AMD : Battlefield 4 Patch, Mantle API and Catalyst 14.1 Update

[Paul98]

Will they release on a Saturday, or is next business day?

I would guess tomorrow as they have already said they are working overtime, and it was already delayed. But we don't have to wait long to find out and know it will be at worst monday.(unless a bad bug)

 

[Venomous]

I can think of a great reason why: feedback under NDA. If the press gets the driver and they say there are problems then that gives AMD time to remediate the problems such as delaying the proper release or doing a quick hotfix before it is live to the public.

I'm not here to speculate on why AMD is making these choices, but I highly doubt AMD is holding the driver back just to stick it to their GPU owners. There are legitimate reasons, whatever they are.

As for the original quote that I responded to, I thought it was comical that someone would hinge their "forever" future GPU purchases on a beta driver delay which only affects a preview of a feature only usable in one game. God forbid Nvidia ever hold back a beta driver, then there would be no choice of GPU for Venomous!

I've sat around and waited for 290s to come back down to AMD's set price. It's obviously they don't care that actual gamers are using their cards. As a hardware owner, I was lied to as well with when I would receive the driver to play a game my hardware was supposed to be optimized for.

It's my money and based off this debacle I will choose to buy 780s in SLI and not have to worry about further fud from AMD. It's pretty simple and if you think I'm the only one upset about this, you're kidding yourself.

Gcn 1.0 card owners aren't even going to see optimizations for a while on top of this mess. Just like that frame pacing fix... I'm done being misled and lied to. There are far more 7xxx cards being used for gaming then there are r9s, yet they get full mantle support out the gate? Hope it increases their mining output

Many of us got screwed out of our BF4 keys too, but again that's my fault? I'll vote with my wallet and AMD can build cards used for mining and leave actual gaming up to Nvidia for all I care at this point.

 

[VulgarDisplay]

I've sat around and waited for 290s to come back down to AMD's set price. It's obviously they don't care that actual gamers are using their cards. As a hardware owner, I was lied to as well with when I would receive the driver to play a game my hardware was supposed to be optimized for.

It's my money and based off this debacle I will choose to buy 780s in SLI and not have to worry about further fud from AMD. It's pretty simple and if you think I'm the only one upset about this, you're kidding yourself.

Gcn 1.0 card owners aren't even going to see optimizations for a while on top of this mess. Just like that frame pacing fix... I'm done being misled and lied to. There are far more 7xxx cards being used for gaming then there are r9s, yet they get full mantle support out the gate? Hope it increases their mining output

Many of us got screwed out of our BF4 keys too, but again that's my fault? I'll vote with my wallet and AMD can build cards used for mining and leave actual gaming up to Nvidia for all I care at this point.

Its already been stated that Tahiti based GPUs will work with mantle. They just need more optimization to see the full benefit.

By all means vote with your wallet but stop misinforming.

 

[Venomous]

Its already been stated that Tahiti based GPUs will work with mantle. They just need more optimization to see the full benefit.

By all means vote with your wallet but stop misinforming.

No, what I read is the performance is DEGRADED on gcn 1.0 hardware and will LATER optimized. Sorry, but that is not good enough for me. I'm done listening to these marketing lies and hype. They said the drivers were done and Dice dropped the ball. They have had more than enough time to get these drivers ready on both gcn 1/2.0 hardware.

Someone's not telling the truth here... I don't think Dice dropped the ball at all...

Now I know why there are so many AMD owners who recently gone Nvidia.

I'm not misinforming, I'm looking out for the better of the gcn 1.0 owners who are getting screwed. Hawaii card owners who play games are far and few between. Majority of R9s sitting in people's cases are being used for mining... Not gaming, therefore majority of GCN hardware being used for BF4 are 7xxx owners.

AMD needs to make this right and their not. You haven't seen them address the $200 markup on their cards or release things as promised...So, no 290s for me or any other AMD products here on out. They need to know that their actions result in upset users who will wash their hands of their cards.

 

[sushiwarrior]

No, what I read is the performance is DEGRADED on gcn 1.0 hardware and will LATER optimized. Sorry, but that is not good enough for me. I'm done listening to these marketing lies and hype. They said the drivers were done and Dice dropped the ball. They have had more than enough time to get these drivers ready on both gcn 1/2.0 hardware.

Someone's not telling the truth here... I don't think Dice dropped the ball at all...

Now I know why there are so many AMD owners who recently gone Nvidia.

I'm not misinforming, I'm looking out for the better of the gcn 1.0 owners who are getting screwed. Hawaii card owners who play games are far and few between. Majority of R9s sitting in people's cases are being used for mining... Not gaming, therefore majority of GCN hardware being used for BF4 are 7xxx owners.

AMD needs to make this right and their not. You haven't seen them address the $200 markup on their cards or release things as promised...So, no 290s for me or any other AMD products here on out. They need to know that their actions result in upset users who will wash their hands of their cards.

GCN1.0 still has positive scaling, but it's just not as large as 2.0 cards (eg. 10-20% when 2.0 would have 30-40%). Vote with your wallet man, I agree that I'm disappointed the driver didn't drop today.

 

[Red Hawk]

This is wrong because you guys have been hyping this for months. Now we have to wait 24 hrs ontop of the driver release for press? You guys have lied to us!

This WILL BE my last AMD purchase because you guys have been lying about having a mantle driver ready, then blaming dice for not having a mantle patch in December. When all the while, it's AMD who can't even get a driver out and your paying customers get pushed to the side by the press.

Oh calm down. They didn't say they wouldn't do an early press release either, you know. If 24 hours is that big of a deal for you, then you need to take a step back and think about what's really important.

Anyways, I'm not too bothered about performance needing further "optimizations". It's just the nature of software these days to release with a bunch of untapped performance potential. As long as the end result is achieved in a relatively timely fashion, I'm good.

 

[jackstar7]

Looking forward to the sale threads from all these folks giving up on their cards because a driver release came a couple days late.

Hope we start seeing reviews/previews trickling out.

 

[Beavermatic]

Why all the hate?

Im not an AMD user... I've always been intel/NVidia, but this is good news for the console and entry level gaming community where the cpu is a bit lesser than the rest of the machine. It gives them a significant boost and keeps them on par in games with those who's CPU can keep up with the GPU. So may it was overhyped, but isn't everything nowadays? And most of that hype comes from speculation and no official information.

Anything that gives you free increased performance on entry level hardware is never a bad thing.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Even though I've had to buy myself a 770 recently (long story) I'm quite excited for mantle. Always been an amd guy, looking forward to having the promises kept. Here's to mantle reviews soon! :thumbsup:

 

[r3pshow]

I hope that this isn't a re-post:

Pre-Release-Version Catalyst 14.1 Beta being tested right now.

http://www.hardwareluxx.de/index.ph...den-catalyst-141-beta-mit-mantle-support.html [hardwareluxx.de] (german)
scroll down to update 7

First results : http://www.guru3d.com/news_story/amd_mantle_update_driver_released_to_press.html [guru3d.com]

press got 48 hours for testing, means mantle earliest thursday, more wednesday or later ???!!

Fraps not working with mantle :")

Link

 

[Silverforce11]

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_mantle_preview,2.html

Wow that IS BETTER than I was expecting, ultra settings (R290X) with 4X MSAA and a hexacore i7 yielding 74 -> 83 fps at 1080p and ~10% at 1440p.

What's really interesting is the crap CPU + strong GPU combo like the A10 + R290X, under Mantle its delivering nearly the same performance as with the Hexacore i7 with DX11. This is great for a lot of folks on weaker CPUs and bodes well for enthusiast setups with multi-GPUs (which puts the bottleneck back on the CPU).

 

[Imouto]

What's really interesting is the crap CPU + strong GPU combo like the A10 + R290X, under Mantle its delivering nearly the same performance as with the Hexacore i7 with DX11. This is great for a lot of folks on weaker CPUs and bodes well for enthusiast setups with multi-GPUs (which puts the bottleneck back on the CPU).

Yeah, people with Q2Qs, 1st gen i7s and AMD CPUs in general should rejoice.

 

[uclaLabrat]

Yeah, people with Q2Qs, 1st gen i7s and AMD CPUs in general should rejoice.

I would, but I'm running a 6970 with a stock i7 920 and see no reason to upgrade the GPU, I'd be in the market for a complete build, but I have no idea when I'll have the kinda cash to pull that off.

 

[Lonyo]

One area it might be more interesting is something like laptops.
If you can improve performance on lower end CPUs, it makes having a gaming-capable laptop more viable because manufacturers can for example focus on GPU power over CPU power, in general and in the long run that is.

Not expecting someone to come out with a Mantle focused laptop tomorrow, since it's one game at the moment.

 

[Paul98]

Any word if the drivers will be available later today or monday?

 

[Venomous]

Any word if the drivers will be available later today or monday?

Knowing AMD you will be lucky to see them late next week. Press release drivers are more important than customers.

 

[Zstream]

Knowing AMD you will be lucky to see them late next week. Press release drivers are more important than customers.

Please stop posting, it's getting rather annoying.

Please stop thread crapping, it's a violation of forum rules.
-- stahlhart

 

[AtenRa]

Please stop posting, it's getting rather annoying.

Thats the beauty of Democracy, everyone can say whatever BS they want.

 

[Haserath]

Any word if the drivers will be available later today or monday?

Depends on how long it takes them to iron it out. They aren't promising a date.

 

[Attic]

Yeah, people with Q2Qs, 1st gen i7s and AMD CPUs in general should rejoice.

Yep, this pretty big. Lets folks who want to put there $$$ into GPU's do so without having to drop a ton on a new CPU. Should breathe life into some older systems and will let folks buy more budget oriented CPU's and feel great about that for gaming when paired with high end or top of the line GPU's.

May have to take one of my miners down to get a gaming session on soon.

 

[Bubbleawsome]

Regret my 770 purchase slightly, as I am running a 870. But I needed a replacement ASAP and a 770@1202 boost is not bad. Eh.

 

[SiliconWars]

Venomous - the vast majority of 7-series owners (including myself) had NO IDEA about Mantle when we bought the cards.

This is just gravy on top - I sure as hell am not feeling "screwed" as you put it. How can anyone complain about something they're getting for free? All this over a 1-day delay, seriously come on.

 

[Venomous]

Venomous - the vast majority of 7-series owners (including myself) had NO IDEA about Mantle when we bought the cards.

This is just gravy on top - I sure as hell am not feeling "screwed" as you put it. How can anyone complain about something they're getting for free? All this over a 1-day delay, seriously come on.

Im aware of that.. That isn't my issue. Its how its being handled, that's my issue bro.

 

[SiliconWars]

Ok I get you, but it's not like the delays were planned or some kind of conspiracy against 7-series owners

Stuff happens, this is cutting-edge technology. I don't have a GCN 2.0 card but I'm not irate over it - people who bought Hawaii have more right to Mantle than I ever did. Infinitely more, tbh.

 

[UaVaj]

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/amd_mantle_preview,2.html

This is great for a lot of folks on weaker CPUs and bodes well for enthusiast setups with multi-GPUs (which puts the bottleneck back on the CPU).

1) boost on an enthusiast class PC.
BF4 got a 10% boost. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
as for every other game that is not as cpu intensive. boost will be less.

2) next is the image quality
for someone who is obsess at eye candy. noticed that mantle has less distance draw and less texture. could that be where that 10% boost is coming from?

compare the photo for yourself. click on it for the full resolution.
http://battlelog.battlefield.com/bf4/en/news/view/2955063418790832415/

Low-end single-player
notice how the tree branch, bridge wire, and buildings are more pronounce with directx. mantle looks like it is not drawing as far.

Standard 64-player multiplayer
notice how the glass right above the "D" and the banner signs on mid left are more reflective with directx. mantle looks a little wash out.

High-end single-player with multiple GPUs
both of this image has too much blur. what not blur is the front sight. notice how the front sight is a little soft too mantle. like it is missing some aa.

this is just one subjective finding, so hopefully a reputable review site can affirm the image quality with mantle.