AMD released Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.9.1 just in time for the Deus Ex: Mankind DividedDirect X 12 patch. The latest hotfix driver adds optimizations to ensure stable performance with Microsoft’s advanced graphics API.
Square Enix released the DX12 patch through Steam on the morning of September 8. The release notes that accompany the patch indicate that “some very high-end” graphics cards may perform worse with DirectX 12 than they do with DirectX 11. We’re not sure if Square Enix had access to AMDs hotfix in advance, but you probably want to make sure that you have the latest update either way.
Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.9.1 specifically address DX12 for Deus Ex, but AMD would be remiss if the update didn’t include additional fixes and features. On older drivers, some 144Hz “non-Freesync” displays would sometimes flicker in games or even on the desktop, and for FreeSync displays, refresh rate synchronization could cause flickering on the desktop. The hotfix corrects both of those problems.
The hotfix driver also addresses bugs related to several games. Grand Theft Auto V will no longer hang while loading story mode. The rain drops will no longer flicker in Dirt Rally when you set the graphics to High or Ultra. The driver corrected a problem with DOOM locking up on exit for some hardware configurations. And Crossfire RX 400 series cards in Total War: Warhammer will no longer have negative performance scaling.
Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.9.1 also corrects a problem with GPU utilization remaining high after running the SteamVR Performance Test and when RX 400 series graphics cards resume from sleep. There was also an issue with the driver installation process crashing on systems with Crossfire configurations that the hotfix addressed.
The update is far from perfect, though; AMD has a list of nine known issues that come with the latest driver:
- A few game titles may fail to launch or crash if the AMD Gaming Evolved overlay is enabled. A temporary workaround is to disable the AMD Gaming Evolved “In-Game Overlay”.
- Upgrading from a previous Radeon Software Crimson Edition version may cause user settings in Radeon Settings to reset to defaults.
- OpenCL applications may run initially on integrated graphics if they are present. Make sure to set the application to the correct device you would like to use.
- Radeon Settings information tab may report incorrect Open CL or Mantle versions.
- Radeon Software installer may report driver uninstallation failed even when it was successful.
- No Man’s Sky™ some minor corruption may be experienced when standing close to solid structures inside of caves.
- Mouse cursor corruption may be experienced very intermittently on the Radeon RX 480.
- DOTA2™ may experience an application hang when using the Vulkan™ API and changing resolution or game/quality settings.
Ashes of the Singularity™ may experience an application crash with “crazy” in game settings and Multi-GPU enabled.
The Radeon Software Crimson Edition 16.9.1 hotfix is available now from AMD’s website. You’ll want to update your drivers if you plan to try out Deus Ex: Mankind Divided in DX12.
