On forums, many users are complaining that MSI Afterburner OC Scanner failed to start scanning when you run it.
Sometimes the scanning got canceled and even if it runs it shows results are considered unstable.
In our earlier post, we have explained what you need to do when MSI Afterburner’s options greyed out and what to do when it won’t show FPS while playing a game.
In this article, we have explained what you can do if OC Scanner not working or showing results while running on Windows 10 PC.
What Does MSI Overclocking Scanner A.K.A OC Scanner Do?
Most users download MSI Afterburner on their PC to overclock their GPU or CPU. These enthusiastic users tend to put a heavy load on GPU and then check its stability.
The only thing they need to look out for is the possibility of failure due to not maintaining a safe GPU temp. That’s where MSI Afterburner OC Scanner plays its part.
The OC Scanner is a built-in feature that operates using the algorithm developed for NVIDIA RTX 20 series GPU.
Within a few minutes, the MSI scanner determines GPU’s highest stable overclockable settings.
First, OC Scanner increases the GPU clock speed followed by GPU stress. If the clock speed remains stable it gradually increases the values till the GPU reaches the limit and failed to maintain clock speed.
The last stable settings are already saved which shows you as a result, you can easily set these values to overclock GPU.
Is OC Scanner safe and good?
This tool is safe giving you the luxury to overclock GPU without fearing that it overheats.
Fix MSI Afterburner OC Scanner Failed To Start Scanning
The error message that failed to start scanning will show up when you run OC Scanner. This error may pop up with or without an error code.
Make sure that you have NVIDIA GTX 10×0 or RTX 20 series GPU having 64-bit OS, these models are supported to run MSI overclocking scanner.
If you have these GPUs you can run OC Scanner straight from the button appearing on the main screen or from the voltage/frequency curve.
However, you may follow these steps to fix failed to start scanning problem
- First unlock the settings for your GPU using MSI Afterburner
- Within the NVIDIA Control Panel if CUDA is disabled. Re-enable it, and Reboot your system to allow OC Scanner to function.
- You really need to make sure that CUDA is enabled within the Global 3D settings.
In case you are using an OC scanner on a laptop then try to run it Manually. Its Auto-Scan options don’t work because most laptops are not built to overclock.
Fix OC Scanner by Updating GPU
If you are dealing with MSI Afterburner OC Scanner Failed To Start Scanning it is because you have an outdated GPU BIOS that’s getting in way of a scanner.
Visit the official webpage and try to update GPU and then run OC Scanner.
Fix Scanning Failed to Start
This solution is recommended on the forum for a user who was having GTX 1080Ti with Windows 10 and the latest MSI AB version. For some reason, he gets a runtime error each time he starts OC Scanner.
Solution: In MsiAfterburner.cfg, Set LegacyOCScanner to 1 and scan again.
Fix OC Scanner Failed with Code 3 or Code 10h
Where the OC scanner does run but it shows an error message that scanning failed with code 3.
It means they’re a bug-related issue in the MSI Afterburner’s version, try to reinstall the latest version.
If the problem persists then wait for MSI to release the new update.
Fix Auto OC Scanning Saying Results are Considered Unstable
If you have modern GPU installed on your system then you can’t run MSI OC Scanner. Even if you do you will a message that Results are considered unstable.
It’s because these GPUs have already been pushed to their limit by their manufacturer. So if you tried to overclock them the clock speed will immediately get unstable.
Also because when OC increases the frequency the power consumption also increases at a fast pace, rending unstable results. So modern GPU performs efficiently at their stock frequencies.
