AMD discontinues new drivers for the Radeon RX 300 series and older

AMD today launched the graphics driver Radeon Software Adrenalin with version number 21.6.2, where they introduce the scaling technology Fidelity FX Super Resolution (FSR). However, it is clear that with the update, they leave a number of generations of graphics cards and processors with integrated graphics part behind them, where support for new drivers from now on ends.

Beginning with the release of Radeon™ Software Adrenalin 21.6.1 today, we are moving the following graphics products to a legacy model, with no additional driver releases planned. Their final supported driver will be Radeon Software Adrenalin 21.5.2. – AMD:s support

These are mainly graphics cards based on the first three generations of the Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. It includes a range ranging from the Radeon HD 7700 series to the Raden R9 Fury series, including AMD’s A, Pro A, Athlon and Sempron series integrated graphics (APU) processors. Mobile versions are also affected, where a complete list can be found on AMD’s support page.

AMD believes that resource reasons are the biggest contributing part to the cessation of future optimizations. This gives the company the opportunity to put more focus on new architectures, functions and improvements. Several of the affected graphics cards have several years on their necks, such as the old top models Radeon HD 7970 and Radeon HD 7990, where the former turns 10 in December.

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The graphics cards do not suddenly become unusable, but continue to work with older drivers. However, AMD’s recommendation is that “users with a passion for gaming“upgrades to a newer graphics card, which at the moment is slightly easier said than done.

Do you have a graphics card from any of the affected product lines?