AMD's latest GPU driver arrives just in time for Doom Eternal: The Ancient Gods

(Image credit: Bethesda)

Today marks the arrival of Doom Eternal's first DLC, part one of the two-part 'The Ancient Gods' campaign, which you can play whether you own the main game or not (it's a standalone expansion). And right on cue, AMD is pushing out an updated graphics drive that will optimize your Radeon hardware for the expansion, as well as a few other games.

In addition to The Ancient Gods, AMD's new Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition 20.10.1 driver (try saying that even just two times fast) is optimized for Watch Dogs: Legion (due out October 29), the recently delayed (again) Dirt 5 in Early Access (due out November 6), and the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands pre-expansion patch.

As is often the case, AMD shoehorned a handful of bug fixes with its latest driver release. They include the following:

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  • Audio may experience instability when connected through an Audio Video Receiver via HDMI on Radeon RX 5000 series graphics products
  • Desktop may experience framerate fluctuation when exiting a Vulkan API game with Radeon FreeSync enabled on two or more display system configurations
  • Uploading or streaming content to YouTube may be unavailable or not working correctly
  • Genshin Impact is not detected or listed in Radeon Software gaming tab
  • Some specific Windows screensavers such as 'Bubbles' may cause an application crash when applied on Radeon RX 5000 series graphics products
  • Graphical corruption may occur on desktop or at idle when two or more connected high refresh rate displays are Radeon FreeSync enabled on Radeon RX 5000 series graphics products
  • Upgrading to Radeon Software Adrenalin 2020 Edition releases from Radeon Software 2019 Edition releases via Radeon Settings may sometimes fail with an error message

I take it as a somewhat positive sign that no black screen issues are included, based on the assumption that they are mostly wiped out at this point (fingers crossed, anyway). That is, save for a black screen bug that can manifest in some games and configurations with Enhanced Sync enabled. If this affects you, AMD says disabling Enhanced Sync serves as a temporary workaround, until it can roll out a proper fix.

This could end up being AMD's last GPU driver release before it announces the Radeon RX 6000 series next week. The unveiling is scheduled for October 28, at which time we will finally have official clarity on clockspeeds and other specifications, and AMD's RDNA 2 graphics architecture in general.

In the meantime, you can download the 20.10.1 driver release through the Radeon Software utility, or fetch and install it manually from AMD's driver download page.

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Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).