AMD Delivers Crimson ReLive Drivers: Yearly Feature Update for Radeon Gamers and Professionals
by Ian Cutress on December 8, 2016 9:00 AM ESTWhat New Features with What New Cards
With Crimson ReLive, AMD is stating that this is their biggest software launch ever, and the joint initiative between consumer, developer, professional and feedback mechanisms will help future software development especially as so many areas overlap. The policy for 2017 will be similar to 2016 for driver updates: around a half-dozen WHQL launches plus updates for every major game launch on the day of launch (or for serious bug fixes).
AMD is putting a lot into open source development, enticing developers to work with the tools provided for better user experiences on AMD or other hardware. However users will notice that throughout this piece there have been a number of features limited to particular hardware, mostly due to the feature set of certain types of hardware. Here’s a tabular breakdown of what works with what, starting with the Pro software.
| AMD Crimson ReLive Feature Support List Pro Level / Creator Features |
|||
| GPU | OS | ||
| LiquidVR | Affinity Multi-GPU | VR Ready Premium VR Ready Creator |
Windows Linux |
| MultiView | |||
| MultiRes | |||
| TrueAudio Next | |||
| Radeon ProRender | VR Ready Creator | Windows macOS Linux |
|
| Radeon Pro Game Engine Integration | Pro WX-Series FirePro W-Series |
Various | |
| Radeon Pro: LiquidVR | Pro WX7100 Pro Duo FirePro W9100 |
Windows 7/10 | |
| Radeon Pro: Linux Driver | Pro WX-Series Pro Duo FirePro W-Series |
Ubuntu RHEL CentOS |
|
| Radeon Pro: vmware vSphere 6.5 | FirePro S7100X FirePro S7150 FirePro S7150 x2 |
- | |
| Radeon Pro ReLive DVR for ISV (streaming at customer request) |
Pro WX-Series Pro Duo FirePro W-Series |
Win 7/10 | |
On the consumer level:
| AMD Crimson ReLive Feature Support List Consumer Level Features |
|||
| GPU | OS | ||
| Bad HDMI Cable Detection | Kabini APU and newer GCN Discrete |
Windows | |
| VP9 4K60 Decode Acceleration | Stoney APU GCN Discrete |
Windows | |
| HDR10 Support | R9 Fury series RX 460/470/480 R9 380/390/390X |
Windows | |
| FreeSync Borderless FreeSync Mode FreeSync Refresh Ramp |
R9 Fury series RX 460/470/480 R9 380/390/390X R9 285/290/290X R7 360 R7 260/260X |
Windows | |
| Skype Acceleration on APU | Bristol APU Carrizo APU Stoney Ridge APU |
Windows | |
| DisplayPort HBR3 Support | RX series | Windows | |
| Radeon CHILL Software (Select Games Only) |
GCN Discrete* | Windows DX9/DX11 |
|
| Radeon WattMan | R9 Fury series RX 460/470/480 R9 380/390/390X R9 285/290/290X R7 360 R7 260/260X |
Windows | |
| AMD XConnect | R9 Fury Series RX 460/470/480 R9 380/390/390X R9 285/290/290X |
Windows | |
| Radeon Software Clean Install | GCN Discrete Pro WX-Series Pro Duo FirePro W-Series |
Windows (Pro: Not Win8) |
|
| Upgrade Advisor | Kabini APU and newer GCN Discrete |
Windows | |
| User Feedback | GCN Discrete | Windows | |
| Crimson ReLive Linux Driver | GCN | Ubuntu 14.04/16.04 RHEL 6.8/7.2/7.3 SLED/SLES 12 SP2 |
|
| Radeon ReLive DVR | GCN Discrete Pro WX-Series FirePro W-Series |
Windows (Pro: Not Win8) |
|
In most cases, owning a GCN discrete GPU gets a user most of the features, and an RX-400 series gets them all. It's worth noting that none of the Pro features work on Windows 8, but also Windows Server wasn't mentioned specifically on the list of support packages - but I would assume that the equivalent Server version is supported for non-server Windows versions.
Final Thoughts
A year under the new AMD software strategy has yielded significant benefits for user experience, especially when good performing drivers are launched day one. The ethos for the original Crimson has worked well, and will continue into 2017 with ReLive, however there is a large number of new features and it may be tricky for AMD to balance so many new features with a good user experience. The ability to upvote new future features will be an enablement step for AMD to get a live glimpse into their users, but such a feature rarely produces a paradigm shift in thinking. The prominent focus into open source tools and Linux development, especially with technologies such as Freesync or ReLive for ISV certified applications, opens up potential for those markets.
AMD has promised a yearly cadence for major updates. In the last set of updates, Ryan said:
"This project has clearly been in the works longer than 3 months – but at the same time this is the RTG making their mark. It’s a new direction for AMD’s graphics group and a new look to match. And if the RTG can meet their stability, performance, and release goals going forward with the new Crimson driver, then they should be able to make 2016 a good year for the Radeon user base."
The same thing applies for 2017: execution is critical. 2016 ended up being a good year for AMD, helped in part with the RX-series launch, but similarly 2017 launches will be aided by a good user experience through both the drivers and the features. Something as large and complicated as the ReLive recording software can be a key product feature going forward, when done right.
Where to Download
The new ReLive drivers (16.12.1) should be available to download from today at AMD's driver page, or the Pro driver page.
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PseudoKnight - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
"took a few seconds..." cracked me uplol, now i'm imagining you starting up your download manager just in case your sister makes a phone call and you have to resume the download later.
A5 - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
It's possible the board designs spec a different HDMI/DP chip that supports it or something.Probably just a testing or marketing thing though.
Colin1497 - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
Yeah, I have a box with a 285 in it (my son's). Doesn't have an appropriate monitor today, but the monitor is the next thing to get replaced, so it was personal interest driving the Q. :)Manch - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
Was wondering the same thing. Why the rebadge only. Ill start the download :D as soon as I get home. Then I'm requesting the feature for my 290X'snathanddrews - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
The only differences over Hawaii that I know of are that Grenada has refined power delivery, power management, and faster 6 GHz VRAM. Pretty sure that Grenada and Hawaii share the same encode/decode blocks and display outputs, but it's possible that Grenada shipped with higher speed DisplayPort ports and it was never published due to the lack of concrete validation methodology at the time, but I doubt it. Pretty sure AMD/NVIDIA just buy DP/HDMI port hardware/controllers in bulk and order whatever is available at the time.Technically, HDR10 metadata can be streamed using older display connections (just like Dolby Vision), but without monitor/TV support, I'm curious to what AMD has planned. My guess is HDR10 will be limited to 8-bit Rec.709 on Grenada, whereas Polaris will get support for HDR10 10-bit Rec.2020, based upon port capabilities alone.
Why TongaXT is included in the mix and not Hawaii, I don't know.
testbug00 - Sunday, December 11, 2016 - link
Tonga is GCN gen3, Hawaii is GCN gen2.Gen1=Cape Verde, Pitcairn, Tahiti.
Gen2= Bonaire, Hawaii
Gen3= tonga, Fiji
Gen4= P11, P11
There is orland and I think one more 28nm GPU, but I do not know if they are gen 1, 2 or 3z
R3MF - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
"On the HDR front, AMD has been promoting that high end R9-300 series"What is it about a 390 series card that is absent in the 290 series card, to make the former compliant with HDR when the latter is not?
Is this purely HDR10 support, or does it include Dolby Vision as EA have said Mass Effect Andromeda will use on the PC? If not, do AMD think this matters?
ET - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
Hardware compatibility looks incomplete. It makes no sense for example that user feedback isn't available on APU's, or that VP9 4K60 works on discrete and Stoney Ridge but not on Bristol Ridge.R3MF - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
Re: Linux supportDoes "SLED/SLES 12" support indicate there will be a driver compatible with Opensuse Leap 42.2?
PseudoKnight - Thursday, December 8, 2016 - link
I really appreciate AMD adding features and improvements to even their five year old cards (own a 3 year old card). I've also liked this new direction they've been taking with their software since Crimson. It never felt quite finished (with some things being tacked on) but this looks like it might finally rounds things out. I'm particularly looking forward to testing out ReLive DVR. I suspect I'll stick with OBS Studio, but here's hoping it surprises me.