AMD : Battlefield 4 Patch, Mantle API and Catalyst 14.1 Update

[cbrunny]

I installed 14.1 with great excitement recently - not for Mantle, but for eyefinity frame pacing in CF. But, I'm not sure that I'm actually receiving the benefits. If I am, the benefits suck.

My setup is 2x 7970 with 3 x 1080p + 1 x 1280 x 1024. When I'm gaming, I use the 3 x 1080p for the game's display, and use the 1280x1024 for other game related material. Under this setup, I was hoping I'd receive the benefits of frame pacing, but I'm pretty sure I'm not.

Has anyone else had similar experience? Is anyone able to verify that frame pacing at this point only works if there are no additional monitors attached (e.g. just 3 x 1080p)? TIA

 

[BrightCandle]

One of the side effects of the frame pacing is that the backpressure to the game is also improved. So if you take a fraps frame time chart (scenario you don't think its working with) and then take a chart with frame pacing on you should see a clear difference in the frame time charts.

If you don't then its likely not working.

 

[cbrunny]

One of the side effects of the frame pacing is that the backpressure to the game is also improved. So if you take a fraps frame time chart (scenario you don't think its working with) and then take a chart with frame pacing on you should see a clear difference in the frame time charts.

If you don't then its likely not working.

AH, a great idea. Will check this out tonight when I get home. Thanks!

 

[n0x1ous]

I can confirm the stuttering in Mantle BF4, but to be expected I suppose with HD7000 not optimized and CF issues with it as well.
Unplayable at the moment so back to D3D

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I can confirm the stuttering in Mantle BF4, but to be expected I suppose with HD7000 not optimized and CF issues with it as well.
Unplayable at the moment so back to D3D

God I thought I was crazy or something. I get that stutter as well. Performance is great though.

 

[Midwayman]

God I thought I was crazy or something. I get that stutter as well. Performance is great though.

Me three. Input lag feels great though. Once they fix the weird stutters, it'll be great.

 

[The Alias]

God I thought I was crazy or something. I get that stutter as well. Performance is great though.

yeah me too with my 7770

 

[cbrunny]

One of the side effects of the frame pacing is that the backpressure to the game is also improved. So if you take a fraps frame time chart (scenario you don't think its working with) and then take a chart with frame pacing on you should see a clear difference in the frame time charts.

If you don't then its likely not working.

Did some checking last night & found essentially no difference with the additional monitor. I'm still experiencing some pretty substantial stuttering at some points, so I'm going to assume that frame pacing is, at best, very poor. More realistically, Mantle was the focus of this beta driver and frame pacing took a back seat.

Understandable, but not what I was hoping for

 

[BrightCandle]

Understandable, but not what I was hoping for

You didn't say what game(s) you are testing with my enquire? Just want to make sure its not DX9 based as AMD still doesn't have a fix there.

 

[mindbomb]

I'm guessing the contrast difference is because they copied code from the PS4 version for mantle, and the ps4 version was made for televisions rather than computer monitors.

 

[Stuka87]

Did some checking last night & found essentially no difference with the additional monitor. I'm still experiencing some pretty substantial stuttering at some points, so I'm going to assume that frame pacing is, at best, very poor. More realistically, Mantle was the focus of this beta driver and frame pacing took a back seat.

Understandable, but not what I was hoping for

Did you enable it in the control center?

 

[el etro]

No one compared if image quality have decreased in Star Swarm...

 

[cbrunny]

Did you enable it in the control center?

yep!

 

[cbrunny]

You didn't say what game(s) you are testing with my enquire? Just want to make sure its not DX9 based as AMD still doesn't have a fix there.

Oh interesting. I hadn't caught on to that. I'm playing FFXIV, which (googles...) runs DX9.

My bad! I'll sit patiently and wait for future releases.

 

[BrightCandle]

Oh interesting. I hadn't caught on to that. I'm playing FFXIV, which (googles...) runs DX9.

My bad! I'll sit patiently and wait for future releases.

I don't know when that is planned. There aren't any new DX9 games being released really so I am not so sure AMD intends to ever fix DX9. They initially said they would but its been a year since they said that and I was expecting it January based on their previous announcements.

 

[stahlhart]

Discussion for WCCFTech article on Mantle BF4 graphics quality moved to Mantle thread.
-- stahlhart

 

[cbrunny]

I don't know when that is planned. There aren't any new DX9 games being released really so I am not so sure AMD intends to ever fix DX9. They initially said they would but its been a year since they said that and I was expecting it January based on their previous announcements.

That's ok too. Rumour has it that ffxiv will be moving to DX11 in the future anyway. All good! Thanks for your help.

 

[Stickmansam]

I actually have a Core 2 Duo - E8400 system with an R9 290 that I use for mining Maybe I'll throw BF4 on there and give it a go.

That would be very much appreciated

 

[Headfoot]

This may be related to the 14.1 drivers, or BF4, or both; but now about half the time I play BF4 my framerate will be greatly reduced (1/3 or 1/2 of my normal FPS) until I do a system restart. This is a new issue since I installed the drivers. After a system restart, it will run fine again. Anyone else seeing this?

 

[krumme]

This may be related to the 14.1 drivers, or BF4, or both; but now about half the time I play BF4 my framerate will be greatly reduced (1/3 or 1/2 of my normal FPS) until I do a system restart. This is a new issue since I installed the drivers. After a system restart, it will run fine again. Anyone else seeing this?

Mantle or dx issue?

 

[Slomo4shO]

There was a performance penalty for enabling HT in the Frostbite 2 engine, is this still prevalent in Frostbite 3?

 

[el etro]

There was a performance penalty for enabling HT in the Frostbite 2 engine, is this still prevalent in Frostbite 3?

Many people in other forums(mainly guru3d and ocnet) tells that disabling HT reduces stuttering on BF4 multiplayer.

 

[Venomous]

Many people in other forums(mainly guru3d and ocnet) tells that disabling HT reduces stuttering on BF4 multiplayer.

I think unparking cores is better than disabling HT. I know with a 280x the stutter was pretty bad in crossfire. Going single card mode induced stutter as well. Rather than tink around with disabling HT, IGPs or other display devices, AMD just needs to fix their drivers and mantle implementation. It needs to be done on a quicker rotation too...

Judging by AMD's past, it's going to be a long wait until these issues get addressed.

It goes back to something I originally said before their drivers came out... AMD has a track record of not fixing problems and leaving you out to dry with promised fixes. 7xxx/280x owners continue to feel it.

If AMD wants mantle to be successful, they need to begin issuing driver fixes OFTEN. Once a month or quarter won't cut it.

I'll let all of you enjoy the growing pains while they sort this out as I'm throwing in the towel after so many "just wait" episodes.

 

[SimianR]

That would be very much appreciated

So I installed BF4 on my old E8400 core 2 duo machine with an MSI R9 290 reference card. Fired up BF4 (in directx 11 with current driver) at 1920x1080 @ ultra settings and it was a slideshow, average fps being around 17-19. I changed the settings to high, then medium with little to no effect as I'm obviously CPU limited. I exited the game, installed the 14.1 beta and fired up BF4. I changed the API from DirectX 11 to Mantle and restarted. Joined the same server and immediately looked at the fps counter - was sitting around 45 fps. I played on the server for a solid 20 minutes and the fps range was anywhere from 30-60 at ultra preset.. I couldn't believe I was getting this kind of performance out of a core 2 duo. I'm not trying to jump on the Mantle hype train, but it literally just made a game that was practically unplayable to enjoyable with a driver update.

edit*

The testing was done with the E8400 at stock clocks. I'm almost tempted to overclock it again to see how much I can get out of this old system

 

[chimaxi83]

So I installed BF4 on my old E8400 core 2 duo machine with an MSI R9 290 reference card. Fired up BF4 (in directx 11 with current driver) at 1920x1080 @ ultra settings and it was a slideshow, average fps being around 17-19. I changed the settings to high, then medium with little to no effect as I'm obviously CPU limited. I exited the game, installed the 14.1 beta and fired up BF4. I changed the API from DirectX 11 to Mantle and restarted. Joined the same server and immediately looked at the fps counter - was sitting around 45 fps. I played on the server for a solid 20 minutes and the fps range was anywhere from 30-60 at ultra preset.. I couldn't believe I was getting this kind of performance out of a core 2 duo. I'm not trying to jump on the Mantle hype train, but it literally just made a game that was practically unplayable to enjoyable with a driver update.

edit*

The testing was done with the E8400 at stock clocks. I'm almost tempted to overclock it again to see how much I can get out of this old system

Wow, if accurate, that's pretty damn spectacular. Very nice :thumbsup: