Wednesday, April 19th 2023

MSI Afterburner Finally Gets a Big Update

MSI Afterburner has been finally updated to a new version, the v4.6.5, bringing support for NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 series and AMD Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards. MSI Afterburner has been one of the most popular overclocking and monitoring tools for graphics cards, especially since the EVGA Precision X has been discontinued, but it has hit a snag back in 2022 when the developer was not paid by MSI.

The latest update is a big milestone for Afterburner, as the new version 4.6.5 is a stable release and comes after the Afterburner was not updated in a while due to the fact that the developer Alexey Nicolaychuk, who goes by the name Unwinder over at Guru3D, was not paid by MSI. While there were BETA updates in the meantime, there has not been a stable release since 2019. The new version adds support for both NVIDIA RTX 40 series and AMD Radeon RX 7900 series graphics cards, adds experimental support for Intel's 13th Gen Core CPUs and AMD Ryzen 7000 series CPUs, as well as brings plenty of other fixes.

Update: Unwinder notified us that the previous stable Afterburner 4.6.4 release was published in the end of 2021 (03.12.2021).
Here are the full release notes:

MSI Afterburner Version 4.6.5
  • Added NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40×0 series graphics cards support
  • Added voltage control support for GA103 and GDDR6x based versions of NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti
  • Added AMD RADEON RX 7900 series graphics cards support
  • Added total board power monitoring support for AMD RADEON RX 7900 series graphics cards
  • Added some future AMD and NVIDIA GPU PCI DeviceIDs to hardware database
  • Added Intel Arc GPUs support to hardware monitoring module. Please take a note that Intel Arc GPUs overclocking and tuning is currently not supported due to Intel hardware control API support limitation to x64 applications only
  • Added experimental support for Intel 13th generation CPUs
  • Added experimental support for AMD Ryzen 7xxx CPUs
  • CPU usage data sources in hardware monitoring module have been switched to alternate implementation based on NtQuerySystemInformation(SystemProcessorIdleInformation), because traditional legacy idle time reporting in NtQuerySystemInformation(SystemProcessorPerformanceInformation) is broken in current Windows 11 22H2 builds
  • Added workaround for broken fixed fan speed programming API (Overdrive 5 compatible fallback path) for old Overdrive 7 GCN GPUs on 22.5.2 and newer AMD drivers
  • Added config file switch for disabling native reliability voltage control API on NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9×0 series graphics cards and forcing legacy P-state 2.0 voltage control API usage on such hardware. Power users may use this switch to bypass voltage control lock on NVIDIA Maxwell series graphics cards on release 515 and newer drivers families
  • Improved correction formula parser with data format conversion, rounding and min/max functions support
  • Added OCMailbox based bus clock frequency monitoring for Skylake and newer Intel CPUs. Unlike traditional legacy timestamp clock based bus clock frequency estimations, OCMailbox provides support for overclocked BCLK monitoring. Please take a note that access to OCMailbox is blocked by design of OS when HVCI is enabled
  • Improved SMART.dll monitoring plugin. Added temperature monitoring support for NVMe devices, including the secondary controller temperature for some Samsung NVMe drives
  • Default clock frequency limit of voltage/frequency curve editor window has been extended to 3.5GHz. Please take a note that you may still customize the limits via config file if necessary
  • Update server location changed to new URL inside update checking system. Old update server location reached EOL
Source: Guru3D
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31 Comments on MSI Afterburner Finally Gets a Big Update

#1
docnorth
Good news of the day :rockout:
Posted on Reply
#2
kapone32
Since I have been using AMD adrenlin settings I do not even use MSI afterburner.
Posted on Reply
#4
TheinsanegamerN
kapone32Since I have been using AMD adrenlin settings I do not even use MSI afterburner.
Nvidia's tools dont include an overclocker, and they make up 88% of the market.

I also enjoy AMD's adrenalin, but many still use afterburner.
Posted on Reply
#5
Chrispy_
kondaminSo did he get any money?
Yeah, did he get paid or are MSI still being exploitive, greedy scumbags?
That's the real question here.
TheinsanegamerNNvidia's tools dont include an overclocker, and they make up 88% of the market.
Yeah, it's not just MSI that owes him. It's Nvidia and all the other Nvidia board partners. MSI are just using it as their marketing but if they're not paying the freelance coder who makes the software in the first place, there's no way they should be allowed to put their name to it. If I were Alexey Nicolaychuk I would have lawsuits lined up.
Posted on Reply
#6
bug
Chrispy_Yeah, it's not just MSI that owes him. It's Nvidia and all the other Nvidia board partners. MSI are just using it as their marketing but if they're not paying the freelance coder who makes the software in the first place, there's no way they should be allowed to put their name to it. If I were Alexey Nicolaychuk I would have lawsuits lined up.
That's the emotional answer. The actual answer is that it depends on how Unwinder licensed his code to MSI.
Posted on Reply
#7
Aoyagi
Yeah, but keep in mind the recent MSI hack. It was MSI, right?
Posted on Reply
#8
AlexUnwinder
RivaTuner Creator
> While there were BETA updates in the meantime, there has not been a stable release since 2019.

That's false statement, the previous stable 4.6.4 release was published in the end of 2021 (03.12.2021).
Posted on Reply
#9
GFreeman
News Editor
AlexUnwinder> While there were BETA updates in the meantime, there has not been a stable release since 2019.

That's false statement, the previous stable 4.6.4 release was published in the end of 2021 (03.12.2021).
Thanks for the heads up, I'll update it accordingly.
Posted on Reply
#10
TheDeeGee
It's constantly having beta updates, you just need to look in the right place, same for RTSS.
Posted on Reply
#12
dozenfury
From Unwinder's recent posts it's hard to say whether he was paid or not. It's clear he's the one still doing the development, but it also doesn't sound like he's thrilled with MSI either. I get the impression he's continuing development just for the betterment of the community, and that continued working on it despite the issues. Though if this was one of those situations where they had to be creative to work around constraints, maybe neither side will comment on that. But however they got there, great news for users since Afterburner was badly in-need of an official update.
Posted on Reply
#13
bug
dozenfuryFrom Unwinder's recent posts it's hard to say whether he was paid or not. It's clear he's the one still doing the development, but it also doesn't sound like he's thrilled with MSI either. I get the impression he's continuing development just for the betterment of the community, and that continued working on it despite the issues. Though if this was one of those situations where they had to be creative to work around constraints, maybe neither side will comment on that. But however they got there, great news for users since Afterburner was badly in-need of an official update.
This has been a hobby of his since RIvaTuner days. If he has the time, I don't see him letting this die over a spat with MSI. Worst case scenario, I hope he can just fork the code and create another app again. But it would be preferable he gets paid, he may be in the habit of putting bread on the table and such.
Posted on Reply
#14
64K
Wasn't the author of Afterburner the guy who was living in Russia and he couldn't be paid by MSI because of it?
Posted on Reply
#15
bug
64KWasn't the author of Afterburner the guy who was living in Russia and he couldn't be paid by MSI because of it?
The one and only. But there are still companies doing business in Russia (banks included), so it's possible MSI used the occasion to just screw him. I really couldn't tell.

He even posted in this thread, but most likely he's barred from commenting on the issue in public.
Posted on Reply
#16
zo0lykas
AoyagiYeah, but keep in mind the recent MSI hack. It was MSI, right?
Its freelancer who created "afterburner" hacked MSI to trying get they money back lol
Posted on Reply
#17
Dragokar
AlexUnwinder> While there were BETA updates in the meantime, there has not been a stable release since 2019.

That's false statement, the previous stable 4.6.4 release was published in the end of 2021 (03.12.2021).
Did you get paid or got any other agreement done? That's the most important part for me, beside the excellent software ofc.
Posted on Reply
#18
AlexUnwinder
RivaTuner Creator
DragokarDid you get paid or got any other agreement done? That's the most important part for me, beside the excellent software ofc.
I cannot comment current status of past year's licensing issues on public, sorry. The same apply to MSI, they won't be commenting it on public. That's mutual decision of both parties. I can only say that currently the project is still alive and both sides will try to do everything to keep it alive in future.
Posted on Reply
#19
Dragokar
AlexUnwinderI cannot comment current status of past year's licensing issues on public, sorry. The same apply to MSI, they won't be commenting it on public. That's mutual decision of both parties. I can only say that currently the project is still alive and both sides will try to do everything to keep it alive in future.
Thank you for the reply. I really hope you are fine with the deal/agreement.

Many just wanted to know that you hopefully get served well. Business contracts don't have to be public, for sure. Many users, including me, are just worried about you and your income throughout MSI.

MSI does not have the best track record in treating some things, persons, groups, and communities well..................to say it that way.
Posted on Reply
#20
Nater
DragokarMSI does not have the best track record in treating some things, persons, groups, and communities well..................to say it that way.
Didn't the CCP handlers throw their CEO off the top of a building to his death after he said he was going to bring assembly of the gaming PC's to US Shores?

I haven't used Afterburner much (no real need lately), but I know I uninstalled it after the Russia bullshit started.
Posted on Reply
#21
TheDeeGee
AoyagiYeah, but keep in mind the recent MSI hack. It was MSI, right?
Just download from Guru3D, the official website where Unwinder publishes his beta releases as well.
Posted on Reply
#22
Unregistered
The fact neither party are commenting on payment is your answer right there.
MSI doesn't want to publicly disclose they're sending money to someone located in Russia.
Posted on Edit | Reply
#23
Vecix6
Support for RTX 4070? I tried with 4.6.4 and could change fan settings & powerlimits... Whats new?
Posted on Reply
#25
[XC] Oj101
TheinsanegamerNNvidia's tools dont include an overclocker, and they make up 88% of the market.

I also enjoy AMD's adrenalin, but many still use afterburner.
Coolbits :p

I feel old :(
Posted on Reply
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