It's Now Been Over 160 Days Since a Catalyst WHQL Release

I wouldn't be concerned with a lack of WHQL drivers. A lack of beta drivers concerns me far more as that means nothing is getting done.
 
Digital Viper-X- said:
AMD releases WHQL Drivers every month, people complain that not enough QA goes into it... they release 2-3 times a year, people complain not enough WHQL Drivers are being released..

There really is no winning.

I personally don't care about WHQL, I ran beta drivers for 7 months without issues, until the next beta driver that I wanted for a new game was needed, and that was already a 1 month old beta driver at the time.

:p
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It's fairly easy to explain. None of the whiners in this post are using AMD.

It's funny. AMD fans complaining about stuff Nvidia does that affect them are told to suck it by Nvidia fans who complain about stuff AMD does that don't affect them.
 
AMD has been slow to release for the last couple of years.
2015 has been especially bad.....
Im talking betas or WHQL.

They suck and have for a while.
I own their products too. So dont go there.
 
I used to love AMD cards, was even a bit of an AMD fanboy when I was in my teens. I have no problems sticking with Nvidia now, hopefully they ante up the competition soon.
 
"Back in my day, AMD released WHQL-signed drivers every month."
 
magoo said:
AMD has been slow to release for the las t couple of years.
2015 has been especially bad.....
Im talking betas or WHQL.

They suck and have for a while.
I own their products too. So dont go there.
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You have some specific issue or just stuck on newer drivers? I have a 270 and don't have any issues playing games with the latest beta's? Same with my GTX 580.
 
Still probably better than the old new driver every month thing they did the last time I used AMD cards, that was an endless cycle of problems both new and regressive.
 
Dan_D said:
I wouldn't be concerned with a lack of WHQL drivers. A lack of beta drivers concerns me far more as that means nothing is getting done.
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I think dan said it best....now if you have a specific issue or game optimization needed, its all well and good. I think regarding the last big game they didn't have access to the final code of the game till after it was released. If the shoe has on the other foot it would take nvidia 2 weeks min to get it fixed, but yea when it goes beyond that they need to majorly improve on there getting things done faster.

As to weather its whql or beta...anyone whos been around the pcs a while should know it doesn't mean anything. granted it was years ago, but i had major issues with nvidia whql drivers...so i don't give a fuck about whql:)
 
http://blogs.windows.com/bloggingwi...ndows-10-insider-preview-build-10122-for-pcs/

Today we have a new build for PCs going out to Windows Insiders in the Fast ring – Build 10122. I usually start these posts with the fun stuff at the top but want to call out our only big known Issue here right away – if you’re using an AMD GPU you’re likely to run into frequent crashes in Microsoft Edge (still branded as “Project Spartan” in this build.) If you want to avoid that, simply go to Settings > Update & security > Windows Update > Advanced and change to the Slow ring to sit this one out.
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Wow
 
I still run the 14.12's....solid drivers.

I remember reading a few years back that AMD was moving from a monthly driver release to a more softer schedule with more Beta driver releases.
 
they moved from Monthly WHQLs, to monthly Betas. The certification process took too long.

they skipped jan, and feb to get frreesync in order, but have released at least one beta every month since and before.
 
Simple remedy: don't call them beta drivers.

Leave beta for, say, the initial release of a new branch that hasn't been widely tested.
Everything else should be "official latest".
WHQL for whenever they get around to it.
 
Chris_B said:
You've been around here 9 years, would have thought by now his extremely anti amd agenda would have been spotted by most people.

I agree that amd need to get the thumb out when it comes to support and drivers, they went from putting out a qualified driver every month plus betas and hotfixes to just doing occasional releases and the "when its done" attitude, funny enough that used to be id softwares attitude and they've not been relevant in a decade or more.

Im not sure exactly whats going on at amd but lately its been pathetic, hyping freesync for the best part of 15 months then when it eventually arrives there's no crossfire support, its something that needs addressed badly.
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People like you are the problem you see things in the short term, AMD ks planning Something not only big but colossal. What if i told you that crossfire freesync+ whql drivers +what ever fancy stuff AMD has planned will be shown/ released when AMD unveil or release their titan x slayer. Stop thinking in the box think out of the box my friend.
 
Deathroned said:
People like you are the problem you see things in the short term, AMD ks planning Something not only big but colossal. What if i told you that crossfire freesync+ whql drivers +what ever fancy stuff AMD has planned will be shown/ released when AMD unveil or release their titan x slayer. Stop thinking in the box think out of the box my friend.
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Sorry but that utter is bollocks, just because a new card is on the horizon doesn't mean that amd should half ass it with drivers, and the fact is for the last lot of months it has been just that.

I really couldn't give a shit whats "planned", last i checked people have amd cards in the here and now and are pissed off with the eternal waiting game. Fact is amd were tooting their horn about freesync for about 14 months then as usual they release it with only single gpu functionality, like they did with eyefinity and frame-pacing, then they were meant to release a driver for crossfire support, then at the very last minute said they couldn't get it done yet and its delayed further with no release in sight. :rolleyes:

Nvidia had drivers out for the witcher the day before release, and there's still no sign of an amd driver for crossfire support, amd are "still working" on a driver but havn't even mentioned if it has crossfire support yet.

When it comes down to it i've no "allegiance" to either amd or nvidia, i buy whatever ticks the boxes for my needs at the time.
 
Highlights of AMD Catalyst™ 15.4 Beta Windows Driver

New Crossfire Profiles for:
Grand Theft Auto V
Dying Light*
Galactic Civilizations III
Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes
Mortal Combat X**
Sleeping Dogs : Definitive Edition

Crossfire Profiles updates for:
Battlefield Hardline
Far Cry 4
Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor
Sniper Elite 3
 
Dan_D said:
I wouldn't be concerned with a lack of WHQL drivers. A lack of beta drivers concerns me far more as that means nothing is getting done.
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Didn't that just happen for four months after the omega release?

Reading stuff like this doesn't instill faith in amd's driver development improving.

SSXeon said:
IAs of late i would agree with you. When i was a part of the beta testing team they had amazing drivers, but it was mostly the CF performance and a few minor bugs that were issues. But overall they have fantastic drivers at the time, and this was Vista/Win7 times. As of now i can't say the same, most of that team got laid off and we have what the drivers are now. :( Not saying they are crap, but they are coming out ALOT slower and sometimes not fixing what needs to be fixed for certain games/apps.
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http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost.php?p=1337710603&postcount=1191
 
erek said:
simple and cheap, I am wondering if the drivers just aren't passing the WHQL Automated Tests and are literally Beta quality anyhow
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I think that the actual reason to drop the monthly betas was so that they didn't need to work on two driver branches at the same time.

Look at how often a beta was released a week or two before the monthly whql yet was still far newer.

It makes sense and for the longest time was working out great. Things have slowed down. You have got to wonder if it's due to layoffs.
 
Sprayingmango said:
It matters because yet again, it shows how little AMD cares.
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Actually, it shows that they care MORE.

Pumping out "BETA" drivers more often is better than:

  • making a driver
  • submitting to Microsoft (as well as paying a ludicrous fee)
  • waiting for WHQL certification
  • driver is now over a month old
 
TheGamerZ said:
Actually, it shows that they care MORE.

Pumping out "BETA" drivers more often is better than:

  • making a driver
  • submitting to Microsoft (as well as paying a ludicrous fee)
  • waiting for WHQL certification
  • driver is now over a month old
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Are they putting out more betas now?

Even when I was using 7950 for the better part of a year at times there were several betas in a month.

I agree that its a great idea and I don't really care about a whql label.
 
BababooeyHTJ said:
Are they putting out more betas now?

Even when I was using 7950 for the better part of a year at times there were several betas in a month.

I agree that its a great idea and I don't really care about a whql label.
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One might argue the WHQL process would slow down their driver releases even more. :rolleyes:

several betas in a month.
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We had two in April.
 
I think the last time I cared about WHQL drivers was when I was running XP with the 7600GS I had. That was at least 8 years ago.
 
Rizen said:
The counter point to this is how often do non-technical users upgrade their drivers?

As an example we have my brother. He is a big PC gamer, but he doesn't know anything about computers. I help him build his systems and choose his parts. Every time I come home and visit him I take a look at his PC and he frequently hasn't updated drivers in 6+ months.

I highly doubt the average consumer even knows how frequently drivers should be updated. I can understand why some people might find this concerning, and AMD did have a 2.5 month period there without any new drivers after the Catalyst Omega release, but overall they are pretty consistent with beta drivers and the current ones - 15.4.1, released May 8 - are stable.
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my mum does, but then she's an Elder Scrolls fiend.
 
Both companies should stop releasing drivers and require the game developers to write proper code. AMD and Nvidia suffer from developer incompetence more than anything else. The only time a driver should need to be released is when someone innovated and released something like TressFX, Hairworks, Mantle, PhysX, etc.

Stop blaming the companies that products only change every 3 years.
 
The Mac said:
they moved from Monthly WHQLs, to monthly Betas. The certification process took too long.

they skipped jan, and feb to get frreesync in order, but have released at least one beta every month since and before.
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I think that's more than sufficient provided there aren't any major problems with these drivers. I haven't run an AMD video card in some time so I can't speak to the quality of those drivers but I'm more than satisfied with that schedule. Its a vast improvement over AMD's "once in a blue moon" schedule. :D
 
Do we need a driver unless something disastrous has happened?

I'm reading about crashing/lockups for NVIDIA owners with new drivers on the Witcher 3. Likewise what of diminished performance for the previous generation owners vs the GTX 9XX cards?

My R9 285 is flying along happily on the 15.4.1 beta drivers.

I much prefer this yearly stable driver idea - with the fixes/improvements being retained in this "omega core".

As the long as the hotfixes keep coming for the high profile titles; not a lot that can be done against Gameworks & certain agreements...

Knocking out a sub-par driver each month and paying the money-spinner WHQL fee is such a waste.

cageymaru said:
Both companies should stop releasing drivers and require the game developers to write proper code. AMD and Nvidia suffer from developer incompetence more than anything else. The only time a driver should need to be released is when someone innovated and released something like TressFX, Hairworks, Mantle, PhysX, etc.

Stop blaming the companies that products only change every 3 years.
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I suppose in the (ideal?) world the only difference would be the efficiency of the hardware. With it's promise of "being close to the metal" DX 12 will likely either improve things or melt everyone's card with developer incompetence =D
 
Beta drivers work great. Until something goes terribly wrong & that infamous thread that states " THIS ( Insert brand/part name here ) SUCKS!!! " pops up. Listing whatever wrong & why it wasn't their fault :D.
 
DarkLegacy said:
Beta drivers work great. Until something goes terribly wrong & that infamous thread that staes this " Insert brand/part name here " sucks pops up. Listing whatever wrong & why it wasn't their fault :D.
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But this can and will happen with WHQL drivers. That literally makes no difference in the grand scheme of things.
 
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