MSI Afterburner Fan Speed Control Not Working on Windows? Here’s How to Fix It
Despite being one of the most advanced and regularly updated graphics card software, MSI Afterburner has a history of annoying problems that users face periodically. One of the most prevalent issues users encounter is when the fan speed control feature gets grayed out in the software, or changing the speed does not affect the actual speed of the fan.
What causes it, and how can you fix it? Let’s explore the causes behind this issue and discuss a few fixes to restore fan speed control.
What to Do When the MSI Afterburner Fan Speed Control Is Grayed Out or Not Working
The primary reason MSI Afterburner fan speed control may not work could be that the feature itself is disabled. Other causes include the laptop not supporting fan speed control, the software not being compatible with the GPU, an issue with the system drivers, or changing the fan speed control when playing a graphic-intensive game.
If you are experiencing fan speed control issues with MSI Afterburner or the feature is grayed out, you need to enable fan speed in the software settings, close all graphics-intensive processes already running, update the graphics drivers, and download the most recent version of the Afterburner. If everything fails, you will have no option but to reinstall the software.
Preliminary Checks
Try the following fixes first to see if they help:
Start applying the remaining fixes if the above preliminary checks do not help you fix the problem.
1. Run a Process That Uses the GPU
In some cases, MSI Afterburner’s features become grayed out when your GPU isn’t being used. So, before you begin troubleshooting, run any task that uses GPU resources and see if the fan speed control feature becomes available.
Are you already running resource-intensive games? If so, the fan speed control feature also becomes grayed out if you overstress your GPU. So, you may have to close resource-hungry processes.
2. Put an End to Graphics-Intensive Processes
Some features of the Afterburner software may not be available when your GPU is already under stress. This may be why the fan speed control feature is grayed out in the software on your device, and you cannot change the fan speed.
If you’re playing a game, running graphics-intensive software, or running multiple overlays simultaneously, close them and check if the fan speed control feature becomes available again. If closing the process doesn’t make any difference, proceed to the next step.
3. Enable the Fan Speed Settings
If you’ve installed the MSI Afterburner for the very first time and found the fan speed control feature missing, it’d probably be because the feature is disabled in the software settings itself. Thus, you should enable the fan speed control feature. Here’s how you could do that:
Apply the following fix if the fan speed control feature is still disabled.
4. Rule Out Compatibility Issues
When none of the above fixes have worked, ensure your Afterburner version supports your GPU. To confirm that, you should go to the graphics card manufacturer’s forum, such asMSI’s official forum, and find out if other users using the same GPU are experiencing this issue. Find out which version of MSI Afterburner works for them and download it.
Furthermore, if the software was working fine a few days ago but not after a software update, it’s best to downgrade it. Delete the current version and install the old version again.
5. Update or Downgrade Your Graphics Driver
Using MSI Afterburner with outdated graphics drivers can also cause it to behave abnormally. Your GPU manufacturer may have released new drivers, so check the official website of your GPU manufacturer. If there are any new drivers available, follow ourguide on updating graphics driversto update them.
Also, newly released graphics drivers sometimes have bugs that result in irritating issues. Thus, if MSI Afterburner’s fan speed control has been grayed out after updating your graphics drivers, you shoulduninstall the recently installed driversand reinstall the old ones.
6. Manually Change the Fan Speed Settings
If reinstalling the software doesn’t solve the problem, your last resort should be manually editing the settings file to change the fan speed. To do that, follow these steps:
Editing the MSIAfterburner file may require administrative privileges. Be sure to make the changes above using aWindows administrator account.
7. Reinstall MSI Afterburner
If the above fix also doesn’t help, reinstall the software. Before you do that, ensure no junk files are left on your system. To reinstall MSI Afterburner properly, follow these steps:
After that, navigate to the location where you have installed the software. Once you have reached the installation location, delete all files and folders to ensure no residue remains. Then, reinstall the software again as you did the first time.
Control GPU Fan Speed Smartly
Afterburner’s grayed-out fan speed control option prevents us from playing the game at our desired graphics settings. Hopefully, with the help of fixes covered in the article, you will be able to restore the fan speed control.
If none of the fixes work, you can try another graphics card software to change the fan speed. The best alternatives include NVIDIA Inspector, ASUS GPU Tweak, and ZOTAC FireStorm.
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