AMD Adrenaline driver settings... help with conflicting info please!

[Sumanji]

Unusually for me, I've had a bunch of settings in the AMD drivers that I've "set and forget" for months (years?!). I just did a clean install of 24.12.1 and wanted to make sure I'm getting the best out of my setup (6900XT driving a freesync monitor at 3440x1440 160Hz).

Tried googling a bit and there's a lot of conflicting information - could you guys help me with some specific questions please?

• Display settings
  • GPU scaling - I think it's better to have this on, rather than letting my panel do the scaling on the rare occasion when I'm not playing at native res (basically only Fallout 76 at 1080p UW) - is that right?
  • Integer scaling - Seems this is good, but not as useful if desktop res is the same as panel res? I have this off for now as it doesn't seem to work with Fallout 76.
  • Freesync - Default is "AMD Optimized" but what's the difference vs."On"?
• Global graphics
  • Frame rate target control - I want to be able to set a frame cap of <160fps, but apparently this setting introduces a lot of lag - is it best to avoid this setting?
• Global & game-specific graphics
  • Anti-Lag - consensus is to always have this on - does it offset lag introduced with FRTC above?
  • Chill - seems this is the better way to limit FPS, but doesn't work with anti-lag - which is more preferable (FRTC+AL vs. Chill)?
  • Image-Sharpening - Is this worth turning on? If so, what % range is ideal?
  • Enhanced sync - Should I turn this on for all games? Any lag associated with it, since it's a type of V-sync?
  • AA method - Does this matter or does the game engine override it anyway?
  • Texture filtering quality - Default is "Standard", but is the IQ meaningfully better on "High"?

Appreciate any guides / videos / other threads that might have covered some of this in detail already!

Cheers,

Su

 

[Firegod]

This is what I run (globally) on my 6900XT and Nano IPS monitor (@1440p165Hz and Extended Adaptive Sync enabled, Normal Response Time).

Gaming > Graphics > Global (Custom)
Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) - Disabled
AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2 (AFMF) - Disabled
Radeon Anti-Lag - Enabled
Radeon Boost - Disabled
Radeon Chill - Disabled
Radeon Image Sharpening - Enabled 80%
Radeon Enhanced Sync - Enabled (Wait for Vertical Refresh - Always On)
Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC) - Disabled
Anti-Aliasing - Enhance Application Settings
Anti-Aliasing Method - Supersampling
Morphological Anti-Aliasing - Enabled
Anisotropic Filtering - Enabled 16x
Texture Filtering Quality - High
Surface Format Optimisation - Enabled
Tesselation Mode - AMD Optimised
OpenGL Triple Buffering - Enabled

Gaming > Games (an example from Silent Hill 2 for when using AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2)
Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) - Disabled
AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2 (AFMF) - Enabled
Search Mode - High
Performance Mode - Quality
Radeon Anti-Lag - Disabled
Radeon Boost - Disabled
Radeon Chill - Enabled (Idle FPS - 75, Peak FPS - 80)
Radeon Image Sharpening - Enabled 80%
Radeon Enhanced Sync - Enabled (Wait for Vertical Refresh - Always Off)
Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC) - Disabled
Anti-Aliasing - Enhance Application Settings
Anti-Aliasing Method - Supersampling
Morphological Anti-Aliasing - Enabled
Anisotropic Filtering - Enabled 16x
Texture Filtering Quality - High
Surface Format Optimisation - Enabled
Tesselation Mode - AMD Optimised
OpenGL Triple Buffering - Enabled

Settings in bold are what are different from the normal global settings I use. These are set as such, because:

1. Search Mode. 1440p or higher res recommends a value of "High".
2. Performance Mode. For discrete GPUs recommends a value of "Quality".
3. Anti-Lag. Disabled as can't be used with Chill.
4. Chill. Limit in game FPS. Recommends to set Idle and Peak to a close value. Peak should be slightly less than half the max supported refresh rate. (So in my case 165, then halved, is 82.5 and slightly less is 80. Idle is set to 75 as a close value.)
5. Wait for Vertical Refresh. Needs to be disabled for AFMF.

Settings > Display
AMD FreeSync Premium - Enabled
Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) - Enabled
GPU Scaling - Enabled
Scaling Mode - Preserve Aspect Ratio
Integer Scaling - Enabled

Here is some useful info on FRTC, V-Sync and FreeSync from AMD_Robert (Technical Marketing):

Do not use any sort of frame capping with FreeSync. The frame time analysis algorithms that govern FreeSync, FRTC or other methods will conflict and break both solutions. It's unnecessary. Here's why:

1.The only time you'd want to turn off vsync with FreeSync is if the app's FPS can go way above your monitor's max refresh and you want the lowest possible input latency at the expense of a little tearing at high framerates. FRTC is the antithesis of this, so it doesn't make sense to use FRTC in this case.

1. If you're not trying to get the lowest possible input latency, or the app's FPS stays inside your monitor's DRR window on the regular, then leaving vsync enabled will cap your framerate anyways. FRTC is redundant.

FRTC is for people with regular ol' monitors who are playing low-demand games running in the hundreds of FPS, which just burns power and runs the fan faster than necessary.

FREESYNC WITH VSYNC

1. If vsync is enabled, it is only active when the FPS is above or below your monitor's refresh rate range.
   
   
2. If FPS is below, the monitor has no choice but to use vsync in the double or triple-buffer mode you've set. This will avoid tearing, but add input latency.
   
   
3. If the FPS is above, the GPU will reject frames ("FPS cap") to keep the application inside the FreeSync window. It will enforce smoothness. You won't get the lowest possible input latency due to rejected frames, but no extra latency is being added.
   
   
4. When your game is in the FreeSync window, this is the lowest possible input latency.

As my monitor range is something like 20 - 180Hz (OC) I've not had any issues. I've never dropped below 20FPS so no added input latenecy. For those odd games that do go above 165FPS (which are mostly older games) the latency has been fine. As noted, no extra latency is actually being added.

Hope that is some help.

 

[Sumanji]

Thanks very much! Some questions below:

• Why so high on Image Sharpening? Is it a personal preference thing? Internets seem to suggest 20-30% is the sweet spot.
• "Anti-Aliasing Method - Supersampling" - doesn't this come with a big performance hit?
• Morphological AA seems to blur text in certain games, do you find that's noticeable?
• AF - does your setting above force it in the driver always? If so, what's the benefit vs. just using in-game settings?
• Is there any downside to enabling VSR, but just leaving desktop at native res (i.e., can be used only with older games that might benefit)?
• Integer scaling - I tried setting this to on (together with GPU scaling), but when I play Fallout 76 at 1080p uw, it is centered on screen with massive black borders all the way around. If I disable integer scaling, then it stretches to fill the screen. Am I doing something wrong?

Cheers!

 

[Mr Evil]

• Image-Sharpening - Is this worth turning on? If so, what % range is ideal?

Entirely personal. I don't like any additional sharpening at all myself, since I notice the artefacts it produces (ringing around high-contrast edges).

 

[Firegod]

Thanks very much! Some questions below:

• Why so high on Image Sharpening? Is it a personal preference thing? Internets seem to suggest 20-30% is the sweet spot.
• "Anti-Aliasing Method - Supersampling" - doesn't this come with a big performance hit?
• Morphological AA seems to blur text in certain games, do you find that's noticeable?
• AF - does your setting above force it in the driver always? If so, what's the benefit vs. just using in-game settings?
• Is there any downside to enabling VSR, but just leaving desktop at native res (i.e., can be used only with older games that might benefit)?
• Integer scaling - I tried setting this to on (together with GPU scaling), but when I play Fallout 76 at 1080p uw, it is centered on screen with massive black borders all the way around. If I disable integer scaling, then it stretches to fill the screen. Am I doing something wrong?

Cheers!

• Image Sharpening - Yeah something I've never altered tbh. When you enable it I think that is what it defaults to. Defo personal preference, but I'll certainly look into a lower value. Certainly helps with poorly implemented AA methods that might blur the image.
• Supersampling - Most demanding yeah but better quality. TBH I don't think this setting does anything now in modern games? On enhanced, it is meant to perform another pass over the in-game AA method.
• Morphological - Yeah I think I might change that one, but again, think it is more for older games?
• AF - Adrenaline settings should override anything in-game. So I set AF here just so it is done. Set and Forget. This only applies to DX9 games mind you.
• VSR - No downside. I have VSR enabled but desktop is at native res. I don't recall the last time I tried to use it. lol. It is meant for games without AA or older titles that would benefit from the higher res downscaled.
• Integer Scaling - No that sounds right, with it enabled, everything is in centred mode if it can't match the displays exact scale / size. Otherwise, for older games, it should allow you to play them on modern screens. I wonder if the UW is the problem for you so it has to default to centre.

 

[Bidley]

Personally I leave everything off, except Radeon Chill at 2/3fps below my monitor refresh rate. There is a lot going on in Adrenalin, but the performance tuning is the only part I really make use of.

Ancient Gameplays is a great resource for AMD.