FS - list of AMD GPU's not supported.

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Fastx

Fastx

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Dec 18, 2008
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I am not sure if this has been posted (or you guys already know) but I didn't know these GPUs below would not work with FS.

Since the current Radeon lineup is populated by a mix of newer and older GPU silicon, there are brand-new graphics cards selling today that will not support FreeSync monitors when they arrive. The list of products that won't work with FreeSync includes anything based on the older revision of the GCN architecture used in chips like Tahiti and Pitcairn.

That means brand-new cards like the Radeon R9 280, 280X, 270, and 270X won't be FreeSync-capable. Nor will any older Radeons in the HD 7000 and 8000 series. AMD tells us these prior-gen GPUs don't have the necessary support for the latest Display Port standard.
Click to expand...


http://techreport.com/news/27000/amd-only-certain-new-radeons-will-work-with-freesync-displays
 
BrightCandle

BrightCandle

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Mar 15, 2007
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Its easier to talk about if you mention which cards are supported rather than those that aren't. The only support cards are the 290, 290X, 260 and the just released 285.
 
gorobei

gorobei

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Jan 7, 2007
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not exactly new info.

remember freesync is targeted at 2 different issues:
  • game framerate variability and
  • mobile powersaving panel self-refresh

http://support.amd.com/en-us/search/faq/219
All AMD Radeon™ graphics cards in the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000, HD 8000, R7 or R9 Series will support Project FreeSync for video playback and power-saving purposes. The AMD Radeon™ R9 295X2, 290X, R9 290, R7 260X and R7 260 GPUs additionally feature updated display controllers that will support dynamic refresh rates during gaming.
AMD APUs codenamed "Kaveri," "Kabini," "Temash," "Beema" and "Mullins" also feature the necessary hardware capabilities to enable dynamic refresh rates for video playback, gaming and power-saving purposes. All products must be connected to a display that supports DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync.
Click to expand...

obviously older cards without dp1.2a support were never going to be able to do the game stuff. but they should be able to handle the low power refresh and potentially the sub-60hz media playback of 24 or 25 fps without 3:2 pulldown.
 
DarkKnightDude

DarkKnightDude

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Mar 10, 2011
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Apparently its something to do with the displayport, which the older cards don't have. Makes sense.
 
D

desprado

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Jul 16, 2013
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So in simple Words G sync is better and that is what AMD is trying to say.

Infraction issued for thread crapping.
-- stahlhart
 
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3DVagabond

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BrightCandle

BrightCandle

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I think the problem in this case is the initial marketing that was misleading. We were told AMDs cards have been able to do this since eDP (2008) so existing cards supported the technique and that a lot of existing monitors could do this with a firmware flash. Obviously this isn't the reality, in fact most AMD card owners will have to upgrade their GPU and their monitors on order to use the technology, only if you have a card from the last year and one of the right cards will it be available and no monitors will be upgradable at all.

Presumably the reason techreport decided to report this now is because a lot of people were (successfully) mislead and are under the mistaken impression they were Freesync ready and it would thus not cost them anything, which is obviously not the case. New monitor at least which will be a premium item due to the extra feature (no idea on the price yet) and probably a new GPU as well.

But I have to say having seen gsync its a technology well worth having, games do look and run a lot smoother and at higher settings. I was a big advocate of >60hz gaming and now I find I am reasonably happy down in the 50's averages with gsync and all the way down to 45 ish as drops in some games. It does allow me to boost up the settings a bit and still have the gameplay be smooth.
 
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BrightCandle

BrightCandle

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Mar 15, 2007
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Its also one of the key issues with rebranding old cards as well. You can rename the 7970 the 280 and 280X all you like but its still a 7970 card in design and features. The 280/270 etc cards are just rebrands of the previous design and nothing like the 290 and 260 cards. Its just one of those bad marketing calls that makes it harder to work out what a card can and can not do and where it really sits in the performance charts compared to previous generations. Its a really good example of why this sort of renaming is a bad idea and misleads your customers.
 
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S

SoulWager

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Jan 23, 2013
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It's interesting that the 260x supports it, will some of those cards require a firmware update in order to enable it, considering that card was released before the g-sync was announced?
 
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KingFatty

KingFatty

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Dec 29, 2010
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I'm confused how they refer to the very same group of cards as:

"brand new" and "prior-gen".

How can a prior-generation card still be considered brand new? I'm sure you could find a super-old card from many generations ago that is still being sold in a box on the shelf in BestBuy somewhere, but for the purposes of the article, it seems weird to call prior gen cards brand new?
 
V

VulgarDisplay

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Apr 3, 2009
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Fastx said:
NP

lol I feel a little better now, I thought all GCN cards supported FS.
Click to expand...

The older ones will support it in Video Playback I believe, but not games. I assume their chips have the ability to switch to static refreshes/frame rates, but are unable to cope with variable rates.
 
Fastx

Fastx

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Dec 18, 2008
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Ok thanks for the info. I am looking forward to see how FS performs incase the 980 doesn't perform to what I was hoping for and after reading Gibbo post that I posted (reading between the lines imo) in the KG thread and I am kinda getting a bad vib imo. So if my vib is right, I will be keeping my Tri X 290 card
 
9

96Firebird

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Nov 8, 2010
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From the FAQ:

What AMD Radeon™ GPUs are compatible with Project FreeSync?

 Project FreeSync will utilize DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync protocols to enable dynamic refresh rates for video playback, gaming and power-saving scenarios.

All AMD Radeon™ graphics cards in the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000, HD 8000, R7 or R9 Series will support Project FreeSync for video playback and power-saving purposes. The AMD Radeon™ R9 295X2, 290X, R9 290, R7 260X and R7 260 GPUs additionally feature updated display controllers that will support dynamic refresh rates during gaming.

AMD APUs codenamed "Kaveri," "Kabini," "Temash," "Beema" and "Mullins" also feature the necessary hardware capabilities to enable dynamic refresh rates for video playback, gaming and power-saving purposes. All products must be connected to a display that supports DisplayPort Adaptive-Sync.

It is our current understanding that the software architecture of select games may not be compatible with dynamic refresh rate technology like Project FreeSync. In these instances, users will be able to toggle the activation of FreeSync in the AMD Catalyst™​ driver.
Click to expand...
 
Midwayman

Midwayman

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Jan 28, 2000
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I have to wonder if this is a case of them not being hardware compatible or just them not wanting to do the work on older cards. I feel like they're doing the same with mantle.
 
njdevilsfan87

njdevilsfan87

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Apr 19, 2007
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So much for FS being the free alternative. With NV you pay a $200 premium on the monitor, where as with AMD you have to buy a new GPU and potentially pay a premium on the monitor as well (depending on if the manufacturers of FS monitors decide to add one).

But I have to say I'm also not surprised. NV obviously had these plans behind closed doors with Kepler a while ago.
 
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Stuka87

Stuka87

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Dec 10, 2010
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SoulWager said:
It's interesting that the 260x supports it, will some of those cards require a firmware update in order to enable it, considering that card was released before the g-sync was announced?
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The 260X (7790) is a GCN 1.1 device, which is why it supports it. GCN 1.0 and older do not.
 
Stuka87

Stuka87

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njdevilsfan87 said:
But I have to say I'm also not surprised. NV obviously had these plans behind closed doors with Kepler a while ago.
Click to expand...

I actually do not think they did. Otherwise it would have been built into the card. Instead it requires an add-on card to do it for them.
 
S

SPBHM

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Sep 12, 2012
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KingFatty said:
Is the NVidia implementation backward compatible with prior generation cards - can it be enabled by easily updating the software driver?
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not with Fermi, I'm not sure if there is any hardware limitation or if they just choose not to enable...

with AMD is clear that the GCN 1.0 cards have something missing and can't support it because of hardware, if not they would never choose the 260x and not the 270x for example to support it...


well, it's not so bad, if freesync delivers, it would do the same as gsync for a lot less on the monitor, if you have a 290/260x or are going to buy a new VGA soon...

260-285-290 that's $100, $250 and $400+ with freesync support.
 
R

rgallant

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Apr 14, 2007
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njdevilsfan87 said:
So much for FS being the free alternative. With NV you pay a $200 premium on the monitor, where as with AMD you have to buy a new GPU and potentially pay a premium on the monitor as well (depending on if the manufacturers of FS monitors decide to add one).

But I have to say I'm also not surprised. NV obviously had these plans behind closed doors with Kepler a while ago.
Click to expand...
what
if you don't have nv or only have 2 x 580's [= to a 780 gtx]
you have to buy new nv cards and the current cards only [1 750 won't run a swift monitor]
 
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