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ashecitism · Dec 5, 2014

update:

Nyteshade517 said:
The Omega (14.12) Driver should be up now to download

also AMD put up a playlist of Omega Driver videos on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx15eYqzJifdc2l4x30BxtiK5DOCCTEGA

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edit: techspot pulled the article. oops?

courtesy of the Dear Leader

The Dear Leader said:
Damn, AMD is getting a down sampling tool built into the new drivers, called VSR, as well as, improving their drivers overall.

http://www.techspot.com/news/59074-amd-unveils-major-gpu-driver-update-catalyst-omega.html

AMD has announced a major overhaul of their Catalyst graphics card driver software today, adding new features, improving performance and fixing a large number of bugs. The 'special edition' driver, which is the result of months of work, is one of the biggest AMD has released.

The Catalyst Omega driver boasts some serious performance improvements in many hardware configurations due to a more efficient design. AMD states that you can expect up to 19% more performance than the previous driver (Catalyst 14.11.2) when running games on high-end graphics cards, and up to 29% more performance on APU-based systems.

n our own testing, performed by our resident hardware reviewer Steve, we noted significant gains on high-end GPUs in a number of titles including BioShock Infinite and Metro Redux. However in some games, even those in AMD's Gaming Evolved program, there was no performance improvement at all: Watch Dogs, Battlefield 4, Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider and Crysis 3 are regularly seen in our hardware benchmarks, and recorded the same performance as the previous driver.

Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) allows gamers to super sample their games, rendering at up to 4K quality before being downscaled to a lower resolution monitor. This form of anti-aliasing is arguably the best, significantly reducing jagged edges while keeping the game sharp. It comes at a high performance cost, though, so it's best suited to older titles unless you have 4K-capable hardware.

Aside from VSR, AMD has also improved frame pacing on both Dual Graphics and CrossFire systems, reducing stuttering and frame time variances.

As for video features, AMD has implemented several new ones into Catalyst Omega. Fluid Motion improves interpolation during video playback to remove judder, especially while panning, although for movie playback this isn't always a desired effect. However you might want to switch on Contour Removal, which does a great job of removing compression artifacts without reducing detail.

Rest at the link.

thuway · Dec 5, 2014

So how will a 280X user feel about this? OH hm, it says nothing about Assassins' Creed Unity and no improvements whatsoever in Watch_Dogs. Drat!

AJLma · Dec 5, 2014

Sweet.

thuway said:
So how will a 280X user feel about this?

Pretty good, I'd imagine.

Astral/H3X · Dec 5, 2014

Sounds like they are bringing it up to snuff. 19% performance is nothing to sneeze at.VSR being included has me hopeful for a native way to lock frame rates down to thirty for games like Dark Souls 2.

kami_sama · Dec 5, 2014

Downsampling!!!!

golem · Dec 5, 2014

Sounds good. I am kind of disappointed that my 970s dont actually outperform my 290s but I primarily moved over because of driver issues. If they can get 4k/60hz over HDMI working like Nvidia does I might be tempted to switch back.

derFeef · Dec 5, 2014

Ohh it's happening?! Downsampling? My begs and tweets worked, hah.

derFeef said:
Progress!

Cobaiye · Dec 5, 2014

YES !!!

Downsampling !!

CrackaF3tt · Dec 5, 2014

So awesome!

el87 · Dec 5, 2014

god yes finally

poopninjamvc3mk · Dec 5, 2014

That's pretty damn nice for the high end card owners. As long as it doesn't make my r270x perform worse in certain games I never had problems with like 14.11.2 then I'm happy. I had to revert back last week on CSGO of all games

ambar_hitman · Dec 5, 2014

Oh god YES. I hope I get some gains in R9 280.

markot · Dec 5, 2014

wheres the downloadddddddddd

Soodanim · Dec 5, 2014

VSR even rhymes with DSR! But in all seriousness: nice.

The feel of 1080p! :lol

Serandur · Dec 5, 2014

Nice stuff. I wonder what kind of filter they'll implement for VSR. DSR's blurry abomination (Gaussian) irritates me. Lanczos please, Durante's tool is the best because of it.

Gamesadict · Dec 5, 2014

This should be pretty sweet for my laptop running on an A6 APU. Must give it a try.

derFeef · Dec 5, 2014

markot said:
wheres the downloadddddddddd

We had beta access to the drivers but we can't post them

ugh....

Dictator93 · Dec 5, 2014

Hopefully this addresses the CPU performance under DX11!
EDIT: Wasn't Omega the name of the custom 3rd party ATI driver?

DeFiBkIlLeR · Dec 5, 2014

Serandur said:
Nice stuff. I wonder what kind of filter they'll implement for VSR. DSR's blurry abomination (Gaussian) irritates me. Lanczos please, Durante's tool is the best because of it.

You don't turn off the 'smoothing' filter in DSR?

Thought everyone did this, it's not needed.

The Dear Leader · Dec 5, 2014

Excited for the download to go up, been wanting to do downsampling for a while now but it's always been a pain in the ass with my AMD card.

Manp · Dec 5, 2014

The Catalyst Omega driver boasts some serious performance improvements in many hardware configurations due to a more efficient design. AMD states that you can expect up to 19% more performance than the previous driver (Catalyst 14.11.2) when running games on high-end graphics cards, and up to 29% more performance on APU-based systems.

Up to 19% more performance since launch* Driver 13.12 Press Launch Driver (a 1 year old driver)

one of these things is not like the other

DieH@rd · Dec 5, 2014

Very nice set of updates!

Now pls AMD, release new GPU line before arrival of Witcher 3.

Serandur · Dec 5, 2014

DeFiBkIlLeR said:
You don't turn off the 'smoothing' filter in DSR?

Thought everyone did this, it's not needed.

I do indeed, but with no filter at all, there are some nasty downscaling artifacts unless using an even 2x2 resolution to downsample from. Hence I can only use DSR for 5120x2880 (2560x1440 monitor) effectively.

TheFNEffecT · Dec 5, 2014

Oh man, when is this driver releasing??? I hope soon!

Herne · Dec 5, 2014

Is a 7970 considered high end these days (well, reasonably mid-to-high-end)? Hoping I get some performance improvements with mine.

DeFiBkIlLeR · Dec 5, 2014

Serandur said:
I do indeed, but with no filter at all, there are some nasty downscaling artifacts unless using an even 2x2 resolution to downsample from. Hence I can only use DSR for 5120x2880 (2560x1440 monitor) effectively.

Oh right, the only DSR settings I use are 1440p & 4K on my 1080p monitor, neither of which give any artifacts...at least none that have ever been obvious during gameplay.

Damn you, I'll probably be looking for them now, ignorance is bliss don't you know..

thuway · Dec 5, 2014

Herne said:
Is a 7970 considered high end these days (well, reasonably mid-to-high-end)? Hoping I get some performance improvements with mine.

Isn't it just a 280X in sheep's clothing?

cyberheater · Dec 5, 2014

If they have suddenly realised how to squeeze 19% improvement out of GPU you have to wonder what the fuck the driver developer team have been doing up till now.

Pretty poor show AMD. Driver development is the main reason why I don't buy their cards anymore.

TheFNEffecT · Dec 5, 2014

Herne said:
Is a 7970 considered high end these days (well, reasonably mid-to-high-end)? Hoping I get some performance improvements with mine.

It's basically a 280X, and I consider that card at the cusp of high end, probably seen as a top mid-range GPU.

Dictator93 · Dec 5, 2014

thuway said:
Isn't it just a 280X in sheep's clothing?

A 280x is a 7970 in sheeps skin.

RenegadeXV8 · Dec 5, 2014

From the article:

Catalyst Omega also brings support for TressFX Hair 3.0, OpenCL 2.0 and Mantle game capture, streaming and FPS measurement through the Gaming Evolved client.

That could be a pretty big deal for streaming.

Manp said:
one of these things is not like the other

The writers did notice 'significant gains' in certain games during their own tests, so I doubt it's 13.12.

markot · Dec 5, 2014

derFeef said:
ugh....

To download the Catalyst Omega drivers (which we highly recommend you do), head over to AMD's driver website or our driver download section where they should be available shortly.

http://www.techspot.com/news/59074-amd-unveils-major-gpu-driver-update-catalyst-omega.html

Surfheart · Dec 5, 2014

Wow this is great.
I wonder if they can roll some of these improvements into the PS4 SDK/firmware?

GHG · Dec 5, 2014

Ok downsampling is a pretty big deal here.

Amd are now competitive again in my eyes. Sort out the power draw issues and have 6gb as standard in the next batch of cards and I could be interested.

Jrs3000 · Dec 5, 2014

Surfheart said:
Wow this is great.
I wonder if they can roll some of these improvements into the PS4 SDK/firmware?

Serious post?

derFeef · Dec 5, 2014

markot said:
To download the Catalyst Omega drivers (which we highly recommend you do), head over to AMD's driver website or our driver download section where they should be available shortly.

http://www.techspot.com/news/59074-amd-unveils-major-gpu-driver-update-catalyst-omega.html

Yeah but nobody knows when, could be in a week or more even.

Surfheart said:
Wow this is great.
I wonder if they can roll some of these improvements into the PS4 SDK/firmware?

You need to install Windows 8.1 or Linux on your PS4 first, but then, sure!

Elixist · Dec 5, 2014

man thats disappointing that they only saw improvements in Infinite and Metro, cant help but feel like who gives a shit. its cool they finally have some downsampling stuff though.

abracadaver · Dec 5, 2014

Thats good news. I hope Shadow of Mordor performance is improved as well. I had to reduce some settings to high to get solid 60fps with my R290.

Also interested if it helps with Evil Within in 60fps. Someone should do benchmarks for all the recent games to compare.

TAJ · Dec 5, 2014

They needed an equivalent to DSR, badly. Points there.
But they still really need a frame pacing solution as good as Riva Tuner.

derFeef · Dec 5, 2014

Elixist said:
man thats disappointing that they only saw improvements in Infinite and Metro, cant help but feel like who gives a shit. its cool they finally have some downsampling stuff though.

Yeah sucks, why do they even bother improving their drivers in general right.

glaurung · Dec 5, 2014

Is VSR exactly the same as DSR?

Elixist · Dec 5, 2014

abracadaver said:
Someone should do benchmarks for all the recent games to compare.

i'm interested in the benches as well. i want to see the receipts.

Elixist · Dec 5, 2014

derFeef said:
Yeah sucks, why do they even bother improving their drivers in general right.

i jumped the gun and thats fair man i dint mean to come off like a dick, im happy they are trying amd owner here. i dont care for those games is all.

Dmax3901 · Dec 5, 2014

Awesome! But when?

Kezen · Dec 5, 2014

Surfheart said:
Wow this is great.
I wonder if they can roll some of these improvements into the PS4 SDK/firmware?

Huh....This is Sony's job, not to mention the PS4 does not use DX nor Mantle.

LeeRoyBrown · Dec 5, 2014

So when the fuck can I download this shit...?

red731 · Dec 5, 2014

Hold on, am I reading it right that VSR won't be availble on 7xxx series?
It is written there, in the picture on what will support it

None the less...I am freaking excited! They are doing something!

Smushroomed · Dec 5, 2014

I'm team green all the way, but anything does AMD to stay competitive is awesome

derFeef · Dec 5, 2014

Apparently techspot did not read the NDA

Driver might take a while still.

Durante · Dec 5, 2014

AMD, always innovating

But seriously, good on them for catching up in terms of downsampling. Although, like when NV initially announced DSR, I don't see why it shouldn't work for all their cards. It doesn't need any special hardware.

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