AMD keeps buffing Radeon drivers with Adrenalin 22.7.1 focused on OpenGL API

pcinvasion.com:

Although AMD’s Radeon 6000 Series created quite a buzz when it managed to keep up with Nvidia’s RTX 30 Series in plenty of popular games, it wasn’t punching pound for pound in all titles. The latest Radeon Adrenalin driver 22.7.1 addresses more of the criticisms rightfully dealt against AMD’s graphics department though.

Radeon Adrenalin driver 22.7.1 updates a number of things, but the headline optimization is definitely for the OpenGL API game performance. This boost mainly applies to older titles, as Vulcan has largely replaced OpenGL since 2017. However, the performance gains will still be relevant to many since there are still plenty of popular games out there based on OpenGL.

Minecraft is of course the star example of this driver update, and AMD is well aware of the fact. The company released some internal testing results that demonstrate massive performance improvements in Minecraft for Radeon 6000 Series graphics cards. The silver lining is that these performance improvements also trickle down to older lineups as far back as the RX 400 Series.

(Image credit: AMD).

The Minecraft performance gains on new Radeon cards are pretty impressive, particularly considering the benchmarks were measured in 4K on maximum settings. This may not be your title of choice though, so we’ve compiled some other examples of OpenGL-based games to check out to see the before and after. Titles such as Hitman (2016), Quake II RTX, Life is Strange, Pay Day 2, Guild Wars 2, Rage, Metro franchise games, and Portal 2 should all benefit from the 22.7.1 driver update. You can find a more comprehensive list of games here.

AMD also noted some updates for Variable Rate Shading (VRS) support in popular titles. You’ll now be able to enjoy better