It looks like AMD took lessons from the Quake Champions beta offer drama, in which Radeon Software 17.4.4, by default, planted a link to a game beta sign-up on your desktop, and was seen by users as ad-ware. AMD later hot-fixed the driver without this offer, and expressed regret. The new Radeon 17.8.1 WHQL drivers include the option to install Bethesda Launcher, the DRM client of Bethesda akin to Steam and Origin, which lets you buy and play games from the studio. The default option of the driver installer sets this as "off." The only way you'll even come across it is if you choose "custom install" and check the "Bethesda Launcher" option. The only way you'll now learn about offers hidden inside AMD driver updates is if you look for them in the "custom install" list, or if AMD advertises them in its driver change-log (which it didn't, for these drivers).

AMD released the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.8.1 WHQL drivers. These are the first WHQL-signed drivers to support Radeon RX Vega 64 and RX Vega 56, besides all other Graphics CoreNext based Radeon GPUs. It features optimization for "Quake Champions: Early Access" and "Agents of Mayhem." The drivers also fix stability issues with "Grand Theft Auto V," "Forza Horizon 3," and "Tekken 7." The drivers also iron out issues noted with Enhanced Sync, where online video playback is choppy. Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.8.1 WHQL

The change-log follows.

Paraphrasing our own VSG, "So, this happened". AMD has gone out and done it: they've released a Beta driver specifically geared towards blockchain-based workloads, which should improve the company's GPU performance in generating money for miners. The driver is compatible with close to the entirety of AMD's GCN lineup - all the way from hot-from-the-foundry Vega to AMD's HD 7900 series. As AMD puts it, this is a driver solely purposed towards blockchain workloads - no gaming or graphics workloads (read, what graphics cards were originally meant to do) are officially supported in this release.

Apparently, AMD took it upon themselves to release this driver due to AMD's well documented DAG performance decrease for Ethereum mining hashrates. Specifically, according to Legit Reviews, the Radeon RX 480 went from an expected 14.8 MH/s at DAG #199 (down from 24.6 MH/s at DAG #130) to a prospective 24.8 MH/s DAG #199 performance according to Claymore's benchmark script. Performance improvements from the non-blockchain-geared driver release seem to stand at around 10-15%, which isn't too shabby from a single, Beta driver release.

AMD today has made available for early adopters the Crimson ReLive Edition 17.8.1 drivers. Users of other AMD graphics cards other than the newly released RX Vega 64 beware: these drivers are for exclusive use on those graphics cards.

For those early adopters who have a Vega 64 on their hands already, these drivers are for you. If you're currently on the fence on whether or not to make the plunge to a new red-powered graphics card, make sure to read our own resident W1zzard's reviews of AMD's latest foray into the high performance graphics processing market for both the RX Vega 56 and RX Vega 64 graphics cards. You might be surprised. Download the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson Relive Edition Radeon RX Vega Series Driver​

NVIDIA today released the latest version of their GeForce drivers, which enable your green-powered card to run smoothly and without issues. This latest driver release is a Game-Ready WHQL one, which aims to enable the smoothest possible experience on recently-released game titles. The focus for this 38.28 version of NVIDIA's GeForce drivers was on Agents of Mayhem, Crossout and Killing Floor: Incursion, while also introducing a number of fixes. You can grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 385.28 WHQL Game-Ready Drivers

Disclaimer: take this post with a bucket of salt. However, the information here, if true, could heavily impact AMD's RX Vega cards' stock at launch and in the subsequent days, so, we're sharing this so our readers can decide on whether they want to pull the trigger for a Vega card at launch, as soon as possible, or risk what would seem like the equivalent of a mining Black Friday crowd gobbling up AMD's RX Vega models' stock. Remember that AMD has already justified delays for increased stock so as to limit the impact of miners on the available supply.

The information has been put out by two different sources already. The first source we encountered (and which has been covered by some media outlets solo) has been one post from one of OC UK's staff, Gibbo, who in a forum post, said "Seems the hash rate on VEGA is 70-100 per card, which is insanely good. Trying to devise some kind of plan so gamers can get them at MSRP without the miners wiping all the stock out within 5 minutes of product going live."

Users running AMD's latest 17.7.2 driver package are running into issues - which, let's face it, is somewhat understandable, considering all the new features AMD has crammed into this latest driver release. All driver releases ship with a bug here or there - there is even a "Known Issues" checklist on almost all of them - so unless bugs are widespread enough, they don't ever reach the critical mass to be noted by most users. However, users in both our forums and Reddit have been reporting issues after they install their 17.7.2 driver package: namely, the absence of the ReLive tab on the Radeon Control Panel.

The issue persists even after a full DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) cleanup, and appears to be inconsistent in that users with the same hardware and on the same OS have mixed results upon installation. This issue has been confirmed by the Director of AMD's Corporate Strategy, Terry Makedon, on Reddit, who said that "Windows 7 being identified as beta and missing DVR is now reproduced in here and we will issue an update later today to address that. Sorry for that, hopefully we fixed it fast enough." For now, and until AMD releases a fix, there seems to be a workaround, as our own VSG has reported on an update to our Crimson ReLive 17.7.2 Preview: "One potential fix reported is to disable all security components (Antivirus, Malware protection etc) and to use the AMD Web Installer instead (Windows 10 64-bit here, replace 10 with 7 and 64 with 32 in the URL for other options)."

Users beware: if you've updated your NVIDIA drivers to the recently released 384.76 version and intend to play Watch Dogs 2, you might have a hard time doing so. Reports have surfaced that the latest NVIDIA drivers, which bring support to the "Rise Up" open-beta of "Lawbreakers" as well as support for "Spiderman: Homecoming - a VR Experience.", break startup on Ubisoft's game.

The issue doesn't appear to be listed on NVIDIA's 384.76 release notes (not even on the PDF), so it seems this issue largely flew under NVIDIA's radar. But if you've had problems with Wash (sorry, Watch) Dogs 2, be sure to check if you have the latest 384.76 drivers installed. That could be the source of the problem. Our own resident W1zzard himself ran into this problem, but no amount of steampunk wand waving was able to fix the issue. However, a fresh install of NVIDIA's previous driver release (382.53) should let you go out to San Francisco again.Edit: The issue is related to Ansel and can be fixed by starting C:\Program Files\NVIDIA Corporation\Ansel\Tools\NvCameraConfiguration.exe and selecting the "disabled" option at the bottom of the window.

NVIDIA today released the latest version of their GeForce graphics drivers. Version 382.53 of their drivers is a special, Game Ready release that provides the optimal gaming experience for DiRT 4 and Nex Machina. In addition, NVIDIA has added/updated SLI profiles for Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition, Little Nightmares, the phenomenon PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Transformers Online.

This release also features updated 3D Vision profiles for Tekken 7 (Fair); DiRT 4 (Not Recommended); Nex Machina (Not Recommended) and Quake Champions (Good). As always, you can grab the drivers right here on TPU. Just follow the link below, and feel free to peruse fixed and current issues after the break.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 382.53 Game Ready Drivers

AMD released the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.6.1 beta drivers. The drivers come with optimization for "DiRT 4," including an AMD CrossFire profile, and up to 30 percent improvement in frame-rates with 8x MSAA cranked up. The drivers also improve performance of "Prey" (2017) by up to 4 percent, as tested on a machine with a Radeon RX 580 8 GB graphics card.

The drivers also fixed a number of issues, including virtual super-resolution (VSR) not correctly enabling on certain Radeon RX 400 and RX 500-series GPUs; HDR not correctly enabling on certain WQHD or higher-resolution displays; flickering noticed on some WQHD or higher-resolution displays connected via HDMI; fast mouse movements causing a frame-rate drop in "Prey" (2017); "Mass Effect: Andromeda" noticing a stutter with multi-GPU systems; and a system hang noticed on Radeon R9 390 series GPUs with the memory overclocked using a third-party application. Grab the driver from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.6.1

The change-log follows.

NVIDIA today released its latest GeForce "Game Ready" drivers. The new GeForce 382.33 WHQL drivers come game-ready for the week's big game releases - "Tekken 7," and "Star Trek Bridge Crew." It also addresses bugs such as Windows Store not opening on Windows 10 Creators Update with 3D Vision enabled on TITAN X; stuttering noticed in "Prey" with GTX 1080 Ti, extended monitors not drifting into Sleep in Windows 10 Creators Update with GTX 1070, and GTX 970 SLI machines not being able to toggle SLI unless Norton 360 is disabled or Windows is booted into "Safe Mode." Grab the driver from the link below.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 382.33 Game Ready Drivers

The change-log follows.

NVIDIA today released an updated version of their GeForce graphics drivers, version 382.23 WHQL, which brings with it support for the company's GT 1030 entry-level graphics cards. Strangely, the drivers' supported products only register as the GT 1030 itself, which is a little unusual, to say the least.

Follow the link here to grab the drivers directly from NVIDIA. Note that since these drivers ONLY support NVIDIA's new GT 1030, you shouldn't upgrade to these if you have any other NVIDIA card. To download the drivers, you'll have to choose the GT 1030 from the drop-down menu on NVIDIA's site, as well as the proper OS version for your use case.

NVIDIA has silently made available a new hotfix driver which improves (you read that right: doesn't fix) stuttering issues on the new Arkane immersive-sim Prey. NVIDIA's previous "Game Ready" drivers, version 382.05, have been reported as being somewhat jerky, and considering NVIDIA has released a hotfix whose notes specifically refer a "stutter issue" with Prey, all NVIDIA users who are playing this game should update their drivers to this new hotfix version, which isn't available through NVIDIA's GeForce Experience app.

You can grab the drivers righthere from NVIDIA.

Not to let itself be outshined by arch-rival NVIDIA, AMD today released a new driver suite that introduces support for the impending release of Arkane Studios' Prey. A totally new IP in an era of sequels and re-releases, which has been paired - even if only so slightly - with AMD's own Vega teaser campaign, Prey promises to offer a mix of Bioshock and System Shock, with Arkane's own peculiar blend of game mechanics and art direction. Go on ahead fighting the invasion - I'll be joining you shortly.

These drivers promise an up to 4.7% performance improvement measured on Radeon RX 580 8GB graphics when compared to Radeon Software Crimson ReLive edition 17.4.4, as well as multi GPU profile support. As always, you can grab these right here on your favorite hardware site on the universe. Just follow the link below, and catch some more details like fixed and current issues after the break.Download: AMD Radeon Crimson Relive 17.5.1 Beta Drivers

NVIDIA today released the GeForce 382.05 WHQL drivers. These drivers come "Game Ready" for the week's hottest game launches, beginning with "Prey" (2017). "Prey" is the season's most anticipated first-person survival horror, and releases this Friday (5th May). In addition, the drivers also come with optimization for the indie tank shooter "Battlezone," and the latest "Gears of War 4" multi-GPU update, by including an NVIDIA SLI profile for the game. Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 382.05 WHQL

AMD today released Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.4.4, its fourth release for April. These drivers come with optimization for "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III," with up to 7 percent performance improvement seen on a machine powered by a Radeon RX 580. It also fixes display corruption seen on some machines with HDMI scaling, incorrect HDR colors on "Mass Effect: Andromeda," DirectX 11 mode stuttering on CrossFire machines in "Battlefield 1," a hang noted on Radeon RX 550 machines that haven't been rebooted for a long time, and some UI improvements with Radeon Settings. The drivers also add a curious looking shortcut to your desktop (check out the image below). Grab the driver from the link below.

Edit: In case you are wondering where that Quake Champions Beta shortcut on your desktop comes from, AMD's 17.4.4 driver installation stealth-adds that to your desktop, with a bit.ly tracking link, instead of directly to the official page. Looks like AMD is making some $$ from it, a referral id is included in the final URL destination, too.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.4.4

NVIDIA today has released another one on their "Game Ready" driver suite releases. This one brings with it support for the PC-exclusive Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War III and Heroes of the Storm 2.0, as well as for Batman: Arkham VR, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, and Wilson's Heart.

The driver also comes with a small list of fixed issues, as per the release notes:

• [Sniper Elite 3]: The game crashes.
• [Notebook][eDP panel]: Blue-screen (code 3B) occurs followed by the Recovery screen during software un-bundling process.
• [GeForce GTX 1060]: Blue-screen crash occurs pointing to driver (Nvlddmkm.sys) after the system reboots from sleep mode.
• GPU idling voltage has increased.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 381.89 Game Ready

AMD today released the latest version of Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition. The new Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.4.3 WHQL drivers add official support for the newly launched Radeon RX 500 series GPUs, such as the RX 580, RX 570, RX 560, and RX 550; besides support for Windows 10 Creators Update (v17.4.2 already added WDDM 2.2 support). Grab the drivers from the links below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.4.3 WHQL

NVIDIA today released GeForce 381.65 WHQL "Game Ready" drivers. The drivers come with optimization for "Quake Champions" closed beta. This isn't, however, the biggest change with these drivers. These are the first WHQL-signed drivers from NVIDIA to support WDDM 2.2, and with it, the upcoming Windows 10 Creators Update, due for April 11th. The drivers also add DTS X and Dolby Atmos support for 5.1.2 speaker configuration through the GPU's in-built audio controller (which outputs from the HDMI and DP connectors). Also added is support for Dolby Vision. Games "Snake Pass" and "Kona" get support for NVIDIA Ansel. There's also the curious case of the driver's release-notes mentioning "Added support for the NVIDIA TITAN Xp." Could this indicate a new TITAN SKU being on the horizon?DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 385.65 WHQL

AMD today released its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.4.1 drivers. These drivers add support for Oculus Asynchronous Spacewarp (ASW) on Radeon R9 Fury series, Radeon R9 390 series and Radeon R9 290 series graphics cards; and support for SteamVR Asynchronous Reprojection on Radeon RX 480 and Radeon RX 470 (requires Windows 10). The drivers also enable DisplayPort 1.4 HBR3 mode on GPUs based on the "Polaris" architecture, letting you run 8K @ 60 Hz over a dual-cable connection, and 8K @ 30 Hz over a single cable. The drivers also fix display fickering noticed on AMD FreeSync setups running 3D applications in borderless-fullscreen mode, and bad multi-GPU scaling in "Ghost Recon: Wildlands." Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.4.1

AMD today released the 17.3.2 Beta version of its Radeon Software Crimson ReLive. This release features official support for the upcoming Mass Effect: Andromeda space opera, and a 12% performance boost in the game for RX 480 graphics cards compared to results obtained under the previous driver release.

This driver release also sees some fixed issues with texture corruption on some surfaces of The Division under DX12. In addition, this driver release features a fix for what could only have been a rare issue with texture flickering while task-switching on For Honor, considering it only affected 4x Multi-GPU system configurations. This release also features long lists of Known Issues, which you can take a look at after the break.

As always, you can grab the drivers right here at TPU, through our revamped downloads section. Just follow the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition 17.3.2 Beta

Remember that NVIDIA driver update that I mentioned yesterday? NVIDIA has just released into the wild. Version 378.78 of its GeForce driver suite provides the optimal gaming experience for Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands and includes DirectX 12 optimizations which provide additional performance increases for a variety of titles. This release also adds official support for the GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, and updates the SLI profiles for Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, Titanfall 2, and Tom Clancy's The Division. ANSEL support for Ghost Recon Wildlands is also baked into this update, which joins the likes of Dishonored 2, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Watch Dogs 2, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and The Witness, with Mass Effect: Andromeda support coming in at the game's launch.

Update: According to NVIDIA, average performance gains across all titles stands at around 16%. NVIDIA boasts of a 33% (no, that isn't a typo) on Tomb Raider; 16% on Hitman; Gears of War 4 sees a boost of 10%; Ashes of the Singularity makes do with 9%; and Tom Clancy's The Division will get a 4% increase.

As always, you can get your driver fix right here on TPU. Just follow the download link below.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 378.78 Drivers

NVIDIA is reportedly working on a major driver update that improves performance across the board on games that take advantage of DirectX 12. The company is working with major game studios to improve DirectX 12 performance by up to 16 percent on recent AAA titles, such as "Gears of War 4," "Hitman" (2016), "Rise of the Tomb Raider" and "Tom Clancy's The Division." Even "Ashes of the Singularity" is getting a performance improvement.

At its GeForce GTX 1080 Ti launch event, NVIDIA revealed that its "Pascal" and "Maxwell" GPU architectures are capable of tile-based rendering, a feature that significantly improves video memory bandwidth utilization. With the GTX 1080 Ti going on sale later this month, one can expect NVIDIA to release new drivers.

NVIDIA today released a hotfix version of its GeForce driver suite. Numbered the 378.77, these fix some issues with the previous driver release, numbered 378.66. Solved issues include driver installation errors for laptops with GeForce GTX 1050 and 1050 Ti GPUs, crashes in Minecraft and some other Java-based titles, and resolving 'Debug Mode' as default option on Pascal based GPUs.

This driver release contains all previous improvements, including an optimized experience for Sniper Elite 4, For Honor and Halo Wars 2, whilst also introducing support for NVIDIA's Video SDK 8.0, which provides support for high-bit-depth (10/12-bit) hardware accelerated video decoding of VP9 and HEVC. You can, as always, grab these hot-from-the-coding-gods drivers from the link below, right here on TPU.DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 378.77 Hotfix Drivers

NVIDIA has released the latest version of its "Game Ready" drivers, providing an optimized experience for Sniper Elite 4, For Honor, and Halo Wars 2. In addition to these features, these drivers add support for NVIDIA's Video SDK 8.0, which provides support for high-bit-depth (10/12-bit) hardware accelerated video decoding of VP9 and HEVC, as well as some miscellaneous other media-related features. Grab them from the link below:

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 378.66 WHQL