Industry-Leading Stability
A lot of thought, effort, and testing go into the development of each driver; one standard within the industry that helps ensure quality is the Windows Hardware Quality Labs, or WHQL, testing method. WHQL is a testing process from Microsoft that hardware vendors can use to validate the support of their products for Windows operating systems. WHQL incorporates a suite of tests that vendors like AMD run locally. Passing logs can then be submitted to Microsoft to generate a passing certificate.
Passing WHQL is just a small part of the overall testing methodology used for AMD Software. Our quality assurance teams employ a portfolio of sophisticated, non-overlapping stability tools from operating system vendors, software vendors, and computer system manufacturers. In fact, in 2021 alone, AMD launched 26 WHQL-passing drivers, with over 40 games having optimized day-0 support in the past year. For even more rigorous testing, the teams at AMD run automated testing on 6,000 unique system configurations in combination with production-grade features. The outcome then, is outstanding stability for our drivers – with 99.95% of users experiencing no crashes when AMD Software is installed (1).
Publicly available data from NVIDIA, June 1, 2022.
AMD Software features like AMD Radeon™ Image Sharpening (2), AMD Link (3), and AMD Radeon Super Resolution (4) are released as production-grade solutions which means users do not have to face problems that come with experimental capabilities, but rather are able to enjoy fully tested features and capabilities to get the best gaming experience immediately.
How We Continue to Deliver
To ensure prompt support of new game releases and patches, or to reduce issue turnaround time for gamers, AMD sometimes elects to release a WHQL-passing Adrenalin driver without waiting for certification. You may see sometimes within AMD Software that there are “Recommended” drivers and “Optional” drivers for update – both drivers undergo the same strenuous validation, including WHQL-readiness.
AMD Optional drivers are more akin to the production-grade drivers from our competitors. However, AMD Recommended drivers represent tried-and-tested software that often has had months of soak time in the public domain. While every AMD Software release passes Microsoft’s WHQL test suite, it is sometimes advantageous for gamers to use non-WHQL certified drivers. By releasing a non-certified WHQL passing driver, AMD can ensure greater support of new game releases and patches.
Maximum Performance
Our engineering teams are constantly looking for ways to deliver users better performance. Within the last year alone, we achieved an average 15% performance uplift(5) across various titles, with these benefits being delivered to our users throughout the lifetime of their product ownership.
More recently, we rebuilt our DirectX® 11 driver from the ground up to deliver on average, up to 10% increase in performance gains on your Radeon™ RX 6000 series graphics card, with some games reaching even higher than average gains such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – up to 28%, World of Warcraft: Shadowlands – up to 30%, and Grand Theft Auto V – up to 11%.(6)
Immersive Experiences
Last but certainly not least, is our mandate to ensure that users have the best experiences possible and can take full advantage of their hardware with AMD Software. Within 2021 alone, we introduced 22 new or updated features and key technologies such as Radeon™ Super Resolution and AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution (7), giving users extra performance in-game and in some cases, even better quality.
See endnote RX-772, RX-774, RX-775
We are also delivering new and more immersive ways to play, with features like AMD Link for example – a free app that lets you connect to your AMD-powered PC from your phone, tablet, TV, or other PCs and play or stream your games almost anywhere! It can also be used to monitor your computer performance, so you have a full view of what is going on, or also remotely control your desktop using custom hotkeys. With the new improvements to AMD Link, users can now connect up to 4 people on their AMD-powered system and play local multiplayer games, with the feature supporting both Intel and NVIDIA platforms, allowing everyone to be part of the experience. Furthermore, AMD Software can be used to record, stream and clip the best highlights in-game so you can relive the memories later.
To discover all the great features found in AMD Software that drive your AMD-powered PC, and to learn more about key features, visit our website at https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/software. DOWNLOAD AMD Software HERE and change the way you game.
Isaak Wong is the Sr. Product Marketing Specialist for AMD Software at AMD. GD-5
Disclaimers & Endnotes
- GD-208: Based on AMD internal analysis, from September 2020 – March 2022, of daily crashes per every 10,000 AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™ users. GD-208
- GD-156: Radeon™ Image Sharpening is compatible with DirectX 11, 12, & Vulkan APIs. DirectX 9 support with Radeon RX 5000 Series GPUs only. Compatible with Windows 10/11. Hardware compatibility includes Radeon GCN and newer consumer dGPUs, Ryzen 2000 Series processors and newer APUs, including hybrid and detachable graphics configurations. No mGPU support. GD-156
- GD-159: AMD Link requires AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.3.1. Game streaming on phone or tablet devices require Android 7.0 and greater or iOS 14 and greater, anywhere there is a high speed internet connection. For TV support, Apple TV 4K running tvOS 15.x and greater, or Android TV 7.0 and greater are required. Streaming at 4K requires 4K capable streaming hardware and is compatible with: AMD Polaris-based Radeon™ RX 400 series discrete graphics and newer. Graphics card must support hardware encoding for host capabilities to function. Supports Windows 10/11. Link Game requires an internet connection. Controllers must be compatible with selected game and headset, please consult vendor for compatibility information GD-159
- GD-197: As of May 2022, Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) is compatible with AMD Radeon RX 5000 series graphics and newer, and AMD Ryzen 6000 series processors with integrated graphics. RSR works with games that support exclusive full-screen mode. AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.5.2 or newer is required. GD-197
- RS-462: Testing conducted by AMD as of February 16, 2022, on a test system configured with a Ryzen 5 5600X CPU, 16GB DDR4, Radeon RX 6800 XT GPU, and Windows 10 Pro, with AMD Software: Adrenalin 22.3.1 vs. 20.12.2 at 4K, Max settings. Performance may vary. Games tested: Age of Empires 4, Borderlands 3, Call of Duty: Vanguard, Cyberpunk 2077, F1 2021, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 4, Guardians of the Galaxy, Hitman 3, The Medium, Metro Exodus Enhanced Edition, Myst, RDR2, Resident Evil Village, and PUBG.
- RS-470 – Testing conducted by AMD as of April 26th, 2022, on a test system configured with a Ryzen 7 5800X3D CPU, 32GB DDR4, Radeon RX 6950 XT GPU, and Windows 10 Pro, with AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.5.2 and 22.3.1 in 10 select DX®11-based games at different resolutions and settings: Assassin’s Creed Odyssey (1080p, ultrahigh pre-set), Far Cry 6, (1080p, ultra pre-set), Farming Simulator 22 (1080p very high pre-set), Grand Theft Auto V (4K, ultra pre-set), Total War Saga: Troy (1080p, ultra pre-set), Total War Hammer 3 (1080p, ultra pre-set), Watch Dogs Legion (1080p, ultra pre-set), Apex Legends (4K, ultra pre-set), Overwatch (1080p, Epic pre-set), Valorant (1440p, high pre-set). Performance may vary.
- GD-187: AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution (FSR) 1.0 and 2.0 are available on select games and require developer integration. See https://www.amd.com/en/technologies/fidelityfx-super-resolution for a list of supported games. AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution is “game dependent” and is supported on the following AMD products. FSR 1.0: AMD Radeon™ RX 6000, RX 5000, RX 500, RX Vega series graphics cards, RX 480, RX 470, RX 460, and all AMD Ryzen™ processors with Radeon™ graphics if the minimum requirements of the game are met. FSR 2.0: AMD Radeon™ RX 6000, RX 5000, RX Vega Series graphics cards, and the Radeon™ RX 590 graphics card if the minimum requirements of the game are met. AMD does not provide technical or warranty support for AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution enablement on other vendors' graphics cards. GD-187.
- RX-772: Testing done by AMD performance labs April 21, 2022 on AMD Radeon RX 6950 XT on 22.10-220411n driver and Ryzen 7 5800X3D, 32GB DDR4-3600MHz with AMD Smart Access Memory enabled, Win10 Pro 64 versus similarly configured system with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 with driver 512.25, ReBAR enabled. Following games were tested with RSR and NIS disabled at UHD resolution versus enabled with 1440p upscale: Forza Horizon 5 (Maxed, DX12); Horizon Zero Dawn (Ultimate Quality, DX12); Watch Dogs Legion (Ultra, DX12). Performance may vary.
- RX-774: Testing done by AMD performance labs April 21, 2022 on AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT on 22.10-220411n driver and Ryzen 7 5800X3D, 32GB DDR4-3600MHz with AMD Smart Access Memory enabled, Win10 Pro 64 versus similarly configured system with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 with driver 512.25, ReBAR enabled. Following games were tested with RSR and NIS disabled at 1440p resolution versus enabled with 1080p upscale: Assass’n's Creed Valhalla (Ultra High, DX12); Forza Horizon 5 (Maxed, DX12); Watch Dogs Legion (Ultra, DX12). Performance may vary.
- RX-775: Testing done by AMD performance labs April 25, 2022 on AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT on 22.10-220411n driver and Ryzen 7 5800X3D, 16GB DDR4-3600MHz with AMD Smart Access Memory enabled, Win10 Pro 64 versus similarly configured system with Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 with driver 512.25, ReBAR enabled. Following games were tested with RSR and NIS disabled at 1080p resolution versus enabled with 720p upscale: Doom Eternal (Ultra Nightmare, Vulkan); Forza Horizon 5 (Maxed, DX12); Horizon Zero Dawn (Ultimate Quality, DX12). Performance may vary.
