AMD has released a new graphics driver and introduced a power saving mode that could make a big difference to the battery life of gaming laptops and handhelds.
Adrenalin Edition 23.12.1 brings official support for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, as well as a revamped interface, but the real highlight is the mentioned feature called AMD HYPR-RX Eco.
Yes, that's a mouthful, but the idea is simple, contrary to the name: this is a one-click button that activates a series of functions to save a significant amount of power consumption.
We're told this easy-to-use power saving profile will deliver energy savings of up to 68%, although the catch is that it's currently exclusive to RDNA 3 GPUs only (RX 7000 graphics cards and processors with RDNA 3 integrated graphics) . AMD says this works best with games running in full screen, so this is a gaming-focused feature.
The said UI redesign also includes allowing HYPR-RX profiles to be easily enabled globally (in one fell swoop for all apps and the system), or on a per-game basis.
Analysis: Full speed ahead with energy savings
HYPR-RX Eco may sound very smart, but we should note that the 68% figure quoted is a 'to' estimate of performance, meaning this is a best-case scenario. That said, even if the average energy savings is a lot lower, say 40%, that's still huge.
Of course, we don't yet know exactly what effect this feature will have, or what the trade-off is (in performance terms – those battery savings have to come from somewhere). But AMD is certainly confident that this will be an impressive addition to the mix to ensure that the best gaming laptops last longer when they're away from a power socket.
This will also be great for gaming handhelds, such as the Asus ROG Ally and Lenovo Legion Go, Windows-powered portables that have received some pretty heavy criticism for disappointing battery life. They have RDNA 3 graphics so will benefit from the HYPR-RX Eco option, which is great news.
AMD says HYPR-RX Eco will launch “initially” for RDNA 3 (and RX 7000), so this also suggests it will eventually come to older GPU hardware – which would certainly mean the Steam Deck (RDNA 2) ? We can keep our fingers crossed for a wider rollout soon enough, especially for the latest generation of graphics.
All in all, the future looks bright for these gaming handhelds, especially considering that for Windows 11 models, Microsoft just took the first step toward that rumored “handheld mode” for these devices. Improving the interface to look more like the streamlined UI of Steam Deck (SteamOS) is a crucial factor here.
Through Wccftech