The Control Center application contains settings for improving image quality and performance for games and other 3D applications. 3D settings are applied to both Direct 3D and OpenGL applications, and can be found on pages located under the and groups in Standard View.
In Advanced View, all 3D settings are contained within the 3D Application Settings page under the Gaming group. If you are using a AMD FirePro™ graphics card, the page appears under the group in Standard View and the AMD FirePro group in Advanced View instead.
To preview changes before you apply them, use the 3D settings in Standard View. For quick adjustments or to save current 3D settings to a user-defined application profile, use the 3D Application Settings page in Advanced View instead.
You can also access certain 3D settings through the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access these settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
Note: The availability of 3D settings vary between the Standard View and the Advanced View. Availability may also vary between graphics cards.
Notebooks with Switchable Graphics Capabilities
If your computer is a notebook that is capable of Switchable Graphics and you are using the GPU selection method that enables you to assign applications to specific GPUs, the following pages become available so that you can configure both GPUs:
- Standard View—Two sets of 3D pages become available: one for high-performance graphics and one for power-saving graphics.
- Advanced View—Two 3D Application Settings pages become available: one for high-performance graphics and one for power-saving graphics.
To configure your discrete GPU, use the high-performance graphics pages. To configure your integrated GPU, use the power-saving graphics pages.
Standard 3D Settings
The Standard 3D Settings page contains options for balancing image quality with performance for games and other 3D applications.
Use the slider on the page to automatically adjust all available standard 3D settings for increased application performance or image quality. The slider is especially useful when you do not know which 3D settings to apply to your application or when you want to quickly configure your application.
Note: The page is available only through the Standard View.
Adjusting Standard 3D Settings
Use the slider on the Standard 3D Settings page to automatically optimize your system for improved 3D image quality or application performance. Alternatively, you can configure your system to use the settings specified on other 3D setting pages within the Control Center application.
- In Standard View, navigate to the page.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
- To use the 3D settings specified on other 3D pages, select Use custom settings. Otherwise, clear the check box and adjust the slider accordingly. Move the slider to the left for increased application performance or the right for increased image quality.
- Click Apply.
Mipmapping
Mipmapping is a texturing technique that preserves the details of 3D objects as they move on the screen. A series of high- and low-resolution texture maps are stored in memory and selectively used to create the object’s surface, depending on what level of detail is needed.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
Adjusting Mipmapping Settings
Use the Mipmap Detail Level setting to select a mipmapping level for improved application performance or image quality.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
- In Standard View, navigate to the page.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
- Adjust the slider accordingly:
- Performance settings are recommended when the 3D image is animated and smoothness of motion is the most important consideration.
- Quality settings are recommended when high surface detail is required, especially when objects are rotating or moving into the background.
You can also access mipmapping settings using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- Click Apply.
Anti-Aliasing (AA)
Anti-aliasing (AA) is a rendering technique designed to remove jagged edges, shimmering, and pixelation problems that are common in rendered 3D images. Rather than determining the color of a pixel by sampling a single location at the pixel’s center, anti-aliasing samples multiple locations within each pixel and blends the results together to produce the final color.
The number of samples taken per pixel can be controlled using anti-aliasing filters. Use the anti-aliasing settings available within the Control Center application to select a filter that provides increased image quality or application performance.
Most AMD graphics cards use an anti-aliasing method known as multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA). Depending on the graphics card, this method takes samples from 2×, 4×, 6×, or 8× programmable locations within each pixel and uses gamma-correction sample blending to produce smooth polygon edges.
Adjusting Anti-Aliasing Settings
Anti-aliasing filters effectively increase the number of samples obtained and processed for image rendering. For each filter, you can select the level of anti-aliasing you want. A lower level typically provides better application performance and is best suited when the 3D image is animated and smooth motion is the most important consideration. A higher level typically provides more detailed and realistic 3D objects. In general, the more samples taken, the higher the image quality.
For example, for non-AMD CrossFireX™ systems, choosing the wide-tent filter at an anti-aliasing level of 8×, effectively provides a sampling rate of 16×, which approaches the anti-aliasing capabilities of a AMD CrossFireX system.
If you are not sure which filter to use, you can choose to use the anti-aliasing set by your application.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Anti-Aliasing area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Anti-Aliasing area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- To use anti-aliasing settings set by your application, select the Use Application Settings check box or the equivalent option from the Mode drop-down list.You can also select the Enhance Application Settings option from the Mode list if it is available. Doing so allows the AMD 3D graphics driver to enhance the anti-aliasing settings applied through your 3D gaming application.
Note: This option is available only for certain graphics cards.
- To manually select the anti-aliasing setting, clear the Use Application Settings check box or select Override Application Settings in the Mode drop-down list and adjust the number of samples accordingly.This setting controls the number of samples taken per pixel and processed when anti-aliasing is enabled. As the number of samples is increased, the level of image quality is also enhanced, but the performance of your application may decrease depending on other application settings that are enabled.
For certain graphics cards, enhanced quality anti-aliasing levels are also available. These levels can provide the highest quality anti-aliasing settings possible by enhancing standard anti-aliasing levels with additional coverage samples. Enhanced quality anti-aliasing levels are suffixed with the term “EQ” (for example, 4xEQ, which indicates a MSAA level of 4x with additional coverage samples).
You can also access anti-aliasing settings using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- If applicable, select the filter type that produces the preferred image quality from the Filter drop-down list:
- Box or Standard—Uses only samples from within the current pixel. All samples are equally weighted. (Produces the sharpest look; fastest performance.)
- Narrow-tent—Uses samples from the current pixel and the surrounding area. Samples are weighted based on their distance from the pixel center. (Produces a softer look; slightly slower performance.)
- Wide-tent—Uses samples from the current pixel and the surrounding area. Samples chosen by the wide-tent filter include areas a little bit further away from the current pixel than samples used by the narrow filter, but not from areas further away than 1.25 times the current pixel radius. Samples are weighted based on their distance from the pixel center. (Produces a softer look; slightly slower performance.)
- Edge-detect—Uses samples from the current pixel and the surrounding area. Samples chosen by the edge detect filter are weighted to produce better anti-aliasing along edges without causing any softening or blurring of the scene. (Slightly slower performance.)
Choosing the edge-detect filter at an anti-aliasing level of 4× yields an effective sampling and AMD CrossFireX anti-aliasing rate of 12×. Choosing an anti-aliasing level of 8× yields an effective sampling and AMD CrossFireX anti-aliasing rate of 24×.
Note: The availability of filters and anti-aliasing levels vary between graphics cards.
- Click Apply.
Enabling/Disabling Morphological Filtering
Morphological filtering involves the use of post-processing anti-aliasing filters to enhance the image quality of 3D applications. By enabling morphological filtering, you can further smooth the look of jagged edges in games and other 3D applications.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards, and only applies to Desktop mode.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Anti-Aliasing area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Anti-Aliasing area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Do one of the following to enable or disable the filter:
- In Standard View, select or clear Morphological Filtering, and click Apply.
- In Advanced View, select On or Off from the Morphological Filtering drop-down list, and click Save.
Anti-Aliasing Methods
For DirectX® and OpenGL applications, one of several anti-aliasing methods can be used for 3D object rendering: Multisampling, Supersampling, and Adaptive Multisampling. Use the anti-aliasing method setting in the Control Center application to select the method that best suits your needs.
Multisampling (also called multisample anti-aliasing, or MSAA) renders 3D objects by rendering multiple samples at various programmable locations within each edge pixel and blending the sample values together using gamma-correction, smoothing the appearance of polygon edges. Supersampling (also called super-sample anti-aliasing, or SSAA) works similarly, but renders multiple samples for every pixel on the screen, unlike multisampling which only renders multiple samples at polygon edges. By rendering multiple samples for every pixel, super-sampling gives a higher quality image than multi-sampling, reducing shimmering in textures and shading as well as at polygon edges. Adaptive multisampling (also called adaptive anti-aliasing) uses a combination of both methods: supersampling to render some surfaces that have transparent elements and multisampling for all other surface rendering.
Supersampling can be much slower than multisampling because it effectively renders the whole scene at a much higher resolution than the display. A 2560×1600 image with 4× supersampling takes about the same amount of time to render a 5120×3200 image without supersampling.
Setting the Anti-Aliasing Method
Use the Anti-Aliasing Method setting to select the anti-aliasing method used to smooth out jagged edges in 3D scenes. Available methods include: Adaptive Multisampling, Multisampling, and Supersampling.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Anti-Aliasing Method area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Anti-Aliasing Method area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Select the desired method using the slider or Anti-Aliasing Method drop-down list:
- Multisampling—This method provides the highest performance. Only multisampling is used.
- Adaptive Multisampling—This method balances processing performance with image quality. A combination of supersampling and multisampling is used.
- Supersampling—This method provides the highest quality. Only supersampling is used.
Note: Supersampling can be much slower than multisampling because it involves rendering a much larger number of samples per scene.
You can also access anti-aliasing modes using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- Click Apply or Save.
Anisotropic Filtering (AF)
Anisotropic filtering is a technique that preserves detail on surfaces that have three-dimensional perspective and appear far away in the background. It works best when used in conjunction with mipmapping.
Use the Anisotropic Filtering setting to select an anisotropic filter for improved application performance or image quality. If you are not sure which anisotropic setting to use, you can choose to use the anisotropic setting set by your application.
Configuring Anisotropic Filtering
Anisotropic filtering preserves details of objects that appear far away in 3D scenes. You can select the level of anisotropic filtering that you want. A lower level typically provides better application performance and is best suited for applications that display objects with smooth, simple surfaces, such as those seen in CAD applications. A higher level typically better suited for applications that display highly detailed scenes, backgrounds, and textured objects, such as those seen in 3D games. In general, the more samples taken, the higher the image quality.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Texture Filtering area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Texture Filtering area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- To use anisotropic filtering settings set by your application, select Use Application Settings. Otherwise, clear the check box or select Override Application Settings, and adjust the Per-pixel samples or Filtering Level accordingly.You can also access anisotropic filtering settings using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- Click Apply or Save.
3D Application Settings
The 3D Application Settings page is available only in Advanced View. It contains principal 3D settings to allow for quick adjustments without a preview. The page also contains settings for creating user-defined application profiles, which can be used to customize the image quality and performance of specific applications and games.
For a preview of your changes, use the 3D pages in Standard View instead.
You can also access certain 3D settings through the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access these settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
Note: The availability of 3D settings may vary between graphics cards. Certain 3D settings are available only in Advanced View.
Notebooks with Switchable Graphics Capabilities
If your computer is a notebook that is capable of Switchable Graphics and you are using the GPU selection method that lets you to assign applications to specific GPUs (dynamic scheme), two 3D Application Settings pages become available: one for high-performance graphics and one for power-saving graphics. To configure your discrete GPU, use the high-performance graphics pages. To configure your integrated GPU, use the power-saving graphics pages.
Managing Application Profiles
Application profiles contain 3D settings that have been optimized for a specific application or game. There are two types of profiles: AMD predefined application profiles, which are available for download on www.amd.com, and user-defined application profiles, which can be created and updated through the 3D Application Settings page in Advanced View.
When you add a profile, you are essentially associating current 3D settings with a specific application. By creating user-defined application profiles, you can customize the image quality and performance of applications that do not already have an AMD predefined profile. If needed, you can also override settings in an AMD predefined profile by creating a user-defined profile for the associated application. Settings that have been saved to a profile are used each time you start its associated application.
Note: When you add or update a profile, 3D settings on each available AMD graphics processor are saved to the profile.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to the page instead.
- In the Application Settings list, do one of the following:
- To change an existing profile, click the name of the application to load the existing settings.
- To create a new profile, click <<Add>>. In the Browse for Application dialog box that opens, select the application for which you want to add a profile.
- To delete an existing user-defined profile, click the delete button (the red x) beside the application name. You cannot delete an AMD predefined application profile. However, you can override its settings by adding a user-defined profile for the same application.
- Change the settings on the page as appropriate.
- Click Save when finished.If a profile already exists for the selected application, you are prompted to either override or overwrite the existing profile. When prompted, click Yes.
All settings on the page are saved to the selected profile and used each time the associated application is run.
Using Profile Settings as System 3D Settings
You can set the system-wide 3D settings to match those in a specific user-defined application profile. Doing so can also save you time when you create a new profile based on an existing profile.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page.If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to the Application Profiles page under the group in Standard View or the AMD FirePro group in Advanced View instead.
- In the profiles list, right-click the profile that contains the settings that you want to use.
- Select Use as System Settings.
- In the confirmation dialog box that opens, click Yes.All 3D settings are updated to match those in the selected profile.
- Click Save to save your changes.
Adjusting Anti-Aliasing Settings
Anti-aliasing filters effectively increase the number of samples obtained and processed for image rendering. For each filter, you can select the level of anti-aliasing you want. A lower level typically provides better application performance and is best suited when the 3D image is animated and smooth motion is the most important consideration. A higher level typically provides more detailed and realistic 3D objects. In general, the more samples taken, the higher the image quality.
For example, for non-AMD CrossFireX™ systems, choosing the wide-tent filter at an anti-aliasing level of 8×, effectively provides a sampling rate of 16×, which approaches the anti-aliasing capabilities of a AMD CrossFireX system.
If you are not sure which filter to use, you can choose to use the anti-aliasing set by your application.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Anti-Aliasing area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Anti-Aliasing area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- To use anti-aliasing settings set by your application, select the Use Application Settings check box or the equivalent option from the Mode drop-down list.You can also select the Enhance Application Settings option from the Mode list if it is available. Doing so allows the AMD 3D graphics driver to enhance the anti-aliasing settings applied through your 3D gaming application.
Note: This option is available only for certain graphics cards.
- To manually select the anti-aliasing setting, clear the Use Application Settings check box or select Override Application Settings in the Mode drop-down list and adjust the number of samples accordingly.This setting controls the number of samples taken per pixel and processed when anti-aliasing is enabled. As the number of samples is increased, the level of image quality is also enhanced, but the performance of your application may decrease depending on other application settings that are enabled.
For certain graphics cards, enhanced quality anti-aliasing levels are also available. These levels can provide the highest quality anti-aliasing settings possible by enhancing standard anti-aliasing levels with additional coverage samples. Enhanced quality anti-aliasing levels are suffixed with the term “EQ” (for example, 4xEQ, which indicates a MSAA level of 4x with additional coverage samples).
You can also access anti-aliasing settings using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- If applicable, select the filter type that produces the preferred image quality from the Filter drop-down list:
- Box or Standard—Uses only samples from within the current pixel. All samples are equally weighted. (Produces the sharpest look; fastest performance.)
- Narrow-tent—Uses samples from the current pixel and the surrounding area. Samples are weighted based on their distance from the pixel center. (Produces a softer look; slightly slower performance.)
- Wide-tent—Uses samples from the current pixel and the surrounding area. Samples chosen by the wide-tent filter include areas a little bit further away from the current pixel than samples used by the narrow filter, but not from areas further away than 1.25 times the current pixel radius. Samples are weighted based on their distance from the pixel center. (Produces a softer look; slightly slower performance.)
- Edge-detect—Uses samples from the current pixel and the surrounding area. Samples chosen by the edge detect filter are weighted to produce better anti-aliasing along edges without causing any softening or blurring of the scene. (Slightly slower performance.)
Choosing the edge-detect filter at an anti-aliasing level of 4× yields an effective sampling and AMD CrossFireX anti-aliasing rate of 12×. Choosing an anti-aliasing level of 8× yields an effective sampling and AMD CrossFireX anti-aliasing rate of 24×.
Note: The availability of filters and anti-aliasing levels vary between graphics cards.
- Click Apply.
Setting the Anti-Aliasing Method
Use the Anti-Aliasing Method setting to select the anti-aliasing method used to smooth out jagged edges in 3D scenes. Available methods include: Adaptive Multisampling, Multisampling, and Supersampling.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Anti-Aliasing Method area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Anti-Aliasing Method area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Select the desired method using the slider or Anti-Aliasing Method drop-down list:
- Multisampling—This method provides the highest performance. Only multisampling is used.
- Adaptive Multisampling—This method balances processing performance with image quality. A combination of supersampling and multisampling is used.
- Supersampling—This method provides the highest quality. Only supersampling is used.
Note: Supersampling can be much slower than multisampling because it involves rendering a much larger number of samples per scene.
You can also access anti-aliasing modes using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- Click Apply or Save.
Enabling/Disabling Morphological Filtering
Morphological filtering involves the use of post-processing anti-aliasing filters to enhance the image quality of 3D applications. By enabling morphological filtering, you can further smooth the look of jagged edges in games and other 3D applications.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards, and only applies to Desktop mode.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Anti-Aliasing area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Anti-Aliasing area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Do one of the following to enable or disable the filter:
- In Standard View, select or clear Morphological Filtering, and click Apply.
- In Advanced View, select On or Off from the Morphological Filtering drop-down list, and click Save.
Configuring Anisotropic Filtering
Anisotropic filtering preserves details of objects that appear far away in 3D scenes. You can select the level of anisotropic filtering that you want. A lower level typically provides better application performance and is best suited for applications that display objects with smooth, simple surfaces, such as those seen in CAD applications. A higher level typically better suited for applications that display highly detailed scenes, backgrounds, and textured objects, such as those seen in 3D games. In general, the more samples taken, the higher the image quality.
- Navigate to one of the following pages:
- Standard View—.
- Advanced View—. Click to expand the Texture Filtering area of the page.
For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Texture Filtering area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- To use anisotropic filtering settings set by your application, select Use Application Settings. Otherwise, clear the check box or select Override Application Settings, and adjust the Per-pixel samples or Filtering Level accordingly.You can also access anisotropic filtering settings using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
- Click Apply or Save.
Setting the Texture Filtering Quality
Use the Texture Filtering Quality setting to enable different levels of texture filtering optimizations.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page and click to expand the Texture Filtering area.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Texture Filtering area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Select the Texture Filtering Quality in the drop-down list.Select the Performance setting for optimization without impacting performance, the High Quality setting for maximum optimization with minimal impact on performance, or the Standard setting for a balance of the two.
- Click Save.
Enabling/Disabling Surface Format Optimization
By enabling the surface format optimization feature, you can optimize certain surface formats in games and 3D applications without affecting image quality. You can also disable the feature when you do not need it.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page and click to expand the Texture Filtering area.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Texture Filtering area:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Select On or Off in the Surface Format Optimization drop-down list.
- Click Save.
Setting the Wait for Vertical Refresh Setting
To prevent the tearing of images, which can occur at higher frame rates, you can configure the Control Center application to synchronize the frame rate of 3D applications to the refresh rate of your display. Use the Wait for Vertical Refresh setting to specify when to turn on or turn off synchronization.
In general, turning synchronization on can provide improved image quality but may affect application performance.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page and click to expand the Frame Rate Control area.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Frame Rate Control area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- In the Wait for Vertical Refresh drop-down list, select when 3D application frame rates should be synchronized with the refresh rate of your display.
- Click Save.
You can also access settings using the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
Enabling OpenGL Triple Buffering
When the frame rate of 3D applications is lower than the vertical sync refresh rate, you can enable OpenGL triple buffering to improve the frame rate applications when vertical sync is enabled.
In low memory situations, enabling triple buffering may decrease application performance since fewer frame buffer memory will be available for texture and geometry data. If there is not enough memory to support triple buffering, it is automatically disabled.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page and click to expand the Frame Rate Control area.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Frame Rate Control area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Under OpenGL Triple Buffering select On from the drop-down list.
- Click Save.
Adjusting Tessellation Levels
Tessellation enhances the detail of 3D objects by increasing the amount of geometry used. As the level of tessellation is increased, the geometry levels of certain 3D objects are also increased, but the performance of your application may decrease depending on other application settings that are currently enabled.
Note: This feature is available only for certain graphics cards.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page and click to expand the Tessellation area of the page.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of these pages; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to one of the following pages instead, and click to expand the
Tessellation area of the page:
- Standard View—
- Advanced View—.
- Select one of the following in the Tessellation Mode drop-down list:
- AMD Optimized—Use the tessellation level that provides the best gaming experience for applications that support the tessellation feature.
- Use Application Settings—Use the tessellation level set by applications that support the tessellation feature.
- Override Application Settings—Select the tessellation level used by applications that support the tessellation feature. Select a tessellation level in the Maximum Tessellation Level drop-down list; selecting Off turns off tessellation.
- Click Save.
You can also access tessellation settings through the Control Center icon in the Windows® system tray (taskbar notification area). To access the settings, right-click the icon, click the appropriate graphics card, and then click .
Enabling/Disabling Shader Cache
Most 3D applications and games require the compiling of complex shaders to provide detailed, realistic-looking images. Shaders are typically compiled at the start of an application and can slow down application load times.
The shader cache feature is designed to save the compiled results of the most CPU-intensive shaders on your system so they are readily available the next time they are needed. With this feature, shader results in the cache do not need to be recompiled and can therefore speed up application load times and may even reduce image stutter for select applications.
Compiled results are stored in the C:\Users\<user>\AppData\AMD\DXCache folder.
Note: This feature is available only for DirectX® 10 and 11 applications.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to the page instead.
- Using the setting, select one of the following options:
- On (Supported applications only)—Enable shader cache only for games and applications that have been verified by AMD to be supported by the feature. For a list of supported applications, see the release notes.
- Off—Disable shader cache.
- Click Apply.
Enabling/Disabling Frame Pacing
Enabling frame pacing applies an even spacing to displayed frames that can become clustered in some GPU-bound DirectX® 10 and later applications when running in multi-GPU configurations.
Note: Frame pacing settings are available only for Windows® 7 or later systems with identical graphics cards that are capable of AMD CrossFireX™ using bridge interconnect cables (hardware AMD CrossFireX). Frame pacing settings are only applied when AMD CrossFireX is enabled.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page and click to expand the AMD CrossFireX area.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to the page instead, and click to expand the AMD CrossFireX area.
- Select On or Off in the Frame Pacing drop-down list.
- Click Save.
AMD CrossFireX / Dual Graphics Mode for 3D Applications
When you create or update a user-defined application profile, you can select which AMD CrossFireX™ / AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics mode is to be used with the associated application. Selecting a different graphics mode may increase the image quality and performance of your applications, however, not all modes are compatible with all applications. Use these settings at your own discretion as they can cause unexpected results and reduced application performance.
Note: These settings are available only for systems that are capable of AMD CrossFireX or AMD Radeon Dual Graphics.
- In Advanced View, navigate to the page.For certain notebooks, there may be two versions of this page; select the page that corresponds to the graphics processor that you want to configure.
If you are using an AMD FirePro™ graphics card, navigate to the page instead.
- In the Application Profiles list, select the application that you want to update.
- If needed, click to expand the AMD CrossFireX area of the page. Under AMD CrossFireX Mode for 3D Applications or AMD Radeon Dual Graphics Mode for 3D Applications, select the graphics mode that is best suited for your application:
- Disabled—Disables AMD CrossFireX / AMD Radeon Dual Graphics support.
- Default Mode—Uses the optimal graphics mode based on the current application and available AMD custom profiles.
- AFR Friendly—Uses alternate frame rendering (AFR) mode for applications that do not have an AMD predefined AMD CrossFireX / AMD Radeon Dual Graphics profile.
- AFR Compatible—Designed for applications that do not have an AMD predefined AMD CrossFireX / AMD Radeon Dual Graphics profile.
- Optimize 1×1—Uses alternative frame rendering (AFR) mode with additional optimization for 1×1 resources.
- Use AMD Pre-defined Profile—Uses an AMD predefined application profile with another application profile. When you select this option, a list of available AMD predefined profiles appears. Use the list or search field to select the profile with the AMD CrossFireX / AMD Radeon Dual Graphics that you want to use.
- Click Save to save your changes.If a profile already exists for the associated application, you are prompted to either override or overwrite the existing profile. When prompted, click Yes.
The selected graphics mode is saved to the current profile and used each time the associated application is run.
