This week, AMD released its latest update to the company’s Radeon Software Adrenalin graphics card software suite, version 21.4.1. AMD’s engineers claim the new software comes with a host of improvements to aspects of the AMD GPU experience, including driver stability, frame-rate performance, and system health monitoring. But some of the tweaks go beyond just the GPU and are interesting enhancements centered around game sharing and accessibility for users with vision issues.
Those familiar with previous versions of Adrenalin won’t be thrown by the UI, as many of the elements and navigational aspects remain the same as last year.
This time around, AMD has focused more on function than form, adding things like increased control over how Radeon Software manages the performance metrics of your games, with new insight into the performance of AMD Ryzen CPUs integrated directly into Adrenalin.
Also, an improvement to AMD Link 4.0 adds support for display refresh rates up to 144Hz, and a related new utility adds Link compatibility with Windows PCs. AMD Link is a utility that allows for the streaming of gaming or a video image to mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets. The new AMD Link for Windows lets you stream to other Radeon-GPU-equipped PCs, including systems with Radeon integrated graphics, such as laptops, or budget desktops with one of the company’s Ryzen G series CPUs. There’s also a mode that allows you to “invite a friend” to play games remotely on your PC, if the game supports local multiplayer play.
Many of the old favorites make their return in this year’s Adrenaline edition, including Radeon Boost, Radeon Anti-Lag, and Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS). The first two are a must-have for any competitive esports gamers who play one of the listed compatible titles on Radeon RX 5000 or RX 6000 Series cards, while the third is the best image sharpener we’ve tested of the bunch (though it still doesn’t hold a candle to Nvidia’s DLSS 2.0 in striking the best balance between performance and overall image quality).
A Welcome Accessibility Tweak
A new addition to this latest version of Radeon Software includes what AMD calls its Color Correction and Enhancement feature. This will apply a filter to any games you play using a supported Radeon RX graphics card, and will compensate for color differences based on various types of colorblindness. Many games already come with some kind of “colorblind” mode built in; however, having the feature as a universal option for all games will increase the accessibility level for players everywhere.
Streamers aren’t left out in the cold, with support for PlayReady AV1 Hardware DRM and a new “plug-and-stream” wizard that makes it easier than ever for new or returning streamers to consolidate all their tools (OBS, Stream Overlay, and the like) into a single dashboard in Radeon Software.
Another new feature, AMD Crash Defender, according to the company will help to prevent situations where your system would otherwise BSOD, or fail more gracefully if a BSOD is unavoidable. In our presentation, few specifics were divulged as to exactly how these crashes are stopped in their tracks, especially in a way that Windows wouldn’t already be able to handle on its own. However, the claim is that the focus is on making sure your work in progress is maintained in the event of a BSOD, and AMD also notes that its Bug Report Tool will help gather info on crashes to help its engineers pinpoint recurring issues.
Finally, AMD noted that it’s adopting a new driver-stability methodology. It has been working closely with Reddit members and users in other public forums to help pinpoint and address overall stability issues.
There wasn’t enough lead time between our briefing on the new drivers and today’s launch to retest late-model Radeon cards for some of the issues we first saw with the Radeon RX 6800 XT (and then the RX 6700 XT) in certain older AAA game titles that use DirectX 11. But stay tuned over the next few weeks as we bench through the new driver set to see if the frame-rate loss issues have been resolved with our legacy test titles.
