AMD drops Windows 8 support for Radeon HD 4000 and older

[Rick]

Alongside recent news that AMD is dropping official legacy card support for Linux, it appears that AMD will also be dropping support for aging Radeon products in Windows 8. Although the next iteration of Windows is expected to ship with driver support for some legacy Radeon cards, AMD will not be providing future driver updates for those graphics cards. The company makes that clear in this following paragraph from a purported press release.

Also with regards to Windows 8 support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 2000, 3000, 4000 Series of products; the In-the-box AMD Graphics driver that ships with Windows 8 will include support for the AMD Radeon HD 2000, 3000, and 4000 Series, and it will support the WDDM 1.1 driver level features. The AMD Catalyst driver for Windows 8 will only include support for WDDM 1.2 support products (AMD Radeon HD 5000 and later).

Source: hardwarecanucks.com, ATI press release

It's important to note what AMD considers "legacy" may not align with everyone's preconceived visions of what "legacy" means. To AMD, legacy products appear to include the Radeon HD 2000, HD 3000 and HD 4000 series graphics cards. Interestingly, the HD 4000 series sports the R700. For anyone blessed with a good memory and reasonable powers of recollection, they may remember finding the R700 CPU in ATI's flagship Radeon products as little as four years ago. Only HD 5000 cards and newer will be spared from the recent changes.

Unfortunately for customers with legacy Radeon cards, there is more bad news. Currently, HD 2000, HD 3000 and HD 4000 products receive updates with every monthly Catalyst release. However, beginning in May, AMD plans to include updates for legacy products on a quarterly basis. The company explains that moving to a slower release schedule for its older series will help them focus on their newer and existing line-ups. The company also reasons that older products have plateaued in terms of performance and functionality. After so many years of development, AMD claims, there is little room for optimization or additional features.

We will continue to support the mentioned products in our Catalyst releases, but we’re moving their updates to a quarterly basis, whereas our AMD Radeon HD 5000 and later products will continue to see monthly updates. The Quarterly Catalyst releases will focus on resolving application specific issues and critical updates. The reason for the shift in support policy is largely due to the fact that the AMD Radeon HD 2000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series have been optimized to their maximum potential from a performance and feature perspective.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/48321-amd-drops-windows-8-support-for-radeon-hd-4000-and-older.html

 

[Xero07]

Quarterly updates for older cards isn't too bad but I'm surprised the 4000 series didn't at least make the windows 8 cut.

 

[Rick]

Quarterly updates for older cards isn't too bad but I'm surprised the 4000 series didn't at least make the windows 8 cut.

Since the HD 5000 series was basically a die shrink of the 4000 with added DX11 support, I simply don't see a technical reason for this.

One might argue that HD 4000 cards support DX10 while HD 5000 support DX11. However, DX11 is supposed to be backwards compatible with DX10, right? And what could Windows 8 possibly demand that any Radeon HD 4000 series couldn't handle?

Smells like planned obsolescence to me.

 

[Vrmithrax]

Seems like an efficiency move to me. Now they just have to primarily concern themselves with DX11 and DX12, with DX9 and DX10 only occupying a portion of their driver update curve.

Considering how badly AMD gets flogged by techies for their lackluster driver situation, I'd hope this is an omen pointing to some better effort on that front. If they still fall short after narrowing their concentration down like this, then there's really not much hope moving forward.

 

[bandit8623]

its really not that big of a deal, as all newer drivers dont really do anything to help those cards anyways.
all new drivers mostly help the newest line out.

 

[oldikes]

but so many people have laptops with that crappy 4250...what about them?
or does that not count?

 

[Vrmithrax]

but so many people have laptops with that crappy 4250...what about them?
or does that not count?

They'll have Win8 driver support right out of the box, just not continuous (monthly) updates to their video drivers. I would guess they are basically the best optimized versions of the hardware drivers available to date, bundled in with the standard Windows device driver package. And, as @bandit8623 noted, changes to the performance of older cards is typically nonexistent in current driver revisions... Or, at the most, very minimal tweaks... So, honestly, I can't see this affecting those 4250 users much at this point.

 

[Guest]

I own a HD4850 and it's still a capable gaming card, WTH is the legacy part , specially that most game are bad coded dx9 console ports T_T.

 

[Guest]

ati, wtf?!!! no win8 for hd 4000?!!

 

[Vrmithrax]

ati, wtf?!!! no win8 for hd 4000?!!

Win8 for HD4000? Yes
Catalyst support for HD4000 in Win8? No

Need to actually read the info, not just the headline. Win8 will have native drivers to run the 2k-4k card families right out of the box. They just won't be on the continuous update cycle like the later gen cards.

 

[EXCellR8]

This is kind of silly as the HD 4000 series is still a very capable series of GPUs. No official software from AMD is a little discerning but the cards are older so I guess you can justify the cut. I still use a 4870 in one of my windows 7 machines and it's still one of my favorite cards of all time.

 

[gwailo247]

Dang, I got a 4850 and a pair of 4870s that are all working darn well in my other computers. But then frankly, as other people have pointed out, most driver updates deal with new cards and new games. Can't imagine they have a team trying to squeeze every ounce of power out of cars several years old.

But, to be honest, sometimes I'll be surprised when some game several years old all of a sudden is given some performance gain in a driver update, but those are relatively rare.

 

[dividebyzero]

Seems like an efficiency move to me. Now they just have to primarily concern themselves with DX11 and DX12, with DX9 and DX10 only occupying a portion of their driver update curve.

D3DX9 is still the preminent gaming API and probably will continue to be so until the next gen console has been established long enough for game dev's to start supporting it en masse. There will still be a substantial market for DX9 long after that happens.
There are reasons for AMD dropping support for these cards. Concentrating on DX11 isn't one of them.
ATi/AMD have a history of over promising and under delivering on software that goes back some way (remember AIW?, or more recently the long promised VCE ?) -if they have to rely on axing a minimal amount of man-hours (the HD2000-4000 should require only minimal support for Catalyst) in ensuring the surviving group of cards have full workability on a monthly basis -then AMD's driver team is in deep sh__

Considering how badly AMD gets flogged by techies for their lackluster driver situation, I'd hope this is an omen pointing to some better effort on that front.

Using that logic, AMD should drop driver support for anything that isn't GCN, since that's the arch going forward. Why bother still having to account for Evergreen GPU's -since as Rick pointed out, they are more-or-less an optical shrink of the HD 4000's. Now they have to account for VLIW5, VLIW4 and GCN - which is exactly the same scenario that exists with the earlier cards included

If they still fall short after narrowing their concentration down like this, then there's really not much hope moving forward.

Look on the bright side- AMD have Terry "Recurring giant cursor" Makedon heading up Trinity's graphics driver initiative.

its really not that big of a deal, as all newer drivers dont really do anything to help those cards anyways.

It's less about game performance than possible driver conflicts (esp with a new OS coming out). With a monthly update, you have the chance that any problem arising is fixed relatively quickly. On legacy support you could be looking at 1-2 driver revisions (3-6 months) depending where the conflict occurs in the driver schedule.

 

[Siavash]

ati, wtf?!!! no win8 for hd 4000?!!

Win8 for HD4000? Yes
Catalyst support for HD4000 in Win8? No.

Which means you aren't available to fine tune graphics settings (VSync, Antialiasing, Anisotropic filtering, Catalyst AI, Video Playback and more) globally and overclock your card.

Also, there won't be proper support for OpenGL and OpenCL enabled games, CAD and similar applications. This probably makes me and other 4000 owners to stay with good old Windows 7 and Catalyst drivers or do a favor for ourselves and save money for GTX 600 series ^^

 

[Guest]

Ha ha, this is so silly !

 

[Guest]

but so many people have laptops with that crappy 4250...what about them?
or does that not count?

Why people using laptop with 4250 install Win8?
99% of laptops are pre-installed OS.Don't need Win8,If want it then must by new laptop.

 

[Guest]

Since the HD 5000 series was basically a die shrink of the 4000 with added DX11 support, I simply don't see a technical reason for this.

One might argue that HD 4000 cards support DX10 while HD 5000 support DX11. However, DX11 is supposed to be backwards compatible with DX10, right? And what could Windows 8 possibly demand that any Radeon HD 4000 series couldn't handle?

Smells like planned obsolescence to me.

I alternated card 4870 to 7950 today.Both driver have significantly difference.
You can't change pre 5000s cards with new one without completely driver uninstall/install.Probably 7000 series is another driver from 5000-6000s,too.

 

[Guest]

I love that TechSpot can pick and choose the quote from hardwarecanucks and all of the sudden, everyone thinks that there will be no support for the 4000 series. They clearly say that there will be support for the 4000 series. And don't you think that after 3 years of updates, that the drivers are pretty much fine? If not, they'll release an update in their next update of the driver. Bunch of fear-mongering and propaganda based on something that isn't even AMD's official statement.
AMD = We will continue to support the mentioned products in our Catalyst releases, but we’re moving their updates to a quarterly basis, whereas our AMD Radeon HD 5000 and later products will continue to see monthly updates... The reason for the shift in support policy is largely due to the fact that the AMD Radeon HD 2000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series have been optimized to their maximum potential from a performance and feature perspective. The 8.97 based driver, released in May 2012 will be the first driver for the AMD Radeon HD 2000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series under the new support model; it is an extremely stable and robust driver branch for these products and will be the baseline for our quarterly updates. - http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/news...4000-driver-releases-nixes-windows-8-updates/ [The site that TechSpot quoted]

So where does it say "We will not support Windows 8? Great, accurate reporting, TechSpot...

 

[Guest]

AMD will be moving the AMD Radeon™ HD 2000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series of products to a new driver support model. We will continue to support the mentioned products in our Catalyst releases, but we’re moving their updates to a quarterly basis, whereas our AMD Radeon HD 5000 and later products will continue to see monthly updates. The Quarterly Catalyst releases will focus on resolving application specific issues and critical updates. The reason for the shift in support policy is largely due to the fact that the AMD Radeon HD 2000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series have been optimized to their maximum potential from a performance and feature perspective. The 8.97 based driver, released in May 2012 will be the first driver for the AMD Radeon HD 2000, AMD Radeon HD 3000, and AMD Radeon HD 4000 Series under the new support model; it is an extremely stable and robust driver branch for these products and will be the baseline for our quarterly updates. - The reference that was cut out

 

[CrisisDog]

If there's no Catalyst for Windows 8, does this also mean no Crossfire for these so called "legacy" cards?

 

[Guest]

Great way to alienate your established customer base AMD! Forcing people to buy your product by not supporting a video card I paid good money for and have no reason to upgrade is only going to hurt you in the long run. When I finally decide that I MUST replace my HD 4870 I will remember your little scum-bag ploy and I'll buy Nvidia to spite you! Boycott corporations that abuse their customers!!!!!!

 

[Guest]

Lol I have a 4850, which after getting paired with a 2600K can play pretty much any game at 1920x1080 at a high or acceptable framerate (above 28-30). I have no reason why to upgrade this graphics card, so this move by AMD just simply makes me wish for a Nvidia card for my next upgrade.

For those of you that posted that Win8 will support the cards by default, that is correct, but what happens when a badly optimized game comes out? I've seen 15-30% gains in such titles in less than a month after their release, done with a simple driver update.

 

[sapo joe]

I just got happy I moved to Nvidia... My older PC has an ATi 9600XT, and it still works flawlessly, but AMD decided to stop supporting it. My old Geforce 6200 still has full updated drivers, and it's slower than that Ati card!

 

[Guest]

So I installed windows 8 and then came across this problem which can only be solved by the Catalyst Control Center. A problem where my HDMI out to display sets the overscan by default to a setting which doesn't use a 100% of my monitor.

And then after some trial and error I came across this article. I was kind of mad to find out ATI would do something silly like this. I have a mobility 4000 series and I know its more than capable of handling the basic needs of any operating system.

Luckily, I remembered installing the standard ATI Catalyst for the developer Version when I tried Windows 8. Its only now that the install tool wouldn't recognize my operating system (Windows 8)

Solution: In explorer jump to your windows 7 Drive. Find the AMD/ATI folder in C: Run the setup from there. It should install the latest drivers from windows 7 and the catalyst center as well no problems. And it works just fine. I haven't tried gaming and intensive 3D applications. But everything else just works.

CORRECT ME IF I'M WRONG - ATI/AMD plan to release regular drivers for windows 8 which would support those cards correct ? I mean they just won't release optimized or improved drivers for those cards mentioned right ?

 

[Guest]

[FONT=Helvetica]We will continue to support the mentioned products in our Catalyst releases, but we’re moving their updates to a quarterly basis, whereas our AMD Radeon HD 5000 and later products will continue to see monthly updates.[/FONT]

[FONT=Helvetica]Liar?[/FONT]

http://www.techpowerup.com/166936/No-More-Monthly-AMD-Catalyst-Updates-.html