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In short: MSI Afterburner is one of the most popular GPU tuning tools on the market, if not the most popular. However, it receives relatively few stable updates. The developer of the program has confirmed that there will be a major update in the near future. The update will coincide the release of new GeForce graphics cards that are expected to include a fan control feature.
Nvidia is expected to announce the next generation of premium gaming GPUs at CES 2025. Alexey “Unwinder” Nicolaychuk, MSI Afterburner’s developer, has given another hint as to what the GeForce RTX 5000 Series will bring to gaming hardware.
Nicolaychuk revealed a new version MSI Afterburner will be released close to the launch of the RTX5080 series. The update will include “strings,” since the Blackwell GPU cards have three independent fan controllers – an upgrade from two controllers in previous generations such as the RTX 3000 or RTX 4000. MSI Afterburner is adding a button to control the asynchronous speed of the third fan.
According to leaks and expectations, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is expected to unveil the GeForce® RTX® 5080 during his presentation on Tuesday. Sales are expected to start on January 21, 2019. The MSI RTX 5080 gaming trio, a leaked product, is said to have three fans, which are in perfect alignment with the three fan controllers that the new cards support.
Nicolaychuk who developed MSI Afterburner with the Taiwanese firm in close collaboration, has likely early insight into these upcoming GPUs. His comments reinforce the hype surrounding the RTX 5000 Series and the technological advancements that it will bring.
MSI Afterburner is compatible with a wide range GPUs, including integrated graphics, from Nvidia AMD and Intel. It allows users to record video clips from their gaming sessions. In my own tests, however, it came third in terms performance impact and video quality when compared to Nvidia ShadowPlay or OBS Studio. MSI Afterburner is my go-to tool for monitoring the performance of my hardware, especially when I’m tackling the toughest challenges of Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree.
Despite MSI Afterburner’s immense popularity, its future was uncertain in 2023 because of sanctions against Vladimir Putin and Russia. Nicolaychuk revealed MSI had not paid him for over a year. He was unwilling to maintain the MSI Afterburner project without compensation. Fortunately, this issue was resolved and development could continue as usual.