AMD FreeSync(TM) - Q&A with Shane Parfitt, Technology Manager AMD

LtMatt · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:35

Thank you everyone for your patience, here are the answers.

Gibbo

1. Will the driver on the 19th be on time and will it be BETA or WHQL?

Yes, this driver has been scheduled for some time. The 19th is a firm date.

This will be a non-WHQL as with many of our recent postings, but rest-assured, this driver will have received an extensive amount of testing by the time it gets posted.

When will Crossfire support be added?

Our April AMD Catalyst driver.

What is the possibly AMD will give a BETA early driver for OcUK to host for our customers to download so they can enjoy FREESYNC NOW?

Monitors entered the market ahead of our driver schedule. We’re pleased by the enthusiasm demonstrated by our partners, but users deserve a robust driver with appropriate quality and testing. Our March 19th date ensures this.

Will the 144Hz AMD driver bug be fixed, 120Hz works fine, 144Hz is like a disco light flicker show?

144Hz functions correctly on the BenQ and Acer FreeSync monitors with the March 19 driver.

Tommybhoy

Why no Freesynch support in latest(Omega) driver as the Omega driver slides contained Freesync info/marketing?

As indicated to many outlets, AMD FreeSync was activated for special builds for partners to enable validation. The March 19th driver has a refined user experience that is ideal for daily use.

Will VSR be enabled running the combination of mgpu/Freesync?

VSR and FreeSync will work immediately with the March 19th driver. mGPU support will arrive in our April driver.

Martini1991

Will frame pacing and freesync work with crossfire?

When our April Catalyst driver arrives with AMD FreeSync + CrossFire support, yes.

Do AMD have any say with the monitor manufacturers (with the example of BenQ launching one. Were they obliged not to?

Yes, of course, AMD works closely with all our partners to test all candidate FreeSync monitors for compatibility and the highest quality experience. On the strength or our technology, we have been forming strong partnerships with many monitor vendors, and we’re happy to have them on board. That being said, it’s difficult to line up schedules with multiple companies, regions and shipping logistics. We communicated a March 19th driver availability date to all of our partners.

Quartz

Will Freesync work with older cards? I have an old HD 6850 ready for a second PC and knowing that I could use it with Freesync would be most useful in respect of future purchases.

Supported products are listed at www.amd.com/freesync. Products like HD 7000 and HD 6000 lack the right display controllers (the link between GPU<->display) to perform highly dynamic adjustments of refresh rates. This is a hardware limitation that cannot be overcome with software.

Can Nvidia cards work with Freesync? Presumably after a driver revision, of course. Or is there a hardware incompatibility?

We’ve designed Freesync to support the latest open industry standards to ensure a great experience with no or low incremental cost to partners and customers. We did this to ensure customers do not have to pay for a module at all when AMD FreeSync conclusively proves such hardware is costly and unnecessary.

Shankly1985

Does Freesync work with BenQ motion blur reduction?

No. BenQ’s Blur Reduction requires that AMD FreeSync be disabled.

Nails666

Will we be able to use Freesync, Crossfire and VSR all at the same time?

Answered above.

When crossfire is enabled with Freesync will it support 2, 3 and 4 card crossfire?

Yes.

Dockie

What's the limitation in the 7 series that means they aren't freesync compatible?

They lack the correct display controllers. This piece of silicon on the graphics chip interfaces with the graphics die and the monitor. Older AMD Radeon GPUs are not capable of executing highly dynamic refresh rate adjustments in their display controller.

Also, unrelated, when will VSR be coming to the 7 series?

VSR will not be introduced to the HD 7000 Series.

Nails666

How will Freesync work with multiple monitor setups with differing refresh rates and adaptive sync capabilities. For example: -

Two monitors, both 144Hz, both FreeSync capable
Two monitors, both 144Hz but only one with Freesync
Two monitors, one 144Hz Freesync and one 60Hz non-freesync
Three monitors in EyeFinity configuration, all with Freesync etc etc

Doing Eyefinity + AMD FreeSync will require all displays to have the same timings, i.e. the same monitor. If you have just one display with AMD FreeSync, and the rest are not, then of course only that one display would have AMD FreeSync activated.

andybird123 · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:37

Ha!

I'll take that as the FAQ is nonsense then.

Ayahuasca · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:40

Clears up all my concerns, cheers Matt.

LtMatt · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:42

Ayahuasca said:
Clears up all my concerns, cheers Matt.

Glad to hear that Adam, thanks.

Ayahuasca · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:43

I've sent you a little email about those fans if you're still willing to part with them.

humbug · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:43

Thanks Matt

gerardfraser · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:53

Very good Q&A.
I like this answer the best.
VSR and FreeSync will work immediately with the March 19th driver. mGPU support will arrive in our April driver

nails666 · 9 Mar 2015 at 15:57

Thanks for that Matt. With my last question perhaps I wasn't fully clear, I know that with mixed monitors we wont get Freesync on the monitors that don't support it but was more asking whether having non-Freesync monitors on the system would prevent the Freesync ones from working. I'm thinking about (hopefully my future setup) having a main 1440p/144Hz Freesync monitor for gaming and a secondary 1080p/60Hz non-Freesync monitor and I presume that answer means I can run the main screen at a full 144Hz with Freesync active while the other screen just runs happily at a fixed 60Hz and neither affects the other if you see what I mean?

Perfect_Chaos · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:13

So no motion blur reduction for FreeSync? Or not at the moment at least..

Ayahuasca · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:14

Perfect_Chaos said:
So no motion blur reduction for FreeSync? Or not at the moment at least..

It's the same with GSYNC, I don't think the 2 technologies can work together at the moment.

Perfect_Chaos · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:19

Ayahuasca said:
It's the same with GSYNC, I don't think the 2 technologies can work together at the moment.

Yeah i know, it would have been nice though.

Trevonn · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:19

Is the R7 260x/HD 7790 getting VSR?

shankly1985 · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:20

Thanks Matt my answer was what I was expecting.

bru · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:23

Nice, its good to see AMD answering the questions, as put to them by the enthusiasts themselves, One of the things I do think AMD do much better than NVidia.

Got to love this answer.

We’ve designed Freesync to support the latest open industry standards to ensure a great experience with no or low incremental cost to partners and customers. We did this to ensure customers do not have to pay for a module at all when AMD FreeSync conclusively proves such hardware is costly and unnecessary.

Obviously what AMD mean is they nudged Displayport to design the open standard to incorporate freesync, rather than the other way around. freesync was definitely shown first.

One other thing, whatever you do AMD don't mess up the timing of the driver on the 19th. The freesync launch has been a rather messy so far, any further issues would be really really bad.

LtMatt · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:26

Trevonn said:
Is the R7 260x/HD 7790 getting VSR?

Yes, both cards will have similar VSR functionality as the 290X.

The 7790 will also fully support FreeSync.

Trevonn · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:30

AMDMatt said:
Yes, both cards will have similar VSR functionality as the 290X.

The 7790 will also fully support FreeSync.

Thanks for answering Matt. Also Which VSR Modes will they support? Up to 3200x1800 or?

LtMatt · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:32

Trevonn said:
Thanks for answering Matt. Also Which VSR Modes will they support? Up to 3200x1800 or?

Up to 3200x1800.

pete910 · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:32

Ignored again it seems good ol AMD. They have trained you well, I was all ready on the fence about jumping ship, Shame.

SiDeards73 · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:34

Matt any chance someone at AMD can do something similar with 3XX series AMD cards due to be launched?

We all need infoz!

Apache14 · 9 Mar 2015 at 16:35

Cheers AMDMatt for getting this information.....

now just to decide ...

Wait for the Acer Predator XG277HU or get the BenQ XL2730Z.

£498 vs £430

humm...

EDIT:

Ohh does anyone know the refresh rate range of both of these (the BenQ and Acer) ?