Enabling AMD FreeSync could hardly be easier. Upon installing the Catalyst 15.3.1 drivers and if connected to the monitor via Displayport the software automatically detects monitors which support FreeSync. It will prompt the user to configure FreeSync immediately and on every subsequent boot of the system, as well as when the AMD FreeSync Testing Tool is installed.



Following installation FreeSync can be manually enabled or disabled via the Catalyst Control Panel. It’s generally best to do this before launching a game as many titles don’t react well to being alt-tabbed out of.



Here you can see the AMD ‘Windmill’ Testing Tool which you may be familiar with from previous convention floor footage. Thanks to the rotating blades of a windmill and a lateral camera movement you can clearly see the impact of sub-60 frame rates when in operation, including both tearing and stuttering.

The Windmill Tool should be your first port of call on connecting a FreeSync monitor to your AMD GPU as it provides an excellent ‘quick and dirty’ mechanism for finding out if it’s operational. The tool also shows what you should and should not expect when operating in FreeSync mode in games, not only as regards obvious tearing in the scene but also broken vertical lines such as windows and pillars in a moving scene.