Want an FPS counter in games or a frame-rate cap that stops your GPU running flat out? RivaTuner, by Alexey Nicolaychuk (Unwinder), began as a deep tweaking tool for NVIDIA and ATI cards. Classic RivaTuner ended with version 2.24c in 2009; its overlay and frame limiter live on in RivaTuner Statistics Server (RTSS), bundled with MSI Afterburner.
Which video-card settings can you change?
RivaTuner exposes settings for NVIDIA GeForce and ATI Radeon cards through separate areas in its tabbed interface. These include parameters for DirectDraw and OpenGL, along with values stored in the Windows registry for the video card.
These low-level tweaks target older GeForce and Radeon generations; modern cards are not supported by classic RivaTuner, so use the vendor's control panel or MSI Afterburner for them.
How do you check a card’s current state?
The program can generate a report with information about the installed video card and its characteristics. This gives users a record of the card’s reported configuration alongside the individual settings available in the interface.
Can RivaTuner show performance while a game runs?
RivaTuner Statistics Server shows FPS, frame times and, together with MSI Afterburner, GPU temperature and load in an on-screen overlay. Its frame limiter caps the frame rate per game for smoother, cooler and quieter play, and it works with current DirectX, OpenGL and Vulkan games.
- Use the overlay to follow GPU activity during a session.
- Apply a frame-rate limit when you want to cap displayed performance.
Pros
- Direct access to DirectDraw and OpenGL settings
- Video-card registry value controls
- Reports current card details and characteristics
- On-screen GPU monitoring and frame-rate control
Cons
- Classic RivaTuner discontinued since 2009
- Old tweaks do not support modern GPUs
- Some anti-cheat systems block overlays
System requirements: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 10, Windows 11
Is RivaTuner still developed?
Classic RivaTuner stopped at version 2.24c in 2009. Its successor, RivaTuner Statistics Server, is actively updated and ships with MSI Afterburner.
Can RivaTuner limit my game's frame rate?
Yes, through RivaTuner Statistics Server: set a cap globally or per game.
Is it free?
Yes. Both RivaTuner and RivaTuner Statistics Server are free.
Does it work with new graphics cards?
The classic tweaking tool does not; RTSS's overlay and limiter work with modern NVIDIA, AMD and Intel GPUs.