Intro

Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition (19.12.2) Feature & Driver Performance Analysis featuring the Red Devil RX 590 with 46 Games

As a regular BTR feature, we chart the performance of 46 PC games using the latest Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 19.12.2 which releases this morning. We will compare the performance of these brand new drivers with October’s 19.10.2 drivers and also with February’s 19.2.2 drivers using the Red Devil RX 590. In addition, we will look at the new features of this completely redesigned software interface that puts an emphasis on capture, streaming, and sharing from any device with a high-speed Internet connection.

The Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition is AMD’s special annual update which introduces important new features that we will cover although our emphasis is on driver performance changes. BTR driver performance analyses track the progress of many driver releases from AMD and from NVIDIA with our 46-game benchmark suite including Red Dead Redemption 2, CoD: Modern Warfare, Ghost Recon: Breakpoint, and The Outer Worlds.

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We document the performance changes of the current Software Adrenalin 19.12.2 Edition on Windows 10 at 1920×1080 and at 2560×1440 resolutions. Our testing platform is a recent install of Windows 10 64-bit Home Edition, and we are using an i7-8700K which turbos all 6 cores to 4.8 GHz, an EVGA Z370 FTW motherboard, and 16GB of T-FORCE DDR4 3866MHz. The games tested, settings, and hardware are identical except for the drivers being compared.

First let’s look at what Adrenalin 2020 brings new for Radeon owners.

Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition’s New Features

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition provides gamers with many new and improved features using one-click presets for an easy way to optimize software and system settings for individually tailored and optimized gaming. What we especially like about it is that there is no need to sign into it nor give our email address and password just to access the program.

The new Game Center gives gamers the option to launch games from one location regardless of the platform and adjust their settings for each individual game while tracking gaming and performance stats without ever leaving their game. In addition, a new integrated web browser enables users to browse online for game information including for walkthroughs. Here are some of the highlights of the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition:

Radeon Boost – Delivers an average performance boost up to 23% during fast-paced gaming by dynamically reducing image resolution in areas where it matters least to image quality while increasing framerates, fluidity, and bolstering responsiveness. AMD promises that Radeon Boost are supported in eight top games now with additional titles to be added.

AMD Link – Features an updated interface, and the AMD Link mobile application now allows gamers to stream to mobile devices with high-quality PC gameplay on phones or tablets from anywhere with a high speed Internet connection.

Integer Display Scaling – Scales on-screen images from one pixel to four or more to give classic games a retro pixel-art look with scaling options for high resolution displays without performance penalty.

DirectML Media Filters – Visual noise reduction and upscaling filters utilize machine learning to clean up photo and video files to deliver better quality than traditional de-noise and upscale filters.

Radeon Image Sharpening and Radeon Anti-Lag – Radeon Image Sharpening3 adds support for DirectX11 in addition to DX9, DX12, and Vulkan games. This feature now allows users to select the degree of sharpness. Radeon Anti-Lag4 adds support for DX9 titles on older 5000 series graphics cards.

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition is available now from www.amd.com/en/support. For more details on AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition, start here.

Let’s look at few of the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition features individually beginning on the next page