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MSI Afterburner preparing for GeForce RTX 5080 with expanded fan controller support
In a nutshell: Despite being one of the most popular tools for GPU tuning on the market if not the most popular MSI Afterburner sees relatively few stable updates. However, the program's developer has confirmed that a major update is on the horizon. The update will coincide with the release of new GeForce cards, which are set to introduce an additional feature for fan control. We are hours away from Nvidia's official presentation at CES 2025, where the company is expected to unveil the next generation of its premium gaming GPUs. The release of the GeForce RTX 5000 series is all but confirmed, and MSI Afterburner developer Alexey "Unwinder" Nicolaychuk has provided another hint about what these new cards will bring to the gaming hardware market.Nicolaychuk revealed that a new version of MSI Afterburner is in the works and will launch close to the RTX 5080 series' sales debut. The update will include additional "strings," as the Blackwell GPU cards introduce three independent fan controllers an upgrade from the two controllers found in previous generations like the RTX 3000 and RTX 4000 series. As a result, MSI Afterburner will incorporate a new button for asynchronous fan speed control for the third fan.If leaks and expectations hold true, Nvidia's CEO Jensen Huang will unveil the GeForce RTX 5080 during his Tuesday presentation, with sales expected to begin on January 21. One leaked product, the MSI RTX 5080 Gaming Trio, reportedly features three fans perfectly aligning with the three fan controllers supported by the new cards.Nicolaychuk, who develops MSI Afterburner in close collaboration with the Taiwanese company, likely has early insights into these upcoming GPUs. His comments further reinforce the buzz surrounding the RTX 5000 series and the anticipated technological advancements it will bring.The latest stable version of MSI Afterburner (4.6.5) was released in April 2023, while the most recent beta version (4.6.6 Beta 3) dates back to March 2024. As many enthusiast gamers and content creators are well aware, this versatile tool offers an array of essential features, including GPU overclocking, performance monitoring, benchmarking in-game graphics, capturing screenshots, and more.MSI Afterburner supports a wide range of GPUs from Nvidia, AMD, and Intel, including integrated graphics. It even allows users to record video clips of their gaming sessions. However, based on my personal tests, it ranked third in terms of performance impact and overall video quality compared to Nvidia ShadowPlay and OBS Studio. That said, I rely on MSI Afterburner constantly especially when battling through the toughest challenges in Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree to monitor how my hardware is holding up. // Related StoriesDespite its immense popularity, MSI Afterburner faced an uncertain future in 2023 due to sanctions against Vladimir Putin's Russia. Nicolaychuk revealed that MSI hadn't paid him in over a year, leaving him unwilling to maintain the project without compensation. Fortunately, the issue was eventually resolved, allowing development to continue as usual.
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