These new drivers are “special” according to AMD.
The latest driver update from AMD is a little unusual, so much so that they have their own special name: AMD Catalyst Omega. This driver has been released to “take full advantage of the advanced technologies built into AMD’s products that feature GCN Architecture, and help make them more powerful and capable”.
So what exactly are the benefits? AMD explain:
Installing the AMD Catalyst Omega driver on select AMD products enables free software upgrades that install automatically and can improve your gaming performance.
For example, early buyers of an AMD Radeon™ R9 290X GPU who download and install the AMD Catalyst Omega driver can realize up to 19% faster* gameplay on BioShock Infinite.
Similarly, users of AMD’s advanced APUs like the AMD A10 7850K can achieve up to 29% faster** gaming performance on Batman: Arkham Origins.
The AMD Catalyst Omega driver extracts the true potential of GCN-enabled AMD APUs and GPUs. Here are a few examples of new AMD Catalyst Omega driver capabilities:
- Enabling the UltraHD revolution: UltraHD TVs and monitors are now available, and becoming much more affordable. UltraHD displays demand UltraHD content—but very little content or entertainment is being recorded in 4K at this time. The good news: we are offering built-in Ultra HD upsampling with frame rate conversion and HD detail enhancement that will convert 1080p videos to near UltraHD quality on 4K displays.
- Perfect Picture UltraHD: Our Perfect Picture UltraHD technology strives for “pixel-perfect” images, with Compression Artifact Removal 2, and Frame Rate Conversion for Blu-ray Playback enabling pixel-by-pixel image processing.
- What is better than even more powerful? Smoother: There are many reasons that make AMD APUs and AMD GPUs a match made in heaven. But one of the major ones is that one brings out the best in the other. When select products are paired together through Dual Graphics with frame pacing enhancements, the powerful gameplay becomes smooth.
- Here are examples of AMD enabling developers to deliver outstanding user experiences:
- OpenCL™ 2.0 Support: Enabling developers to extend the reach of their app content and functionality based on industry standards.
- TressFX Hair 3.0: Introducing new gaming capabilities for game developers with TressFX, such as rendering of fur onto “skinned” geometries.
- CodeXL Tools: A comprehensive tools suite for the performance-aware developer to Debug, Profile and Analyze applications. Also included is a realtime display of APU power consumption that collects data on power consumption, core frequency, temperature changes and voltage and current levels.
There’s a few pieces of additional info on the AMD site and the driver can be picked up here.
