AMD unveils major GPU driver update, Catalyst Omega

Scorpus

Posts: 2,159   +239
Staff member

AMD has announced a major overhaul of their Catalyst graphics card driver software today, adding new features, improving performance and fixing a large number of bugs. The 'special edition' driver, which is the result of months of work, is one of the biggest AMD has released.

The Catalyst Omega driver boasts some serious performance improvements in many hardware configurations due to a more efficient design. AMD states that you can expect up to 19% more performance than the previous driver (Catalyst 14.11.2) when running games on high-end graphics cards, and up to 29% more performance on APU-based systems.

In our own testing, performed by our resident hardware reviewer Steve, we noted significant gains on high-end GPUs in a number of titles including BioShock Infinite and Metro Redux. However in some games, even those in AMD's Gaming Evolved program, there was no performance improvement at all: Watch Dogs, Battlefield 4, Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider and Crysis 3 are regularly seen in our hardware benchmarks, and recorded the same performance as the previous driver.

Results may vary in different hardware configurations, but it's definitely worth installing Catalyst Omega for the major gains in some titles, even if performance hasn't improved across the board on powerful GPUs.

But the driver isn't just about performance: AMD has crammed in over 20 new features, many of which gamers will enjoy.

Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) allows gamers to super sample their games, rendering at up to 4K quality before being downscaled to a lower resolution monitor. This form of anti-aliasing is arguably the best, significantly reducing jagged edges while keeping the game sharp. It comes at a high performance cost, though, so it's best suited to older titles unless you have 4K-capable hardware.

This type of anti-aliasing isn't new though: Nvidia implemented a version of it, which they named Dynamic Super Resolution, in their 344.11 driver for the GTX 980 and GTX 970 back in September. It's also been available in some games for years, although this driver-based implementation allows you to super sample any game in your library.

Aside from VSR, AMD has also improved frame pacing on both Dual Graphics and CrossFire systems, reducing stuttering and frame time variances.

As for video features, AMD has implemented several new ones into Catalyst Omega. Fluid Motion improves interpolation during video playback to remove judder, especially while panning, although for movie playback this isn't always a desired effect. However you might want to switch on Contour Removal, which does a great job of removing compression artifacts without reducing detail.

There's also 1080p Detail Enhancement, which improves the sharpness and detail of lower resolution content when played on a higher resolution display. A similar feature is available for those with 4K displays, which upscales lower resolution content while improving detail and reducing motion blur.

Catalyst Omega also introduces support for a number of new pieces of hardware, including FreeSync monitors, the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, and 5K displays like the Dell UP2715k through two DisplayPort 1.2 outputs. For those Eyefinity fans out there, Catalyst Omega now supports 24 monitor arrays on systems with four GPUs.

But it doesn't end there. AMD also focused on improving the driver experience by fixing a massive amount of bugs, including the top ten most reported problems such as errors during the install process, game and system crashes and black screens, and even pesky HDMI audio issues.

Catalyst Omega also brings support for TressFX Hair 3.0, OpenCL 2.0 and Mantle game capture, streaming and FPS measurement through the Gaming Evolved client.

To download the Catalyst Omega drivers (which we highly recommend you do), head over to AMD's driver website or our driver download section -- the drivers are available now.

Permalink to story.

 
One of the most impressive driver releases I've seen in a very long time. I've had a Nvidia and AMD card over the course of this year and have to say that the AMD drivers are more full featured than Nvidia's.

While the Nvida interface may be very robust, it's lacking many options that AMD's drivers have. Overclocking, video tweaking, power management. I wish Nvidia would pay a bit more attention to things other than gaming for once in a while.
 
Unfortunately it looks like the drivers aren't available just yet. Feels like we might be missing a piece of the puzzle, or maybe we jumped the gun...
 
Lacking of what features? Nvidia has more options and tweaks via the Nvidia CP not the Geforce Experiences. Also Profile tweakers.
 
Can't wait to download it.

News like these make me kinda glad I bought an AMD video card.
 
Lacking of what features? Nvidia has more options and tweaks via the Nvidia CP not the Geforce Experiences. Also Profile tweakers.

That's what I was referring to. If you compare the Catalyst control center and the Nvidia control panel you will quickly find out the AMD offers more options. Nvidia doesn't even offer native overclocking which has been in AMD's drivers for years.
 
My three main gripes:

1. Blank monitor when resuming from long sleep mode... FIXED !
2. HDMI sound switching after turning off TV: FIXED !
3. HDMI disabled sound devices listing up in sound properties and causing huge delays: FIXED !

I'm a happy camper now :) Also drivers updated from 13.11 beta without a hitch.
 
I've been sticking with 14.8 since they came out and before that it was 14.4. I had some problems with a lot of the other drivers and my crossfire 290's. Been testing the new Omega drivers all morning with various games and they have been working flawlessly. So far they seem to be the best drivers I've used in the past 12 months, and I have tried them all at one time or another.
 
I have 14.9 drivers, is it recommended that I do a clean install or upgrade?
Use display driver uninstaller after uninstalling from the control panel.
It's common knowledge that if you install over another driver you are just asking for trouble.
 
It's common knowledge that if you install over another driver you are just asking for trouble.

A lot of the modern driver installers now do an uninstall before instead of just installing over the top, but AMD let me down a on a previous update. Full screen youtube was crashing my PC. Found out it was a file I had to manually replace as the AMD drivers hadn't updated it correctly when installing over the top.

Now with this Omega driver I've experienced the same. Installing over the top and it just made my screen look like an 80s home computer loading screen. Completely garbled. Had to reboot with no knowledge of what part of the installation it had reached. Reboot greeted me with the same garbled display. In the end had to do a rollback to a restore point. Thankfully some other installation was done recently and created a recent restore point. Will try again later with a full removal of the old driver and install of new one.

Could be something with the crossfire, AMD patched driver for monitor overclocking and 96Hz monitor frequency. Will find out tonight.
 
My three main gripes:

1. Blank monitor when resuming from long sleep mode... FIXED !

Oooo, I thought that was because I was running a firmware from a different model on my Asus P8P67 motherboard after them ending support for it. Will be happy if this is a fix by AMD (once I successfully install the driver).
 
Auto update notification shows a (beta) version for me.
When I manually downloaded the package from AMD, my driver still shows 14.9 in the Control Panel.
Something is borked on this package. This is after doing a clean install.
Imaged my system back and sticking with my previous 14.9 package.

Windows 8.1 Pro Update 1
280X
 
Back