Nvidia GeForce RTX 50 Series features the fastest graphics card memory to date, but that hasn’t stopped enthusiasts from trying to make the new cards even quicker. MSI Afterburner’s latest beta update includes the ability to crank brand-new GDDR7 modules as fast as they’ll go, but it comes with a few expected risks.
Spotted by Uniko’s Hardware (via VideoCardz), MSI Afterburner creator Alexey ‘Unwinder’ Nicolaychuk revealed that the latest update grants the tool access to special database files. These can boost data transfer rates up to 3,000MHz, giving a 36GB/s overhead.
Officially, Nvidia imposes 28GB/s limits on most of its RTX 50 Series aside from GeForce RTX 5080, which handles a 30GB/s ceiling downclocked from 32GB/s modules. Software, such as GPU Tweak III has proven time and time again that you can break these past barriers, with some even hitting 34GB/s via overclock.
Naturally, going beyond the advisory comes with caveats. Memory controllers aren’t explicitly designed to work harmoniously with these speeds, which could cause some irregularities. At worst, improper voltage tweaking could shorten the lifespan of your device and void any warranties.
With that in mind, the new update requires you first ensure you have MSI Afterburner version 4.6.6 Beta 5 Build 16555. Then, download a ZIP of the modified MSI Afterburner hardware database file with extended memory clock adjustment range.” Once you have it, open the installation folder (“C:Program Files (x86)MSI Afterburner” by default according to Unwinder), create a backup of the original, and replace it with the modified MSIAfterburner.dat file.
Happy overclocking and please, be careful with your new card. They’re not easy to come by these days.
