AMD Software has been the cornerstone of the Radeon GPU experience for years. It is packed with features, and AMD continues to add more with each major update. But which settings are actually worth changing, and what configuration provides the best overall experience on a gaming PC?
We've been testing Radeon graphics cards for a long time and have explored many of the features AMD offers. Based on that experience, we think there is a selection of settings that most Radeon owners should consider using on a daily basis.
This is essentially the AMD counterpart to our recent guide for Nvidia GPU owners, which covered the best settings to use in the Nvidia App. Similarly, this guide is not aimed primarily at hardcore PC enthusiasts who already know AMD Software inside and out. Instead, it is designed for anyone who wants to understand its features, see the configuration we recommend, or become more familiar with the utility.
AMD's gaming software is officially called AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition, and it is installed alongside the company's Radeon graphics drivers. It was previously known as Radeon Software, but over time, the application has expanded to include additional features for other AMD products, including APUs and CPUs.
Once AMD Software is installed, there are two main ways to open it: through its system tray icon or by right-clicking on the desktop and selecting the relevant option.
The first time you launch the application, you will be given the choice of completing a quick setup or skipping the process. We do not recommend making too many changes immediately. The best approach is to begin with the default configuration or skip the setup entirely and adjust individual settings later.
You will then arrive at the AMD Software home screen, which can initially feel overwhelming. There is a lot of information competing for your attention, but most of it can be ignored while we focus on the settings that actually matter.
Optimal Display Settings
First, it is worth configuring your display to ensure you are getting the best possible gaming experience. AMD Software includes several display options that are not available directly through Windows, making them particularly useful for gamers.
Set the Correct Refresh Rate
Before adjusting anything in AMD Software, however, you should confirm that Windows is using the highest refresh rate supported by your monitor. When a display is connected for the first time, Windows does not always select the maximum refresh rate automatically. Open Windows Settings and navigate to System > Display > Advanced display, then make sure the refresh rate is set to the highest supported value. Avoid refresh rates marked with an asterisk, as selecting one may switch the monitor to a non-native resolution.
Experienced PC gamers may consider this an obvious recommendation, but it is surprisingly common for people to buy a 144Hz or faster monitor and continue using it at 60Hz without realizing it. When I made a video a while back on how to set up your gaming monitor, this was one of the key tips that generated a lot of positive feedback. You'd be shocked how many people were sent that guide by a friend, and left a comment saying they didn't know their system would not default to the highest refresh rate. I genuinely think this is the origin of many comments where people claim they can't see the difference between 60Hz and 144Hz – that's because they bought a new 144Hz monitor and simply aren't using it at 144Hz, because it's not default behavior.
Unlike the Nvidia App, AMD Software does not provide a way to change the display refresh rate directly. Any adjustments must be made through the Windows Settings menu.
AMD Software does include several other display settings worth reviewing. These can be found by clicking the settings cog in the upper-right corner and navigating to the Display tab.
Enable FreeSync or VRR
The first setting to enable is variable refresh rate support. This appears as the first option under the Display Options heading, although its name may vary depending on the monitor and connection type. When connected over DisplayPort, the setting will typically be labeled Adaptive Sync Compatible or AMD FreeSync. Over HDMI, it may simply appear as VRR. Regardless of the label, you should enable it so that adaptive sync and variable refresh rates can operate correctly.
There are no additional variable refresh rate controls on this page. You may also notice that enabling the setting does not cause the monitor to briefly flicker, go black, or display an on-screen notification. That is normal behavior for AMD GPUs.
Check GPU Scaling and Pixel Format
Below the variable refresh rate option are AMD's scaling and color settings. Windows 11 currently defaults to GPU scaling in many situations, regardless of the scaling preference selected in the graphics driver.
This means Windows may ignore whether GPU scaling is enabled or disabled in AMD Software. You can see this behavior by lowering the resolution in Windows while the active signal mode remains at the monitor's native resolution. There is no straightforward way to force display scaling anymore, although the display adapter modes list may work in some configurations.
This is not a major concern for gaming because, in most situations, you should use your monitor's native resolution. The GPU Scaling option in AMD Software is primarily useful when enabling integer scaling. Unless you know what integer scaling is and have a specific reason to use it, we recommend leaving GPU Scaling disabled.
Based on our experience testing hundreds of monitors, AMD generally selects the correct color depth and pixel format by default. Radeon GPUs typically use 10-bit color when the display and connection support it, so this setting usually does not need to be changed. However, we recommend verifying that the selected pixel format does not use chroma subsampling, which can reduce color clarity and create visible artifacts, particularly around text and fine details.
For most monitors, the preferred setting is RGB 4:4:4 Pixel Format PC Standard (Full RGB). A 4:4:4 signal means there is no chroma subsampling, while Full RGB indicates that the complete RGB range is being transmitted. This is generally the optimal configuration for a PC monitor.
If the Pixel Format menu does not offer any 4:4:4 options and only lists formats such as 4:2:2 or 4:2:0, the selected color depth likely requires more bandwidth than the connection can provide without compression. In that situation, reduce the color depth to 8-bit and select RGB 4:4:4 Full RGB. Our recommendation is to use the highest color depth that still allows for a 4:4:4 pixel format.
Verify Full RGB and Black Levels
Over HDMI, AMD GPUs will often default to the alternative YCbCr 4:4:4 Pixel Format. Like RGB 4:4:4, this format does not use chroma subsampling and is generally fine to use. However, this configuration relies on the display correctly determining whether it should use a Full or Limited RGB range. This usually works as intended, but the Lagom black level test provides an easy way to verify it.
When the correct range is selected, the background of the test should appear black while each dark square remains distinct and visible.
If the display is receiving a Limited-range signal when it expects Full RGB, the image will look washed out and the background of the test will appear gray rather than black. This can be corrected by selecting RGB 4:4:4 Full RGB in AMD Software or adjusting the corresponding range setting on the monitor.
If a Full-range signal is being used when the display expects Limited RGB, the image will exhibit severe black crush. In the Lagom test, many of the squares in the first three rows will appear identical or disappear entirely. This can be corrected by selecting RGB 4:4:4 Limited RGB or changing the relevant setting on the display.
We recommend leaving the remaining display options in AMD Software untouched. Display Color Enhancement, Custom Color, and Color Deficiency Correction all modify the displayed colors. Moving these options away from their default disabled state will generally reduce color accuracy. Color Deficiency Correction is the exception, as it may be a useful accessibility feature for users with a color vision deficiency.
Other AMD Software Settings
The AMD Software settings menu also contains several other tabs. The System tab includes useful maintenance options, including software updates and the ability to perform a factory reset when necessary.
Selecting Manage Updates opens the separate AMD Install Manager. By default, AMD Software automatically downloads and installs the latest driver updates, so this section will rarely require attention if the default installation settings were retained.
If automatic updates were disabled during installation, this is where drivers can be updated manually. The Install Manager also provides the option to disable automatic driver updates if you prefer to control when new versions are installed.
The Audio & Video tab includes AMD Noise Suppression for microphone inputs, along with several video profile options. We recommend leaving the video profile set to Default, as this provides the most accurate output without modifying video colors.
Finally, the Preferences tab contains a variety of interface and notification controls. This is where you can disable advertising, tutorials, notifications, and other features that you may find distracting. Advertising is not especially intrusive in AMD Software, but it is one of the options we prefer to disable.
Optimal Game Settings
Next, let us focus on the Gaming tab, where AMD Software provides controls for features that apply directly to games. The Games tab lets you configure settings on a per-game basis, while the Graphics tab applies them globally.
Enable the FSR Upscaling Upgrade
The most important gaming feature to configure is the FSR Upscaling driver upgrade. Radeon drivers can upgrade supported FSR 3.1 implementations to FSR 4 or newer, delivering significantly better image quality while upscaling.
This feature is available on RDNA 4 and RDNA 3 discrete GPUs. The good news is that AMD handles most of the configuration automatically, so there are only a few settings you need to check and enable.
First, confirm that the FSR Upscaling upgrade is enabled. In the Graphics tab, this option should be enabled by default with recent drivers. It should also be enabled automatically in the individual profile for each supported game. You should only disable this feature if you specifically do not want to upgrade FSR 3.1 to FSR 4.1, which we would not recommend.
The second step is ensuring that FSR 4 is properly enabled in the game itself. We have encountered several different implementations. Some games, such as Spider-Man 2, update the FSR version number shown in the graphics menu. If you see FSR 4.1 followed by an asterisk, that indicates the game's FSR implementation is being upgraded through the driver.
Other games separate FSR 3 and FSR 4 into different menu options when the upgrade feature is enabled. Cyberpunk 2077 is one example. To use FSR 4, you must scroll past the FSR 3 option and select FSR 4 specifically.
Some games do not update the displayed version number at all. In those cases, enable FSR 3.1 in the game and allow the driver to upgrade it automatically.
Verify That FSR 4 Is Active
You can confirm that the upgrade is working by opening the AMD Software overlay. The default shortcut is Alt + R.
This should open the Gaming tab for the title currently running. Under the FSR Upscaling toggle, you will see a status indicator. If the correct in-game settings are enabled, the status should read Active with a green check mark. If the upgrade is not functioning, the overlay will show Upgrade Inactive with a yellow exclamation mark.
In some games, FSR Upscaling is not active in menus, cutscenes, or other specific situations. As a result, the overlay may report that the upgrade is inactive even when everything is configured correctly. The most reliable way to test the status is to open the overlay during normal gameplay.
Enable the FSR Frame Generation Upgrade
RDNA 4 GPUs include a separate driver toggle for upgrading FSR Frame Generation. This works in a similar way to the FSR Upscaling upgrade. The feature replaces supported FSR 3.1 Frame Generation implementations with a newer FSR 4 version that uses an AI model to improve image quality.
Unlike the FSR Upscaling upgrade, however, the Frame Generation upgrade is not enabled by default. To use the latest version of FSR Frame Generation, you should enable the toggle either globally or on a per-game basis.
We recommend enabling it. The newer AI-based implementation provides a noticeable improvement in image quality without a meaningful performance penalty. You can use the same overlay process described above to verify that the Frame Generation upgrade is active.
Avoid Hypr-RX
AMD offers several other graphics features, but we do not recommend using most of them. One prominent option is Hypr-RX, which appears under the Gaming Experience drop-down menu. Hypr-RX enables a collection of AMD driver features at once, including options such as Radeon Super Resolution and AMD Fluid Motion Frames.
The problem is that some of these features are not worth enabling and can make the overall gaming experience worse. A better approach is to turn on individual features only when you have a specific reason to use them, rather than enabling everything through Hypr-RX.
Leave Radeon Super Resolution Disabled
Radeon Super Resolution is a driver-based spatial upscaler. It automatically upscales a game when the in-game resolution is set below the display's native resolution. However, it produces worse image quality than FSR Upscaling in games that support it because it is based on first-generation FSR technology. For that reason, we do not recommend enabling it globally.
Radeon Super Resolution is only useful in specific situations where a game does not support a better form of upscaling and you still want to improve performance.
Leave AMD Fluid Motion Frames Disabled
A similar argument applies to AMD Fluid Motion Frames 2, which provides driver-based frame generation. It is not as effective as frame generation integrated directly into a game, and we generally do not enjoy using it. The generated image quality can be unimpressive, and in our experience, it often detracts from the gaming experience more than it improves it.
The option is available for users who want to experiment with it, but we do not recommend enabling it by default.
Use Radeon Anti-Lag Selectively
Radeon Anti-Lag can slightly reduce input latency in some GPU-limited scenarios, so it may be worth testing on a per-game basis. However, in CPU-limited games, or in GPU-limited games already running at a high frame rate, enabling Anti-Lag can sometimes increase latency or reduce performance. It should therefore be enabled only after testing it in the specific game you are playing.
Ignore Enhanced Sync and Radeon Boost
Radeon Enhanced Sync is a legacy feature that is generally unnecessary on modern high-refresh-rate displays with adaptive sync support, including FreeSync and G-Sync Compatible monitors. We recommend leaving it disabled.
We also recommend leaving Radeon Boost disabled. This feature dynamically lowers rendering resolution during fast movement, and the resulting image quality is poor enough that we do not consider it worthwhile.
In summary, Radeon Super Resolution, AMD Fluid Motion Frames, Radeon Enhanced Sync, and Radeon Boost should generally remain disabled. Radeon Anti-Lag is the only one we would consider enabling selectively, depending on the game and performance conditions.
Use Image Sharpening When Needed
One feature that can be useful is Image Sharpening 2. This applies a sharpening filter to games and may help in titles with a soft or blurry presentation. It is not something we would enable globally, but AMD's sharpening filter is one of the better implementations available. You can also enable or adjust it while a game is running through the AMD Software overlay.
Use Radeon Chill as an FPS Limiter
The other potentially useful feature is Radeon Chill. AMD markets Radeon Chill as a movement-based frame-rate limiter designed to reduce power consumption. We do not think that is an especially compelling use case for most desktop gamers.
However, Radeon Chill can serve as a simple built-in frame-rate limiter. Set both the minimum and maximum sliders to the same value, and it will behave like a conventional FPS cap.
The Built-In Overlay
AMD Software also includes an in-game overlay that provides access to many of the application's features without leaving the game. It uses the same general interface as the desktop utility, and most settings remain available.
The default shortcut for opening the overlay is Alt + R, which displays the full-screen interface. You can also switch to the more compact sidebar mode using the button in the upper-right corner. This is a less intrusive way to access the overlay and quickly adjust features such as Image Sharpening or Radeon Chill.
Monitor Performance and System Stats
The overlay also provides access to the Performance tab, which tracks in-game performance alongside GPU, CPU, and memory statistics. It is a fairly comprehensive monitoring tool, with performance history graphs and options to add more metrics to the default view. As a feature built directly into AMD Software, it is useful for quickly checking performance, component utilization, temperatures, and general system health.
In addition to the charts available in the main overlay, AMD Software includes a separate, compact metrics overlay designed to remain visible during gameplay. It can be enabled from the Metrics section of the Performance tab or by pressing Ctrl + Shift + O.
By default, the metrics overlay displays information such as frame rate and GPU utilization, although the exact statistics shown can be customized. The default design is reasonably clear, but it may appear too small on some high-resolution monitors. AMD provides an option to adjust its size, which can improve readability. You can also change the layout from vertical to horizontal by adjusting the column setting.
Another option we recommend enabling is Game Detection for Metrics Overlay. This automatically hides the metrics when you exit a game and displays them again when another game launches.
Built-In GPU Tuning
AMD Software also includes overclocking and tuning controls under the Tuning section of the Performance tab. We will not cover these features in depth in this guide, as GPU overclocking and undervolting require more careful testing than the everyday settings discussed here. Still, it is worth knowing that AMD provides these controls directly within its software, without requiring a separate utility.
Record and Stream
The final feature worth discussing is Record and Stream. AMD Software includes a range of gameplay capture options, including the ability to stream directly to services such as Twitch. For this guide, however, we will focus on local gameplay recording.
The easiest way to begin recording is to open the AMD Software overlay while in a game, navigate to the Record tab, and select Start Recording. You can also use Ctrl + Shift + E to start and stop a recording.
Configure Recording Quality
AMD's recording feature works well in our experience, but it is worth adjusting the settings before using it regularly. These options can be found in the Settings tab and include recording resolution, frame rate, bitrate, and codec. The recording resolution should generally be set to In-Game or to the native resolution of your monitor.
For frame rate, 60 FPS is usually the best choice because it is widely supported and easy to share. AMD Software can record at up to 120 FPS, which produces smoother footage for local playback, but there is little benefit when uploading to YouTube because the platform supports a maximum playback frame rate of 60 FPS.
Choose the Right Bitrate
The Recording Profile option automatically selects a bitrate, but it does so independently of the chosen resolution and codec. For example, the High preset may use 30 Mbps for both 1080p and 4K recordings, even though higher resolutions and frame rates generally benefit from a higher bitrate.
For fast-paced gameplay, and when storage capacity or upload bandwidth is not a concern, we recommend using a high bitrate. The maximum available setting of 100 Mbps is a sensible choice for demanding 4K 60 FPS recordings. Lower resolutions and slower-paced games can use considerably lower bitrates while still producing good results.
AV1, HEVC, or H.264?
The default codec is AV1 on supported Radeon GPUs. At a given bitrate, AV1 generally provides the best image quality, making it the strongest option when recording quality is the priority. However, AV1 also has practical limitations.
YouTube accepts AV1 uploads, but support across other services and applications is less consistent. AV1 footage can also be slower and more demanding to edit, so it may not be the best choice when you need to make quick edits.
H.264, also known as AVC, offers the broadest compatibility and is typically the easiest codec to work with in editing software. Its main disadvantage is lower image quality, particularly on Radeon GPUs released before RDNA 4. When available, enabling Enhanced Filtering can improve AVC recording quality, although it may slightly reduce gaming performance.
HEVC sits between AV1 and H.264. It generally offers better compression than H.264 while remaining easier to work with than AV1 in many applications.
Recording quality varies considerably between Radeon GPU generations, so there is no single ideal codec and bitrate combination for every system. For high-quality recordings, we would generally favor AV1 at a high bitrate. For maximum compatibility and faster editing, H.264 remains the safer option.
Enable Instant Replay
AMD Software also includes an Instant Replay feature that continuously records gameplay in the background and saves the previous few seconds or minutes when you press a shortcut.
The feature is not especially prominent and is located within the Record & Stream settings, but it is useful for capturing unexpected moments without recording an entire session. AMD Software can also save short gameplay clips as GIFs.
Wrap Up
AMD Software includes many more features than we have covered here, but these are the settings and tools that matter most for everyday gaming. AMD has been developing its Radeon software suite for years, and today it feels considerably more feature-packed than the Nvidia App.
That breadth can make the interface seem overwhelming at first, but once the unnecessary options are ignored, AMD Software provides a strong collection of display controls, upscaling upgrades, performance monitoring, and recording tools. Recent versions even include an AI tab. It is unlikely to be useful to most gamers, but like many other features in AMD Software, it is there for anyone who wants to experiment with it.