Download & Discuss AMD Catalyst 15.3 Beta Driver for Windows OS

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon Drivers Section' started by LtMatt81, Mar 20, 2015.

  1. DiceAir

    DiceAir Maha Guru

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    Yes I know but at least if they work with vulkan only then we can get cross platform support without having to design for dx12 and then vulkan at the same time so it benefits all people. But we all know dx12 will be widely used. Heck even people with old windows 7 will then benifit from vulkan cause you know some people will refuse to upgrade still. So in my opinion dx12 is crap compared to vulkan.
     
  2. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    Um, maybe not. Remember Vulkan also requires support from AMD and NVIDIA. If I were AMD and NVIDIA, I would essentially drop support for Windows 7 and 8.1 from the mainstream driver. What I mean is, the typical driver package you get is just a pure WDDM 2.0 Windows 10 driver. Main focus should be on Windows 10, and the Windows 7/8.1 driver should be relegated to essentially 'legacy' status. That legacy status including not adding support for new cards, like the Arctic Islands or Pascall architecture.

    This is a completely fair thing to do, since Windows 10 is a free upgrade to Windows 7, 8, and 8.1 users. Further to this, why should they spend precious support time supporting gaming etc on Windows 7, effectively encouraging people to continue using Windows 7, and take that away from better support for Windows 10 users? Again, remembering that Windows 10 is a FREE UPGRADE for Windows 7 users.

    Sure, they can b!tch and moan all they like, but they really don't have a good case to argue. The only people that would have a right to complain are Windows 10 users, if support time is taken away from them to support obstinate Windows 7 users.

    So, why should AMD and NVIDIA provide legacy Windows 7 drivers, just to the extent of bug fixes etc? Well, there may be some businesses slow to adopt Windows 10, and there are also businesses running Server 2008 R2 and Server 2012 R2, so support is still provided for them. However, that said, it's usually the case that businesses don't really update drivers at all, so even that point is a bit moot. They also don't play games, so the legacy driver support would actually be pretty basic.

    I suspect AMD and NVIDIA are already primarily working on the WDDM 2.0 driver over the Windows 7/8.1 driver, which is why we haven't seen a major driver release recently from either companies. Sure, it doesn't mean there won't be a big driver release in the next few months before Windows 10 release, but the next big driver release will probably be the last on Windows 7/8.1.

    Completely fair, and reasonable. People can disagree with this as much as they like, but it would actually be bad business for AMD and NVIDIA to continue mainstream support for a soon to be deprecated OS.
     
  3. basagre28

    basagre28 Guest

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  4. BoMbY

    BoMbY Guest

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    AMD has supported WinXP to Win 8.1 (and maybe 10) with Mantle, I don't see why they wouldn't support Windows 7 and 8.1 until they run out of support, plus they should've the driver almost ready, because Vulkan is based on Mantle. All they need is to implement SPIR-V from OpenCL 2.1, refactor some names, and some minor changes.
     

  5. Bloodred217

    Bloodred217 Master Guru

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    Has anyone else been having issues with this driver in BF4?

    I've been getting quite frequent freezes that I never saw with 14.12 ever. BF4 freezes and after a few seconds the image on my 2 other monitors freezes as well, but other software still seems to run just fine in the background, I can still talk on TeamSpeak for instance, so Windows itself doesn't seem to crash. I've tried both DX11 and Mantle and they seem to behave identically.

    I solve the problem with a reset and after that the game tends to be stable and runs fine, for hours even. The freeze generally happens in a few minutes after joining a server or withing a few minutes after the game loads.

    I'm not sure what to do about it, I'd go back to 14.12 but other games like Dying Light run much better in CF despite having no profile.
     
  6. BoMbY

    BoMbY Guest

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    I played some rounds yesterday, and had no problems. Single display and Mantle only, though.
     
  7. Bloodred217

    Bloodred217 Master Guru

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    Are you using CF? More often than not if I'm having any graphics-related issues CF is sadly somehow to blame. Haven't had the time (or desire to play at much lower FPS really) to test it out with a single card.

    Just so it's clear though, I'm not playing BF4 on multiple screens/in Eyefinity, it's on my main monitor.
     
  8. BoMbY

    BoMbY Guest

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    No, no CF. Only have a single 290X - it's currently more than enough for BF4 in 1440p with FreeSync.
     
  9. vase

    vase Guest

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    Dood... I think you dont understand.
    Windows 10 is free because it is nothing but a rebranded Windows 7 with some visual style changes and some functionality that I can use freeware programs for 7 already.
    They for example say one of the MAIN (digest that!) features is the new copy & paste functionality in cmd-windows ... REALLY? Thats not a feature... thats a bugfix for a Windows 95 introduced malfunction.

    Windows 10 is like Windows 8......which was like Windows 7.

    If Win7 is a Yellow Mercedes Benz, then paint it Blue and label it Windows 10 add new seat covers and "sell" it again.
    They want you to upgrade to W10 because its a MONEY machine.
    If you have Win10 you will buy new hardware soon that only has features in Win10. But not because Win7 wouldnt be capable of it... JUST BECAUSE programmers write checks in their programs to see if Win10 is installed, if not ... -> no work.

    Thats the true story my friend.

    Also apart from all that. WHY would anyone with a super stable Win7 system he invested much time in want to setup a new OS from the start. All programs are properly installed and he did many tweaks and registry fixes etc... he optimized his system...
    So WHY would this person be interested in doing this all over again with Windows 10 that is nothing more than a ****ing OS that is supposed to enable you to run programs.
    Windows 7 does that job perfectly. And thank you I am not interested in playing Xbox games on my Windows machine... (biiig new feature... wow n1 microsoft) first of all because I dont own an Xbox, and secondly, why would I wanna want the Xbox to stream the playdata to my Computer in the first place?!?! I can already attack keyboard and mouse to an Xbox one if I want.
    And why would I then use my Computers TFT to play instead of a big TV?!?

    Windows 10 is the same small step like from 7 to 8... its nothing but polishing and changed visuals and some extreme niche features that i can realize with FREEWARE on WindowsXP/7/8

    Stop falling for that **** guys!

    I am not saying dont install W10 if you have the time to set up a new OS again.
    I am just saying stay critical towards MS new OS versions and always ask ... why do we need a new Windows when the old did everything well. And why is DirectX12 not just programmed for W7 in first place. Wait what? No WDDM 2.0 you say???
    WELL INCLUDE THAT IN THE PACKAGE THEN. THERE IS SOMETHING CALLED "Windows Update"...

    :chainsaw2: :flame:


    ok thats enough for today:eyes:

    ps: linux does kernel updates on the fly since the beginning of time...consider
    that.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
  10. TorrentG2

    TorrentG2 Guest

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    Vase, (assuming you're male) <<< you're the man.

    I don't feel alone anymore on this planet. lol :)
     

  11. Ryu5uzaku

    Ryu5uzaku Ancient Guru

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    To me it feels you are really hurt by ms or something. But you are writing a lot of nonsense really. And you are writing it to a funny section too.

    Considering this is about 15.3 drivers.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
  12. vase

    vase Guest

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    hurt by ms?
    i love windows xp, i love windows 7, i loved windows 98 SE... stable, performant OSes... all u need. and most important, all of them had significant KERNEL IMPROVEMENTS compared to their predecessor which is what differentiates one generation of an OS from the next... normally...
    but i wont be all fanboyish about "en vogue - submissions" like win8, vista, win10... that have no right exist from the start...

    "writing a lot of nonsense" ah okay... telling the truth but... okay...
    its what happens when marketing directors get the upper hand in deciding whats supposed to be in a modern OS and not the experienced OS developers or system architects. there's no nonsense in that buddy.

    i know this is offtopic, but since this thread has had some general discussions about the development of the consumer IT sector in general in between ... and obviosly i was responding to an existing post... so i didnt derail anyway.
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2015
  13. TorrentG2

    TorrentG2 Guest

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    Vase is speaking some true real ish. 100% a "real" computer person. Not to say anyone here is not...I'm not doing that...I know everyone here knows ish....but Vase is wise.
     
  14. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    There are a lot of improvements and changes 'under the hood' with Windows 10. It's true it is an EVOLUTION of Windows 7, and I capitalised EVOLUTION because it's a false statement saying it's the same as, there are a lot of differences.

    Going by your argument, you might as well be using Vista, because Windows 7 is just Vista. Actually going further to this, Windows 7 is much closer to Windows Vista than Windows 10 is to Windows 7, and I DO NOT mean in just a User Interface sense. There's also the underlying point that you shouldn't overlook.

    IT'S FREE. COSTS YOU NADA.


    The issue Microsoft have is the ability to quantify the changes, improvements, fixes, and optimisations between OS'S. I would say DirectX 12 is a nice addition to Windows 10, and they absolutely should not backport it to Windows 7. Why should they? Why should they continue supporting a few obstinate people stuck in the past? Why should AMD and NVIDIA keep making fully featured and optmised drivers for Windows 7, just to support those few people not willing to upgrade to Windows 10.

    Using YOUR very own argument, you are saying you are using a fully unpatched Windows 7 RTM. Why would you use SP1, it was a free update to Windows 7, like Windows 10. Why install updates, you know, since Windows 7 is so perfect? Those few hundred extra non-superseded hotfixes that you don't get through Windowsupdate are just there for show right? I say non-superseded because most replace earlier hotfixes for other issues that have also been incorporated.

    People need to get with the times. Like I said before it would be bad business practice for AMD, NVIDIA, or any other company for that matter to continue support for Windows 7. It would really border on stupidity since they would be spending resources on it when they could be spending those resources elsewhere. Even if Windows 10 wasn't a free upgrade, support for Windows 7 would be questionable due to its age.

    Sure, you can complain about that comment all you like, but it really comes down to those wanting to stick to Windows 7 'just because' expecting the rest of the world to revolve around their stubborn ideologies should get a reality check.

    Oh, did I mention Windows 10 is a FREE UPGRADE. It should be a compulsory upgrade like SP1 was for Windows 7, or are people going to complain about that too?

    This argument is very relevant to the driver, because they should absolutely not support Windows 7 to the same extent after Windows 10 is released.

    Oh, btw, Windows 10 does have significant kernel improvements, as well as everything else 'under the hood'. What, you expect a commit log? 99.9999 percent of the people of the world couldn't care less about every single little change from Windows 8.1 -->10. You also have to remember it's an amalgamated list of changes from Windows 7 SP1 --> Windows 8 --> Windows 8.1 --> Windows 10.

    I'm sorry to say, but anyone claiming there aren't really any 'under the hood' changes and improvements, kernel or otherwise, between Windows 7 and 10, would have to be completely clueless, and no doubt to be told otherwise would be sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting 'la la la la la'.

    Apologies for the rant. It's just surprising how many overtly stubborn people there are out there!
     
  15. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    The difference in this case though is Windows 10 is a free upgrade to Windows 7. Supporting XP when 7 came out is fair, because 7 wasn't a free upgrade. Likewise when Windows 8 and 8.1 came out. They dropped support for Windows 8 because Windows 8.1 was a free upgrade. I think it makes full sense for AMD and other companies to drop mainstream support for Windows 7 within a few months of Windows 10 release, doing otherwise would just give people an excuse not to make the change, and furthermore, as I pointed out in my other posts supporting Windows 7, 8.1, and 10 would just be a waste of resources, since anyone on Windows 7 and 8.1 with half a brain would take the offer of a free upgrade up. The only people sticking with Windows 7 would be some businesses, for now, who don't really care about driver updates, and people too stubborn to upgrade.

    Ironically, those people too stubborn to upgrade because people are telling them too, would likely be the same people whinging if Windows 10 wasn't a free, or at least low cost, upgrade.

    If I were Microsoft, I would go as far as not issuing WHQL to companies encouraging people to stick with Windows 7. I'd actually be surprised if they don't do this. And you know what? It would be completely fair for them to do this too.
     

  16. JaxMacFL

    JaxMacFL Ancient Guru

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    +1 what he said. I know its went off topic but I loved windows 3.0, 95, 98/se, me, xp, 7, and 8.1, (Not so much vista). Hated to give each one up. But I did and was glad I did in the end.
     
  17. PrMinisterGR

    PrMinisterGR Ancient Guru

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    They will probably optimize for it, and I am sure that NVIDIA has optimized already for it, making it worthless. Unless there is a way to spoof both their drivers we'll never really know.

    I hear you. RadeonPro's double vsync doesn't work if you apply a frame limiter too. That practicaly means that you have to choose between a 30fps limiter and double vsync. And no, they don't do the same thing. Also it's kinda pathetic that we have to rely on a program whose creator has abandoned.

    I would have not problem at all with that. I bet that they can backport stuff to the older drivers almost automatically, but they should really focus on WDDM 2.0.
     
  18. AsiJu

    AsiJu Ancient Guru

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    Solid driver so far for single GPU.

    Not seeing much difference to 14.12 Omega though yet, but some have said this overclocks better so gonna try that next.
     
  19. Rich_Guy

    Rich_Guy Ancient Guru

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  20. Agonist

    Agonist Ancient Guru

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    No issues with BF4. Was actually managing 50fps ultra 2XAA with 170% scaling while running 4436x1024 res.
     

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