Performance and Bug Fixes
While every driver claims to improve performance from one version to the next, the Omega driver is doing the same.
These two slides show performance improvements on the A10-7850K APU and Radeon R9 290X, but keep in mind that they are not comparing Catalyst Omega to the most recent Catalyst beta driver, but instead to the launch driver for each component. For the APU that would be 14.2 and for the R9 290X that is 13.12 – so what you are seeing is year over year performance improvements. These are good – Bioshock Infinite claims 19% and Call of Duty: Ghosts 11% – but consider a 12-month cycle has taken place, most users won't see these as earth shattering as AMD might want us to.
AMD did harness the power of its community (and the AMD Red Team) to get a list of bugs to fix and features to add. While we discussed the feature additions on the previous page, there is a sizeable list of bugs that were addressed and squashed with the Omega release today.
This list is the "top 10" that AMD addressed – the ten most requested fixes. It includes some incredibly specific (but still equally annoying to those affected) bugs like "AHCI chipset drivers causing crash on boot." Others like the HDMI audio staying disabled during a disconnect/reconnect cycle are likely to help users that didn't even know they had a problem – and that's how software QA should work!
I am very interested to test and play with a dual R9 295X2 setup to test and validate AMD's claims of "fixed" stuttering and screen tearing when using a Quad CrossFire configuration. That seems like an incredibly difficult problem and I would have assumed AMD would make a much larger deal of it were the difference found to be very dramatic.
The Catalyst Omega driver also introduces a new Gaming Evolved Client, software that is powered by Raptr. Updates now allow it to support game capture and Twitch streaming with Mantle titles as well as to offer up frame rate monitoring for Mantle games. It's great to see integrated support for AMD's own custom API finally make it into their software but that last point is even more interesting for me – can we finally find a way to measure performance of Mantle-based games accurately? We'll soon see.
A new iteration of TressFX is supported with this driver (and is now available to developers) that adds support for hair applied to textured geometry. This allows TressFX to support fur on animals. AMD says there are plenty of optimization and performance improvements in TressFX version 3.0 as well and developers will find the Maya plugin useful.
Finally, the Omega driver adds support for OpenCL 2.0 as well as the latest HSA implementation. OpenCL 2.0 brings shared virtual memory, device side queues and shared/generic address spaces.
Closing Thoughts
It is clear that AMD has put a lot of effort into the Catalyst Omega driver and it is equally clear that they wanted and needed the word to get out about it. As I mentioned on the first page, NVIDIA is received as being the company with the better driver and feature support for GeForce customers and AMD has always fallen behind. By increasing the company's emphasis on software (with a new CEO and management structure) the Catalyst team is hoping to finally get the resources necessary to turn that around. This first "special edition" driver is an incredible first step and definitely makes the case that AMD is serious about Catalyst and how the company is perceived by the community.
Is it enough though? Though AMD was bragging about the 441,000 automated tests and 11,000 manual tests, I don't really have comparable data from NVIDIA. NVIDIA seemed unwilling to share it on short notice, but NVIDIA has a strong record of releasing frequent WHQL-certified drivers and that inherently requires more stringent testing than beta drivers. NVIDIA claimed that it has been doing global testing on software for years, something that AMD is just starting with the release of Omega. Global testing allows for a triple-work-day bug squashing capability if managed correctly.
I think the direction AMD is taking with Catalyst Omega is perfect – the company just needs to be sure to iterate on the process. It was already stated that AMD was planning on doing a release like this once a year – and in my mind that might be too long of a refractory period. If Radeon users continue to find bugs and NVIDIA continues to offer newer features in the next 3-6 months, then the effect of Omega could be lost well before next December when we get Catalyst Psi (or whatever they call it).
But it's clear that AMD needs this; they need to make sure the community knows it stands behind its hardware with a quality software solution.
Bummer, just sent back a 285
Bummer, just sent back a 285 cause of driver issues.
Myself nor’ Asus were able to get it working, tried lots of stuff.
Couldn’t play any DX11/Mantle title with BSOD..
Different drivers, different OS’s and tons of tweakin’ nodda!
Would of sad/funny if this fixed that but sadly I need the system sold before christmas.. Will have to toss a 660 in it I have instead, but the system was built for AMD/the 285 so.. BLEH.
First time buying AMD in some time.. Was sad..
Not sure if I can make that gamble again.
But on the other hand I’m now terrified of Nvidia support..
Guh.
At least if you’re lying, for
At least if you’re lying, for whatever reason, make up a believable lie! Do you people get paid do this cheap bashing on AMD drivers or whatever? I’ve had the 285 for some 10 days now and I’ve had ZERO driver problems, and I’ve tried all the 8 new/relatively-new games that I have installed on my PC. None!
Remember that Just because
Remember that Just because you don’t have an issue doesn’t mean that someone else’s isn’t real. I have seen things like the first comment stated from both vendors, though primarily from AMD.
Why would you accuse someone
Why would you accuse someone of lying about a DOA video card? AMD and Nvidia both have tons of DOA video cards. The RMA rate is probably somewhere around 5-10%.
If the card is DOA. Why start
If the card is DOA. Why start off by saying drivers were the issue. Software isn’t going to work with a bad card.
Common sense.
How can you say some of 400
How can you say some of 400 fixes don’t fix his case?
Russian journalist Anton
Russian journalist Anton Logvinov took a photo of Nvidia server room in Moscow where all new games and drivers are tested for compatibility with the most widespread PC configurations and OS systems (3rd photo):
http://alogvinov.com/2014/01/kak-zhivet-nvidia-v-rossii/
Direct link to photo: http://alogvinov.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/20140117-123808.jpg
Also, what I personally personally hate in AMD software:
1.You can’t record any game using GVR, only games in library! No desktop recording. Shadowplay is so much better in this regard because it allows to record desktop and any game
2. GVR is integrated into AMD Gaming Evolved Client created by Raptr. WHY?! This client is overloaded with unneeded functionality: it has built-in store (WTF?), free games, community forums, prizes, etc. I don’t need all of that! I just want to record my games, why do I have to install this monster?
GeForce Experience is so much better: no stores, forums, etc, only the functionality you need.
3. Omega Drivers are going to be released once a year. Are they kidding? Nvidia drivers are released much more frequently.
What I personally don’t like in Nvidia drivers:
You can’t select color range for 3D apps/desktop, it is selected automatically. As the result, GPU sends out limited color range when using HDMI and DisplayPort at 1080p60hz. All monitors support Full Range so using Limited Range just doesn’t make any sense. Luckily, ManuelG has already stated a couple of times that this feature would be added December 2014.
But in my opinion, it is too late – they should have added this feature years ago.
GeForce Experience is so much
GeForce Experience is so much better that it was overloading my firewall. I throw it out the windows and never installed again. I don’t record games anyway and I know how to change the settings in a game, thank you very much.
About Omega drivers and Nvidia drivers. Do you see frequent “Wonder” drivers from Nvidia? Then why do you expect frequent Omega drivers from AMD?
One more thing you should dislike with Nvidia drivers. IT LOCKS THE UNIVERSE if it detects hardware that it’s not made by Nvidia.
I’ve never had any issue with
I’ve never had any issue with the drivers from Nvidia when I have other hardware, so likely whatever you have seen is a while ago, or a windows related issue.
He was referring to the
He was referring to the pretty crappy move Nvidia made by disabling physx when a pc has both an AMD and an Nvidia gpu in it.
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-physx-ati-gpu-disable,8742.html
“Remember that Just because
“Remember that Just because you don’t have an issue doesn’t mean that someone else’s isn’t real.”
Because this is a nvidia issue… it is obviously something the end user did wrong…
About the limited color
About the limited color range:
I went mad when i switched to an HDMI monitor because blacks looked washed out and the image in general faded.
I tried to compensate by adjusting color / gamma options in the nvidia control panel but nothing looked right.
The problem of course, is the limited color range. This is a “bug” that should’ve been fixed A LONG TIME AGO!. Thankfully, there is a small, free fix / toggle for this. You click “set full range”, restart and suddenly your monitor is worth its money again. (If you are using an HDMI cable to connect to your monitor and you are using an nVidia card, this is a MUST HAVE)
Get it here: http://blog.metaclassofnil.com/?p=83
Check out this thread:
Check out this thread: https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/523992/geforce-drivers/tip-for-nvidia-users-using-hdmi-and-getting-accurate-color-format/3/?offset=38#4387186
It look like Nvidia is finally going to fix this bug in the next driver that is going to be released this December.
Your wrong about recording
Your wrong about recording games on amd, haven’t had any problem, using fraps, raptr and other recording programs.
Same here no issue, haven’t
Same here no issue, haven’t had any driver issues either. My experience with AMD and its catalyst control center is about the same as my experience when i ran Nvidia experience.
he only talk about GVR
he only talk about GVR specifically.
Good move by AMD but the
Good move by AMD but the problem is their GCN architecture. We had HD 7970, 280X which is a re-brand, 260/290/290X and all alone 285 all sporting partial features. Only was able to test VSR with Dota 2 and IQ was worse then native resolution.
interesting they mention OGL
interesting they mention OGL ES3.0. isn’t that full OGL more important on desktop instead of OGL ES? ehst about their OGL 4.5? also can we expect AMD to release Mantle SDK this month?
Is the 7990 compatible with
Is the 7990 compatible with Virtual Super Resolution?
AMD Website says only
AMD Website says only 290,290x,295x and 285, article says they perhaps consider adding more GPUs.
So I have a 7950 boost (wich
So I have a 7950 boost (wich is essentially a 280…) and I don’t get the super resolution? Or do I fail to understand who gets what? Only 290/290x and 285? Just.. why 🙁
Unfortunately it goes the
Unfortunately it goes the other way around. You have a 280 that is in fact an 7950 boost that is in fact an overclocked original and old 7950.
Yeah I know, the point I was
Yeah I know, the point I was trying to make is, even though its name is 7950 (which was released about 2,5 years ago) it is actually still a “current” card. I am pretty sad to see AMD not properly supporting their current lineup :/
NVIDIA DSR even supports all the Fermi Cards (Technically that is even the GTX4xx series!).
Nvidia didn’t have DSR
Nvidia didn’t have DSR support for their older cards on day one either. That feature had to be added in later.
WOW…..Tech Report article
WOW…..Tech Report article says this: ” AMD conceded that some of today’s additions “could have been deployed a month or two ago.” The firm believes it’s “more exciting” for users to get many new features at once, however”
You. Must. Be. Joking.
It’s called marketing, you
It’s called marketing, you should be used to it by now. Whether it was or wasn’t ready to launch months ago doesn’t really matter. Every company strategically releases products. Bug fixes are one thing, but products and features that increase brand value will forever be released when it best suits the company.
Back when I had a radeon 9800
Back when I had a radeon 9800 there was a guy/group throwing together 3rd party driver packages for ATI and they were also called Omega drivers. Wonder if the name is a nod to that.
The Asus VG248QE goes up to
The Asus VG248QE goes up to 3200×1800 running 2 R9 290s. Which isn’t bad. The text is way to small, so i went with 1440p @ 100Hz.
How does this work? Its not
How does this work? Its not replacing the Beta driver program right? Once a year drivers? how do they plan to support a new game 3/4 of way through the year?
It’s not 100% clear in the
It’s not 100% clear in the wording, but I think they mean that this is a once a year driver version update, actual software to pull out the power of the card itself, followed by the normal cycle up updates to optimize for specific games.
Yup that is right. Once a
Yup that is right. Once a year they will release a 'super' driver, beta and WHQL releases will still occur between them.
AMD FTF!
AMD FTF!
Is that the best you can do?
Is that the best you can do? Did you stay up all night trying to come up with that?
But since you went ahead and posted that, I’ll at least correct your spelling:
“H1tman_Actua1 FTF!”
Ok, so personal experience so
Ok, so personal experience so far. I have a r7-260 1gb, and I have been playing far cry 4 obsessively since it came out, soooooo good, and I like to leave fraps on because, well, I’m a geek. I was playing at 720p on low with a few tweaks getting a very nice 50-60 fps no vsync with the occasional 1 second dip to about 30, hardly noticeable, and It still looks awesome, beautiful even at low.
This morning, I got the AMD e-mail as soon as I woke up, read the article above and installed it. And just to see if there was any difference, and I am shocked. SHOCKED!!!! without changing the settings I was seeing 80-90 fps. No joke, 80-90 fps. My monitor is only 60hz and I wanted to play quick, I tried pumping up the resolution, and shock again, I was playing at 1600/900 and I am getting the same frames I was getting on my old settings. This is awesome. Later today, when I have more free time, I will see how high I can get the settings while on 720p. I have never seen this kinda improvement from a single driver update, ever.
Blown away AMD, keep up the good fight!
This seems impossible. I keep
This seems impossible. I keep (unsuccessfully) looking for any reviews of this driver with lower end cards, as I cant believe the performance boost on this card on this single game. Keep in mind I am not bench marking, I’m just playing with fraps on, but the video boost is un belivable. I’ve got it at 1366:768, on basicaly high settings with a few tweaks, and It’s smooth as silk. I will have to try it on older games to see if I can get similar boosts, fc3 and bioshock infinite come to mind, but I just cant stop playing this beautiful game, the leaves are so much leafier, and even the non nvidia god rays are so cool, I love the flash on my shiny barrel.
Ryan, I think you need to
Ryan, I think you need to talk to Jeremey H about his articles he posts. It would be nice if he at least took a look at the site before posting. What’s the point of him putting up a post to “The Tech Report” about AMD Omega after you did your own review? Someone like me logs on to PCper, sees Jeremey’s article first, tries to read it and understand it (hard to do with the way he writes), and then might go waste more time looking at the tech report. From the get go we should have not seen his article and seen yours first and then read your article.
I mean this is a weekly problem from him. Just the other day a PCPer reviewer wrote an article about the 850 evo. A day or two later and here’s Jeremy with another article to the Register.
Just common sense man. It’s not helping your business.
Jer’s article link’s to this
Jer’s article link’s to this one.
That’s missing the point.
That’s missing the point. It’s repetitive and it’s pulling reader viewing time away from PCPer and to other sites instead.
*EDIT* There’s a separate
*EDIT* There’s a separate installer for both Win7 and Win8. Originally the link was for “Windows7/8.1 x64”, but each OS has their own installer now. Grabbing Win7 specific package fixed the problem.
This driver didn’t work for me, coming from beta 14.11.1. I used DDU to clean out old drivers in safe mode and restart fresh. The install itself went through ‘successfully’, but never once prompted for a restart like previous drivers did. After i manually restarted, my Aero transparency was gone, i lost the ‘Sleep’ option when shutting down, it didnt auto-detect any resolution, just defaulted to 800×600, lost borders on some windows… and when i tried to open CCC, i got an error saying something like “unable to open catalyst control center. There is nothing available to configure”. Ran DDU again and started over to try a second time and got all the same issues. Went back to the beta 14.11’s.
Win7 Pro x64, Z68A-GD65 G3, i5-2500K @4.3, 8G GSkill DDR3-1866, MSI HD7950 Twin Frozr
Truly awesome drivers. AC
Truly awesome drivers. AC Unity went from 21fps to 46fps and is no longer dipping low (perfectly playable now) witgh my HD7970 3GB. Performance with Far Cry 4 is also much better.
These are great drivers. The
These are great drivers. The big surprise is how much better Assassin’s Creed Unity runs on my HD7970: before 21fps now 46fps in a heavily crowded area. Far Cry 4 also runs much, much smoother.
AMD doesn’t mention it specifically but allot of games run faster with the Omega driver.