Game:

Doom (2016)

Duration: 40:52

1,081 views

25

NOTE: Results are for 390 and 390X. -- I show two different computers, back to back, using the old driver and the new one. I also show 1440p and 1080p. The short version: 1080p frame rates went up, by a lot. 1440p went up, but it doesn't seem as noticeable, during actual game play. The game seems to have more hitching, with the newer driver, and it seems to have broken FreeSync.

Demonstrating FreeSync is always difficult. It's not the kind of thing that is easily shown on YouTube, but hopefully, it's obvious that the old driver does not have screen tearing, in Doom, while the new driver does.

FreeSync working matters, because V-Sync does not work well, with this title, already. You can have V-Sync and low frame rates. No sync of any kind, and high frame rates. Or you can have perfect game play and no screen tearing (with FreeSync). I think most people would prefer the perfect game play with no screen tearing. Unfortunately, 16.5.2.1 seems to have broken FreeSync, so that's a problem. I've tested on two different system and two different GPU's. Both GPU's and both systems have seen FreeSync work, on the 16.5.2 driver, but none of the configurations have seen FreeSync work, with the 16.5.2.1 driver.

I talk about and show a lot, in this video. Arguably, the video could have been shorter, but this issue has tied up more than 15 hours of my time, and it led to somewhat of a rant.

If I have time, I'll make a shorter version of this video, but the issues with this driver have already taken up 5+ days of productivity, and I still have other GPU's and drivers to finish testing. Furthermore, Overwatch is coming in just a few days.

Most of the pertinent information is here, in this description box, so you don't have to watch the entire video, if you are not inclined to, but the video demonstrates what I am typing here, if you want to see it.

Also, I talk about what a shady company Nvidia is, but what a disappoint AMD is, if you're into that sort of stuff. The video ran long, for a reason. A lot of ground was covered.

Systems Used:
I got some things wrong, at the start of the video, regarding the systems used here, but I corrected them, in the video. I'm writing out what the systems are, here, for further clarification.

First system:
i7 6700K
16GB RAM
Asus Strix R9 390X 8GB
Windows 10


Second System:
i7 4790
16GB RAM
Asus Strix R9 390 8GB
Windows 10


Update- Driver: 16.5.3 is out, now. My Doom game has gone into "Developer Mode," probably, because I was testing the game, on the two different computers, back to back. I'm trying to see if it's possible to get out of developer mode, before I put 16.5.3 through its paces.

Update 2: I am probably not testing the game on any new AMD drivers, right away. On my main test system, the game is in Developer's mode. On my other system, the game seems to play just fine, and does not mention Developer's Mode, at all. I really want to sort this out, and have pretty much suspended messing with the game, until this is cleared up. In case you don't know, Developer Mode blocks you from online play and keeps you from earning achievements. Furthermore, it seems to permanently implicate you as a cheater. This is something I would rather clear up, before I end up screwing my "good" version of the game that still properly works.

Update 3: I'm not in a position to jump into testing drivers again, but I seem to have the Developer mode problem "mostly" fixed. I had to delete the "corrupted" save files, but i also, still, have different save files, on my two different computers. Every time the save files try to sync up between the two, the game tries to put me in developer mode, again. So, basically, I have to play through the game multiple times to work around this.

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