AMD's new AMD Catalyst 15.7 Driver update is available for download. It delivers support for Windows 10 and the DirectX 12 API, and is a primary ingredient for users to get the most out of their AMD APU and GPU solutions. A set of key AMD enabled features include:

• Ability to stream content at the highest resolutions (4K and beyond) thanks to hardware-based HEVC decoder
  Activating Microsoft DirectX 12 and AMD's Freesync Technology for gaming on AMD-based PC running Window 10
• Responsive resume times powered by AMD and Windows 10
• Window Display Driver Model (WDDM) 2.0 works with Windows 10 to reduce the driver workload on graphics hardware. Display modes can be changed quickly and without the bothersome flicker that Windows users had to endure in the past.

The launch of the AMD Catalyst 15.7 driver provides feature updates including:

• Frame Rate Target Control (FRTC) enables fine-tuning your graphics card for more stable performance in games with real-time frame rate control limiting the maximum frame rate during gameplay -- and delivers the benefits of reduced system/GPU power consumption, lower system temps, and lower fan speeds for quieter operation.
  • Now supporting AMD Radeon R7 260 and above GPUS
    
• Virtual Super Resolution (VSR) provides image quality enhancement to gamers and Windows desktop users (renders at high resolution then down-scales; giving effective Super Sample Anti-Aliasing):
  • Now supporting AMD Radeon R7 260 and above GPUS, as well as desktop A-Series 7400K and above APUS with Single and Multi-GPU configurations with more supported VSR modes
• AMD FreeSync Technology eliminates screen tearing without lag and latency. And now it works in Crossfire mode! You just need a FreeSync capable AMD component and a FreeSync compatible monitor.

Mantle API Is History

In realed news, AMD has halted optimizations for its Mantle 3D graphics API, for current and future graphics cards. The cards will retain Mantle API support at the driver-level, to run existing Mantle applications, but will not receive any performance optimizations from AMD.

AMD will now focus on DirectX 12 and Vulkan.