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Latest AMD Radeon 21.6.1 Drivers Apparently Fix High Idle Power Consumption

Raevenlord

Raevenlord

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Software Windows 10 x64
Anecdotal reports of fixed idle power consumption for AMD's graphics cards are filling the internet following the release of their latest Radeon drivers, version 21.6.1. Besides introducing support for FSR (which we have already tested with a new special image comparison code from our resident W1zzard with great results), users are reporting reduced power consumption on idle or low-intensity workloads - something that we had already covered in our latest AMD reviews, which showcased higher power consumption compared to NVIDIA.

Users are reporting drops from around 30 W to ~8 W - nothing to scoff at, and getting AMD's offerings in line with NVIDIA's on that particular metric. While this remains anecdotal evidence for now, rest assured that we will be testing these new drivers so as to definitely claim an improvement (or the absence of it).



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Damn I just upgraded to the 21.5.2 drivers.

I will wait until 21.6.1 is out of beta then upgrade.
 
Robin Seina said:
What you don´t find stated directly is, that yesterdays WHQL driver version (21.5.2) is a final one for the first three generations of GCN architecture. In other words Radeon HD7000/8000 series cards, R7/9 200 and R300 are no longer supported by AMD on Win 7/10 64bit.
Click to expand...

Maybe because that is a separate article and not related to this driver.

This has been covered elsewhere as a new article. And Windows 7 is EOL if anyone is still using that with a 8+ year old GPU well its time...
 
Last edited:
Makaveli said:
Maybe because that is a separate article and not related to this driver.

This has been covered else as a new article. And Windows 7 is EOL if anyone is still using that with a 8+ year old GPU well its time...
Click to expand...
Sorry, I had to missed that.
 
FWIW, my Pulse 5600XT keeps the memory at max speed at 60Hz, 90Hz, and 144Hz monitor output with the previous drivers but clocks the memory down appropriately with the corresponding lower power consumption at 120Hz. Yeah, wtf? Not on that machine right now but I'll test to see if these new drivers make any difference.
 
Power is pretty low on this 580.
 

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33 at idle, nothing changed here with RX 5700XT
 
Johnny05 said:
Does it work with Vega cards yet?

I'm still on 2019.
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my vega is behaving nicely on older drivers.

my 6800 is at 33w, two displays 4K 75hz and 1440P 144hz with latest driver ...
 
This update did not work right for a whole day! 21.6.1 failed to start after 'wakeup', System Restore reverted the PC to 21.3.1. Adrenaline is showing 21.5.2 as an available update. Rolling back took several attempts and restart was very sluggish and failed at multiple points. I'll wait. I'm really tired of AMD drivers, probably going to swap the XFX 580 for an Nvidia card, this has been a running problem from the same company for almost 2 years. I just put this pc together for internet use from older parts, maybe AMD can smoke-test their software few minutes before releasing it? Locking up a PC during a sleep-state is lame.

Adrenaline update.jpg


Gpu-Z shows power is still low.
 

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21.6.1 is a beta!

I'm staying on 21.5.2 since its a non beta driver also on a 580 and no issues here.
 
Lets call it Alpha. This driver package *REQUIRED* a reset, the computer could not start.
I don't even trust the rollback, have to stay on what's working. Kind of driver-shy.
 
Finally! I can set my monitor to 165 hz without having memory clock ramp up to maxium! I had this problem since forever!
 
Graphs from Adrenaline. I've let the PC shutdown (auto-sleep) multiple times and it's woken up instantly every time, it did fine through several restarts. The temps are normal to sub-normal, I hope it lasts.



Temps and Usage Post Adrenaline Reset.jpg
 
Nash said:
This update did not work right for a whole day! 21.6.1 failed to start after 'wakeup', System Restore reverted the PC to 21.3.1. Adrenaline is showing 21.5.2 as an available update. Rolling back took several attempts and restart was very sluggish and failed at multiple points. I'll wait. I'm really tired of AMD drivers, probably going to swap the XFX 580 for an Nvidia card, this has been a running problem from the same company for almost 2 years. I just put this pc together for internet use from older parts, maybe AMD can smoke-test their software few minutes before releasing it? Locking up a PC during a sleep-state is lame.

View attachment 205127

Gpu-Z shows power is still low.
Click to expand...


thought I needed the driver for fsr somehow stupid as I knew it'd work on nvidia, but updated my v64, my laptop (renoir apu) and 6800 and all work fine o.0
 
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