AMD reveals release date for fix multi-GPU driver

[Cobalt]

Via Twitter or course

Big news for CrossFire! We plan to release our driver that delivers improved multi-GPU frame pacing on July 31. More info soon.

 

https://twitter.com/AMDRadeon/status/347803712930070529

[extremescouter]

Cool! Now crossfire can actually become a viable option for people.

[Xorbot]

Cynical comment incoming:

 

AMD releases something that should have existed pre-2010.  Should we celebrate something they should have done already?  Do we celebrate a mother who brags "heeey, I fed myy kiids!"  Do what you are supposed to do, and don't expect praise.  You will get none from me.

[samuel]

Cynical comment incoming:

 

AMD releases something that should have existed pre-2010.  Should we celebrate something they should have done already?  Do we celebrate a mother who brags "heeey, I fed myy kiids!"  Do what you are supposed to do, and don't expect praise.  You will get none from me.

Maybe you're right. But at least we are on the right track now.

[Xorbot]

Maybe you're right. But at least we are on the right track now.

 

Better late than never? :)

 

They put the "never" in "Never Settle".

[xBlizzDevious]

Cool! Now crossfire can actually become a viable option for people.

 

I'm running crossfire right now, with eyefinity enabled and I'm getting ZERO micro-stuttering. I have three 7970s and it does somehow pretty much eliminate micro-stutter, especially compared to two. Trust me, you get A LOT of micro-stutter with two cards.

 

But yeah, if you can afford it, or just spend too much money on your computer (like me), then you can already use crossfire with no issues. It's only if you want two cards that it's an issue.

 

Anyone know if this will improve FPS in any games too, or is it just for fixing the framerating 'issue'?

[Sn@iDeR]

Cynical comment incoming:

 

AMD releases something that should have existed pre-2010.  Should we celebrate something they should have done already?  Do we celebrate a mother who brags "heeey, I fed myy kiids!"  Do what you are supposed to do, and don't expect praise.  You will get none from me.

there is always going to be some1 who sits in the 1st place and some1 else who's trying to bypass him. Some of those 1st place sitting asses, thinking they sit on top of the mountain and wants you to watch their @@ and there are many 2 place individuals who actually trying to make things better and learn from their mistakes.

 

Go AMD Go... (we need you...)

[mumbojumbogumbo]

Sorry AMD I've waited too long for this and even my single 7870 XT had stuttering issues in the games I play. I'll be moving on to the Green team. 

[TechFan@ic]

Cynical comment incoming:

 

AMD releases something that should have existed pre-2010.  Should we celebrate something they should have done already?  Do we celebrate a mother who brags "heeey, I fed myy kiids!"  Do what you are supposed to do, and don't expect praise.  You will get none from me.

That's very negative, instead you should be happy for the people that will benefit from this driver.

[Xelithium]

This took way too long.

[qwertywarrior]

i ALWAYS stayed away from multigpu setups back in 2010 is because each  time used two GPU the game always felt slower

yet the fps was higher

[qwertywarrior]

I'm running crossfire right now, with eyefinity enabled and I'm getting ZERO micro-stuttering. I have three 7970s and it does somehow pretty much eliminate micro-stutter, especially compared to two. Trust me, you get A LOT of micro-stutter with two cards.

But yeah, if you can afford it, or just spend too much money on your computer (like me), then you can already use crossfire with no issues. It's only if you want two cards that it's an issue.

Anyone know if this will improve FPS in any games too, or is it just for fixing the framerating 'issue'?

maybe u just got used to "medium stuttering"

since even single AMD cards have them

http://www.anandtech.com/show/6857/amd-stuttering-issues-driver-roadmap-fraps/5

[Xorbot]

That's very negative, instead you should be happy for the people that will benefit from this driver.

 

Indeed it's negative.  Consider this:  I bought a 5970 in 2010 (remember that this is a dual GPU card in the 5xxx series, so think 6990 and 7990, but its own series).  Some games had screen tearing even with V-sync enabled.  An example is in Street Fighter 4.  The game ran at such a high framerate that, even with V-Sync enabled, the game would still have a fixed tear line unless I disabled one of the GPUs.

 

I am now in possession of 2 GTX 680's that work marvelously.  So, in the 2-3 year duration of my ownership of the 5970, I've experienced issues (though the card still worked well overall).  It is only now that my issues with that card are potentially fixed (I haven't, and won't be able to test it).

 

So indeed, I am a little miffed that the issues are fixed *after* I am no longer in possession of an AMD Crossfire solution.  This is just my personal story.  Those who don't have to live through the annoyances that I have, congrats to you. :)

[kuddlesworth9419]

So when will there be a hardware implementation on AMD cards. The software fix is nice but a hardware fix would be much better and would have less of an impact on performance.

[gjrud]

So when will there be a hardware implementation on AMD cards. The software fix is nice but a hardware fix would be much better and would have less of an impact on performance.

Every GPU takes two/three years (as reported by Linus) from concept to market, so you add them to the moment they acknowledged the issue and found an hardware fix. I have no idea when or if it happened, but if they work like my company does they probably announced publicly that they know about the issue only after the found out an hardware solution. 

[ericlee30]

YESSSSS, Finally :) I can't wait

[mgsstar]

Glad that they are finally improving their drivers. :)

[Chevaishr]

I'm running crossfire right now, with eyefinity enabled and I'm getting ZERO micro-stuttering. I have three 7970s and it does somehow pretty much eliminate micro-stutter, especially compared to two. Trust me, you get A LOT of micro-stutter with two cards.

 

But yeah, if you can afford it, or just spend too much money on your computer (like me), then you can already use crossfire with no issues. It's only if you want two cards that it's an issue.

 

Anyone know if this will improve FPS in any games too, or is it just for fixing the framerating 'issue'?

i actually saw some scientific analysis of some old radeon 6870s ... the people were looking at how long it took for each frame to render. they had concluded that single gpu is smooth but dual gps are very stuttery how triple and quad gpus were very smooth ... if this continues then that may be the reason for trifire. also  back then nvidia wasn't doing any better in terms of the micro stutter back then.  

[TechSage]

When are the frame rating drivers coming out for AMD 

[Humbug]

So when will there be a hardware implementation on AMD cards.

Is a hardware fix actually needed? Do we have confirmation that it's more than a driver problem?

[kuddlesworth9419]

A hardware fix will be needed eventually because the software fix will have some effect on the overall performance of the card. Hardware will have a much less of an impact.

[TechFan@ic]

A hardware fix will be needed eventually because the software fix will have some effect on the overall performance of the card. Hardware will have a much less of an impact.

Is a hardware fix actually needed? Do we have confirmation that it's more than a driver problem?

It's not rational to speculate without actually testing this upcoming frame pacing tech from AMD.

So there is no way to know for sure until we get our hands on it.

[kuddlesworth9419]

A software fix will rely on hardware on the GPU or the PCB itself, taking resources away from performance. A hardware solution should only rely on the hardware solution rather than hardware that is already there. That way there will be a smaller hit on performance. Nvidia has a hardware solution that has been on their GPU's or PCB's for quite some time and hasn't changed to a software solution and hasn't got the same problems as AMD hardware in this respect. Although a hardware solution would cost more which is probably why Nvidia GPU's cost more on average than AMD. Nvidia also has the H.265 encoded which also brings up the price.

[Gunjob]

When are the frame rating drivers coming out for AMD 

July 31st, that is what this whole article is about? The "Crossfire fix" is in reference to the frame rating issue.

 

A software fix will rely on hardware on the GPU or the PCB itself, taking resources away from performance. A hardware solution should only rely on the hardware solution rather than hardware that is already there. That way there will be a smaller hit on performance. Nvidia has a hardware solution that has been on their GPU's or PCB's for quite some time and hasn't changed to a software solution and hasn't got the same problems as AMD hardware in this respect. Although a hardware solution would cost more which is probably why Nvidia GPU's cost more on average than AMD. Nvidia also has the H.265 encoded which also brings up the price.

But also a hardware solution takes up PCB or die space. And adds to the cost. I'm sure I've seen that it can be totally fixed by a software solution without a performance hit, see RadeonPro dynamic V-sync is amazing and fixes the issue completely for me, so a hardware solution isn't needed at all.

[MyLaptopSucks]

Cynical comment incoming:

 

AMD releases something that should have existed pre-2010.  Should we celebrate something they should have done already?  Do we celebrate a mother who brags "heeey, I fed myy kiids!"  Do what you are supposed to do, and don't expect praise.  You will get none from me.

 

The tweet didn't seem to me like they were expecting praise. They were just saying that it's good news, which it undoubtedly is for both the customers and for the company. I don't think people should be jumping on an AMD-hate bandwagon just because they were slow to the party.