Today, AMD released Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2, featuring support for Strange Brigade, which releases tomorrow, as well as F1 2018. This update also supersedes the Strange Brigade Early Access driver that quietly released a couple days ago, and for that game AMD is observing up to 3 – 5% performance uplift compared to 18.8.1 on the Radeon RX Vega 64 and RX 580 8GB. Otherwise, 18.8.2 brings a number of bugfixes, including those for Far Cry 5.

As far as Strange Brigade goes, the third-person co-op adventure shooter is developed by Rebellion (of Sniper Elite fame), and is actually one of AMD’s recent game development partnerships. Coming with DX12 and Vulkan support, as well as an in-game benchmark, the game takes place in 1930s Egypt with a playstyle not unlike Left 4 Dead, according to the developers, except with a pulpy light-hearted tone. The title is also part of AMD’s ongoing “Raise the Game” promotion, the three-game bundle for qualifying purchases of RX Vega, 580, and 570 cards, running to November 3rd, 2018.

Compared to 18.8.1, AMD cited up to 5% faster 4K performance on the RX Vega 64 and up to 3% faster 1440p performance on the RX 580 8GB. But overall, as a more casual oriented game, Strange Brigade’s system requirements are not particularly demanding, and for AMD graphics cards a Radeon HD 7870 2GB is recommended as the minimum.

Moving on to the bugfixes, 18.8.2 resolves the following issues:

  • Some games may experience instability or stutter when playing with FRTC and Instant Replay enabled.
  • Upgrade Advisor may not appear in Radeon Settings game manager.
  • Far Cry 5 may experience dimmed or grey images with HDR10 enabled on some system configurations.
  • Far Cry 5 may experience an application hang when changing video settings on some system configurations.
  • Radeon Chill min and max values may not sync on multi GPU system configurations.
  • Radeon FreeSync may fail to enable when playing Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.

In terms of documented open issues, 18.8.2 lists the following:

  • Radeon FreeSync may fail to enable when playing Monster Hunter: World.
  • Some DirectX 12 gaming applications may experience instability while recording with Radeon ReLive on system configurations using Radeon R9 290 and Radeon R9 390 series graphics products."
  • Cursor or system lag may be observed on some system configurations when two or more displays are connected and one display is powered off.
  • Radeon RX Vega Series graphics products may experience elevated memory clocks during system idle.
  • Strange Brigade may experience fps drops on multi GPU enabled system configurations when Enhanced Sync is enabled and Vulkan API is enabled.
  • Flickering may be observed on some displays when Radeon FreeSync is enabled with Radeon ReLive enabled and recording.
  • Video profiles may not correctly apply on web browser video content.

18.8.2 does not apply to APUs. The updated drivers for AMD’s desktop, mobile, and integrated GPUs are available through the Radeon Settings tab or online at the AMD driver download page. More information on these updates and further issues can be found in the Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition 18.8.2 release notes.

Source: AMD

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  • Dragonstongue - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    shame AMD does not do the "right thing" and unbundle wattman from the drivers and offer it as an "optional" checkbox when doing a custom install so users (such as myself) are not forced into using something there are MUCH better alternatives for (such as TRIXX or Afterburner) to control GPU voltage, fan speeds and so forth while still having the ability to control game/media settings (such as type of tessellation to use or force level of AA/AF)

    the last driver that I am aware of that wattman was completely "unbundled" (but unfortunately at the loss of game/media settings was 16.8.3, all the other drivers since then that I noticed even if you do not install anything but the "base" GPU driver wattman is technically still installed anyways.

    I misss the old Catalyst drivers where if you FORCED the gpu clock or voltage etc it would actually listen to your settings and maintain them instead of deciding it knew better then you did and ramped clocks up and down (and voltages) with no way to prevent this short of a BIOS/FIRMWARE mod (not exactly advised) and YOU were the one that chose to activate overclock controls, if you did not, they were never "forced" into your base driver installed package

    I really wish AMD did not do this, I kind of understand wattman, but at the same time it should be OPTIONAL, just the same as vast majority of Win 10 forced BS.

    really hope they get some new Radeons out soon to get the prices back to a more tolerable level, I am all in for them making improvements for the "most expensive" of Polaris and Vega, but, they are hard to come by AND far pricier then they should be (stupid e-trailers)

    I very very dredge the day have to use Win 10 and deal with having to contend with wattman whether I want to be using it or not :(
  • wanit - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    And what, exactly, stops you from using something like OverDriveNTool to adjust your GPU? WattMan bundled into the Radeon software doesn't interfere with your overclocking settings at all, if you have never used WattMan. And nonetheless -- WattMan is perfectly capable of doing everything other tools can do, and even applies the settings seamlessly on boot. I have yet to encounter a feature that third party tools DO offer, which the Radeon software doesn't support.
  • baka_toroi - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    This post is dedicated to all the retards that claim AMD is as good as Nvidia.

    >Cursor or system lag may be observed on some system configurations when two or more displays are connected and one display is powered off.

    This bug has been there for many, many months and it pisses me off so much. How this shitty excuse of a driver gets approved over there really baffles me. The "ATI has no drivers" 10 years old meme still stands.
  • Manch - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    You need to get out of the anastropically filtered bitter barn and play in the hardware tessellated hay!!

    Bugs happen, and the one you're bitching about is really simple. Press power on the monitor. LOL
  • baka_toroi - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    I know bugs happen. Bugs also need to be fixed. This one has been there for many months already.

    I don't want to waste electricity and uselessly wear my monitor down. AMD won't monetarily compensate me for their incompetence.
  • Qasar - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    what about this bug with AMDs apu/notebook products:
    No AMD graphics driver is installed, or the AMD driver is not functioning properly. Please install the AMD driver appropriate for your AMD hardware
    this bug as been around since 1.5 years ago ??? now.. started with one of the windows 10 " creator" updates.. and STILL hasnt been fixed..... cant use my notebook for more then web surfing and the odd thing here and there..
  • Manch - Wednesday, August 29, 2018 - link

    They do, but sometimes they're persistent. The bug says
    "Cursor or system lag may be observed on >>>SOME<<< system configurations when two or more displays are connected and one display is powered off"

    Look at the Nvidia bug list. No matter which brand you're going to get bugs. You expect the HW/SW stack to work 100% of the time with multiple vendors, configurations, memory, etc?

    It's on their list so they're working on it. You're calling people retards and you're demanding compensation for a bug? BWAHAHAHAHAHAAAA....wow dude.
  • rocky12345 - Tuesday, August 28, 2018 - link

    I was going to say I have never run into this problem on my AMD card which I havn't mainly because yes I have 2 displays hooked up and both are always powered on and both used which is why I hooked up 2 displays anyways was to use both of them. If I am going to watch a movie on the main screen my Kodi software turns the screen off on the second screen and puts it into sleep mode but is still has the power on and just sits there sleeping with black screen.

    I can not talk for everyone but I am going to assume most people do this type of thing when running multi screen setups. The drivers work fine I am going to say the problem is more of a user error and not totally AMD's fault.

    I do how ever have a huge problem with Googles YouTube and Firefox. It was found that Google does things in a way that causes some lag issues and playback issues with Firefox when doing 1080p or higher. I have found this to happen a lot and at first I was blaming AMD and their drivers but after some testing on my end I found that it does not happen in Google Chrome or MS Edge just Firefox. The makers of Firefox are aware of this and have said a fix is in the works.
  • Targon - Wednesday, August 29, 2018 - link

    NVIDIA has many bugs that have been around as well. The real key when it comes to priorities is, "How many users are impacted by the problem?", and if the answer is something like, perhaps ten people total, because most people leave their monitors on. If turning a monitor on or disconnecting unused monitors will work around the problem, then it isn't a critical or even a high or normal priority bug. It deserves to be at the bottom of the priority list.

    How many driver updates has NVIDIA put out that cause BSoD problems for people, or just random crashing or problems in various games? Going back six months to find drivers that didn't cause crashing is something NVIDIA has as a major problem from time to time.

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