AMD Catalyst 15.7 WHQL driver released, FRTC and VSR now on older cards
AMD has released its Catalyst 15.7 WHQL driver, which will bring support for new features like Frame Rate Target Control and Virtual Super Resolution to older cards. CrossFire FreeSync has also finally been enabled with the latest drivers.
Image Source: AnandTech
AMD has announced its AMD Catalyst 15.7 driver, the first time it has released a WHQL-certified driver since last December’s Catalyst 14.12. Key features of Catalyst 15.7 include support for Windows 10 and the low-level DirectX 12 API, in addition to bringing new features like Frame Rate Target Control and Virtual Super Resolution to older cards.
Catalyst 15.7 will also finally unite the drivers for AMD’s 300 series and Fury X cards with its 200 series cards and older. Previously, AMD had two different display drivers for its 2015 cards and the Radeon 200 series and older. The 300 series cards used version 15.15 as their launch driver, whereas older cards used 15.6.
However, Catalyst 15.7 uses display driver version 15.20.1046, which sports only minor changes from the 15.15 display driver released with the 300 series cards. As a result, owners of the newer cards will not see many changes.
On the other hand, users of older Radeon cards are in luck because new features like Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC) and Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) are finally making their way to more Graphics Core Next (GCN)-based cards. FRTC lets users set their frame rates to avoid wasting GPU resources on unnecessary frame renders, while VSR allows users to upscale an image and then rescale it to fit their monitor for better image quality. FRTC will now be available on the Radeon R7 260 and above, while VSR will support the latter cards in addition to the desktop A-series 7400K APU and above.
The Radeon R9 290 will be among the older cards to receive support for FRTC and VSR. (Image Source: ASUS)
Furthermore, CrossFire FreeSync is finally enabled on applications based on DirectX 10 or newer. Of course, you’ll need to pair suitable AMD cards with a FreeSync monitor to take advantage of the new feature. This brings AMD up to speed with NVIDIA, which already supports SLI setups on its own variable refresh rate technology, G-Sync.
Radeon R7 and R9 200 series cards will also enjoy improved single-GPU performance in Far Cry 4 and Tomb Raider versus AMD’s Catalyst Omega Driver. CrossFire Profiles for select game titles – including Alien: Isolation, Project CARS and GTA V – have also received enhancements for better performance.
For a complete look at the release notes, please refer here. Catalyst 15.7 is already available for download on AMD’s website.
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