for mining: overclocking video cards

Msi Afterburner is designed to manage Nvidia and AMD video cards. Its main features are as follows:controlling the frequency of the graphics processor and memory, changing the voltage, adjusting the coolers of the video card, taking data on the state of the video card from the sensors and displaying them on the screen.

Also a program initially focused ongamers, allows you to record video and take screenshots. Software is indispensable for the miner, with its help it is easy to optimize video cards for long work with minimal wear and power consumption or disperse them to get maximum returns in a short time.

The program allows you to manage a group of video cards, and save up to five different profiles with settings. Software is free.

In this review, we will tell you where it is best to download, and how to properly configure the MSI Afterburner program for cryptocurrency mining.

Download from the official site

The name afterburner translates as “afterburner”camera". With its help, you can squeeze maximum productivity out of your video cards. In order not to catch any attack on your PC, you need to download MSI Afterburner from the official website of the developers https://ru.msi.com/page/afterburner.

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There are three versions of the program:

• Msi afterburner for Windows
• Android version for configuring a video card using a smartphone.
• MSI Afterburner Remote Server.

If you have a farm of several graphicadapters, then msi afterburner setup will be performed on the computer. Download the archive, unpack it into a folder convenient for you, and proceed to install the program.

Install MSI Afterburner

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Open the folder with the latest version of the utility toAt the time of writing this is 4.6.2, and click on the Setup.exe icon to launch the installation file. You will be prompted to select installer components.Configuring msi afterburner for mining does not depend on RivaTuner Statistics Server.

This is an additional utility that providessupport for frame rate monitoring, real-time video capture, and 3D acceleration usage statistics. It is only needed for gamers and can negatively affect the performance of the rig.Uncheck the box next to RivaTunerand click Next. Wait for the installation to complete and run msi af.

How to overclock a MSI Afterburner graphics card?

Using the AF application, you can adjust:

• The memory and core frequencies.
• Cooler rotation speed.
• Power consumption limit.
• Core voltage.

After installation, open the program as administrator, and make sure that it correctly displays all the video cards in Riga.

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By default, the panel will display the parameters of the first graphics accelerator. If all the cards are the same model, you can not configure msi afterburner overclocking for each of them individually.

The settings of the first map will be applied toto the rest. But, if you want to separately set the frequencies of each device, click the button with the gear logo on the left under the Fan Speed ​​dial to open the settings menu, and uncheck the “Synchronize settings of identical GPs".

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Control unlocking is available in the same windowvoltage and expansion of overclocking parameters. To avoid operational failures, the last option is not recommended when setting up mining farms assembled from radically different models of video cards. Now let's start setting up msi afterburner for mining. We start with Core Clock and Memory Clock.

Important! Parameters need to be changed gradually no morethan 5-10 points. A sharp change in the frequency of the memory and the kernel will lead to a freeze, a reboot of the driver crash, and, possibly, to a breakdown of the video card itself.

The easiest way is to pre-searchparameters recommended for this GP model on thematic forums and set them before launch. If the result does not suit you, or you do not find the information you need, select the frequencies yourself. Just keep in mind that memory from different manufacturers, such as Hynix or Samsung, can be installed on the same model, and then the overclocking options will be slightly different.

Increase memory frequency

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This indicator is set on the Memory Clock scale. There are two ways to adjust.

• Move the slider manually using the mouse.
• Click on the number at the end of the scale and writedesired parameter using the keyboard. Then press Enter and apply the set value by clicking the checkmark button in the AF interface. It is located on the right under the cooler settings scale.

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The core frequency is adjusted in the same way.And one more nuance. When setting the memory and core frequency for AMD video cards, you simply write the required values ​​on each scale, for example 2100, 1100. For Nvidia, everything is somewhat different, here you add (or subtract) the required number of steps to the factory parameters,e.g. +150, +30.

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But, it is not enough to find the maximum values ​​at which the farm will work stably. Profit depends on energy consumption, and it must be reduced.

Reduce power consumption

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AMD Rx 5700XT graphics card according to data fromWhatToMine calculator consumes 140W in mining, but by setting the core voltage to 860mV, you can reduce the consumption to 115W. To do this, you need to unlock parameter controlcore voltagein the settings and gradually reduce the voltage, observing the stability of the device.

This option may not be available on someGP models, in this case you need to use alternative methods. For example, modify Bios, or write the necessary parameters in the batch file of the miner program. The latest versions of Claymore and Phoenix provide this opportunity.

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On the left, next to the Core Clock scale, there is a button for regulating voltage parameters depending on the core frequency. In the jargon of miners, this option is called “kurva”.

Important!While setting up the graphics adaptershould not work under load, and the core frequency parameters should be set to zero. After that, click on the shortcut in the form of a step and a window with two curves will open in front of you.

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Set the ratio of Core voltage to Core Clock, close the window and save the settings. After that, put on msi af the working value of the core frequency and start setting up the cooler.

We optimize the cooling system

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Scalepower limitis designed to set a limit on consumedpower. The default is 0 (100%). If the video card overheats, try reducing the limit, for example, to -20, and if it gives little performance or the core frequency constantly jumps, increase the limit, for example to +20. If the card operates at a lower voltage, increasing the power limit will not affect power consumption, but decreasing it can lead to a loss of hashrate and a decrease in the number of shares.

Important!By changing the power consumption limit, youchange the value of the maximum permissible temperature of the GPU. Of course, it cannot be higher than the threshold specified in Bios, but this is a fairly high value. And, if, for example, your fan fails, the card will overheat. To allow this, write the –tmax and –tstop parameters in the miner’s body file, and if the utility does not have such options, monitor the rig parameters using the msi afterburner mobile application.

Now go to the item msi afterburnercooler setting. The fan speed is set on the Fan Speed ​​scale. By default, the driver automatically adjusts the speed. You can set the cooler speed in manual mode.

• Click the Auto button at the end of the scale.
• Set the desired rotation speed.
• Save the settings.

You can set the automatic operation mode in the “Cooler” tab of the settings menu.

• Check the box next to "Set software custom auto mode."
• Adjust the cooler speed curve in relation to the GP temperature by moving the control markers.

Keep in mind that the line can go straight or alltime is up, but you cannot set such a mode when the speed will drop with increasing temperature. When finished, click “Apply” and close the settings window.

Autostart at PC startup

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In order for the afterburner to start automatically with the operating system, and immediately display the specified parameters, you must:

• Upon completion of the settings, activate StartUp in the lower left corner of the interface.
• Open the settings menu and put a tick in front of the option “Run with Windows”.

At the bottom right are the profile slots. Press the buttonSave", After which all five slots will flash, andselect the cell with the desired number. Logically, right away, they select 1, then 2, and so on. Thus, you can save 5 different configurations, which is very convenient if you often switch mining algorithms.

Advanced MSI Settings

The advanced settings menu contains 5 tabs.

• The main ones.
• Cooler.
• Monitoring
• Profiles
• Interface.

We have already introduced you to the first two points. The monitoring tab is used to configure the period of polling sensors and column graphs. In the profiles window, you can set hotkeys for activating saved parameters. The last tab will help you change the look of the program.

Conclusion

There are others, no less effective andconvenient graphics card overclocking applications for mining, but the afterburner came out first, so many just got used to it. This application has a beautiful and convenient graphical shell and developers regularly release new versions. The msi afterburner program is recommended for miners digging in Windows. Good luck to everyone!

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