MSI has enhanced the safety of the RTX 5000 and RX 9000, adding a GPU Safeguard+ mode to Afterburner to protect connectors from melting.

MSI adds GPU protection to its Afterburner utility

The MSI Afterburner utility will now support a new security feature – GPU Safeguard+. This feature is designed to protect the 12 V‑2×6 power connector used on graphics cards with an extended power block.

What was presented at CES 2026
- MSI launched two new power supplies:

- MAG A1200PLS

- MAG A1000PLS PCIE5

Both units are equipped with GPU Safeguard and GPU Safeguard+ technologies, which monitor the current in the 12 V‑2×6 connector. When anomalies are detected, the user receives a warning via a pop‑up window in MSI Center (only for GPU Safeguard+) and hears an audible alert from the power supply.

How it works in Afterburner
Alexey “Unwinder” Nikolaychuk, creator of MSI Afterburner, announced that the upcoming program update will add a new software layer called Power Guard.

* GPU Safeguard+ → Power Guard

* When an alarm occurs, the utility applies an emergency GPU settings profile.

* The power limit for the graphics processor (NVIDIA and AMD, including some RX 9000 models with a 12 V‑2×6 connector) automatically drops to 75 %.

* This reduces load on the card and prevents overheating of the connector, but does not shut down the computer.

Limitations and compatibility
- Power Guard works only with the new MSI power supplies mentioned above.

- For other users, Afterburner already offers a standard alert when a critical temperature is reached: the user sees a warning, but no automatic power limiting occurs.

Thus, MSI enhances graphics card safety by integrating GPU protection directly into the popular graphics card tuning utility.