[Originally posted on 04/27/17]
The Radeon™ Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 enables enterprise support for select virtualized graphics, workstation graphics, and now Radeon™ consumer and commercial graphics hardware with one driver.
AMD’s Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver, with its committed quarterly release cadence, delivers the stability, performance, and feature improvements enterprise users need on a predictable schedule. Today’s Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 adds a host of new features and enhancements, building on the addition in January’s 17.Q1 driver of 24/7 Radeon™ Pro Support1 to our Prioritized Support2 program and Radeon™ Pro ReLive for enterprise users.
Radeon Pro Software “One Driver”
Earlier this month, AMD released the first unified Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver that let users effortlessly run professional applications on both physical and virtual machines using the same driver package, substantially simplifying operations for enterprises allowing them to download one driver that meets multiple professional graphics needs. Now with the 17.Q2 Enterprise Driver, AMD is taking this concept one step further with an innovative “one driver” feature.
Enterprises don’t just use professional graphics – many of their users work on hardware with consumer graphics cards, and AMD is the only company that is now offering enterprises a single driver for ALL their graphics hardware, whether it be Radeon™ Pro, select AMD FirePro™, or select Radeon™ products used in the workplace.
As with the unified driver, AMD’s single “one driver” package will help ease deployment for IT admins. It will also allow enterprise professionals to benefit from Radeon Pro Software’s stability, reliability, security, certifications, and performance optimizations when running workstation applications on Radeon™ Pro hardware, and its stability, reliability, and security when running commercial applications on Radeon™-powered hardware such as business notebooks and desktops.
AMD is making the Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 with “one driver” support available exclusively to enterprise customers, and those wishing to implement it will need to contact their AMD Sales Representative or fill in the request form here. Enterprise professionals who only require Radeon™ Pro workstation and virtualization support can download our regular 17.Q2 Enterprise Driver posted on AMD.com.
Professional-grade Radeon Pro Software Security
Security is of critical importance for enterprise professionals, who are often working on highly confidential IP that needs to be secure at all times. The suite of Radeon Pro Software security solutions included with the Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 helps ensure that your data is continuously protected from potential threats like malware and unsafe code from the minute you start up your workstation until you shut it down.
- Startup: Radeon Pro Software’s GPU core protection feature validates the GPU’s firmware during driver initialization to help ensure the security of subsequent graphics workloads.
- Daily Workflows: Driver support for Microsoft® Windows® 10 Device Guard and Radeon Pro Software’s trusted execution feature helps secure your workstation against malicious code execution.
- Cloud Access: For VDI users, whether it be in a private cloud or using an AMD-powered CSP (cloud service provider), AMD’s MxGPU hardware virtualized GPU technology helps secure virtual desktops by both storing sensitive IP securely in the datacenter and by isolating virtual instances at a hardware level.
- Shutdown: When typical software security layers get terminated by the OS, driver support for Microsoft Windows 10 Device Guard and Radeon Pro Software’s trusted execution feature helps secure your graphics-bound IP.
This “all-day” security model ensures that enterprises can rely on Radeon Pro Software for their most sensitive tasks.
Improved Performance in PTC Creo, Medical, and Energy
The Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 delivers some substantial performance boosts for enterprise professionals using VDI when compared with the 17.Q1 driver in PTC® Creo®, medical, and energy workflows. When tested with SPECviewperf® 12.1, the AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 delivers up to 29% better performance in the PTC Creo-01 viewset benchmark than with the 17.Q1 driver3, up to 33% better performance in the SPECviewperf® 12.1 medical-01 viewset benchmark4, and up to 34% better performance in the SPECviewperf® 12.1 energy-01 viewset benchmark5.
Continued Reliability, and Certifications
For enterprises, stability can be even more important than performance, and Radeon Pro Software enterprise drivers are rigorously tested to help ensure rock-solid reliability and undergo 2x more OEM platform testing, 3x more ISV certification testing, and 1.5x more stress testing than our legacy AMD FirePro™ drivers6. Our professional drivers are also certified in over 100 workstation applications, including Autodesk® AutoCAD®, Dassault CATIA®, Siemens® NX™, Adobe® Premiere®, Avid® Media Composer®, Autodesk® Maya®, and many more.
Radeon Pro Software is Built for Enterprise Professionals
With Radeon Pro Software’s innovative “one driver” support included with the Enterprise Driver 17.Q2, enterprise professionals will now only need a single driver to support all their graphics hardware needs — Radeon™ Pro, AMD FirePro™, or Radeon™ — and still benefit from Radeon Pro Software’s stability, reliability, and “all-day” security features.
In addition, enterprises will continue to benefit from Radeon Pro Software’s rock-solid performance, broad certification, 24/7 Radeon™ Pro support, and features like Radeon Pro ReLive and AMD LiquidVR™ technology7. The Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 demonstrates AMD’s continued quarterly commitment to enterprises and that Radeon Pro Software is built for enterprise professionals.
You can download the Radeon Pro Software Enterprise Driver 17.Q2 here.
The driver is compatible with: Radeon™ Pro WX series, Radeon Pro Duo, AMD FirePro™ W series products. AMD Radeon™ R5 300, R7, R9, and RX series products on demand. Supports: Windows® 7/10, Linux®.
SPEC® and the benchmarks name SPECapc® and SPECviewperf® are registered trademarks of the Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation. For more information about SPECapc®, see https://www.spec.org/gwpg/apc.static/sw2015info.html. For more information about SPECviewperf® see https://www.spec.org/gwpg/gpc.static/vp12info.html.
Alexander Blake-Davies, Software Product Marketing Specialist for Professional Graphics at AMD’s Radeon Technology Group. Links to third party sites and references to third party trademarks are provided for convenience and illustrative purposes only. Unless explicitly stated, AMD is not responsible for the contents of such links, and no third-party endorsement of AMD or any of its products is implied. Use of third party names or marks is for informational purposes only and no endorsement of or by AMD is intended or implied.
FOOTNOTES:
1. 24/7 support is only guaranteed in English, and is as follows by region:
North America: English 24/7.
United Kingdom: English 24/7.
France: French Mon-Fri 11 A.M.- 6 P.M., English on off-hours.
Germany: German Mon-Fri 11 A.M.- 6 P.M., English on off-hours.
China: Chinese Mon - Fri 9:30 A.M. – 5 P.M. Asia CST., English on off-hours.
India: English 24/7.
Japan: Japanese Mon - Fri 9:30 A.M. – 5 P.M. Asia CST., English on off-hours.
2. AMD will work with ISV & OEM partners to prioritize engineering support for Enterprise users.
3. With the 17.Q2 driver, AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 delivers up to 29% faster performance on SPECViewperf® 12.1 PTC Creo-01 viewset benchmark than the 17.Q1 driver. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of April 21st under following host and virtual machine configuration: Host: VMware ESXi 6.5.0. Host Driver: Radeon Pro VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 Driver for Radeon Pro Settings for vSphere Client – Revision 1.02. Virtual Machine: Intel Xeon E7-8870 v3 @2.10 GHz, 4 Cores, 4 Logical Processors, 8GB Physical Memory, 120 GB Storage, Win 7 Enterprise 64-bit SP1 Build 7601 and AMD graphics driver 17.Q1/17.Q2. Benchmark: SPECViewperf® 12.1 Creo-01 test under AMD MxGPU 4VFs configuration. AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 graphics composite with 17.Q1: 22.95. AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 graphics composite with 17.Q2: 29.68. Performance Differential: 29.68/22.95 = ~29.32% higher score on AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 with 17.Q2 driver. PC and server manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RPW-122.
4. With the 17.Q2 driver, AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 delivers up to 33% faster performance on SPECViewperf® 12.1 medical-01 viewset benchmark than the 17.Q1 driver. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of April 21st under following host and virtual machine configuration: Host: VMware ESXi 6.5.0. Host Driver: Radeon Pro VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 Driver for Radeon Pro Settings for vSphere Client – Revision 1.02. Virtual Machine: Intel Xeon E7-8870 v3 @2.10 GHz, 4 Cores, 4 Logical Processors, 8GB Physical Memory, 120 GB Storage, Win 7 Enterprise 64-bit SP1 Build 7601 and AMD graphics driver 17.Q1/17.Q2. Benchmark: SPECViewperf® 12.1 medical-01 test under AMD MxGPU 4VFs configuration. AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 graphics composite with 17.Q1: 13.77. AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 graphics composite with 17.Q2: 18.39. Performance Differential: 18.39/13.77 = ~33.55% higher score on AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 with 17.Q2 driver. PC and server manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RPW-124.
5. With the 17.Q2 driver, AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 delivers up to 34% faster performance on SPECViewperf® 12.1 energy-01 viewset benchmark than the 17.Q1 driver. Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of April 21st under following host and virtual machine configuration: Host: VMware ESXi 6.5.0. Host Driver: Radeon Pro VMware vSphere ESXi 6.0 Driver for Radeon Pro Settings for vSphere Client – Revision 1.02. Virtual Machine: Intel Xeon E7-8870 v3 @2.10 GHz, 4 Cores, 4 Logical Processors, 8GB Physical Memory, 120 GB Storage, Win 7 Enterprise 64-bit SP1 Build 7601 and AMD graphics driver 17.Q1/17.Q2. Benchmark: SPECViewperf® 12.1 energy-01 test under AMD MxGPU 4VFs configuration. AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 graphics composite with 17.Q1: 0.47. AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 graphics composite with 17.Q2: 0.63. Performance Differential: 0.63/0.47 = ~34.04% higher score on AMD FirePro™ S7150 x2 with 17.Q2 driver. PC and server manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RPW-123.
6. AMD internal data, testing of Radeon Pro 16.Q4 Enterprise Driver compared to FirePro™ 14.502.1019 driver.
7. AMD LiquidVR™ technology is only supported by Radeon VR Ready Creator and Radeon VR Ready Premium hardware. Learn more at www.amd.com/vrready.
