MSI AFTERBURNER.. Bugs, Voltage Control Problems? READ THIS.

in #mining7 years ago (edited)

Im a miner, and I have had problems as of late with the MSI Afterburner software, as it does not allow me to alter or control the voltage of the GPU I'm using to mine. The software was working fine prior to any updates or sequenced installed with the Graphics driver. I had also had problems with the ASUS TRIXX software where any changes made to the CORE OR MEMORY also disappears and does not get applied to the GPUs.

I looked deeper into the problems even trying to find a suitable OverClocking software without bugs, but to no avail. I finally got TRIXX to work, and found that the settings in the Motherboard BIOS can affect the way TRIXX is able to retain the Core, and Memory settings. But I still had problems with saving and retaining the settings on startups or restarts.

Finally, I went back to try to fix MSI which I found a fix for but with a little kink to the fix. I would say its livable kink.
The kink deals with the Voltage control.. As many miners would undervolt the GPU, the control that is now active does not have the same values. So it's just a matter of playing around with the undervolting through monitoring of the GPUz software and stability of the GPU under load. After scouring the web for fixes for months with no avail. I stumbled upon a post about Laptops/Notebooks.. I tried the settings and it worked. So enough talking..

(NOTE:) If you have a fix for the voltage control reading to be able to use a negative reading, please let me / readers in on your fix. We would appreciate it very much.

Following instructions below was directly copied from a post. It worked for me, but I would advise you try it with your specific card first before using the settings for the whole mining rig.

INTRODUCTION

If you've installed MSI Afterburner before (usually on a notebook) you'd remember it didn't have GPU voltage control. There are unsupported desktop GPU models that require certain workarounds to have voltage control as well working in MSI Afterburner. So this isn't just limited to notebook GPUs.

Simply put, there is a way to get it unlocked for a notebook GPU, but it is limited to +100mV (modified vBIOS allowable) using the fix we are going to apply below. You can read more about this here. (http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=399542)

So how does this benefit you when using MSI Afterburner?

You can monitor the GPU voltage in the OSD now, which wasn't available before.

You can use a modified vBIOS with an increased base voltage that allows the "fix" (voltage control) to utilize the remaining 100mV of overvolt in MSI Afterburner, allowing it to be the primary OC utility.
If you aren't looking to do extreme overclocking/overvolting (with a modded vBIOS but limited to +100mV).

ENABLE VOLTAGE CONTROL "FIX"

Step 1: Go to your MSI Afterburner Profiles folder (C:\Program Files (x86)\MSI Afterburner\Profiles)
Step 2: Right-click the file named "VEN_10DE&DEV..." and go > Properties > Security
Step 3: Select "Edit" and then click on "Users (username\Users)" and with the permission boxes below, check "Allow" for the first box - Full control. Click OK and OK again (this allows the file to be saved after editing it).




NOTE: You might need to click apply full control to the "ALL APPLICATION PACKAGE" as well to be able to save the changes once you edit the file.

Step 4: Now you can open the file named "VEN_10DE&DEV..." in WordPad and replace everything you see with this:

[Startup]
Format=2
CoreVoltageBoost=
PowerLimit=
ThermalLimit=
ThermalPrioritize=
CoreClkBoost=
MemClkBoost=
[Settings]
VDDC_Generic_Detection=1

Step 5: Save the file and restart MSI Afterburner
Step 6: Go into MSI Afterburner settings and check the boxes under General > "Unlock voltage control" and "Unlock voltage monitoring" then click OK and restart Afterburner.
Final: GPU voltage control is unlocked and can be used now up to +100mV as well as monitoring GPU voltage in the OSD.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

This "fix" isn't new to overclocking with MSI Afterburner, it's just not a popular topic among notebook users.