Setting up Catalyst Control Center for games. How to switch to the second video card? Setting up AMD Radeon for gaming

By default, the Control Center app automatically applies the color and quality settings that best suit your video. You can view and adjust these settings using the following pages in the Video group.

• Color - Contains options for enabling preset video settings and controlling the color quality of video images.
• Quality - Contains options for sharpening, smoothing, and enhancing the quality of video images. This page also contains settings for configuring video playback on multiple displays (theater mode).

Depending on your system configuration and whether your computer is running on battery power, some video features may need to be enabled before use. If necessary, these functions can be enabled on the page Video > Overall video quality.

Switchable graphics systems

If your computer supports switchable graphics and you use the GPU selection method to assign applications to specific GPUs, two versions of the Color , Quality and Overall video quality, which allows you to configure both GPUs:

• High performance graphics adapters- Use this version of the page to configure video settings for the AMD discrete GPU.
• Energy efficient graphics adapters- Use this version of the page to configure video settings for the integrated AMD GPU.

The specified video settings and basic video color settings are applied to both GPUs.

On the page Video > Overall video playback quality contains options to enable video playback features and change video settings. The options on this page are divided into two categories:

• Video when running on battery/- Contains options to enable or disable playback enhancement features.
• Video playback- Contains options to enable smooth video playback and apply video playback quality settings on the web and third-party video players.

Enable/Disable Video Enhancement Features

The video enhancement features on a laptop are disabled by default, regardless of whether it is running on battery or AC power. Thus, standard video playback quality and performance are provided against the backdrop of a balanced/optimized power saving mode. Thanks to the choice of options Override system power policies, the user can configure the system so that the video enhancement features are always used, regardless of the power source and the selected Windows® power plan.

On some laptops, video enhancement features are disabled only when switching to battery power. To continue using the video enhancement features even when on battery power, select the appropriate options Video on battery.

Note: The availability of these options depends on the type of system you are using.

Video enhancement features provide optimized video playback and performance, but may increase power consumption.

1. Go to page Video > Overall video quality.
2. In area Video on battery/Override system power policies enable or disable the following options:
   • Allow all functions that improve video playback- Ensures that all video processing features, including AMD Steady Video, are always available, even when the system is running on battery power. Selecting this option may improve video playback quality, but at the expense of power consumption.
   • Only allow AMD Steady Video- Uses AMD Steady Video (if available) to stabilize shaky video playback, but disables all other video enhancement features to save battery. Select this option to balance image stability with power consumption.
3. Click the Apply button.

The video playback quality changes according to the selected options.

Enabling Smooth Playback and Adjusting Video Quality

If you experience tearing in the image due to dropped frames, use the video playback settings on the page to ensure smooth video playback. Video > Overall video quality.

These settings can also be used to apply the video settings currently configured in the Control Center application to third-party video players and video streaming from the Internet. By default, only some video settings are enabled (video post-processing settings are disabled until changed).

1. Go to page Video > Overall video quality.For some systems, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page corresponding to the GPU you want to configure.
2. In area Video playback respectively enable or disable the following settings:

   Tip: For faster access to this area in the expanded view, click Video playback in a group Video > Overall video quality.

   • Force smooth video playback- Provides smooth video playback without dropped frames.
   • Apply current video quality settings to internet video- Applies all video settings currently set in the Control Center application to Internet video.
   • Enable AMD Video Quality menu features for supported video playback applications- Enables video quality features for all supported applications, improving the quality of video playback on third-party video players. This setting is not available if the default video quality feature is enabled for all supported applications.
3. Click the Apply button.

Video Color Options

Page Video > Color contains settings for adjusting the color quality of video images. The settings on the page are grouped into two areas.

• Video base color- Contains AMD video presets and settings for adjusting video color levels.
• Optional video color- Contains settings for fine-tuning the color levels of video images.

Tip: For faster access to these areas in the expanded view, click Video base color or Optional video color in the respective group Video > Color.

Note: The settings apply only to applications that support hardware acceleration. The availability of some options depends on the characteristics of the particular system.

Using video player options

When you play videos on your system, you can configure them to use only those color settings that are controlled through the video player. When using video player settings, the base video color settings on the page Video >Color are ignored.

1. Go to page Video > Color
2. In area Video base color select Use video player options.

   Video base color in a group Video > Color.

3. Click the Apply button.

The color of the video is adjusted according to the color settings of the video player. The base color options on the page become inactive.

Selecting preset video settings

The Control Center application has a number of preset settings for adjusting the brightness, contrast, saturation, hue, and gamma of your video. Each preset setting contains a predefined combination of parameters designed for use in specific conditions. You can adjust the current video settings by selecting a preset setting, using application-specific settings, or by creating your own combination of settings.

For laptops that support switchable graphics, which provide the ability to simultaneously configure the integrated and discrete GPUs(GPU), changes to the specified video settings are applied to both GPUs.

1. Go to page Video > Color.
2. In area Video base color select Use AMD Settings.

   Tip: For faster access to this area in the expanded view, click Video base color in a group Video > Color.

3. Select Use AMD Settings, then select the appropriate preset video setting.
   • Standard - Use color options designed for standard view video.
   • Intense - Use color settings designed for brighter, higher contrast video images.
   • Theater - Use color settings designed for home theater.
   • Vivid - Use color settings designed for brighter video images.
   • Custom- Use custom color options. Selecting this option will make other basic video color settings available for configuration on the page.
4. Click the Apply button.

Changing Basic Color Options

Basic color options include brightness, contrast, saturation, and hue. Use these options to adjust color levels in video playback.

Note: The settings apply only to applications that support hardware acceleration.

For laptops that support switchable graphics, which provide both integrated and discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) configuration options, basic color settings apply to both processors. Therefore, these parameters are not displayed on the page. Video > Color for discrete (high performance) GPUs.

1. Go to page Video > Color.There may be two versions of these pages for some laptops; select the page corresponding to the GPU you want to configure.
2. In area Basic color options select Use AMD Settings.

   Tip: For faster access to this area in the expanded view, click Basic color options in a group Video > Color.

3. Select Use AMD Settings and adjust the following settings accordingly.
   • Brightness - Brightness is the overall intensity or lightness of an image.
   • Contrast - Contrast is the difference between the brightest and darkest parts of an image.
   • Saturation - Saturation is the intensity of the color in an image.
   • Hue - Hue determines the red, green, and blue components of an image.

     Note: Some video formats do not support these settings.

   The preset video setting option is automatically selected Custom.

4. Click the Apply button.

Change advanced video color options

Use advanced video color options to further customize the color quality of video images. With these adjustments, you can remove excess red from skin tones, brighten whites, and fine-tune other color levels to improve video quality.

Note: This page is not available on all systems. The availability of some options depends on the characteristics of the particular system.

1. Go to page Video > Color.For some laptops there may be two versions of these pages; select the page corresponding to the GPU you want to configure.
2. Make sure that in the page area Video base color chosen Use AMD Settings.
3. In area Optional video color adjust the following settings accordingly.

   Tip: For faster access to this area in the expanded view, click Optional video color in a group Video > Color.

   • Vibrant Color - Controls the saturation of colors.
   • Color Management- Controls the saturation of colors. Use the Gain sliders to control the brightness of each color, and the Hue sliders to more closely match each color to its adjacent colors on the color wheel.
   • Flesh Tone Correction- Eliminates excess red in skin tones.
   • Raise brightness of whites- Raises the blue value for brighter whites in video playback.
   • Dynamic Range- Controls the video brightness range. A wider range provides more detail.
   • Video Gamma - Controls the overall intensity of colors.
4. Click the Apply button.

Video Quality Options

Page Video > Quality contains settings for adjusting video image quality. The settings on this page are grouped into two areas:

• Video Quality - Contains options for sharpening and noise reduction in videos.
• Video demo mode- Contains options to showcase the AMD video enhancement features available for the graphics card.

Note: The settings apply only to applications that support hardware acceleration. The availability of some options depends on the characteristics of the particular system.

Changing video quality settings

To improve sharpness and reduce distortion and noise in your video, use the settings in the Video Quality area of ​​the page. Video >Quality. Video quality settings require application support and only apply when supported by your video player and GPU/graphics card.

Note: To ensure that the settings are applied correctly, use the vector, motion, or adaptive direction deinterlacing mode and ensure that the screen resolution is ≤ 2560×1600.

1. Go to page Video > Quality.There may be two versions of these pages for some laptops; select the page corresponding to the GPU you want to configure.
2. In the Video Quality area, enable and configure the following settings. You can set preferences by moving the slider or by selecting a value from the list box. Tip: For quicker access to this area in Advanced View, click Video Quality in the Video Quality group Video > Quality.
   • Sharpening- Controls the overall sharpness of the image.
   • Noise Reduction - Eliminates excess noise from images.
   • Blocking suppression- Smoothens images and reduces torn edges in video that has been overcompressed.
   • High Frequency Noise Reduction- Eliminates motion blur in videos that have been overcompressed.
   • Blurring the contours- Allows you to smooth the display of banding in equal contrast color spaces.
   • Enable Dynamic Contrast- Automatically adjusts video gamma and contrast levels to improve image quality. This feature is especially useful for enhancing color clarity and clarity in overly bright or faded images.
   • Enable Noise Reduction for Scaled Compression- Automatically reduces noise in scaled video compression.
   • Smooth movement- Reduces motion noise and provides smoother, smoother movement of objects by increasing the number of frames when displaying video content.
3. Click the Apply button.

Configuring Deinterlacing and Frame Change Detection Options

By configuring deinterlacing and frame change detection settings on the page Video > Quality, you can enhance the contrast and quality of video converted from film.

Deinterlacing allows you to create a sharp image from two interlaced fields of a video image. Frame change detection provides automatic compensation when playing movies transferred from film to video.

Note: The settings only affect applications that support hardware acceleration.

1. Go to page Video > Quality.There may be two versions of these pages for some laptops; select the page corresponding to the GPU you want to configure.
2. In the Video Quality area, do one of the following:

   Tip: For quicker access to this area in the expanded view, click Video Quality in the Video Quality group. Video > Quality.

   • To automatically use the deinterlacing mode that best suits your videos, select Use automatic deinterlacing.
   • To use a specific deinterlacing mode, select the appropriate mode using the slider:
     • Horizontal instability- Without applying the deinterlacing function.
     • Bob - Removes every second video line; recommended for movies.
     • Adaptive - Takes into account the amount of motion in the video image. In this case, a filter is applied to the moving block, and the effect of horizontal instability is applied to the remaining blocks.
     • Subject to motion- Adopts advanced motion detection technology.
     • Vector adaptive transformation- Provides smoother and less jagged edges in interlaced video playback.
     • Given the direction- Provides smoother edges for horizontal lines in interlaced video.
3. To enable frame change detection to improve video quality, enable Frame change detection.For example, frame detection can be used to convert a movie with a frame rate of 24 fps to a video recording of 30 fps. to view in NTSC mode.
4. Click the Apply button.

Setting the video display mode

Use area Video demo mode On the page Video > Quality to demonstrate the benefits of the video options available in the Control Center app. When demo mode is enabled, all video enhancement features supported by your graphics card are enabled. In addition, a window appears that compares the playback video with and without enhancement features.

Note: These settings are only supported by certain graphics cards.

1. Go to page Video > Quality.There may be two versions of these pages for some laptops; select the page corresponding to the GPU you want to configure.
2. In area Video demo mode enable or disable as needed Enable demo mode.

   Tip: For faster access to this area in the expanded view, click Video demo mode in a group Video > Quality.

   If the video demo mode is enabled, select one of the following options:

   • Full screen mode (improvements disabled)- The demo window shows video playback with enhancements disabled.
   • Full screen mode (improvements included)- The demo window shows video playback with enhancements enabled.
   • Split screen mode- In the demo window, the video plays at the same time with the enhancement features enabled and disabled. To enable AMD Steady Video Simultaneous Demo, you must first select this option. The availability of this setting depends on the characteristics of specific graphics cards.
3. Click the Apply button.

Demo mode is automatically disabled each time you restart your computer or log in.

AMD Steady Video

AMD Steady Video is a technology designed to stabilize shaky video playback. Home videos shot with handheld cameras and other devices may be unstable. AMD Steady Video processes video as it plays and can remove unwanted motion for a more stable image. The AMD Steady Video page contains settings to stabilize the playback of shaky videos. It also provides settings for the AMD Steady Video feature demonstration and indication of its use.

If your computer is running on battery power, you may need to enable the AMD Steady Video feature in the battery status options on the Video > Overall video quality.

Note: The settings apply only to applications that support hardware acceleration. The availability of some options depends on the characteristics of the particular system.

Enable/Disable AMD Steady Video

Enabling AMD Steady Video support may help reduce video shaking in handheld video recordings. When AMD Steady Video is enabled, you can customize the amount of image processing applied to videos.

Note: AMD Steady Video settings affect both AMD CPU and AMD graphics. Only select AMD graphics cards are supported. The AMD Steady Video feature uses AMD technology to balance video processing workloads between the CPU and graphics card.

1. Go to page Video > AMD Steady Video.
2. Enable or disable the feature Enable AMD Steady Video.
3. Click the Apply button.

AMD Steady Video support is enabled or disabled as appropriate.

Note: If your computer is running on battery power, you may need to enable the AMD Steady Video feature in the battery health options on the Video > Overall video quality.

If AMD Steady Video is enabled, you can change the amount of stabilization applied to videos.

You can also show or hide the AMD Stabilization logo during video playback. You can also choose to use the simultaneous playback configuration in the video demo mode.

Setting stabilization power, video delay and zoom settings

When AMD Steady Video is enabled, you can control the amount of image compensation applied to shaky video recordings. AMD Steady Video Options in Standard View allows you to select predefined AMD Steady Video options, consisting of specific values ​​for stabilization power, video delay, and scaling. You can also use a custom combination of values ​​specified in the advanced view.

For better control of these values, use the AMD Steady Video options in Advanced View instead.

1. Open page Video > AMD Steady Video in standard or extended representation, depending on the type of adjustments needed.
2. Make sure AMD Steady Video support is enabled.
3. Do one of the following:
   • Standard View - Use the Total Power slider to select the desired AMD Steady Video preset or custom setting. Increasing the setting value can provide more stable video.
   • Advanced View - Adjust the following settings as needed. You can move the slider to adjust the setting, or you can select a value from the list box.
     • Power - Controls the amount of stabilization applied to videos. A larger value of the parameter provides more stable video recordings. A lower parameter value will result in the fewest side effects.
     • Video Delay - Controls the number of frames to delay video recording. A larger value of the parameter provides more stable video, but may cause video and audio outputs to be out of sync.
     • Scaling- Controls the amount of scaling. AMD Steady Video compensates for jittery edges by zooming into the center of the video. A higher zoom level can improve the quality of the stabilized video.
4. Click the Apply button.

The amount of compensation applied to movies varies depending on the option selected.

Configuring AMD Steady Video Demo and Indicator Settings

If AMD Steady Video is enabled, you can choose to compare raw video and video stabilized with AMD Steady Video at the same time.

Note: These options are available only for systems that support AMD Steady Video.

1. Go to page Video > AMD Steady Video.
2. Make sure AMD Steady Video is enabled.
3. Do any of the following:
   • To demonstrate the benefits of AMD Steady Video in the video demo mode, select Display video on adjacent displays in demo mode and make sure the option is also selected Split screen mode in the page area Video demo mode.When this option is selected, the screen will display a side-by-side comparison of raw video and video stabilized with the AMD Steady Video feature.
   • To display the AMD Stabilization logo for video enhanced with AMD Steady Video, select Show indicator if compensation function is active.If this option is selected, the logo is temporarily displayed in the lower right corner of the video.
4. Click the Apply button.

Fast Video Conversion

If your Windows® 7 system has a video converter that automatically converts video files when you drag them to your portable media player, you can use a video card to speed up the conversion process.

Note: This acceleration feature is only available if you selected the drag and drop transcoding software component during the AMD software and driver installation.

The issue of setting up AMD Radeon for games at least once arose among users of gaming video adapters. It's not enough just to plug the GPU into the computer, in which case many modern games can still slow down. Therefore, initial configuration of the graphics accelerator driver is required.

Setting up AMD Radeon for gaming

There are several reasons why the video card does not immediately work at full capacity. For example, a missing or outdated video card driver. All this will be discussed in more detail in the current article.

Attention! Depending on the model of the video card and the type of software (AMD has both Catalyst Control Center and Adrenalin Software), the type of installation and configuration will be different. Focus on the instructions below and the names of menu items, buttons.

Step 1: Installing the latest driver version

The driver is the video card software, it is through it that the operating system interacts with the graphics adapter, which affects not only games, but also some programs.

Installing the current software AMD consists of the following steps:

1. 1. Go to the official AMD website for further download, then download the software for your version of the video card.

1. 1. Select a directory (you can leave it as default) to upload the file and click "Save".

1. 1. Open the downloaded file.

1. 1. Unzip it to any directory convenient for you (the default directory is C:\AMD), and click the button Install.

1. 1. Accept the terms of the license agreement and continue the installation with the appropriate button.

1. 1. Install "Recommended Driver" to your computer (the additional one is a test one and may contain a lot of glitches and errors).

1. 1. Select "Express Install" ("Selective Option" suitable only for very experienced users who are unlikely to get advice on the Internet).

1. 1. After installing or updating a driver, it is highly recommended that you restart your PC. Without this, the changes made during the driver installation process will not be fully applied.

Step 2: Setting up the driver itself

Already after installation current version AMD driver you will see a tangible result. Performance in games will increase, and idle projects may start to run. Nevertheless, there is an opportunity to further improve the situation in the settings of the driver itself. How to do this:

1. 1. Right-click on an unoccupied part of your desktop and select the item in the pop-up window AMD Radeon Settings.

1. 1. Open item "Games".

1. 1. Go to "Global Settings".

1. 1. Set options "Shader Cache" and "Tessellation Mode" in "AMD Optimized". This will give a noticeable performance boost in games that use these technologies.

1. 1. Go to tab "Display".

1. 1. On all monitors (if there are several), it is recommended to enable "Virtual Super Resolution". This will allow you to use display resolutions that are not officially supported by your monitor, which can be a good way to improve the picture in older games.

Preparing an AMD video card for games is very simple, all you need to do is install and properly configure the driver, no other actions are required.

Absolutely new interface, functionality and performance improvements

Introduction

We don't often write articles dedicated solely to updating video driver versions, even if special versions promise big performance boosts in games, which we are already used to. But there are exceptions, as was the case with the AMD Catalyst Omega driver, a review of which was published on our website about a year ago. That version was a major driver update from AMD, featuring new features and performance improvements in many popular games. Since the release of the Catalyst Omega driver, AMD's software has been downloaded over 60 million times - an impressive number.

Improving drivers for video cards is very useful, since a modern video card is not just a hardware solution, but a software and hardware solution, in which software is the most important part that can be improved without the need to replace hardware solutions. Drivers for video cards from AMD under the familiar name Catalyst were first released a long time ago, the first version of ATI Catalyst appeared back in 2002, and video drivers for Radeon in general have been released for more than 20 years.

During this time, graphics card drivers have become more than just device drivers designed solely to keep them working. The driver package now includes a decent set of software: user interfaces, libraries, tools, applications, and so on. This whole set of software is habitually called a video driver, but in fact it is already almost a small graphical operating system. No wonder that quality software is very important for gamers, game developers and graphics professionals.

Today is the next major and most important video driver update for AMD. Since this is the first announcement on behalf of a new division of the Radeon Technologies Group, they decided to give it a new name - Radeon Software. We say goodbye to the usual Catalyst drivers, their era is over and a new era has begun. The first version of the Radeon Software drivers was named Crimson Edition, and in the future, global versions will be released, named one of the shades of red (Crimson - crimson).

The announcement of the planned release of a radically new version of video drivers aroused great interest: dozens of articles and news were published, thousands of comments were written in social networks and forums. Users of AMD graphics cards were clearly looking forward to the new driver. And for good reason, because it gives them a completely new user interface with reduced load times, new and improved features, including reduced power consumption for watching videos and light games, as well as optimizing 3D rendering performance.

In 2015, there were three major WHQL driver releases and nine beta versions, all important game projects like GTA V, Star Wars Battlefront, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 received optimized driver versions from the day they were released. But plans for 2016 are even broader, with up to six major WHQL driver releases planned, with additional betas as needed and major hit games released.

New Radeon Settings UI

One of the most important changes in the new driver pack is a completely new graphics card settings UI and a redesigned installer. AMD has redesigned the Catalyst Control Center (CCC) settings tool with a completely new tool called Radeon Settings. It received a modern user interface, quite simple and clear, and most importantly - much faster than the previous CCC. Added a number of new features to Radeon Settings as well.

At work, Radeon Settings uses a software development tool called Qt. Since this set of libraries and tools is cross-platform, it is theoretically possible to easily port the code to other operating systems, such as Android. But for now, the new user interface works in all operating systems of the Windows family - in versions 7, 8.1 and 10.

Among the main improvements of the new driver, we note: a much faster application start time, an intuitive GPU settings interface, a new settings and profiles manager for gaming applications, a new interface for GPU overclocking capabilities, as well as changed settings for display output, video data processing and AMD multi-monitor output configuration eyefinity.

At the heart of Radeon Software Crimson Edition is a completely redesigned settings and installer interface that improves the user experience when installing, launching and using the new version of the software. Just as a theater begins with a hanger, any driver package begins with its installer. According to AMD, the installation time in the new version has been reduced by about 1.4-1.5 times compared to the previous installer. It also received a new interface - quite simple and straightforward.

The functionality of the installer has not changed - you can choose the driver components necessary for installation in approximately the same way. From the unusual (perhaps this is true only for the beta version issued to the press), we note only the possibility of choosing to install the user interface: either Radeon Settings (AMD Settings) or AMD Control Center (CCC). But we liked the simplified and more understandable installer progress bar - now it is one.

Otherwise, apart from simplifying the interface and speeding up installation, the process is not much different from the previous version. But the launch of the Radeon Settings themselves after installing them is much faster than it was in the case of the clumsy CCC. To launch Radeon Settings, just select the appropriate item in the context menu of the desktop. Windows desktop or by double-clicking on the special red icon in the system tray. You can also quickly select a profile for games and video data from this menu.

The new Radeon Settings launches in literally a second, the overall application launch time has been reduced by 2-3 times compared to previous versions, and this is really noticeable, especially when re-opening the settings.

In addition, the initialization time for connected displays has been significantly reduced - from 11 to 3 seconds. If this is not so important for the main monitor at system startup, then when connecting an external display or projector to a laptop, such an acceleration can only be welcomed.

As for the convenience of the new interface, here we can note a decrease in the number of necessary actions in order to get to any settings. For example, in order to install the previous driver, it took seven mouse clicks, and the new Radeon Software Crimson Edition is content with only three such clicks. Roughly the same applies to the Radeon Settings interface itself.

Let's first take a look at all the pages of the new Radeon Settings panel. The start page is shown in the screenshot above, and the next one shows the page for checking for software updates - this was done quite conveniently, although it was not necessary to give a separate page for updates:

Let's move on to the settings of the Radeon Settings utility itself - there is a convenient and popular option to restore all default settings, the ability to enable a tray icon, links with AMD, as well as some interface settings, including the ability to disable advertising banners (probably a reserve for the future ).

The advanced settings button brings up a separate window with a completely different interface, familiar to us from previous versions of CCC - here you can configure some additional settings for working with displays and sound, which (yet?) are not included in Radeon Settings:

But let's move on to the main sections of the new utility. The first button with the game controller icon brings up a menu with a set of game profiles found by the driver in the user's system. There is also the possibility of changing the global 3D rendering quality settings:

On the one hand, profiles for games and changing their settings are quite conveniently made, on the other hand, games are not cataloged in any way, they all lie in one dump list, which is not very convenient. Global settings and settings for specific games are approximately the same and differ little in functionality from the previous ones:

The main visual difference of the new interface is that it stretches and the utility window resizes to any size (almost the minimum borders still remain), automatically rearranging the order of the controls. This is especially important and convenient given the huge difference in resolutions of modern user devices.

Alas, but you have to pay for everything - it seems to us that the settings are slightly lost in convenience and visibility, compared to what it was before, because all controls are the same and their location in the window is not fixed - now they will have to be searched for before any changes.

Immediately next to it, overclocking capabilities are configured, familiar in terms of a set of settings, but in a new interface. From this panel, you can view the current frequencies, temperature, fan speed, as well as change the target frequencies, power consumption and fan speed - all as usual.

The next panel is for setting up video data output - you can either choose a preset profile from several configured by AMD, or set up your own custom settings, enabling all quality enhancement technologies as you need. Recall that some settings remained in the additional menu called separately (see above).

This settings panel is for configuring displays. In this case, an LG monitor with support for FreeSync technology is connected to the test system, and the indication of the frequencies within which this technology will work seemed very convenient: from 48 to 75 Hz. The choice of settings is not too rich, you can also find all the rest in the additional menu.

We just have to look at the panel with information about the hardware and software configuration of the user system - it shows everything you need in maximum detail on three pages in a convenient form.

Overall, the new Radeon Settings interface is comfortable enough to get used to. It really works noticeably faster than CCC and does not consume too much memory. True, if you open many tabs after launch, then the consumption of system memory can reach 175-200 MB, which is a bit much even by modern standards.

Now let's talk about subjective shortcomings. Of the shortcomings we noted - the absence (or we did not find) a direct choice of the interface language - only the one installed in the system is used. It would be nice to be able to install an English interface, and not even because the translation is not perfect, but because many Russian words are too long for such an interface and are not included in short blocks. We also didn’t like the fact that you can’t turn off the now-fashionable translucency of the interface.

And we also lack additional functionality, such as monitoring temperatures, frequencies, voltages and other parameters with their display during the game or in the form of graphs, as is done in third-party utilities. In addition, despite assurances of better stability of the new settings panel, the application in idle mode ended several times without any action from the user - there is still work to be done:

However, it is very likely that this problem is related to the cost of the pre-beta version, intended for evaluation, so we will not find too much fault, hoping that the final version of Radeon Software Crimson Edition will be free from these annoying flaws.

From what remains to be added on the topic - a new utility for uninstalling AMD drivers and cleaning the system from their "tails" -. This utility removes all previously installed AMD Catalyst drivers, including video and audio drivers, and cleans the files and registry entries left by them. Useful thing.

Performance optimization

And here is another interesting section - increasing the rendering speed in games is one of the most anticipated for all users. Such expectations are especially high when special editions are released, such as Catalyst Omega or Crimson Edition. In the case of the Catalyst Omega, performance optimizations have been carried out to a greater extent than usual, but for the Crimson Edition, the main change is still a new interface. But we were also promised improvements in 3D rendering speed and a general increase in comfort at AMD.

Radeon Software Crimson Edition delivers performance improvements to virtually all Radeon graphics card users, but in varying sizes and conditions. For example, the increase in frame rate for one of the popular DirectX 12 benchmarks Fable Legends is 7-20%, depending on the resolution: FullHD or 4K, in the latter case the increase in performance will be less. This test was conducted on a system with an AMD Radeon R9 Fury X graphics card, comparing the Radeon Software Crimson Edition drivers with the rather old release of AMD Catalyst 15.7.1.

But not only benchmarks, AMD representatives also note solid speed gains in modern games. For example, the increase in average frame rate in the game Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 is about 6-8%, depending on the resolution. In this case, Radeon Software Crimson Edition is already compared with AMD Catalyst 15.10 Beta.

This chart shows the gains in several popular recent games with Radeon Software Crimson Edition drivers compared to Catalyst 15.10 Beta. Improvements in rendering speed in the Linux operating system are also noted. The gains from Radeon Software Crimson Edition on this system are most often around 10-15%, but sometimes it comes up to 50-55% (for a Total War game).

As usual, AMD compares rendering speeds between the latest drivers and fairly old versions like Catalyst 15.7. It seems to us that it would be much more interesting to compare the speed of the latest version with more current drivers, including the latest Catalyst 15.11.1 Beta available on the company's website, which we did on our own. We also took another old version - 15.9.1 Beta.

The set of games for our own express test turned out like this: Star Wars Battlefront, Fallout 4 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 3. For our measurements, we used the video card of the model Radeon R9 380 and a test system based on the top Intel processor operated by the operating room Windows systems 7 SP1, took a resolution of 1920x1080 and tried to set the maximum game settings (except for the very demanding Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, where the settings were set to High). Let's see if we get speed gains in these games?

As you can see, there are still small gains in the most modern games, although they are quite insignificant if we compare the Crimson Edition with the latest available beta version of Catalyst. But compared to the not-so-new driver version 15.9.1, AMD's test card received an additional 5-25% increase in speed. Probably, for Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, the driver has already been optimized earlier, but the rest of the games have accelerated decently. But if we compare the new product with Catalyst 15.11.1 Beta, then the gains in games turned out to be within the measurement error - up to 2-4%.

Let's look at the frame rate graphs in the above games, obtained as a result of testing:

The performance graphs in the games we tested confirm our findings - there is no noticeable performance improvement over the latest available Catalyst 15.11.1 Beta video driver. But the driver of the outdated version 15.9.1 clearly lags behind them in almost all the games used for tests.

Shader caching

But not only frame rate measures user comfort, there are other indicators that have been improved in the new Crimson Edition driver. For example, let's note the appearance of shader caching - storing the compiled shader code on the drive, which can speed up the loading and execution of many game projects using DirectX 10 and DirectX 11.

Why is shader caching necessary at all? Many games now feature an open "seamless" world where shaders are sent to the video driver during the game, but they still need to be compiled, which can cause frame rate jerks and longer loading times for levels and missions. The shader cache, on the other hand, stores previously compiled shaders and quickly retrieves them from the storage as needed in a ready-made form, which requires less work for the CPU and video driver. This improves game and level load times and eliminates some of the performance drops (frame rate spikes) while playing.

Shader cache usage is set in game profiles and information is stored in the AppDataLocalAMDDXCache directory. Some games already have Shader Cache enabled in their profiles by default, but it can always be disabled in the Radeon Settings 3D Settings Manager.

These are all words, but what about the actual load time, is it really decreasing? According to AMD, enabling the shader cache causes a significant reduction in reload time (when there are already compiled shaders in the cache) in games such as Bioshock Infinite and Star Wars Battlefront. The benchmark loading in the first game without shader caching is 11.35 seconds, and with the cache enabled it is only 9.96 seconds, which is 12% less. For Star Wars Battlefront, the loading time of the Survival - Endor level with shader caching is actually 34.5% faster - it takes 11.2 seconds instead of 17.10 seconds. Good gains!

In terms of improving smoothness right during gameplay, another scenario where the shader cache helps is games that send shaders to execute right as the game progresses, and not when the level is loaded. In this case, there may be performance hits due to the fact that the CPU does the work of compiling the shader code right during the game. The shader cache significantly reduces the possibility of such problems related specifically to compiling shaders.

As you can see in the middle of the graph, with shader caching disabled in Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare (High Quality settings, SMAA T2X anti-aliasing enabled at 4K resolution), on a configuration of a pair of Radeon R9 390X video cards in CrossFire mode, the moment of compiling the shader is clearly visible when disabled caching. The value of 2149 ms for rendering a frame means very noticeable "brakes" in the gameplay - for more than two seconds one frame was shown on the screen, and the player's actions are not displayed on it all this time. Enabling the shader cache leads to the fact that the peak of the drop in rendering speed is significantly reduced, and as a result, the user sees a relatively smooth video sequence.

Improvements in frame pacing technology

Support for smoother multi-GPU rendering using frame pacing technology has been in AMD drivers for a long time, since Catalyst 13.12. The technology works for CrossFire configurations consisting of dedicated desktop GPUs and for combining APU and GPU power when working on rendering - in AMD Dual Graphics configurations. The new Radeon Software Crimson Edition brings this technology to games that use not only DirectX 10 and 11, but also DirectX 9, including many games known as eSports.

The graph shows the frame rendering times in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim using DirectX 9 on a test CrossFire system consisting of a pair of Radeon R9 Fury X video cards - as you can see, the changes in frame rendering time that are unpleasant for comfort, typical of early multi-chip systems are not available in this case. The technology works on all supported AMD GPUs, as well as on older APU A8 models.

FreeSync Technology Improvements

We have already talked about AMD FreeSync dynamic refresh rate technology, which eliminates frame sequence artifacts such as tearing (“tearing”, which appears when V-Sync is turned off - Sync off) and eliminates delays and uneven frame output when turn on synchronization (if V-Sync on is enabled).

Radeon Software Crimson Edition brings support for this technology to CrossFire configurations in DirectX 9 games, low frame rate compensation is introduced in this version, and AMD announced that they are working with monitor manufacturers to enable FreeSync dynamic synchronization when displays are connected via HDMI.

We are most interested in low frame rate compensation Low Framerate Compensation (LFC). When the frame rate falls below the minimum refresh rate supported by a FreeSync-enabled display, a special adaptive algorithm automatically changes the output frames and their refresh rate to reduce frustrating frame-rate drops.

In other words, with FPS below the minimum refresh rate and VSync on enabled, FreeSync was previously not working, causing choppy framerates. But now, with the inclusion of LFC, the transition of frames will be smooth. With synchronization disabled, frame breaks (the so-called tearing) are observed under the same conditions, and enabling LFC reduces it.

No user configuration or monitor refresh is required, this feature is automatically enabled on all FreeSync-enabled monitors that have a maximum refresh rate of twice or more the minimum. For example, in our test LG monitor, the minimum refresh rate is 48 Hz and the maximum refresh rate is 75 Hz, and this technology will not work, since 75/48=1.5625, which is less than two times. Alas.

Energy optimization

Recently, the issue of energy efficiency has become very important, especially for AMD solutions, which are clearly not among the leaders on this issue. The new Radeon Software Crimson Edition driver includes some power optimizations that under certain conditions (when watching videos and playing light games) improve power consumption for Radeon graphics cards, including the Radeon R7 360, R9 380, R9 390 and R9 Fury models.

For example, a clear reduction in power consumption is achieved when viewing high-definition video data. The energy savings in this case are very noticeable, and it will result, among other things, in reducing the noise from the cooling system of the video card and the case, if it is adjusted depending on the temperature inside the PC. The following graph shows the change in power consumption when streaming YouTube videos in FullHD resolution on a 4K display.

Compares the power consumption of a processor-based system Intel Core i7 5960X and Radeon R9 Fury X graphics cards when installing Catalyst 15.7.1 and Radeon Software Crimson Edition drivers. The new version allows you to significantly reduce power consumption in this case, the consumption of the GPU itself is significantly reduced, and the overall energy efficiency of the system is also noticeably improved.

A decent improvement in energy efficiency can be achieved in some games using technology Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC), which allows you to set a target frame rate, reducing both the load on the GPU and its power consumption. We already wrote about this technology, which appeared in Catalyst 15.7, it allows you to reduce the power consumption of the GPU, since it will not need to do extra work, getting useless ultra-high frame rates. Instead, the GPU will consume less power and generate less heat, resulting in less cooler noise.

It is important that FRTC works not only in 3D scenes, but also in loading screens and in-game menus, where FPS very often reaches sky-high frequencies, and the GPU does a bunch of useless work. For obvious reasons, FRTC is most useful in "light" games where the load on the GPU is low, such as older projects, or if the monitor connected to a relatively powerful system has a low resolution.

The Crimson Edition introduced wider game support and expanded the target frame rate range. Now all applications using DirectX versions 9, 10 and 11 are supported (previously D3D9 was simply not supported), and the target frame rate can be between 30 and 200 FPS. The following chart shows the improvement in power efficiency achieved by enabling FRTC in a Rocket League game running DirectX 9 at 1920x1080.

A powerful system based on the AMD Radeon R9 Fury X graphics card, with no FPS caps, consumes 297W, of which 175W falls on the Fury X, and the frame rate limit set to 90 FPS gives only 172W and 61W, respectively. There is a total savings of 125W when using Radeon Software Crimson Edition.

FRTC technology has also been improved for gaming applications using DirectX 10 and DirectX 11. Although it has been supported since Catalyst 15.7.1, modifications to Radeon Software Crimson Edition allow for better performance than older driver versions. So, in the game Bioshock Infinite at 4K resolution using the powerful Radeon R9 Fury X graphics card and capping the frame rate at 60 FPS, savings of up to 107 W are achieved when using Radeon Software Crimson Edition, although Catalyst 15.7.1 saves only 50 W. Roughly the same with the game Sniper Elite in the same conditions, but with an FPS limit of up to 55 - Crimson Edition saves 190 watts of energy, and old version Catalyst only 90 watts. Improvement in energy efficiency is evident!

Video playback and image output improvements

Of the new features of Radeon Software Crimson Edition, we will also note some improvements designed to increase the quality of video data playback. The new drivers introduced technologies for adaptive contrast change and improved directional scaling. The new version of AMD drivers has six pre-installed profiles, as well as a default profile and custom settings.

Selecting a profile changes some settings depending on the screen resolution, the content being played and the player being used. At default settings, all advanced image processing technologies are disabled. In the user mode, you can select any value for sharpness, color saturation, steady video and fluid motion technologies.

A new feature introduced in the Crimson Edition is directional scaling, which is designed to improve the smoothness of lines on the edges in the image when displaying low-resolution images on modern displays - when playing 1080p video on 4K monitors. In simple terms, the technology allows you to significantly reduce the "ladders" in the image obtained with conventional scaling algorithms. The easiest way to understand this is with an example (imitation):

The directional scaling algorithm renders 1080p content better on 4K displays and uses an adaptive directional filter to enhance edges and eliminate stair-stepping in the image. This filter requires a video card to work. radeon series R9 Fury Series or Radeon Nano and supported browsers and media players. The technology is automatically enabled when playing 1080p video content on 4K displays.

With the release of Crimson Edition, the dynamic contrast algorithm for video data has become adaptive, changing depending on the content of the video. Adaptive Dynamic Contrast allows you to increase the overall contrast of the image, leaving the dark areas intact so that the image on them remains visible. Dynamic contrast depends on the selected video profile and is disabled by default. Video Adaptive Contrast requires a Radeon R9 285, R9 380(X), or R9 Fury series graphics card.

Some of the advanced video processing capabilities previously unavailable on APUs are now available on sixth-generation 35W TDP APUs such as the AMD FX-8800P and AMD A10-8700P. Features include blur reduction, frame rate smoothing, and an advanced filter to improve detail. The first two options work when playing Blu-ray discs using CyberLink PowerDVD 15.

The new Crimson Edition drivers have support for adding custom resolutions, allowing you to create your own mode by changing timings, refresh rates, and more. This feature is available in the advanced settings Radeon Settings called in a separate window.

The ability to create custom resolutions with Radeon Crimson Software Edition is available for all graphics AMD processors Radeon running on Windows 7, 8.1 and 10 operating systems.

Another interesting feature has also appeared - a virtual increase in resolution not only for 3D applications, but for all tasks, including the Windows 10 desktop. This feature allows you to get more space on the display when using Windows 10 and a high-resolution monitor with a pixel density of over 150 DPI.

VSR technology can be used to set a larger desktop resolution on a lower resolution display, which can be useful in some cases - for example, when displaying the same high-resolution image on two monitors with different resolutions, or for tasks that require as much as possible spaces, such as large tables, video and photo editing, programming and in other cases.

For example, on a laptop that has a 1920x1080 pixel screen at 150 DPI, you can set the resolution to 2560x1440 pixels to get more window space on your desktop.

New for Developers

Not only players and other users are interested in stable operation and rich functionality of drivers for video cards AMD Solutions but also software developers - 3D games in particular. For them, one of the good news will be the emergence of technology support. AMD LiquidVR in the Crimson Edition driver is the first publicly available driver with this functionality.

AMD's initiative to introduce and improve virtual reality tools allows developers to use some of the new driver features related to the operation of VR devices: affinity multi-GPU (a pair of GPUs work each on their own half-frame of a VR image), Direct to Display (simplification of connecting virtual reality helmets reality), Latest Data Latch (decrease in delays with fast sending data to the GPU), asynchronous execution of shaders Asynchronous Shaders. LiquidVR technology requires Windows 7 and Windows 10 operating systems, Radeon R9 290, Radeon R9 390 and Radeon R9 Fury GPUs, and dual-chip configurations are supported.

A few words about the asynchronous execution of the shader code, which AMD is rightfully proud of. All their solutions based on GCN architecture GPUs have hardware support in the form of special Asynchronous Compute Engines that asynchronously execute incoming commands. The hardware implementation has a significant advantage over the software approach of competitors, and allows you to improve performance when both are executed simultaneously. Various types computing.

This feature is already widely used by some game developers, including console developers, but not only - asynchronous execution of shaders is also useful for virtual reality applications. Since greater parallelism in the execution of various calculations leads to lower delays, which is vital for the comfort of users using virtual reality helmets.

In addition to the recent topic of VR, the new version of the Radeon Software Crimson Edition drivers has support for some optional features included in OpenCL 2.0 (Open Computing Language) - the generally accepted industry standard for general purpose high-performance computing. These features include 32-bit support for Generic Address Space (Windows only), support for buffers larger than 4 GB, support for mipmap-level images and depth maps.

Let's mention another important solution for developers, which is being promoted by AMD. Just a few days ago, AMD CodeXL 1.9 was released - a set of utilities for full-fledged work on profiling, analyzing and finding errors in software for 3D developers. CodeXL works like being integrated into Microsoft package visual studio, or separately, and does not require the introduction of special code into the applications under study.

New features introduced or improved in this version of CodeXL: power consumption profiling (energy consumption, frequencies, voltage and temperature of cores in real time, including separately by APU components: video core and universal computing cores) for more than two GPUs simultaneously, static analysis, writing OpenGL shaders on Linux, troubleshooting (GPU Debugging) in HSAIL applications, support operating system Ubuntu 15.04 and bug fixes.

Bug fixes for previous versions of Catalyst

To achieve better quality and stability, the company conducted twice as many automated driver tests as the Catalyst Omega driver, a quarter more time spent on user testing with 15% more different firmware configurations.

Moreover, AMD has decided to continue the practice of asking users what problems they think need to be solved first. This year, ahead of the release of the Crimson Edition, they surveyed the AMD user community and created a list of the ten most important questions for existing driver versions. To solve them, the company created a separate team, which was engaged in catching such errors and eliminating them, and all these problems were successfully resolved in the discussed version of the drivers.

Here is a list of the ten most important fixes in the Crimson Edition driver:

• Running a game application while playing a video on a separate display could cause the system to freeze
• FreeSync technology sometimes did not work if the game was launched at the same time as playing certain types of video data, such as streaming YouTube videos
• For a pair of Radeon 295X2 video cards, the option to enable and disable CrossFire configuration using CCC might not be available
• Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 sometimes freezes when using Radeon family graphics cards
• A black screen was observed during the loading of the Windows 10 operating system in the interval between the display of the Windows logo and the Windows user login window
• Diablo 3 crashes unpredictably on Act 2 Desolate Sands
• GTA V crashed on some configurations with the Radeon R9 390X graphics card
• An error might occur during installation. latest versions drivers for some video cards of the Radeon R9 380 series
• Ashes of the Singularity crashes unpredictably on some Radeon 300 series graphics cards with 2 GB VRAM
• Playing MPEG2 video data caused a video playback or decoding error

Conclusion

Summing up our review material on describing the capabilities of a completely new version of the AMD Radeon Software Crimson Edition video driver, it can be noted that the company's software novelty really differs significantly from previous versions of the driver called Catalyst, gives users and developers some new features, improving existing ones.

The new version of the driver, called Radeon Software Crimson Edition, also improves stability and fixes the most serious bugs of previous versions, including those suggested by users. There has also been a slight increase in 3D rendering performance in most modern games under some conditions, albeit slightly, compared to the most recent Catalyst beta.

The main thing to highlight among the novelties of the first edition of Radeon Software is a completely new interface for video driver settings called Radeon Settings. Yes, it did not do without flaws, but the new interface clearly looks much more modern than the old CCC, it scales to different resolutions and window sizes, and has several new features and settings. In addition, it is much more convenient to use it, since the time for launching the configuration utility and installing the driver as a whole has been significantly reduced.

Separately, we can single out improvements to improve the quality of video data playback: special post-processing algorithms that improve image quality, increase comfort and smoothness of frame rate when playing with the appearance of a shader cache and improve frame pacing technology for multi-chip rendering, etc. We also note improvements in AMD FreeSync dynamic refresh rate technology and increased energy efficiency when viewing video data and in games using FRTC frame rate limiting technology - they allow you to reduce system power consumption in the event of a significant headroom.

For developers a new version drivers also will not pass without a trace, because it first appeared public support for LiquidVR virtual reality technologies, some new functions of the OpenCL 2.0 computing standard, support for new versions of the CodeXL utility, and much more.

Let's hope that the Radeon Technologies Group will continue to improve both the software and hardware of AMD's graphics solutions, as well as the introduction of new technologies and capabilities into them. The final driver will be available for download.

If you decide to download this utility, then most likely you know in general terms what kind of software it is and what it is for. In this thread, we'll take a closer look at frequently asked questions such as:

• Performance tuning (settings for games);
• Failed to start the program;
• AMD Catalyst Control Center does not start or open;
• How to uninstall an application?

Game settings

To switch to the performance settings mode, you should go to the “Games” tab in the main menu, and then open the “Global settings”. In the menu that opens, we see two tabs. The first is global graphics; the second is OverDrive technology. Be sure to pay attention to each point. Let's start with the first one:

1. 1. Smoothing mode.Select the level and anti-aliasing filter (if supported by the video adapter). x2, x4 etc. These are the so-called steps, or levels of smoothing. The higher, the less squares will be visible and the clearer the picture is observed in games.
   2. smoothing method.It has three types: multiple, adaptive and oversampling. The higher, the more the video card will heat up. It is not recommended to be used at maximum settings with weak hardware. This leads to overheating, and in the future to equipment failure.
   3. Morphological filtering.Unlike anisotropic, it does more blurring than anti-aliasing. There are few places where you may need it, so I advise you to always keep it on.
   4. Anisotropic filtering mode.In graphics, they are used to improve only the surfaces of images, which in one way or another have a slope. There are four modes: x2, x4, x8 and x16. In modern machines, it practically does not negatively affect performance, therefore it is used at the maximum level. Perfectly improves quality.
   5. Texture filtering quality.It has three modes: high level, standard and performance. We expose the one that is more suitable for your hardware.
   6. Surface format optimization.Another filtering method, but already the textures themselves, and not anti-aliasing, as was the case with morphological. Subtly improves quality, but also practically does not load the system.
   7. Wait for the vertical update.This is vertical sync. There are always four options: on, two of them depend on the game settings, and off. I advise you to keep it always on, because. benefits are not visible to the naked eye. But, at the same time, not a particularly strong load goes to the video card. More of a marketing ploy of the company than a real benefit.
   8. Triple Buffering OpenGL.Allows you to significantly speed up the process of displaying a picture, unlike its predecessor. Simply put, it has three buffers 1, 2 and 3. The picture is shown from the second, the next picture is processed in the first.
   9. Tessellation mode.Roughly speaking, it is necessary to improve the entire image, it is used as a “planer” for too rough surfaces and rounds off surfaces. Naturally, you have to pay for everything, in this case - performance. Tessellation example:

Failed to start?

• In most cases, especially new versions, there is a delay. Almost always, a second click on the tray icon or on the desktop helps.
• You may have installed the wrong software version for your adapter.
• Make sure the video card is from ATI Radeon.
• If nothing helps, contact support.

You now have the AMD Catalyst Control Center installed on your computer. Setting up for games begins with opening the program. The utility icon after installation appears in the tray of the Start menu bar. You can also open it by right-clicking on the desktop and calling the context menu. In it, on the first line, click on AMD Catalyst Control Center. Setting up for games on a 64-bit system will be the main subject of the instructions. The fact is that 32-bit systems are practically not used at present. Their age ended after Windows XP. All modern computers are based on 64-bit architecture and require AMD Catalyst Control Center setup for gaming. The laptop also belongs to such computers.

Program menu

In the program window that opens, you first need to figure it out. By default, in laptops, all graphics settings are hidden. You can access them through "Settings". Select "Advanced View" from the menu. After that, new sections will appear in the left column. Let's consider everything in order.

"Desktop Management" - this section helps you customize the desktop as you wish. It is possible to create different desktops, color settings and so on. "General display tasks" are responsible for finding new monitors and rotating the display. The "Video" section contains complex video playback settings from adjusting the brightness to speeding up and distorting. Now we have gradually come to the main point.

How to properly set up AMD Catalyst Control Center for gaming?

First, you need to decide on the purpose of the setting. If your computer gives out a sufficient amount of FPS without additional changes, does not load the system and the image quality is completely satisfied, there is no point in going into the settings. If you know that your system is able to squeeze more out of the picture of the game and you want to improve the image, then it is worth taking certain actions. It is also recommended to configure the video card for laptop users. Since portable computers are somewhat weaker than desktop computers, they spend more resources on modern games. The main task of having an AMD Catalyst Control Center on a laptop is setting up for games. Let's take GTA 5 as an example of a modern and very demanding game on computer resources.

Performance and quality

For inexperienced users, the program offers a simplified setting mode in the form of a "Performance - Quality" slider. By default, the settings are in balanced mode. If your computer is weak enough - set the slider to the "Performance" mode. Naturally, the graphics in the GTA 5 game will deteriorate. But resources will be freed up, and the video card will be able to "breathe in peace". This mode is especially recommended for laptop owners. If you, on the contrary, want to turn all the features to the maximum, move the slider towards "Quality".

Smoothing

More advanced settings offer to choose the level of anti-aliasing. When you move the slider, you see the image change in the picture, which makes it possible to visually estimate how the game will look like. You can also leave this setting to control the game. It is enough to check the item "Use application settings". In the next paragraph, the type of smoothing is selected. The setup follows the same principle. This parameter most of all affects the amount of FPS in the game. If anti-aliasing is disabled - FPS will be maximum. If you set the anti-aliasing to the maximum, the game on the laptop may sag.

Other settings

In the same section, you can set tessellation modes and frame rate. Also, for debugging, you can select the level of anisotropic filtering, and so on. If you do not have a clear understanding of these features of AMD Catalyst Control Center, setting up games in advanced mode is not recommended.

Advanced settings

The features described above are not all that can be done using the AMD Catalyst Control Center. Customization for games is also possible through game files. To do this, go to the "Games" tab from the left column. In the window that opens, under the words "Application settings", click the "Add" button. Find the file gta5.exe, which is located in the folder with the game installed. After that click "OK". The program should analyze the game settings and optimize the video card for stable operation. This feature is very convenient for laptop owners - it allows you to minimize the wear of the video card.

The most advanced mode of the Amd Catalyst Control Center is setting up games by changing the frequencies of the video card. You can do this by moving the slider in the "Performance" section. You can also choose from three preset modes: High Performance, High Quality, and Standard Settings.

Don't be afraid to experiment with the settings and tweak them to suit your laptop's performance. If something doesn’t suit you and you don’t remember which items you changed, you can always reset the settings to factory settings. This is done through the last item in the left column - "Information". Then select "Software Update". After clicking on the "Check for Updates" button, the program will automatically determine if new versions of drivers or AMD Catalyst Control Center are available for installation. Also in the program there is a function to adjust the performance in battery mode and from the network. From the network it is recommended to set the maximum performance for a comfortable game.

Outcome

AMD Catalyst Control Center is equally suitable for experienced users and beginners. A visual tuning system will allow you to choose the optimal parameters even if you do not know what this or that parameter is responsible for.