AMD has released the AMD Software Preview Driver May 2022, which is now available to all Radeon graphics card owners. The latest driver comes with new features and substantial performance improvements for both new and old games.
The AMD Software Preview Driver May 2022 offers up to 10% higher graphics performance, on average, in various DirectX 11-based games on AMD's latest Radeon RX 6000-series graphics cards. According to AMD's internal tests, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and World of Warcraft: Shadowlands showed 28% and 30% better performance, respectively.
The new driver also brings Smart Access Memory (SAM) optimizations, specifically for Death Stranding and Watch Dogs: Legion. As a result, AMD recorded performance uplifts of 10% in Death Stranding and 13% in Watch Dogs: Legion at 1440p on a Radeon RX 6950 XT. With a Radeon RX 6750 XT, the chipmaker saw 12% better frame rates in Death Stranding and 24% in Watch Dogs: Legion. Meanwhile, AMD only observed a 6% increase in Death Stranding and Watch Dogs: Legion on a Radeon RX 6650 XT. The company used a Ryzen 7 5800X3D to power its test systems and used the AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.5.1 driver for comparison.
| Games | Performance Gains |
|---|---|
| World of Warcraft: Shadowlands | 30% |
| Assassin’s Creed Odyssey | 28% |
| Total War Saga: Troy | 17% |
| Grand Theft Auto V | 11% |
| Watch Dogs: Legion | 10% |
| Valorant | 7% |
| Total War Hammer 3 | 5% |
| Apex Legends | 5% |
| Far Cry 5 | 4% |
| PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds | 3% |
| The Witcher 3 | 3% |
| Farming Simulator 22 | 3% |
| Overwatch | 3% |
Other games, which AMD failed to mention in the release notes, will also benefit from the AMD Software Preview Driver May 2022. The developer of CapFrameX, a famous frame times capture and analysis tool, did some of his own testing and discovered some significant DirectX 11 performance upgrades in Crysis Remastered and God of War.
The developer used a Core i7-12700K and an overclocked Radeon RX 6800 XT. The results revealed up to 24% higher performance in Crysis Remastered and up to 41% in God of War. He noticed 34% better lows in Assassin’s Creed Odyssey.
In other news, the AMD Software Preview Driver May 2022 now comes with the "sharpen effect" for Radeon users to tweak the sharpness of the image when using AMD's Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) 1.1 technology. AMD has also integrated the AMD Bug Report Tool directly into the Adrenalin software.
Radeon graphics card owners can download the AMD Software Preview Driver May 2022 at AMD's website. It is a preview driver, though, so there are bound to be some bugs. AMD didn't share when the final driver will be ready for prime time.
