AMD deploys version 18.2.2 of its Radeon Adrenalin software suite, specifically to give better performance on Fortnite, PUBG and Kingdom Come: Deliverance. The driver update is optional.
When installed, the latest Adrenalin package will kick up overall GPU performance by up to 7 percent. However, the actual gain, according to AMD, will be dictated by the graphics card on board and the screen resolution set per game title. For the most part, the new driver will lead to higher framerates, the level of a step up will differ for each title.
AMD made the download available purportedly to give more punch to the gaming titles mentioned above. Likewise, the GPU maker included benchmark results with the new software, stating that the tests were carried out internally and using a reference PC system with the following specs:
- Operating System: Windows 10 64-bit
- CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K CPU clocked at 4.2GHz
- Memory: 16GB DDR4-3000 RAM
- GPU: RX 580 at 1080p/RX Vega 56 at 1440p
Benchmark Results
It's also worth noting that the testing involved benchmarking with the past versions of the driver and in the case of Kingdome Come, the improvement was registered at 3 percent on RX Vega 56 at 1440p.
In the same game, the performance jump was recorded at 4 percent but with the RX 580 card at 1080p resolution. In both cases, version 18.2.2 was pitted against 18.2.1.
When playing Fortnite, the AMD tests showed a framerate increase of 3 percent with the Vega 56 GPU set at 1440p screen resolution. The performance moved at 6 percent with the RX 580 card that ran at 1080p. These results came out of the comparison made between driver versions 18.2.2 and 17.12.1.
Lastly, in PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, the new driver extracted performance bumps of 5 percent on RX Vega 56 at 1440p and 7 percent on RX 580 at 1080. Like in Fortnite, AMD benchmarked the latest Adrenalin release with version 17.12.1.
Known Bugs Remain
The chipmaker has made clear that the new driver rollout is mainly to dial up performance capabilities during gameplay, meaning the upgrade consciously skipped on correcting the issues that have been identified with the previous version of Adrenalin.
Among the most pressing problems so far identified are:
- Flickering during Chrome video playback
- Intermittent crashes of the Radeon Host Application involving specific game titles
- Fullscreen stuttering on multi-display setting
- Flickering when Enhanced Sync is enabled
- Random system crash when using multiple GPUs
- Likely system crash when switching to Compute while AMD Crossfire is enabled
It remains unclear if AMD intends to resolve these issues in time for the next version release of Adrenalin.
