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

[zMeul]

source: https://www.techpowerup.com/212724/its-now-been-over-160-days-since-a-catalyst-whql-release.html
 

 

It has been over 160 days since AMD released a WHQL-signed Catalyst driver update, in what is a clear sign of decay in the company's after-sales support for the consumer graphics market. Once tuned to a near-monthly release of its Catalyst Software suite, which added optimzations for new games, improved upon support for existing ones; CrossFire multi-GPU support profiles; even if not adding support for new GPUs; AMD slipped into quarterly WHQL release cycle in 2013-14. It now seems to have deviated from even that.

The company's last WHQL-signed Catalyst release was Catalyst 14.12 Omega WHQL, which released on 09/12/2014

 

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the thing is, it's not the 1st time it happened:

25th of May 2014 - Catalyst 14.4 WHQL got released

the next WHQL would be 14.9, released 158 days later

 

Main things that haven't been addressed by AMD in their Catalyst releases:

• FreeSync overdrive: http://www.tftcentral.co.uk/reviews/content/acer_xg270hu.htm#freesync
• FreeSync for CrossFire
• driver overhead for DX11
• WHQL driver for Windows 10 - nVidia beat them to the punch; dunno Intel's state
• *

* if you can thing of any, post below

 

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I'm sure many will say WHQL doesn't matter, but the fact is MicroSoft validates that the driver is issues free and stable on their test-beds

[thekeemo]

just had to say it nvidias win 10 drivers SUCK I have to roll them back every time windows updates because everything is choppy

[blu4]

AMD... They focus too much on the 300 series. Tut, tut. Drivers are just as important. I hope this driver brings better yields to the team red because I do feel awful for people who have an AMD rig and struggle to run the Witcher 3

[zMeul]

just had to say it nvidias win 10 drivers SUCK I have to roll them back every time windows updates because everything is choppy

I got quite the opposite experience: D3 RoS spews TDR errors in both W7 x64 and W8.1 x64, but not with W10 x64 preview and latest WHQL

[Enderman]

just had to say it nvidias win 10 drivers SUCK I have to roll them back every time windows updates because everything is choppy

its a fact that you need to have windows drivers and nvidia drivers work together at the same time

since windows 10 is not released yet they are probably making quick modifications to the display drivers, and nvidia has to modify a new driver update to make it work again

 

last time I had this problem I just reverted my nvidia driver version to the previous one and reinstall the windows display driver update and it fixed it

but windows 10 is not released yet so you shouldn't be complaining about your experience because its BETA!

[Snickerzz]

just had to say it nvidias win 10 drivers SUCK I have to roll them back every time windows updates because everything is choppy

both the drivers and win10 are in beta... what did you expect?

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

At least we don't get shit performance on old gen cards  :lol:

 

jk no hate plz   

[Derranged]

AMD... They focus too much on the 300 series. Tut, tut. Drivers are just as important. I hope this driver brings better yields to the team red because I do feel awful for people who have an AMD rig and struggle to run the Witcher 3

I can run the game on mostly high - Ultra settings at about 60FPS on a 7850...

[Dietrichw]

I wonder how long it takes for WHQL testing. If it takes awhile then idc if AMD doesn't submit every driver update for WHQL testing, I would rather have the driver sooner

[zMeul]

I wonder how long it takes for WHQL testing.

last time I heard about it, was 14 days

[Dietrichw]

last time I heard about it, was 14 days

Then I don't mind AMD ignoring WHQL testing for drivers that are for improving game performance of new games. It's better to have people playing with non-WHQL drivers than have them play the game for 2 weeks with old drivers just for a special label. In two weeks most people will have beaten the game. 

[Humbug]

WHQL is not a concern IMO.

What's important is having launch day drivers for big AAA games which need it. They did a good job with GTA V. But ProjekT cars and witcher 3 driver is only coming next week. Witcher 3 already performs well on AMD, but the driver to fix Projekt Cars was needed on launch day.

IMO that's a bigger concern than whql because AMD's beta releases seem to be generally good.

[thekeemo]

its a fact that you need to have windows drivers and nvidia drivers work together at the same time

since windows 10 is not released yet they are probably making quick modifications to the display drivers, and nvidia has to modify a new driver update to make it work again

 

last time I had this problem I just reverted my nvidia driver version to the previous one and reinstall the windows display driver update and it fixed it

but windows 10 is not released yet so you shouldn't be complaining about your experience because its BETA!

not complaining just saying its not a feature the 344.48 driver works perfect for my 650

[zMeul]

Then I don't mind AMD ignoring WHQL testing for drivers that are for improving game performance of new games. It's better to have people playing with non-WHQL drivers than have them play the game for 2 weeks with old drivers just for a special label. In two weeks most people will have beaten the game. 

if AMD and the game developer work togheter, AMD could have a WHQL driver ready at the game's launch

 

look at nVidia, day before the TW3 launch they had a WHQL ready; same with GTA5, day before, nVidia had a WHQL driver

[CoolaxGaming]

AMD... They focus too much on the 300 series. Tut, tut. Drivers are just as important. I hope this driver brings better yields to the team red because I do feel awful for people who have an AMD rig and struggle to run the Witcher 3

They focus too much on the 300 series?

We don't even damn know if they are working on it or not.

Also, the catalyst driver works perfectly fine for 160 days. But the green side has to update every week to make sure their shit doesent.

amd also doesent gimp previous generations card

And please don't tell me too look at my member status

[Bouzoo]

Can't say I'm surprised, this is not a new thing to me. Sad but true

[Opcode]

WHQL just means the driver was certified by Microsoft. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a good driver. TechPowerUp has became a part of the NVIDIA PR machine.

 

P.S. It's only been about 23 days as 15.200.1023.0 is WHQL certified.

[xAcid9]

They're currently focusing on Window 10 driver, no time for Window 7//8/8.1  

[mvitkun]

WHQL just means the driver was certified by Microsoft. It doesn't necessarily mean it's a good driver. TechPowerUp has became a part of the NVIDIA PR machine.

 

P.S. It's only been about 23 days as 15.200.1023.0 is WHQL certified.

Isn't that driver exclusive to Windows 10?

I do agree with most of what's been posted above, I could care less about the WHQL certification if the drivers are solid.

[Misanthrope]

WHQL is not a concern IMO.

What's important is having launch day drivers for big AAA games which need it. They did a good job with GTA V. But ProjekT cars and witcher 3 driver is only coming next week. Witcher 3 already performs well on AMD, but the driver to fix Projekt Cars was needed on launch day.

IMO that's a bigger concern than whql because AMD's beta releases seem to be generally good.

 

For us gamers, absolutely.

 

But corporate users actually do need WHQL drivers. I don't think they need extremely frequent updates for those but still I'd be nice.

[Sharkyx1]

I could care less about the WHQL certification if the drivers are solid.

That means you do care though

[mvitkun]

That means you do care though

Enlighten me, how does that mean I care?

Is a WHQL certification the only means of giving us good drivers, have there been no good drivers that lack a WHQL certification?

A company can simply hold itself to a high standard, and this  isn't the only way of getting solid drivers

No, I really don't care about that stupid certification.

[Fetzie]

Didn't nvidia release something like three whql drivers in the last ~4 years that literally killed cards?

[Sharkyx1]

Enlighten me, how does that mean I care?

Is a WHQL certification the only means of giving us good drivers, have there been no good drivers that lack a WHQL certification?

A company can simply hold itself to a high standard, and this isn't the only way of getting solid drivers

No, I really don't care about that stupid certification.

[xAcid9]

Didn't nvidia release something like three whql drivers in the last ~4 years that literally killed cards?

No

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

"only" 2.