AMD DX11’s new preview enhancement driver unstoppable in 50-game test package

AMD’s new May 2022 software preview driver brought some amazing performance gains for several DX11 titles, with some titles achieving a 30% increase in minimum fps. However, such winnings may not be very common, based on the results of a benchmark package of 50 games tested by Techspot. AMD’s miraculous driver helped in several cases, but the “magic” was clearly missing elsewhere.

AMD’s claim of 10% higher graphics performance in DX11 titles only applies to a few selected games, less than 10, to be more precise. The Techspot average of 50 games revealed that the preview driver provides only minor performance advantages over the current Adrenalin 22.5.1 driver as a whole.

It is worth noting that Techspot is testing both DX11 titles and DX12 titles in its package of 50 games. AMD has explicitly stated that these are only improved games with preview drivers from May 2022 that use the older DX 11 API. Even there, Techspot found a few DX11 games that didn’t improve much, if not at all, although elsewhere a box of DX12 titles showed some decent improvements.

Techspot uses a test bench of the Ryzen 9 5950X with 32 GB of two-stage memory, powering the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT. Due to the huge amount of games tested, only one card was tested instead of multiple GPUs. The card was tested with the current 22.5.1 drivers, along with the preview driver, at 1080p, 1440p and 4K.

Of the 50 games tested, only about a third showed more than a minor performance benefit with the preview driver, and two-thirds showed an improvement of 1% or more. The others did not benefit or received a light execution. This is for testing 1080p, and the results of 1440p and 4K showed even lower gains.

At 1440p, 20 of the 50 games saw zero performance improvements from the preview driver, with four games suffering from performance deficits. In 4K, this model extends to 24 titles or generally half of the test package.

Games that have shown a significant increase in productivity include Guard dogs: Legion (it is not clear whether this was in DX12 or DX11 mode), Death Stranding (game for DX12 only), The Witcher 3, Apex Legendsand Forza Horizon 5 (another game for DX12 only). They all recorded at least a 5% or more increase in performance on all three resolutions. Guard dogs: Legion and Death Stranding were the only games to exceed the 10% limit with the preview driver at 1080p and 1440p, while the biggest improvement at 4K was 9%.

it is interesting, Good fall he was constantly performing worse. This is another game only for DX12 and the performance was 6-7% lower at 1440p and 4K. This is a game promoted by AMD, but it has always been a bit inconsistent in our own testing. Plus, it’s probably a “preview” driver for a good reason.

Overall, the preview driver has an average 3% performance advantage over the current Adrenalin 22.5.1 driver at 1080p and only 2% at 1440p and 4K. If you happen to play one of a handful of games that show bigger winnings, you can appreciate the improvements, but don’t expect miracles in a wider selection of titles.