News

AMD Releases Adrenalin 18.1.1 Alpha Drivers

Last year, AMD released their new Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition drivers. Releases 17.12.1 and 17.12.2 offered a big upgrade over older releases with new features. Along with the new update came some very ugly bugs. One bug, in particular, got a lot of attention due to that fact that AMD was unclear about a fix. Today, we are getting the quick fix that AMD ended up promising in the form of 18.1.1.

The bug stemmed from an issue with the SAGE game engine. This broke a number of DX9 titles including popular ones like Command & Conquer and original The Witcher. At first, frontline AMD support indicated that a fix would not be coming. That led to the issue escalating and AMD’s Terry Makedon promising a fix. As expected, this fix is coming in very soon as unplayable games are sort of a big deal.

AMD Pushes DX9 Bug Fix Out ASAP

One important note about the new drivers is that they are Alpha release. This goes beyond the usual Beta nature of the optional drivers. Due to the quick turnaround and holiday time, it is somewhat understandable that AMD is doing this. The driver targets the DX9 SAGE engine issue directly so it shouldn’t require too much additional testing otherwise. An alpha release is the best way to get the fix out as quickly as possible.

There is no word yet if 18.1.1 will remain an Alpha release or get upgraded soon. We can also expect 18.1.2 to arrive shortly as the main January driver release.  We may even get an 18.1.3 as this Alpha release might not really count as a real driver. Since 18.1.1 is so specific, unless your games are the buggy DX9 titles, there is little point to install the drivers. You can find the full release notes as well as the download link here.

Samuel Wan

Samuel joined eTeknix in 2015 after becoming engrossed in technology and PC hardware. With his passion for gaming and hardware, tech writing was the logical step to share the latest news with the world. When he’s not busy dreaming about the latest hardware, he enjoys gaming, music, camping and reading.

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 Possible Price Revealed

According to a new report, the GeForce RTX 5090 GPU will be very expensive. It…

14 hours ago

AMD Krackan Processor with 6 Zen 5 and Zen 5c Cores for Budget AI Laptops Leaked

A new AMD processor in the form of an engineering model has been leaked in…

14 hours ago

SK Hynix Begins Production of First 321-Layer NAND Chips

SK Hynix has claimed to be the first company to mass-produce 321-layer NAND memory chips.…

15 hours ago

Trust Gaming GXT 609 Zoxa 2.0 PC Speakers

SOUNDS GREAT – Full stereo sound (12W peak power) gives your setup a booming audio…

19 hours ago

PowerA Wired Controller for Nintendo Switch

Special Edition Yoshi design Ergonomic controller shape with Nintendo Switch button layout Detachable 10ft (3m)…

19 hours ago

Logitech G Saitek PRO Flight Rudder Pedals

Fluid Motion: These flight rudder pedals are smooth and accurate that enable precise control over…

19 hours ago