Ask Me Anything - Official AMD Radeon Representative

[Ogrodnik]

Which GPUs will have Freesync technology available upon release of the Adaptive-sync monitors?

The supporting GPUs:

Kaveri, Beema, Mullins, Temash, R9 295X2, R9 290X, R9 290, R9 285, R7 260X, R7 260.

This is a decision that reflects hardware capabilities. It's not a software/development choice.

That was his answer. He was not willing to speculate about anything future which is understandable.

However what I do not understand is that 3 of those free sync GPU's are re brands from the previous generation
that do not support free sync. I don't know if i buy that it is a hardware limited thing.. It seems more like a cash grab to get people out of still capable 7XXX cards and get them in to the R9/R7 line. The old proverbial carrot on a stick if you will.

only 260 is a rebrand of 7790, which can be easly flashed to 260

 

[Thracks]

However what I do not understand is that 3 of those free sync GPU's are re brands from the previous generation that do not support free sync.

None of the products on the compatibility list are "rebrands." They are newer ASICs than the HD 7000 Series with newer display controllers.

 

[Thracks]

Will features that are claimed to be "R series" specific (such as those in Catalyst Omega) work on the 7xxx equivalents to their R series rebrand?

For example 5k monitor support

5K Monitor Support:
Unparalleled display performance for professionals and gamers who require the highest resolution available and silky-smooth, fatigue-free graphics

5120x2880 at 60Hz
14.7 million pixels, 218 pixels-per-inch
Dual DisplayPort 1.2 input
Available on AMD FirePro™ and AMD Radeon™ R series GPUs

And "Perfect Picture Additions"

Available on AMD 7000 series APUs and AMD Radeon™ R series GPUs

Howdy. I think the release notes are pretty concise about what supports what. Is there anything you'd want to see added?

 

[junkeymonkey]

in your drivers foot/release notes this is stated

''◾Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers are no longer bundled in the AMD Catalyst software suite. The WDM drivers install bundle can be downloaded independently through the AMD website.''

lots of folks have asked about this but cant seem to find them so how about a link to it ???


#2 --- what the deal with you drivers and this new windows update blocking the driver from loading ?? [ windows update - KB3004394 ]

 

[cmi86]

Which GPUs will have Freesync technology available upon release of the Adaptive-sync monitors?

The supporting GPUs:

Kaveri, Beema, Mullins, Temash, R9 295X2, R9 290X, R9 290, R9 285, R7 260X, R7 260.

This is a decision that reflects hardware capabilities. It's not a software/development choice.

That was his answer. He was not willing to speculate about anything future which is understandable.

However what I do not understand is that 3 of those free sync GPU's are re brands from the previous generation
that do not support free sync. I don't know if i buy that it is a hardware limited thing.. It seems more like a cash grab to get people out of still capable 7XXX cards and get them in to the R9/R7 line. The old proverbial carrot on a stick if you will.

only 260 is a rebrand of 7790, which can be easly flashed to 260

I am not sure if that is exactly true. The dies have been carries over from previous 79XX/78XX/77XX cards. However I do not know what ellse has been changed so instead of unfairly speculating I should ask. What better time than now lol.

 

[renz496]

so FreeSync (in games) only work with GCN 1.1 and above. why it is not available in GCN 1.0 cards? also we know all GCN based card will get DX12 support. but what about 5k and 6k series? both also DX11 card like GCN based card. so will AMD extend DX12 support down to those card or simply people with those card will need to upgrade their GPU if they really want to benefit DX12 goodness?

 

[nguyenm]

Question: With all current-gen consoles having AMD DNA (GPU) inside them, when are we going to the the indirect optimization for its GCN architecture? Was COD:AW a result of PC port done right?

Question 2: With Mantle (and christmas) around the corner, will it be available freely as an open source or is it going to be marketed as a freeware API? As a Computer Science student i would like very much to implement Mantle in my game design class in the future. I strongly believe that this API can change the way graphic programmers handle optimization and game design.

Question 3: As transistors getting smaller and smaller, I believe Silicon will run out of steam soon. Are you planning ahead to experiment with graphene or carbon nanotube as the next transistor?

Ranting: This is a thank you note. Thanks to AMD's contribution to the Aparapi API, i made fools out of my classmate when using the power of GPUs to compute primes. OpenCL is THE thing of this era and i would like to tell you guys to keep contribute to the development of it. Also i don't blame you guys for bugs in drivers, etc... I know driver programming is a biAtch.... Send my regards to the AMD Team
p/s: ever considering moving out of US? I heard Saudi Arabia or Dubai is the lowest corporate tax in the world! so stop worring 'bout obamacare and start innovating haha!

 

[dimar]

I'm using Spyder4Pro to calibrate my monitor, which creates a Windows color profile. The problem is that 3D games don't recognize Windows color profiles. There's an application PowerStrip that can force the games to use the calibrated colors, but it doesn't always work for the new games. Could AMD please find a way to force Windows color profiles into games? I'm using R9 290 Tri-X

 

[cmi86]

However what I do not understand is that 3 of those free sync GPU's are re brands from the previous generation that do not support free sync.

None of the products on the compatibility list are "rebrands." They are newer ASICs than the HD 7000 Series with newer display controllers.

So this is why direct carryover cards like the R9-280 and 270X are not included in the compatibility list ? Because they lack newer ASIC's found in some of the other models that are not an exact re brand despite sharing a previously employed die ?

 

[Thracks]

so FreeSync (in games) only work with GCN 1.1 and above. why it is not available in GCN 1.0 cards? also we know all GCN based card will get DX12 support. but what about 5k and 6k series? both also DX11 card like GCN based card. so will AMD extend DX12 support down to those card or simply people with those card will need to upgrade their GPU if they really want to benefit DX12 goodness?

FreeSync compatibility doesn't depend on GCN. It depends on a specific piece of silicon called the display controller. The display controller must be capable of highly dynamic refresh rate adjustments. The GPUs I've specified throughout this thread are capable--the others are not. It's a hard technical decision.

As far as DX12 is concerned, HD 5000 and HD 6000 Series users will need to upgrade.

 

[Thracks]

However what I do not understand is that 3 of those free sync GPU's are re brands from the previous generation that do not support free sync.

None of the products on the compatibility list are "rebrands." They are newer ASICs than the HD 7000 Series with newer display controllers.

So this is why direct carryover cards like the R9-280 and 270X are not included in the compatibility list ? Because they lack newer ASIC's found in some of the other models that are not an exact re brand despite sharing a previously employed die ?

Because they don't have the necessary silicon to support it. It's that simple. The hardware is not there.

 

[dimar]

I'm using Lucid Virtu MVP 2.0 feature called Virtual Vsync, which eliminates all the tearing problem, and the games look pretty smooth. So far all games are working with it except OpenGL ones. Does FreeSync has any advantages over Lucid's tech?

 

[dovah-chan]

Any card that is based on Pitcairn or Tahiti is not compatible with free sync. All of the cards listed on the compatibility list are based off of either Hawaii, Cape Verde or Tonga.

 

[Thracks]

I'm using Lucid Virtu MVP 2.0 feature called Virtual Vsync, which eliminates all the tearing problem, and the games look pretty smooth. So far all games are working with it except OpenGL ones. Does FreeSync has any advantages over Lucid's tech?

FreeSync works with any game and any API. Seems like the biggest advantage of all.

But tearing is not the only issue that FreeSync addresses. It also eliminates the stuttering created by vsync when a new frame must be aborted, and the current frame in the front buffer must be extended, because the presentation of the new frame doesn't coincide with the screen update.

 

[JakeX]

I love AMD, but if there is one thing that has brought me so close to switching back to nVidia, it has been the dreaded "DisplayPort Link Failure" problem.

I had recently read a great article (http://www.rage3d.com/articles/amd_eyefinity_displayport_difficulties/) that discussed the cause of the issue: non-spec DisplayPort cables carrying power on pin 20 when they're not supposed to. This isn't AMD's fault, but nVidia has found a way to prevent this from happening on their cards.

My question is if AMD has done any work or plans to in the future to prevent this specific issue from happening? Specifically by having some kind of way to detect this power supply conflict and stop it?

Thank you for your time!

 

[Thracks]

Any card that is based on Pitcairn or Tahiti is not compatible with free sync. All of the cards listed on the compatibility list are based off of either Hawaii, Cape Verde or Tonga.

Hawaii, Bonaire, Tonga. But yes, exactly.

 

[dovah-chan]

Also don't forget Bonaire (HD 7790) was developed after Tahiti (HD 79XX) Pitcairn (HD 78XX) were. It's considered to be GCN 1.1 (not unlike the 750/Ti is the first generation of maxwell but is still under the 700 series nomenclature)

 

[smeezekitty]

Will features that are claimed to be "R series" specific (such as those in Catalyst Omega) work on the 7xxx equivalents to their R series rebrand?

For example 5k monitor support

5K Monitor Support:
Unparalleled display performance for professionals and gamers who require the highest resolution available and silky-smooth, fatigue-free graphics

5120x2880 at 60Hz
14.7 million pixels, 218 pixels-per-inch
Dual DisplayPort 1.2 input
Available on AMD FirePro™ and AMD Radeon™ R series GPUs

And "Perfect Picture Additions"

Available on AMD 7000 series APUs and AMD Radeon™ R series GPUs

Howdy. I think the release notes are pretty concise about what supports what. Is there anything you'd want to see added?

Why is that then?
I could understand if it just said if supported the 290(X)/260(X) being newer chips
but it just says "R series" which includes a lot of rebrands. Does that mean I could
flash a 7850 to a R7-265 BIOS and unlock features?

 

[Thracks]

Cape Verde uses the same architecture as HD 7800 and HD 7900. It's not newer.

 

[Thracks]

Will features that are claimed to be "R series" specific (such as those in Catalyst Omega) work on the 7xxx equivalents to their R series rebrand?

For example 5k monitor support

5K Monitor Support:
Unparalleled display performance for professionals and gamers who require the highest resolution available and silky-smooth, fatigue-free graphics

5120x2880 at 60Hz
14.7 million pixels, 218 pixels-per-inch
Dual DisplayPort 1.2 input
Available on AMD FirePro™ and AMD Radeon™ R series GPUs

And "Perfect Picture Additions"

Available on AMD 7000 series APUs and AMD Radeon™ R series GPUs

Howdy. I think the release notes are pretty concise about what supports what. Is there anything you'd want to see added?

Why is that then?
I could understand if it just said if supported the 290(X)/260(X) being newer chips
but it just says "R series" which includes a lot of rebrands. Does that mean I could
flash a 7850 to a R7-265 BIOS and unlock features?

People use "rebrand" as some pejorative about certain products, but it betrays a certain misunderstanding about what those products truly are. They are unique products with their own engineering timeline, BIOS, board, fabrication, etc. That means they need their own specific engineering effort for software, their own validation cycle, etc. You can't just design a technique for the R9 270X, wave a magic wand, and have it work on an HD 7800 product.

People think it works like that. They want it to work like that. But it's not reality.

 

[TechyInAZ]

Mr. Hallock,

Will Project FreeSync be implemented in IPS monitors?

And will FreeSync be compatible with not only AMD Radeon, but Nvidia Geforce, and Intel HD graphics?

 

[dovah-chan]

How do you come up with the code names for the products? Is it done by a marketing team or does the engineering team just choose whatever they feel like calling it?

My favorite names are Thuban and Clawhammer by the way.

Well I guess also including GPU names it would probably be Cayman and Evergreen. From what I remember reading though they still use codenames like RV770 in house.

 

[Thracks]

Mr. Hallock,

Will Project FreeSync be implemented in IPS monitors?

And will FreeSync be compatible with not only AMD Radeon, but Nvidia Geforce, and Intel HD graphics?

FreeSync is compatible with any sort of display type. There are several panel technologies currently being utilized on the monitors being validated for market entry. That's all I can say.

FreeSync is AMD's specific solution for using the refresh rate control provided by DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync. Anyone could adopt DPAS and design their own competing solution, and the market would be better for it because multiple vendors are now mutually supporting a free and open standard.

 

[ubercake]

...
Indeed, many of the firmware vendors are telling us that they’ve only needed to design and validate new firmware for many of their scalers to outfit them with the Adaptive-Sync support. Three companies basically own the scaler market: Realtek, MStar and Novatek. All three of them have committed to supporting Adaptive-Sync, with some combination of existing scalers upgraded to new firmware, and new-generation scalers built from the ground up with Adaptive-Sync in mind.
...

Since VESA has adopted Adaptive-Sync as part of the DP standard, are monitor manufacturers committed to incorporating scalers including Adaptive-Sync in all of their future monitors with DP connections? To rephrase, can we assume once manufacturers have begun to produce monitors with Adaptive-Sync technology they will make Adaptive-Sync part of their everyday monitor production process?

 

[Thracks]

How do you come up with the code names for the products? Is it done by a marketing team or does the engineering team just choose whatever they feel like calling it?

My favorite names are Thuban and Clawhammer by the way.

Engineers decide by committee.