Nowadays a great number of programs for changing hardware parameters are getting more and more popular. Among them is a utility WattTool. It is a small tool designed to control the voltages and frequencies of AMD video cards. In particular, it is used for RX series GPUs and contains ready-made settings profiles for the RX 570, RX 580, RX 470 and RX 480 models. In the first place, the program is designed for miners.
The description of WattTool
The WattTool program was last updated in 2017. It supports Windows XP and versions above it. The great news for crypto miners is that its license is free of charge. The application is suitable for monitoring the current state of the GPU, as well as for changing the speed of coolers and the supplied voltage. In addition, users use it for downvolt. This allows slight reduction for the cost of electricity and the load on the power supply. These features are unlikely to be useful for ordinary users, but owners of mining farms will find them rather helpful. Lowering the applied voltage has a rather weak effect on the volumes of cryptocurrency mined, but at the same time, it helps to increase the overall profitability, the degree of heating of cards, and, as a result, their rated life.
The main functions:
- video monitoring of card performance;
- it is compatible with AMD Graphics Only;
- change in voltage, frequency, cooler speed and other GP parameters;
- it can work in portable mode;
- support for Windows XP and above.
A utility for advanced users
The WattTool program is suitable for those who want to get the maximum from the GPU. You can overclock the card by selecting the necessary frequencies of the memory and kernel in the corresponding section using the application. There you can increase the frequency of rotation of coolers. This must be obligatory done as overclocking always leads to an increase in heating. By default, WattTool limits the maximum temperature to 90 degrees, but this limit can be increased if necessary. However, it is not recommended as inaccurate working with any kind of such tools can lead to unwanted damages of your equipment. That is why the program is recommended only to users who are good at working on graphic adapters, aware of the possible issues and know all the peculiarities should run WattTool.
The peculiarities of WattTool
WattTool can be used exclusively as a solution for VRM monitoring. The main window of the program displays detailed information about the current frequencies (memory and core), as well as RPM cooler, current VID indicators and the degree of load. The program does not require installation on the computer. It is not possible to run the WattTool utility on computers with NVIDIA graphics adapters.
The WattTool program itself and its interface are easy to use. Therefore, the program does not take up much space, consumes a minimum of CPU and RAM resources, and works in a portable mode without installation. The main window displays detailed information about the operation of the video card: temperature, core frequency and GPU memory, cooler speed, voltage and other characteristics.
What concerns possible issues, if you get the “Mutex creation failed!” error, you have to run WattTool as an administrator. Other monitoring software, which is already running with admin privileges and owns the synchronization mutex, causes this issue. You can run WattTool as a standard user if you close these tools first and restart them after WattTool.
To conclude
The usage of the WattTool utility allows changing the frequency of the graphics adapter, voltage, the number of RPM fans and even the maximum temperature values. However, changing these characteristics is recommended only to experienced users who are aware of the consequences of such operations.