AMD continue to eke out incremental improvements in their driver stack this week thanks to the release of Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. The second driver update for September, it advertises performance gains in Shadow of the Tomb Raider, F1 2018, Fortnite and Star Control®: Origins.
Star Control: Origins gains the most from AMD's new drivers. AMD have identified improvement in frame rates by up to 17% at 4K resolutions when running on a system equipped with a Radeon™ RX Vega 64 GPU, which is a big pile o' frames. For wider context, their test system achieved an average of 59.5fps at this resolution with the 'Great' quality preset, which pushes the ideal 60fps mark.
Improvements in the other titles listed are more modest. SotTR benefits to the tune of 4% at 1440p, F1 2018 nudges the needle upwards by 3% at 1440p, and the immensely popular Fortnite claws back 5% at 1080p; while small, each gain is more than welcome. AMD's tests with these games were also performed with a Radeon Vega64 GPU.
The red team have also fixed a specific particle corruption issue in Star Control: Origins with these drivers, and identified three further flaws to be fixed in a forthcoming update.
The Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 drivers are compatible with 32 and 64-bit versions of Window 7 and 10. They can be downloaded by following the link below:
https://www.amd.com/en/support/kb/release-notes/rn-rad-win-18-9-2
Release Notes
Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 Highlights
Support For
F1™ 2018:
- Up to 3% faster performance in F1 2018 using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 2560x1440 (1440p).RS-249
Fortnite:
- Up to 5% faster performance in Fortnite using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 1920x1080 (1080p).RS-250
Shadow of the Tomb Raider™:
- Up to 4% faster performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 2560x1440 (1440p).RS-251
Star Control®: Origins:
- Up to 17% faster performance in Star Control: Origins using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 3840x2160 (4K).RS-252
Fixed Issues
- Star Control®: Origins may experience particle corruption on some cloud textures
Known Issues
- Some AMD Ryzen™ Desktop Processors with Radeon™ Vega Graphics system configurations may experience a black screen during installation downgrade to a previous Radeon Software version. A recommended workaround is to perform a clean install during Radeon Software installation.
- Radeon RX Vega Series graphics products may experience elevated memory clocks during system idle.
- System configurations with 16+ CPU cores may experience a random system reboot during installation when upgrading Radeon Software from a version older than RSAE 18.8.1. A clean installation is recommended when performing this Radeon Software upgrade.
Footnotes
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With ultra high preset settings on F1 2018 at 2560x1440, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 87.0 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 90.0 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 3% faster performance in F1 2018. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-249
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With epic preset settings on Fortnite at 1920x1080, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 111.4 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 116.5 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 5% faster performance in Fortnite. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-250
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With highest preset settings on Shadow of the Tomb Raider using DirectX®12 at 2560x1440, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 64.7 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 67.2 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 4% faster performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-251
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With great preset setting on Star Control: Origins at 3840x2160, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 50.7 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 59.5 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 17% faster performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-252
Package Contents
The Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 installation package contains the following:
- Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 Driver Version 18.30.17.05 (Windows Driver Store Version 24.20.13017.5001)
Support For
F1™ 2018:
- Up to 3% faster performance in F1 2018 using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 2560x1440 (1440p).RS-249
Fortnite:
- Up to 5% faster performance in Fortnite using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 1920x1080 (1080p).RS-250
Shadow of the Tomb Raider™:
- Up to 4% faster performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 2560x1440 (1440p).RS-251
Star Control®: Origins:
- Up to 17% faster performance in Star Control: Origins using Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 (8GB) graphics card than with Radeon™ Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 at 3840x2160 (4K).RS-252
Fixed Issues
- Star Control®: Origins may experience particle corruption on some cloud textures
Known Issues
- Some AMD Ryzen™ Desktop Processors with Radeon™ Vega Graphics system configurations may experience a black screen during installation downgrade to a previous Radeon Software version. A recommended workaround is to perform a clean install during Radeon Software installation.
- Radeon RX Vega Series graphics products may experience elevated memory clocks during system idle.
- System configurations with 16+ CPU cores may experience a random system reboot during installation when upgrading Radeon Software from a version older than RSAE 18.8.1. A clean installation is recommended when performing this Radeon Software upgrade.
Footnotes
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With ultra high preset settings on F1 2018 at 2560x1440, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 87.0 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 90.0 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 3% faster performance in F1 2018. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-249
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With epic preset settings on Fortnite at 1920x1080, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 111.4 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 116.5 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 5% faster performance in Fortnite. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-250
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With highest preset settings on Shadow of the Tomb Raider using DirectX®12 at 2560x1440, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 64.7 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 67.2 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 4% faster performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-251
- Testing conducted by AMD Performance Labs as of September 18th, 2018 on the 8GB Radeon™ RX Vega 64, on a test system comprising of Intel i7 7700k CPU (4.2 GHz), 16GB DDR4-3000 Mhz system memory, and Windows 10 x64. PC manufacturers may vary configurations, yielding different results. With great preset setting on Star Control: Origins at 3840x2160, Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 50.7 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, whereas the Radeon™ RX Vega 64 scored 59.5 FPS with Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2. Comparing software versions, Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 has 17% faster performance in Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Performance may vary based on use of latest drivers. RS-252
Package Contents
The Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 installation package contains the following:
- Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.9.2 Driver Version 18.30.17.05 (Windows Driver Store Version 24.20.13017.5001)
