RivaTuner

RivaTuner for Windows is a free, powerful utility that provides the means of overclocking, customizing the performance, and tweaking NVIDIA GPU-based display adapters. It provides a vast array of driver-level Direct3D and OpenGL options and, along with an impressive selection of tuning options, allows you to access real-time hardware monitoring, diagnostic reports, and a mature profiling system that you can customize to suit your needs.

RivaTuner is freeware, but it is not open source: it was developed by Alexey Nicolaychuk, known as Unwinder, who started the project in 1997, and it was distributed through Guru3D. The program is no longer developed; the last version, 2.24c, was released in 2009, and Guru3D describes it as outdated and discontinued, with only older legacy cards working with it. RivaTuner's code was later licensed by graphics card vendors and became the basis of tools such as MSI Afterburner, the recommended replacement for current hardware. Its companion on-screen display and frame rate monitoring tool, RivaTuner Statistics Server, grew into a separate program that is still updated.

While RivaTuner is popular mainly for its compatibility with NVIDIA-based adapters, it also supports other brands. This includes support for ATI RADEON 8500-based adapters and newer ATI graphics processors, although to a more limited degree: all features except the driver-level tuning options are available on supported ATI hardware. On the NVIDIA side, RivaTuner supports display adapters from the Riva TNT family up to the GeForce series of its time and a wide range of Detonator and ForceWare drivers. It also includes fan control, a built-in registry editor, multi-monitor support and Logitech G15 LCD panel support. RivaTuner is compatible with legacy versions of Windows as well, all the way back to Windows 98, including Windows 98 SE.

Features:

• Extensively tune NVIDIA-based display adapters.
• Compatible with NVIDIA hardware from the Riva TNT family onwards and many ATI graphics processors.
• Includes overclocking, fan control and hardware monitoring modules.
• Includes patch script engines and other plug-ins.
• Gives access to undocumented options of the NVIDIA and ATI drivers.

Provides extensive tuning, overclocking and monitoring for NVIDIA and older ATI graphics cards.