If you’re into Desktop PCs back in the 90s, you’ll probably remember the Omega drivers. Yup, those beautiful 3rd party drivers outclass the drivers from ATi (before they were part of AMD).
The Omega was unveiled to us at Future of Compute but it was under Embargo until today. 🙂
AMD claims that the name was chosen not based on Omega Drivers but I think most would be inclined to disagree, why couldn’t it be Alpha? 😀
In any case, the name’s here to stay and in this article I’m sharing the benchmark results comparing my Catalyst 14.4 against the Catalyst Omega 14.12.
Here’s the CCC information before the update.
Here’s the CCC information after the update.
Benchmark setup …..
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4670K |
| RAM | ADATA XPG V3 2400 MHz (8GB Kit) DDR3 Overclocking RAM |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-Z97X Gaming 3 |
| Graphic Card | Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X 3GB OC Windforce (1100 / 1500) |
| Cooler | NZXT Kraken X31 |
| Monitor | Dell U2414H |
| Power Supply | FSP AURUM 92+ 650W Power Supply Review |
| Casing | NZXT S340 |
| Operating System | Windows 7 64bit |
The Benchmarks
All benchmarks were run with the given tools from the games, all benchmarks were run at 1920 x 1080
| Benchmark | Catalyst 14.4 | Omega |
| Bioshock Infinite (Ultra details) | 75.05 | 73.22 |
| Metro Last Light (Very High quality, AF 4x, Normal motion blur, No SSAA, Very High Tessalation) | 26.50 | 33.00 |
| Unigine Heaven 4.0 (High Quality, Normal Tessalation, 4x AA) | 57.4 | 57.0 |
| 3DMark – Fire Strike | 4472 | 5720 |
Interestingly though 3DMark’s significant score gain wasn’t by framerate but rather the physics score.
There’s a boost in framerate, no doubt about that but it’s very little. Games like Bioshock Infinite showed lower min and max FPS but overall better results, Unigine Heaven 4.0 on the other hand shows higher min fps and lower max fps but maintaining the same scoreline.
Other Features
What else is new on the Catalyst Omega?
Virtual Super Resolution
This technology allows a user to improve visual quality in games and other content by rendering at a very high resolution (up to 4K) and then displaying that content at a lower resolution supported by the available monitor.
AMD Fluid Motion Video
This feature uses GPU compute to interpolate inferred frames with real frames and increase overall video frame rate and smoothness when watching Blu-ray content.
Contour Removal
This feature implements an improved algorithm for compressed videos which removes compression artifacts without disturbing video details.
1080P Detail Enhancement
This feature improves the sharpness and clarity of compressed and low resolution content when it’s played on a 1080P display. The AMD Catalyst Omega driver brings this existing feature to AMD APU products.
FullHD to UltraHD Video
This feature makes your 1080p video content look even better when displayed on an Ultra HD (4K resolution) display
5K Panel Support
Going beyond 4K resolution – 5120×2880 @ 60Hz
Frame Pacing Enhancements
Frame-pacing enhancements have been implemented in prior AMD Catalystâ„¢ drivers to bring a smoother gameplay experience to users of AMD Crossfireâ„¢ Multi-GPU graphics configurations. The AMD Catalyst Omega driver brings this same technology to our AMD Dual Graphics system configurations, which harness the power of an AMD APU working together with an AMD Radeon GPU.
Performance Optimizations for APU and GPU
AMD Catalyst Omega driver also provides significant performance benefits for gamers who use our AMD Radeon APU and Discrete GPU products.
Progression from AMD
With the driver being enhanced, I hope to see better AMD products in 2015.
Details of the above mentioned content are available to download from goldfries.com, just click on the links below.
– Media Presentation
– Reviewer Guide
The Omega driver is available at AMD.