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Latest AMD Radeon Software beefs up ‘Dirt 4’ and ‘Prey’ performance

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AMD Radeon RX 470
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The easiest way to get the most out of your PC is to make sure you are running the most current drivers for all of your components. This is doubly true with the GPU, where new drivers and software can dramatically improve performance and reliability and periodically add new features.

AMD’s Radeon Software Crimson Relive Edition software is no different, as it provides not only the core drivers for the company’s Radeon GPUs but also provides a host of added functionality. On Thursday, AMD updated the software to version 17.6.1, with the usual performance improvements for some popular titles along with a host of fixes.

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First up is improved support for Dirt 4. Version 17.6.1 adds in multi-GPU support, along with up to 30 percent faster performance on the Radeon RX 580 8GB GPU when the game is configured with 8xMSAA turned on. That GPU’s performance in Prey is also a bit faster, with a four percent improvement.

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AMD also listed a number of issues that have been resolved in Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.6.1. Here is the list, taken directly from AMD’s release notes:

  • Virtual Super Resolution may fail to enable on some Radeon RX 400 and Radeon RX 500 series graphics products.
  • HDR may fail to enable on some displays for QHD or higher resolutions.
  • Flickering may be observed on some Radeon RX 500 series products when using HDMI with QHD high refresh rate displays.
  • AMD XConnect: Systems with Modern Standby enabled may experience a system hang after resuming from hibernation.
  • Fast mouse movement may cause an FPS drop or stutter in Prey when running in Multi-GPU system configurations.
  • Adjusting memory clocks in some third party overclocking applications may cause a hang on Radeon R9 390 Series products.
  • Graphics memory clock may fluctuate causing inconsistent frame rates while gaming when using AMD FreeSync technology.
  • Mass Effect: Andromeda may experience stutter or hitching in Multi-GPU system configurations.
  • The GPU Scaling feature in Radeon Settings may fail to enable for some applications.
  • An error message “Radeon Additional Settings: Host application has stopped working” will sometimes appear when hot-plugging displays with Radeon Settings open.

As usual, you will want to keep in mind that most new software includes some known issues. Here is the list for version 17.6.1:

  • Graphical corruption may be experienced in Tom Clancy’s: Rainbow Six Siege when MSAA is enabled.
  • Adobe Lightroom may experience an application crash with GPU acceleration enabled on Windows 7 system configurations using Radeon RX 390 Series graphics products.
  • A few apps may experience issues with Borderless Fullscreen mode and AMD FreeSync technology if other applications or game launchers are running on the primary screen in the background.
  • Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and World of Warcraft may experience flickering or performance issues the first time the game is launched on a system boot with AMD FreeSync technology enabled. Workarounds include exiting and restarting the application or task switching (alt+tab) in and out of the game to fix the issue.

As usual, you can head over to the AMD support site to download the new software.

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Mark Coppock
Mark Coppock
Computing Writer
Mark Coppock is a Freelance Writer at Digital Trends covering primarily laptop and other computing technologies. He has…
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