Arrr, me hearties! AMD's latest system lag measurement be a swashbucklin' trick for its GPUs, but beware of the sly catches!
2023-10-10
Arr, ye scallywags at AMD be tryin' t'match the likes o' Nvidia, who be already sportin' a similar PC Latency measurement. But methinks they be runnin' a wee bit behind, like a landlubber chasin' a swift sailin' ship on a calm sea!
AMD has introduced a new feature in its Adrenalin graphics drivers that allows users to view the system lag holding back their PCs. This feature provides a figure in milliseconds for the delay experienced between the game instructing a frame to be generated and the GPU actually finishing rendering that frame. It is considered to be an important metric for smooth gameplay. However, there are some notable catches with this feature. Firstly, it is only supported by RDNA 3 GPUs that benefit from Radeon Anti-Lag+ technology. Secondly, the game needs to support Radeon Anti-Lag+ and have it running, which is currently only the case for a small number of PC games.While this feature may not be useful for every gamer, it is particularly valuable for those playing fast-paced games where lag is crucial. AMD's implementation of this feature is seen as a catch-up move with Nvidia, who introduced a similar measurement called PC Latency. It is worth noting that this system lag measurement is not the only factor contributing to latency on a gaming PC, as things like frame generation and peripheral latency also play a role. Early reports suggest that AMD's system lag measurement is working well in its preview driver, with both Nvidia's PC Latency and AMD's System Lag features measuring a lag of 23ms in a test with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.
In conclusion, while this new feature from AMD provides valuable information for gamers, its usefulness may be limited to those playing fast-paced games. AMD's implementation is seen as a catch-up move with Nvidia, and it is important to consider other factors contributing to latency on a gaming PC. Nonetheless, early reports suggest that the feature is working well, and it will be interesting to see how it evolves in future updates.