AMD Working on Major Driver Overhaul for November

Despite a historical disadvantage compared to Nvidia in terms of drivers, AMD has not given up. Last year, AMD unveiled their 14.12 Catalyst Omega driver, a suite that added a number of major features along with a host of optimisations and bug fixes. This year, it looks like AMD to about to do a repeat performance with a similar driver dump set to occur in November, likely named 15.11 or 15.12.

With the time of the “mega-driver” release being the same period as last years, it looks like AMD may be planning to do this type of thing annually from now on. With a release around November, AMD can cash in on the PR hype and maybe get a few more sales during the holiday season. On the other hand, holding back significant features from current users can cause some issues, especially if said feature are already finished. AMD has also reduced the use of WHQL certifications, which has led to more ‘beta’ releases throughout the year.

This time around, we don’t yet know what new features will be added. While the last driver was also meant to improve the performance disparity between AMD and Nvidia cards, the two competing camps are closer this time around. The most likely additions are improved DX12 support and likely a number of bug fixes. It will be interesting to see what AMD will be bringing to the table as their headline features.