AMD Radeon 22.7.1. OpenGL Optimisations Tested – Huge Gains!

Conclusion – We love AMD’s 22.7.1 driver update

There are two ways that you can look at AMD’s new OpenGL optimisations, and both are valid perspectives. Since all modern games do not use OpenGL, it is valid to see AMD’s latest wave of optimisations as unnecessary. That said, OpenGL is the API behind Minecraft Java edition, and all PC gamers that value their back catalogues will appreciate having stable performance in their older PC games. 

Before the release of AMD’s 22.7.1 drivers, Radeon users could return to classic games with Wolfenstein: The New Order and despair at how poorly the game can run on modern AMD graphics cards. Additionally, Minecraft fans could see Nvidia’s graphics cards as an obvious hardware choice for them due to AMD’s poor OpenGL performance. While AMD could ignore their poor OpenGL performance, there is a cost to doing so. 

In recent months, the newest releases of AMD Software have been reworked by AMD’s engineers to make sure that games running on legacy graphics APIs run well on AMD hardware. First there was AMD’s DirectX 11 boosting driver, which we have tested here, and now we have a new optimised driver from AMD for OpenGL. For gamers who enjoy replaying older titles, these new driver releases are transformative for AMD. 

Following the release of AMD’s 22.7.1 drivers, the company’s detractors can no longer look at the performance of Radeon GPUs on older PC games to take an easy shot at AMD. AMD has fixed a genuine complaint that many PC gamers could level at them, and now AMD can focus their attention on other new goodies for Radeon users.

AMD’s OpenGL and DirectX 11 optimising GPU drivers send a clear message, and that message is that today’s AMD is a company that is ready to address the problems that gamers face. My question today is what should we expect next from AMD Software? As a PC gamer, that question excites me.

Backwards compatibility is one of PC gaming’s greatest strengths, and that is why the performance of these legacy graphics APIs matter. Improving the performance of OpenGL and DirectX 11 may not seem like a huge priority for the engineers at Radeon, but AMD’s efforts have ensured that their customers can better enjoy classic PC games when using their graphics cards, and that’s great news for all Radeon users.

Unlike DirectX 11, OpenGL is a graphics API that no modern PC games use. That means that AMD’s new OpenGL optimisations will not improve the performance of any modern PC game. This immediately lessens the impact of AMD’s OpenGL optimisations when compared to their DirectX 11 optimisations. Even so, AMD’s changes to OpenGL are welcome, and our benchmark results show that they have a huge impact on the playability of classic PC games.

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