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AMD unveils major GPU driver update, Catalyst Omega

ambar_hitman said:
Is it announced or just speculation?
Click to expand...
It's announced.
Q1 2015 from AMD Radeon 260 and ongoing.

But it seems unclear which resolutions will be supported.
Right now only Tonga/ 285 supports 3840x2160 Downsampling.
R9 290(X) can only downsample from 3200x1800.
Furthermore only 3 resolutions are supported for 16:9 Monitors:
2560x1440, 3200x1800 and 3840x2160 (Tonga only).

So GCN 1.0 may only support resolution up to 1800p, maybe even less.
If we are lucky, 4K will be possible, but AMD stated that based on the different scaler, only Tonga is right now capable of 4K downsample.
I don't know if AMD can make it still available for older GPUs.

Atedos said:
No GeFroce Experience equivalent yet?
Click to expand...
What exactly do you wish?
The Raptr AMD Gaming Evolved client should be an equivalent.
 
So with my 270X I still don't have downsampling... okay. Well, at least these may run better and fix some bugs.
 
So where exactly is the downsampling option?

I have an R9 290, is in catalyst control centre somewhere?

EDIT: It's under MY DIGITAL FLAT PANELS

DOUBLE EDIT: I have Driver 14.3, just updated, and the option for Downscaling is not there, da fuq?
 
Available resolutions across GPUs as of now:

EMHLyl8.png
 
so does it really increase the performance of low end (mid?) apus? i have an extra pc with an amd apu i might be able to play casual games in there
 
Can anyone explain to me why I have CCC version 14.3 and still can't see this shit?

Why does the website only show version 14.2 as the latest available?

Yet I can't see any downsampling options in CCC?
 
i'm always curious how does a software upgrade translate over to better hardware performance?

is it like reprogramming your car's CPU to get better gas management so that you get better gas mileage? or 3-4 more HP?
 
bVork said:
I wouldn't recommend grabbing these drivers if you play older PC games that only support 4:3 aspect ratios. AMD managed to break the "maintain aspect ratio" option in CCC.
Click to expand...
I think this has been broken for quite a while now, at least for me (7970 Ghz Edit)
 
Gangxxter said:
I think this has been broken for quite a while now, at least for me (7970 Ghz Edit)
Click to expand...
There used to be a weird workaround where the setting would stick if you set your desktop to a resolution with a different aspect ratio (like 800x600), and then opened the settings, selected, and applied "maintain aspect ratio." That seems to be gone now, and it ignores your setting entirely regardless of current resolution. So frustrating.
 
bVork said:
I wouldn't recommend grabbing these drivers if you play older PC games that only support 4:3 aspect ratios. AMD managed to break the "maintain aspect ratio" option in CCC.
Click to expand...

The only way I resolved that was by manually deleting the display driver in device manager before installing the new Catalyst drivers.

bVork said:
There used to be a weird workaround where the setting would stick if you set your desktop to a resolution with a different aspect ratio (like 800x600), and then opened the settings, selected, and applied "maintain aspect ratio." That seems to be gone now, and it ignores your setting entirely regardless of current resolution. So frustrating.
Click to expand...

Ya, that just happened to me but I tried the manual deletion method and it's working fine now.
 
I can confirm that VSR is working for me. I have the 290 OC WF3 Gigabyte card. 3 more month then I have a new monitor for free sync.
 
So I just enabled Super Sampling, and now everything is blurry.

So tell me what is the point of this downsampling?

Will games look better but the rest of Windows looks like shit?
 
Boom Boom Pow said:
i'm always curious how does a software upgrade translate over to better hardware performance?

is it like reprogramming your car's CPU to get better gas management so that you get better gas mileage? or 3-4 more HP?
Click to expand...

Think the only thing hardware exist is to run software on it, so of course an improvement in software can improve performance.

When you play a game, your hardware isn't the only one at work. Directx is at work, and the software driver is at work, and the OS is at work, and etc etc.
 
I was hoping this update would allow me to finish The Lord of the Rings: War in the North :(. The fking game still crashes. The worst part is I'm on the last chapter of the game.
 
LeeRoyBrown said:
So I just enabled Super Sampling, and now everything is blurry.

So tell me what is the point of this downsampling?

Will games look better but the rest of Windows looks like shit?
Click to expand...
Please be more precise and tell us exactly what you are doing.
Where do you activate "Super Sampling", do you mean SGSSAA/ Super Sample AA?

The point of downsampling is this:
ce105534c3fc81b6.png
 
kasane said:
so does it really increase the performance of low end (mid?) apus? i have an extra pc with an amd apu i might be able to play casual games in there
Click to expand...

Apparently it does increase performance on APU's, they give an example the 7850k(?) in the benchmarks, especially with Mantle supported games.
 
I have VSR enabled on my main display but I was wondering if there was an option to select which resolutions to downsample from. I can't seem to find it in CCC.
 
What method/filter is used to AMD downsampling via VSR option?
Why is VSR only supported across R9 SKU's?
Why an extra resolution only on R9 285?
 
Le-mo said:
I have VSR enabled on my main display but I was wondering if there was an option to select which resolutions to downsample from. I can't seem to find it in CCC.
Click to expand...
You do it ingame.
If you activate the checkbox, all available resolution will show up in the ingame settings.

RVinP said:
What method/filter is used to AMD downsampling via VSR option?
Why is VSR only supported across R9 SKU's?
Why an extra resolution only on R9 285?
Click to expand...
AMD didn't told the press what filter they are using.
The extra resolution on the R9 285 is because of the hardware-scaler.
It seems AMD is using them for downsampling and with older GPUs, you are limited.

I did ask about other GPU support and AMD stated that it MIGHT be willing to implement VSR for other GPUs but it have to implement a software/shader based version of the scaling process.
Click to expand...
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Catalyst-Omega-Driver-Release-Performance-Features-Stability
 
Locuza said:
You do it ingame.
If you activate the checkbox, all available resolution will show up in the ingame settings.


AMD didn't told the press what filter they are using.
The extra resolution on the R9 285 is because of the hardware-scaler.
It seems AMD is using them for downsampling and with older GPUs, you are limited.


http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Catalyst-Omega-Driver-Release-Performance-Features-Stability
Click to expand...
Ok. Thank you. I just tried it on Fifa 15 and the game still looks like it has no AA whatsoever.
 
R9 280x

ACUnity

From 27fps
To 44fps

DAMNN

Edit: But now my game is on a crash loop, i think my save is corrupt.

Edit2: No VSR option for me on that menu, is it because im on hdmi ? gonna try dvi cable, brb
 
I'm sad I'll have no native Downsampling for my 280X
I'm kind of disapointed that my 280X is getting no support, despite being a "new" card. I should have been wary when I saw it was going to be a rebrand.

Other than that, fantastic driver set, glad to see AMD finally pick up the pace.
 
Le-mo said:
Ok. Thank you. I just tried it on Fifa 15 and the game still looks like it has no AA whatsoever.
Click to expand...

But you should be able to see more texture details when you downsample.

-----

So the VSR screams for the following comparison/benchmarks on R9 285
.Image Quality Comparison: 4K Bilinear _vs_ 4K VSR (Unless someone spills the beans about which method VSR downsampling is utilizing for output)
.Performance Comparison: 4K Native _vs_ 4K VSR
.Performance Comparision: 4K VSR _vs_ 4K DSR (R9 285 _vs_ GTX 760)

Since AMD highlighted that R9 285's hardware scaler gives insane performance boost on transcoding or encoding against a GTX 760.
 
Kezen said:
Why is that ? Shouldn't downsampling be hardware agnostic to a degree ?
Click to expand...

The R9 290X and R9 290, higher powered GPUs but based on a slightly older GCN architecture, don't have the scalar capability to reliably downsample from 4K to 1080p and thus they are limited to 3200x1800. That will definitely still present a higher quality image than native, it's just a note-worthy hiccup in AMD's implementation

I did ask about other GPU support and AMD stated that it MIGHT be willing to implement VSR for other GPUs but it have to implement a software/shader based version of the scaling process.
Click to expand...
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphi...Driver-Release-Performance-Features-Stability
 
Lol not even 4K for 290X — VSR is useless for me since I'm on a 1440p monitor. Baby steps I guess.

I welcome the performance improvements though.
 
ScepticMatt said:
bilinear according to computerbase.de
Click to expand...
At this point i don't trust CB.
Im pretty sure that this is just an unconfirmed claim.
PCGH and Golem don't know which technique is used and pc perspective is also only speculating:
It appears that AMD has implemented a polyphase multi-tap solution for its scaling; these methods are complex but bring about good image quality while reducing any potential noise in the image.
Click to expand...
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphics-Cards/AMD-Catalyst-Omega-Driver-Release-Performance-Features-Stability
 
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