[Guide] How to setup MSI Afterburner On Screen Display using RTSS

[AlTech]

A fair few people have asked me how to setup MSI Afterburner On Screen Display (OSD).

 

I checked this subforum and to my surprise there was no guide on how to do it. So I figured I'd make a guide for everybody out there struggling.

 

1. Downloading and Installing

You will need to download a few things before we continue.

 

Also, the obligatory disclosure that this will only work on Windows.

 

If you don't have RTSS installed then make sure to download and install it.

If you don't have MSI Afterburner installed then make sure to download and install it.

 

Generally the MSI Afterburner installer will have the option to also install RTSS. If that's the case then no need to download the RTSS installer separately.

 

Download Riva Tuner Statistics Server (RTSS) Standalone - https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/rtss-rivatuner-statistics-server-download.html

Download MSI Afterburner (make sure it's not the Beta version) - https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner

 

2.  Setup MSI Afterburner

First, get into the settings.

 

For this example I'm using an RX 480 8GB.

 

You don't need voltage control to be unlocked.

 

You may want to allow MSI Afterburner to run at startup and open minimized.

 

Next we move onto the Monitoring tab in Settings.

Tick all the properties you want in your OSD and also tick the "Show In On-Screen Display" checkbox for each item you want shown.

 

You can choose to setup hotkeys to enable or disable the OSD.

I personally also have system time shown on my OSD but you can disable this.

 

3. Setting up RTSS

Now we're onto setting up RTSS.

 

If RTSS isn't running already, open it.

 

If it is already running, you can open it from the task tray by clicking on the RTSS icon.

 

The first changes you'll probably want to make are to enable it to start with windows and minimize on startup.

 

You may also wish to change the rendering mode from the default Vector 2D to Raster 3D.

 

You can also change the font and font-size by clicking on the dropdown arrow on Raster 3D.

 

You can also change the colour of the OSD by clicking on the OSD palette circle.

 

You can also change the position of the OSD by clicking on any of the 4 corner buttons in the bottom right hand square or by clicking on the arrows to adjust the vertical or horizontal height of the OSD.

 

4. Finishing up

 

You will probably have to restart Windows for this to take effect.

 

Once you've restarted, if you open up a game you should see the OSD in action.

 

 

Thanks for reading and if you know somebody struggling with this then please share this guide.

 

Thanks.

- AluminiumTech

[Origami Cactus]

Ok a bit off topic, but wth is going on in the euro truck 2 screenshot?

What kind of curve is that? To me it seems like you were driving on the wrong side of the road...

 

[AlTech]

1 minute ago, Origami Cactus said:

Ok a bit off topic, but wth is going on in the euro truck 2 screenshot?

What kind of curve is that? To me it seems like you were driving on the wrong side of the road...

 

I missed the ramp I was supposed to get off at .

[Origami Cactus]

Just now, AluminiumTech said:

I missed the ramp I was supposed to get off at .

No excuses. Mister, your licence is now expired. Exit the vehicle immediately! 

[Guest]

I will try out your guide tomorrow sometime, but thanks for the help, really informative! 

 

EDIT: I have had no experience with RTSS or MSI afterburner at all.

[Levent]

you can actually get it to use a lot less screen estate, if you use classic layout (MSI Afterburner options, Monitoring, "..." button)

[proj3ctmayh3m]

Hello! Thanks for this guide.

I'm trying this settings too, but I see you have three different colours for gpu, cpu and framerate.

I'm only getting the colour I choose from rivatuner settings.

 

What could be? I'll post my screen when I will on the PC.

[d3adc3II]

Should probably mention how to do group those parameters and display it in the way you want.

[Mark Kaine]

Thanks for posting. But I have a question that I never see answered anywhere...

 

How do you turn on 1% low and 0.1% low, FPS, OSD or logging... ?

 

It just never shows anything for me.

 

On 1/4/2019 at 4:51 AM, d3adc3II said:

Should probably mention how to do group those parameters and display it in the way you want.

This also - I never use the overlay because it's a big fucking ugly mess.

 

Also I hate that you cannot remove the letters "FPS" when showing the FPS... I know it's FPS I don't need it to show me that, it's just cluttering up my screen... Hence I almost exclusively use the Nvidia GFE overlay

 

 

[AlTech]

19 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

Thanks for posting. But I have a question that I never see answered anywhere...

 

How do you turn on 1% low and 0.1% low, FPS, OSD or logging... ?

 

It just never shows anything for me

 

This also - I never use the overlay because it's a big fucking ugly mess.

 

Also I hate that you cannot remove the letters "FPS" when showing the FPS... I know it's FPS I don't need it to show me that, it's just cluttering up my screen... Hence I almost exclusively use the Nvidia GFE overlay

 

 

 

for the 1st part: I can't figure out how to get the 1% and 0.1% lows working. it shows up in the OSD for me but the numbers are just stuck at 0 or 1.

 

for the 2nd part: I am considering making a 2020 edition of this thread and another thread. if I do that then I'll try to incorporate this feedback.

[mazssj]

On 9/13/2020 at 4:41 AM, Mark Kaine said:

How do you turn on 1% low and 0.1% low, FPS, OSD or logging... ?

Those options will appear once benchmark mode is started. Navigate to MSI Afterburner settings (screenshot below) and set your key binds for Recording and then you will have your 1% and 0.1% values.

 

[Mark Kaine]

Still curious how to turn off the "FPS" for the fps lol... I know its possible, I did it in the past but completely forgot how. 

[starwarscity9]

Ill save this guide and check it out once im home, thanks!