The AMD Driver Thread

[LtMatt]

It's not a competitor issue, it works fine for them.

I'm asking why it is multi AMD card setups seem to have conflicts with a few titles or game engines.

As i said, don't keep track of what works and what doesn't with our competitors.

Multi gpu is quite complicated and it comes down to many more factors than simply having a profile to enable it in the drivers.

 

[LtMatt]

@AMDMatt

Seeing as Freesync gives the option of Vsync On or Off outside of the Async range, there is less reason to not have the Vsync option available for DX in general for users as the Forced Vsync MS guidelines are already being broken .

Just put the suggestion upstairs thanks.

Thanks will mention it.

 

[LtMatt]

So you didn't have to do anything in CCC to get AI to run in CF?

It defaults to AFR Friendly which is actually slightly faster than our own profile in terms of pure fps. The problem was the exe name was altered so initially it defaulted to AFR Friendly rather than our own profile. This was rectified shortly after in our next release.

 

[LtMatt]

So it's game works fault amd couldn't add this profile sooner...

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/285335-far-cry-4-crossfire-fix/ (Jan 15)

Many on there reporting sizable frame gains as well as healthy mgpu utilisation.

How can it be someone else's fault if all of the settings to create the profile exist in the driver already?

Crossfire was fixed and broken again in several of the patches that were released unfortunately. I'm not sure how many there have been in total, but last i checked it was up to patch 7. I expect Tommy can confirm as i know he's mentioned it previously.

Sorry i can't be more specific but this is not a game I've put any time into playing.

The issues are resolved now though thankfully.

Our profile has enhanced frame pacing to smooth out the frame rate, this results in a small performance penalty but gives a better overall experience.

 

[LtMatt]

From what I recall there are only three or four types of Crossfire method.

I remember a long time ago using a tool to create my own profiles. Basically you went into the tool, browsed to the game, then picked one of the methods. If it didn't work you tried again, but in the end you always got it because there were only three to four types of method.

Is this still correct? if so, why don't AMD make a tool to allow people to do it themselves? they could even share profiles.

Yes you're correct Andy. Two of those options scissor and tiling are not used anymore. I'm afraid i don't know the exact reason why this is, multi gpu is a complex beast and it's a bit above my station. I will try to find out though.

In which case AMD really need to consider catalyst application profile rollouts again.

The whole separate beta and whql teams being dissolved was a good idea, ditching CAP wasn't.

I see a lot of posts about caps, but cap files only help if an existing driver path already exists that works with the game. More often this requires the game to be either the same engine as a previous game, or even based off pretty much the same code (ie. COD MW1 &2).

I hear what you're saying PGI, but i don't think a cap would've helped here because the fault was with the game.

 

[LtMatt]

Well I'd love to see it addressed before I return. I know Nvidia offer it but I always end up using NVinspector to force on another profile from another game.

Ed. That was another trick I used to use with Crossfire.. Rename the EXE to a different game that worked lol.

Funnily enough this can sometimes pay dividends on AMD as well. Reason being we often optimise a Crossfire profile to remove any graphical artifacts, no matter how minor. We also try to implement stringent frame pacing to smooth that specific game out as much as is possible at driver level. However sometimes picking a different profile with a different set of instructions can offer improved average fps, but sometimes at the expense of introducing other possible issues.

Alien Isolation is a good example.

AFR Friendly is faster than our stock profile, but it's not as smooth and the odd surface can flicker occasionally. For benching though it offers extra performance and if you look at the 1080P 2 GPU graphics score of the Alien Isolation bench thread, no one can get near my 290X Crossfire score... Or at least couldn't until now.

Or the other way around ... Samsung did not want to embarrass itself and has not released the new monitors because AMD is late with the drivers. From Samsung's point of view it makes sense... Why would they advertise "Freesync" when the feature would not work on all supporting cards?

What I heard so far about the release dates of the new Samsung monitors they coincide with the final driver release dates.

Maybe I am wrong but AMD can be at fault. There is no other logical explanation why Samsung does not want to sell and make profit. (Especially since Samsung offers literally the only 4K freesync...for the near future)

Samsungs monitors are not quite ready yet, but they will be here soon.

 

[LtMatt]

Any news on release date yet?

Yes, yesterday!

Hello everyone,

Click here to download the driver.

Driver Highlights:

AMD Freesync™ Support for single GPU product configurations:

AMD Freesync technology support is now available for single GPU configurations. For more information on how Freesync works, FAQ's and what products are currently supported, please visit the Freesync Technology Page.

Please refer to the screenshot below for how to enable FreeSync within Catalyst Control Center.





Mixed Rotation Eyefinity now available on Radeon™ R9 285 series
AMD Radeon™ R9 285 now supports Mixed Rotation Eyefinity for "0" and "90" degrees rotations

More information is available at the following link.

In addition this release includes new Crossfire profiles for:

Battlefield Hardline
Evolve
Far Cry 4
Lords of the Fallen
Project Cars
Total War: Attila

Furthermore, this release includes improved Crossfire profiles for:

Alien Isolation
Assassin's Creed Unity
Civilization - Beyond Earth
FIFA 2015
Grid Autosport
Ryse: Son of Rome
Talos Principle
The Crew


For instructions on how to uninstall or install the AMD Catalyst Software Suite, you may refer to the following support resources:

How-To Uninstall AMD Catalyst™ Drivers From A Windows® Based System
How-To Install AMD Catalyst™ Drivers For A Windows® Based System

Please make sure to read the Feature Highlights and the Known Issues sections to learn more about this version of the driver and use the Issue Reporting Form to report any bugs – Thank you!


Resolved Issues:
Screens may blank out when enabling a 3x1 SLS with 3 HDMI monitors
Leadwerks : Project Manager crashes with a "Pure Virtual Function Call" error
Second Life : Rigged mesh objects are not rendered correctly when hardware skinning is enabled in the in game settings
Star Trek Online : Block corruption is experienced when MSAA is enabled in the in game settings
System hangs/BSOD upon resuming from S3/S4 sleep on AMD Radeon™ R9 285 configured in AMD CrossFire™ mode
With AMD CrossFire™ enabled, Timeout Detection Recovery (TDR) occurs during actual gameplay when YouTube Mix moves to the next song in Firefox
Screen tearing on enabling VSync with Alien: Isolation game
Catalyst Control Center Video Quality settings may not be available or retained if the "Enforce Smooth Video Playback" option is not selected on some AMD HD series GPU's.
Primary display may not be retained after disabling Crossfire while in Eyefinity mode
Enabling or disabling Crossfire may lead to one side of the 4K MST display being shown as black
Minor stuttering may be seen in Dragon Age Inquisition on Single and Multi GPU configurations​
Total War : Attilla - The game may hang during in game cinematics on certain Kaveri platforms with a separate discrete GPU
The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim : Fog / Clouds may flicker on Radeon HD 5800 series products


Important Note:
The AMD CrossFire™ profile for Dying Light is currently disabled in this driver while AMD works with Techland to investigate an issue where AMD CrossFire configurations are not performing as intended. An update is expected on this issue in the near future through an updated game patch or an AMD driver posting.


Known Issues:
Lord of Fallen : Flickering may be observed during gameplay on some 3D monitors
FIFA 2015 : On a limited number of AMD APU + AMD GPU configurations a crash may be experienced if the "No Limit on FPS" game option is enabled
Dragon Age inquisition : Random game crashes may be experienced in Mantle mode
The Catalyst Control Center may hang when using the 'Check for Updates" option
Battlefield 4 : Screen tearing / Stutter may be experienced in Three way Crossfire setup in Eyefinity mode
A black screen may be experienced when attempting to enable Eyefinity after changing the display mode (Portrait, Landscape)
Pull down detection fails to lock in Metro Video playback applications
A system restart or hang may be observed on sleep/resume while transcoding video with Media Espresso
Battlefield Hardline : Changing resolution from low to high and enabling Vsync may result in intermittent corruption and stutter. Restarting the game is a temporary solution to the problem
Some 5K displays may experience flickering on some AMD E-Series APU's
Frame drops may be experienced with Blu-Ray playback on certain AMD Kaveri APU's when connected to 5K displays
Total War: Attila - The game may randomly restart when first launched
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - Intermittent flickering may be observed when accessing the in game menu
Battlefield Hardline: The game may crash when launched on R9 285 series products with Crossfire and Mantle enabled
Battlefield Hardline: The game may crash on first launch when in High Performance mode
Freesync does not work after hotplugging the display with Windows Aero (DWM) off
A temporary workaround is to toggle Windows Aero on/off or by restarting Windows
Freesync is not enabled in Diablo III unless Vsync is enabled in the game
A temporary workaround is to enable Vsync in the game

 

[LtMatt]

+1 for bringing back CAP profiles. Would allow dynamic updates to profiles without having to wait for another beta/whql update.

I think there's a bit of a misunderstanding over what a cap profile actually does.

I see a lot of posts about caps, but cap files only help if an existing driver path already exists that works with the game. More often this requires the game to be either the same engine as a previous game, or even based off pretty much the same code (ie. COD MW1 &2).

 

[LtMatt]

Personally i always found that cleaners were more trouble than they were worth. I always use the amd catalyst install manager to uninstall, reboot and install the new drivers. This never gives me any problems and i believe it's the way your meant to do it. I tried a cleaner back on win xp and had all sort of problems getting drivers to install with it. Ended up having to reinstall windows and have never used a cleaner since. I have also tried installing new drivers over the old ones as people said that was a good method and surprise surprise i ended up with problems. Following the proper methods in my case has led to me having basically no problems where installing drivers is concerned.

I have never had any issue using AMDs method either.

That's the way to do it gents.

DDU is great, but there is no need to use it if there are no problems.

For instructions on how to uninstall or install the AMD Catalyst Software Suite, you may refer to the following support resources:

How-To Uninstall AMD Catalyst™ Drivers From A Windows® Based System
How-To Install AMD Catalyst™ Drivers For A Windows® Based System

 

[LtMatt]

Can we keep this to talk about drivers please?

That worked, its butter smooth now, thanks Matt

Glad it helped.

 

[LtMatt]

Can you please explain what you mean by disabling GW features in far cry 4 to get crossfire to work properly?

I don't think anyone said that Matson. Crossfire works regardless, what we recommend is to disable GameWorks effects for improved performance.

 

[LtMatt]

"soon" is a relative term. Tomorrow? 1 week? 2 week? 1 month?
All recent AMD communications imply that these monitors are literally on the delivery trucks to the stores. We know the monitor makers ....

I find it amateurish that no solid release date has been announced after missing the promised release date. It simply does not build trust. Under trust I meant for AMD and Samsung. In essence, even a bad news of a delay with an honest detailed explanation is better than saying nothing.

What do you mean by "not quite ready yet"?
Matt, can you share with us a release date?

I don't know the release date for Samsung monitors sorry, you'd need to ask them. What i meant was if they were ready, they'd be here by now along with the other FreeSync panels that OcuK stock.

 

[LtMatt]

Is there a way to hardlock games to 60Hz at 2560x1440 in the CCC? So many of my games black screen, as they see my monitor can do 144Hz and then thinks that is what I want it to play at but as it can't do 144Hz on my 290X, it then black screens. Dying Light is the latest one to do it.

You need to change the game's refresh rate as you've had it set for Gsync at 144hz Greg. Drivers will not change the games refresh for you, unfortunately.

If you want to get 144Hz working on that panel, then take a look at this.

That's the only solution now as the Rog uses timings that simply don't work properly with our gpu's.

Once you select 60hz in CCC or Windows it should stick at that.. You sure them games just not remembering your Settings from when you used 144hz?

Hmm, okay i was not aware of that Shanks.

 

[LtMatt]

Sorry, what i meant was I was not aware that will override settings in games. As far as i know, games rely on separate settings in a User.CFG file (or similar) to store things like resolution, refresh rate etc.

 

[LtMatt]

Yup, only way you're seeing 120/144Hz is the VG278H but you've not got the space so it's quite a bummer for you Gregster. You could try the timings as Matt has suggested.

Is there an issue with other G-sync monitors Matt or just the ROG Swift alone?.

As far as I know J.D, only the Rog Swift, purely for the fact it uses non industry standard timings. It's quite unfortunate that these specific timings used, simply don't work well with our graphics cards. It also explains why that solution provided above, works.

 

[LtMatt]

Ah that's good then (apart from Asus's move). I was wondering if it was to do with a method from your competitor to block AMD from using these monitors but all laid to rest now, thank you.

Quite ironic that the notorious green Gregster has to have that monitor in his short test. One might say it's all going as planned but, I'm just messing around .

I couldn't possibly comment if our competitor had a hand in deciding the timings.

 

[LtMatt]

Well I installed Dying Light for the first time 4 hours ish ago and black screen from the off. Alt + Enter works in some games but not others and sadly this is the others. I have 60Hz set in CCC but the game cfg doesn't have an option to set Hz. V-Sync still black screens.

Basically is there a way of forcing 60Hz so I can just play games?

Edit:

I know of other AMD users who have the ROG Swift but not read enough to know if they are having my issues.

What about if you delete the video settings file and allow it to recreate a stock setting?

 

[LtMatt]

I got it going by alt and tabbing and then tabbing back (whilst in black screen mode) in and working on the settings from there. It runs in windowed mode at least

What amazes me is why does it run at all? If what you say is true, how come I can run it at 85Hz and even 100Hz (still the occasional flicker) but if it is because of the non industry standard timings, surely it wouldn't work on my 290X full stop?

Changing the refresh changes the timings, as far as i know.

Glad you got it working.

 

[LtMatt]

whoa looks like it was the drivers that screwed things up. Reinstalled to windows 8.1 and now things seem ok for now............hmm I've sent off an RMA request now lol

no...........nope we're ok the flickering is back awwww no 295x2 for a while.

Are you undervolted or is it going that at stock? Have you tried a different mini dp slot or tried reseating the card?

 

[LtMatt]

For Shadow of Mordor should I be using AFR?

Also when adding a profile it asks me to overwrite the default one, is this correct?

We already have a Crossfire profile for Shadow Of Mordor so no need to do anything, don't overwrite override the old one.

Despite this being a Nvidia title we had a working multi gpu solution in our customers hands before they did.

Keep an eye on video memory usage with that game if you use the texture pack.