AMD to remove auto update feature from Catalyst drivers

Hilbert Hagedoorn

AMD will remove the automated driver update feature from Catalyst drivers in 2013, typically when a new driver is out you get a notification and will be directed to*the download page. Now I haven'...

AMD to remove auto update feature from Catalyst drivers

Extraordinary · 12-19-2012, 09:55 | posts: 2,763 | Location: At my desk

Never use it anyway and always update before it notifies me

lucidus · 12-19-2012, 09:57 | posts: 3,146 | Location: UAE

That's not good for users who can't be bothered to find out about newer drivers ... that's a lot of them.

Extraordinary · 12-19-2012, 10:10 | posts: 2,763 | Location: At my desk

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucidus

That's not good for users who can't be bothered to find out about newer drivers ... that's a lot of them.

If they don't know about new drivers, they probably don't need them

Ven0m · 12-19-2012, 10:13 | posts: 1,035 | Location: Warsaw, Poland

Quote:

Originally Posted by Extraordinary

If they don't know about new drivers, they probably don't need them

It's not that easy... on one hand you have a lot of users who just have their computers and browse the web. They will probably skip the update / ignore it / call some tech guy if such popup appears. There are also gamers who don't know much about computers, drivers etc and ... auto-update was giving them good performance.

warlord · 12-19-2012, 10:13 | posts: 344

Quote:

Originally Posted by lucidus

That's not good for users who can't be bothered to find out about newer drivers ... that's a lot of them.

lets wait for windows update then...sorry but noob users are not gamers neither power users, so driver update is not important or critical for their every day use.

lucidus · 12-19-2012, 10:13 | posts: 3,146 | Location: UAE

No I mean about issues with video games or newer media players. How often do we see users complaining about issues which could be easily fixed with a driver update? It's a great feature for them and even potentially reduces support time.

warlord · 12-19-2012, 10:18 | posts: 344

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ven0m

It's not that easy... on one hand you have a lot of users who just have their computers and browse the web. They will probably skip the update / ignore it / call some tech guy if such popup appears. There are also gamers who don't know much about computers, drivers etc and ... auto-update was giving them good performance.

these are not gamers are noobs...the pro gamer, does know how to OC, how to build a new rig, how to configure it properly to play smoothlike...so...these newbies wannabe gamers do not need newest drivers also...

NAMEk · 12-19-2012, 10:48 | posts: 181 | Location: Lithuania

Yep, i never ever installed something like that with drivers.

suture · 12-19-2012, 11:45 | posts: 127 | Location: PT

I dont really know how exactly automated driver update in Catalyst drivers works but, IMO it should notify the user if a new stable version is available, checking it at least once a month./week.
And ofc give the link to the oficial site bla bla bla.

Not having that, it hurts the PC "user friendly" reputation even more.

BlackZero · *Last edited by BlackZero; 12-19-2012 at 14:37.*

I have never used that feature and I turn off all the web related features after installing a new driver. The more experienced users or those having problems will look for updated drivers anyway.

I would also be very grateful if AMD removed all the 'video enhancements' too, it's a real chore having to manually disable every single one of them on every driver install. If I don't, the enhancements, if I have to call them that, make HD video look like a blurry over saturated mess.

Edit:

It's due to a security exploit. The feature might be re-instated after they have a fix. Not that I will miss it that much.

ASLayerAODsk · 12-19-2012, 15:42 | posts: 515 | Location: Canada

everytime I see 'noob gamers' I think of some nerdy person playing CoD..lulz!

General Stalin · **Memory**: 4GB DDR3 G.Skill 6-8-6-24

Whatever; Windows Update will find them for you regardless and put them under "Optional Updates" when it's ready to download and install.

I don't know about you all, but I remember when you bought/built a gaming rig and you cared about taking care of your hardware, you would keep current on hardware news or at least visit the ATI/Nvidia downloads page once in a while to check if there are new versions...

Besides, how often do all of you install new audio drivers, chipset drivers, BIOS updates, or firmware? Most all other pieces of hardware in your computer does not check online and prompt you when new updates are available; you are responsible for keeping your gear maintained. This "auto-update" thing for video card drivers is a relatively new thing so it doesn't seem like a big deal to me that they get rid of it. A lot of serious users will check out the driver performance and reviews before installing anyway.

Rich_Guy · 12-19-2012, 17:20 | posts: 6,660 | Location: UK

Quote:

Originally Posted by Extraordinary

Never use it anyway and always update before it notifies me

Same

mcfart · 12-19-2012, 23:15 | posts: 152

I like auto-update. It is like a way of AMD/NVIDIA saying that there's no need to uninstall old drivers before installing the new ones.

Plus, what's wrong with autoupdate? I'm sure you've all lapsed in checking their sites for updates and then realizing those beta drivers you were using were made official a month ago, with a slew of other fixes.

There's no disadvantage to it telling you there's a new driver.

HeavyHemi · 12-19-2012, 23:25 | posts: 3,089 | Location: Wooing whilst wearing only socks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warlord

these are not gamers are noobs...the pro gamer, does know how to OC, how to build a new rig, how to configure it properly to play smoothlike...so...these newbies wannabe gamers do not need newest drivers also...

Those 'noobs's which you once were, are the vast majority of the user base.
Pro gamer? Who on this board is actually PAID to play games. You?

Extraordinary · 12-19-2012, 23:37 | posts: 2,763 | Location: At my desk

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ven0m

It's not that easy... on one hand you have a lot of users who just have their computers and browse the web. They will probably skip the update / ignore it / call some tech guy if such popup appears. There are also gamers who don't know much about computers, drivers etc and ... auto-update was giving them good performance.

The way I see it, if you don't know how to update your drivers, you won't see any performance issues

We all see tiny little issues because we're all tech heads, the average joe wouldn't see a bus if it hit them in the face

Chouji · 12-20-2012, 00:21 | posts: 5,564 | Location: In a house, on a hill, by a road.

This is good news for me, I disabled the update notifications, and it still popped up every week or so.

nick0323 · 12-20-2012, 02:15 | posts: 393 | Location: Old England

Quote:

Originally Posted by HeavyHemi

Those 'noobs's which you once were, are the vast majority of the user base.
Pro gamer? Who on this board is actually PAID to play games. You?

Think me means pro noob

Mineria · *Last edited by Mineria; 12-20-2012 at 03:17.*

Quote:

Originally Posted by warlord

lets wait for windows update then...sorry but noob users are not gamers neither power users, so driver update is not important or critical for their every day use.

Aha, think again, they might have something performing like crap without knowing that it is driver related.

Quote:

Originally Posted by warlord

these are not gamers are noobs...the pro gamer, does know how to OC, how to build a new rig, how to configure it properly to play smoothlike...so...these newbies wannabe gamers do not need newest drivers also...

Some pro gamers do build and update themselves you know, not all of them are complete newbies at hard and software.
I have 2 friends that both played as sponsor payed professionals, one of them does know a lot about building pc's while the other needs help with upgrades/updates for his rigs.
So it varies, but sure, go ahead and keep putting people in boxes :p

Ven0m · 12-20-2012, 10:38 | posts: 1,035 | Location: Warsaw, Poland

Quote:

Originally Posted by warlord

these are not gamers are noobs...the pro gamer, does know how to OC, how to build a new rig, how to configure it properly to play smoothlike...so...these newbies wannabe gamers do not need newest drivers also...

To be honest, so-called pro gamers are only a small fraction of all players, and even people who are good at playing games may lack or even not need the knowledge about the computer hardware or software. I know players don't even open settings screen in games.

Many games run really bad with older drivers, eg Hawken with old NV drivers or generally most of the games with old AMD drivers.

I can spend some time on picking hardware, overclocking it, fine-tuning settings to keep stable 60fps at max quality possible, no jitter, etc, but many people don't want to spend so much time and have other things to do than learning about tweaking computers and game settings, so computers should be accessible for them while leaving some extra headroom for tweakers.

I wouldn't call someone a noob because they can't set up their computer/game properly and the vendors failed to provide quality autoconfig. Times when you had to pick which model of Sound Blaster card you had have passed.

In my opinion there should be 2 auto-upgrade paths that you can pick when installing:
1. Non-gamer - get only the critical updates
2. Gamer - the latest bleeding edge stuff

bikemanAMD · 12-20-2012, 18:35 | posts: 9 | Location: Michigan

I Personally myself manually update drivers when needed, or if has a fix for program I use in it. Plus maintain family PC's, so I consider myself intermediate skill level Computer wise. I may not know every single thing to do, but I do my best to learn and figure it all out

IPlayNaked · 12-20-2012, 18:45 | posts: 6,559

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ven0m

To be honest, so-called pro gamers are only a small fraction of all players, and even people who are good at playing games may lack or even not need the knowledge about the computer hardware or software. I know players don't even open settings screen in games.

Many games run really bad with older drivers, eg Hawken with old NV drivers or generally most of the games with old AMD drivers.

I can spend some time on picking hardware, overclocking it, fine-tuning settings to keep stable 60fps at max quality possible, no jitter, etc, but many people don't want to spend so much time and have other things to do than learning about tweaking computers and game settings, so computers should be accessible for them while leaving some extra headroom for tweakers.

I wouldn't call someone a noob because they can't set up their computer/game properly and the vendors failed to provide quality autoconfig. Times when you had to pick which model of Sound Blaster card you had have passed.

In my opinion there should be 2 auto-upgrade paths that you can pick when installing:
1. Non-gamer - get only the critical updates
2. Gamer - the latest bleeding edge stuff

Honestly, you're right, but it isn't worth the effort. Of course there are people who do not know a thing about drivers, or settings, or that updating them can help with gaming.

But you can't tell most of these people that. They live in a world where everyone either has their skills, their use cases, their preferences, their knowledge. And for those who don't, well they're hillbillies and probably don't game anyway.

Design games, drivers, hardware, and operating systems for people like me because literally no one else exists.