How to Display the Real-time Hardware Status on Your Screen via MSI Afterburner

Lucas Watson

Updated: June 21, 2024

When we use computers to play games or overclock our display cards, monitoring various data from our computers becomes crucial. This includes the temperature and usage of the CPU and graphics card, CPU frequency, cooling fan speed, memory usage, and frame rate. Professional computer testing software, like LuMaster, AIDA64, and CPU-Z, all equip functions like vital signs monitors in the medical field, constantly tracking the "vital signs" of the computer.

So, how can we monitor those data in real-time while gaming or overclocking? Today, I'll introduce you to using MSI Afterburner to monitor those data and display it on your screen. You can customize the hardware information you want to keep an eye on and display it on the screen, allowing you to fully understand the status of your hardware equipment. Let's dive in!

• 1. Download and Install MSI Afterburner and RTSS
• 2. Set up Your MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server
• 3. Display OSD While Gaming or on Your Desktop

1. Download and Install MSI Afterburner and RTSS

You can download MSI Afterburner here. During the installation, you will also install the RTSS (RivaTuner Statistics Server).
Tips: this software is totally free to use, if you download any paid version before, just uninstall it.

PS: MSI Afterburner will launch two programs: MSI Afterburner and RTSS. MSI Afterburner will display an operation interface, while RTSS will be hidden in the system tray at the bottom right corner. Clicking minimize on either software will hide them in the system tray, and clicking their icons in the system tray will display the interface. Clicking the close button will directly exit the program.

2. Set up Your MSI Afterburner and RivaTuner Statistics Server

Firstly, run MSI Afterburner and you will see some data from your graphic card, just like the picture below.

Open the settings by clicking the button on the upper picture, and you will see the image below on your screen, next I will tell you how to set up those setting.

You can check the brand or select your graphic card here.^[1]

You can turn off avaliable updates here.^[2]

You can set the user interface skins here.^[3]

You can switch options here.^[4]

Then you can click the RTSS icon on your task bar to open its settings.

You can click "Add" to decide which apps to enable RTSS.^[5]

You can move the "60" botton to decide the place of OSD on your screen.^[6]

You can also adjust other settings as you want, just be careful.

Next I will show you how to open the OSD while we are gaming or show it on your desktop.

3. Display OSD While Gaming or on Your Desktop

Firstly, open the setting on MSI Afterburner.

You can choose to open different status data on your OSD.^[7]

Then click the "show in on-screen-disply" checkbox to display it on OSD.^[8]

You can also decide to display it on tray or not.^[9]

Last step, you can set the hotkeys to open the OSD or hidden it.^[10]

After finish all those clicks, you will see the "vital signs" when you play games.

So for some Non-gaming enthusiasts, how to display those datas on your desktop? Follow my steps you will find out.

Press 'Win'+'R', copy the URL below and run Desktop Overlay Host.

Follow my settings to display OSD on your desktop.^[11]

Now you can see the OSD on your desktop.