AMD return with another update to Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition this week, and in this instance are targeting performance improvements to coincide with the release of Kingdom Come: Deliverance. Eschewing AMD's usual raft of bug-fixes, this version appears to have been expedited out the door in order to provide support for that games' launch as a priority.
Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 claims FPS improvements for Player Unknown's Battlegrounds of 5-7%, based on in-house testing of the Vega56 at 1440p and RX 580 at 1080p compared to the same configurations with Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1. Given that PUBG is one of the most widely played games worldwide, and the somewhat unoptimised state of that particular title, any frame-rate boost is more than welcome. It will be interesting to see whether Ryzen APUs are now capable of playable framerates with the updated drivers, albeit at lower resolutions and quality settings.
Speaking of popular titles, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 also offers users the prospect of performance improvements for Fortnite. AMD identify FPS increases between 3 and 6%, once again with a Vega56 at 1440p and RX 580 at 1080p, which is nothing to be sniffed at. If that also adds up to fewer and less perilous frame rate dips, all the better.
The list of known issues remains unchanged in this release. Full release notes, including testing configurations and test scenarios, can be found at the link below.
These drivers can be downloaded at https://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/Radeon-Software-Adrenalin-Edition-18.2.2-Release-Notes.aspx. Installation packages are available for 32 and 64-bit Windows 7 and 10.
Release Notes (Summary)
Support For
Kingdom Come: Deliverance™
- Up to 3% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 56 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.1 at 2560x1440p (1440p). RS-210
- Up to 4% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX 580 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.1 at 1920x1080 (1080p). RS-211
Fortnite™
- Up to 3% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 56 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 2560x1440p (1440p). RS-20
- Up to 6% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX 580 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 1920x1080 (1080p). RS-208
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds™
- Up to 5% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 56 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 2560x1440p (1440p). RS-207
- Up to 7% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX 580 graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 1920x1080p (1080p). RS-209
Known Issues
- Radeon FreeSync may intermittently incorrectly engage during Chrome video playback resulting in playback flicker.
- Radeon Overlay hotkey may fail to bring up the overlay or may cause a Radeon Host Application crash intermittently on a limited number of gaming titles.
- Radeon FreeSync may rapidly change between min and max range when enabled causing stutter in fullscreen games on multi display system configurations.
- Flickering may be observed on the performance metrics overlay when Enhanced Sync is enabled on some Radeon FreeSync connected `displays.
- A random system hang may be experienced after extended periods of use on system configurations using 12 GPU's for compute workloads.
- Water textures may appear to be missing in World of Final Fantasy™.
- The GPU Workload feature may cause a system hang when switching to Compute while AMD CrossFire is enabled. A workaround is to disable AMD CrossFire before switching the toggle to Compute workloads.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance™
- Up to 3% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 56 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.1 at 2560x1440p (1440p). RS-210
- Up to 4% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX 580 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.1 at 1920x1080 (1080p). RS-211
Fortnite™
- Up to 3% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 56 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 2560x1440p (1440p). RS-20
- Up to 6% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX 580 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 1920x1080 (1080p). RS-208
PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds™
- Up to 5% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 56 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 2560x1440p (1440p). RS-207
- Up to 7% faster performance using Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.2.2 on the Radeon™ RX 580 graphics card than with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 at 1920x1080p (1080p). RS-209
Known Issues
- Radeon FreeSync may intermittently incorrectly engage during Chrome video playback resulting in playback flicker.
- Radeon Overlay hotkey may fail to bring up the overlay or may cause a Radeon Host Application crash intermittently on a limited number of gaming titles.
- Radeon FreeSync may rapidly change between min and max range when enabled causing stutter in fullscreen games on multi display system configurations.
- Flickering may be observed on the performance metrics overlay when Enhanced Sync is enabled on some Radeon FreeSync connected `displays.
- A random system hang may be experienced after extended periods of use on system configurations using 12 GPU's for compute workloads.
- Water textures may appear to be missing in World of Final Fantasy™.
- The GPU Workload feature may cause a system hang when switching to Compute while AMD CrossFire is enabled. A workaround is to disable AMD CrossFire before switching the toggle to Compute workloads.