AMD won't be caught unprepared when Windows 10 arrives

Jul 9, 2015 08:46 GMT  ·  By

The new AMD Catalyst 15.7 drivers are ready for download, and the updates it comes with are more than welcome. It has Windows 10 support as a major addition, which, of course, means also support for DirectX 12 as well.

As a major feature of the DirectX 12 API itself, all the graphics cards back to the 7000 series will be compatible with DX12, although for technological reasons, not every card will support all the DX12 newly added levels.

For AMD, the main feature of the new Catalyst driver means full support for its newly added FreeSync technology in support for PCs running cards in CrossFire mode. The FreeSync is AMD’s method for synchronizing your monitor and graphics card refresh rates as a means of avoiding screen-tearing without the V-Sync.

The new driver also supports Virtual Super Resolution, which is an AMD-only feature that synchronizes a card's refresh rate at full UHD internal resolution with a sub-4K monitor screen. This way all AMD GPUs will be fully used to support this stop-gap but highly regarded feature. This will be applied on a larger number of graphics cards than before adding all the Radeon R300 series, the Radeon R7 260 and the A-series 7400K.

AMD strengthens its newest Radeon series for Windows 10

AMD's Catalyst also updates its Frame Rate Target Control that was launched with Radeon R300 drivers in June. This useful tool does what AMD and NVIDIA users had to set through third-party applications, in the way that FPS stuttering could be eliminated by fixing a target FPS like, say 30 FPS, and have the game run smoothly only at that rate. This way, jumps in FPS rated from 30 to higher won't cause any unpleasant stuttering and framerate drops.

More details on how the new update will handle the DirectX 12 and Windows 10 will follow on July 29 when the OS rolls out. It will be interesting how the Fury X will handle the new DirectX with this new drive, as the new cutting-edge HBM memory system may reserve users both pleasant and unpleasant surprises.