AMD has just released the Ryzen chipset driver update package 7.02.13.148, which includes many new programs to improve application compatibility, support Microsoft Pluton, and many other features.
In addition, “Team Red” has also posted a new support document on its website, sharing information regarding UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) support on the latest RX 9000 series graphics cards. AMD launched the 9070 series GPUs last week to compete with Nvidia’s RTX 5070/Ti cards. The initial response seems to be quite positive as the company promises performance close to the RTX 5070 Ti at a price just a little higher than the RTX 5070. In addition to gaming, AI/ML performance and media encoding/decoding are also significantly improved.
In its new UEFI support document, AMD states that Radeon GPUs from the 9000 series onwards will only officially support UEFI mode. As a result, if your system is configured to use a legacy BIOS or CSM (compatibility support module), it may not work and will not boot.
This requirement is similar to Windows 11. In other words, UEFI/Secure Boot will become mandatory to enhance operating system security. In addition to security, UEFI also brings many other benefits such as Fast Boot. AMD explains:
Compared to the old "legacy" BIOS firmware, UEFI firmware offers many new and useful features, including:
- Security is greatly improved
- Well-defined interfaces ensure interoperability and testability
- Reliable firmware updates from the internet with little user interaction
- Support hard drives larger than 2.2TB
- Support for a wide range of new PC hardware, including the ability to boot from NVMe SSDs
- Windows® Secure Boot to prevent malware
- Faster shutdown, startup, sleep and resume times
To take full advantage of UEFI, only UEFI mode will be officially supported starting with the 4th generation of AMD RDNA™ graphics cards (Radeon™ RX 9000 Series and later).
AMD also touts ReSizable BAR, also known as Smart Access Memory in the case of Radeon, as a UEFI benefit.
The documentation also suggests that performance and compatibility issues may occur if users do not enable UEFI firmware on their systems:
It is important that your PC is configured for UEFI mode to ensure compatibility, performance, and optimal user experience with AMD Radeon™ RX 9000 Series and newer graphics cards.
This means that unsupported devices running Windows 11 without UEFI/Secure Boot will not work optimally with Radeon 9000 series graphics cards, and therefore you should upgrade to a new PC.
Additionally, if you're wondering whether your current graphics card's VGA BIOS (vBIOS) comes with a UEFI module, you can use TechPowerUp's GPU-Z tool to check, which currently has a small catalog containing relevant information.
AMD and Intel - “Team Red” and “Team Blue”, the world's two leading semiconductor chip manufacturers, who have been sworn enemies, always competing with each other on all fronts in the “x86 arms race” for many years, have suddenly recently turned from enemies to friends.
Last month, AMD released a new version of Ryzen Master, an application that helps tweak and overclock Ryzen and Threadripper-branded processors.
It seems like AMD is trying to raise market expectations for the upcoming MI325X processor.
Intel has reportedly lost the race to supply processors for Sony's next-generation gaming console, the PlayStation 6.
At this year's CES 2025 event, AMD refrained from revealing long-awaited details about its new flagship Radeon RX 9070 XT GPU, which is built on the RDNA 4 architecture.
AMD Strix Point laptop users will now get a new feature called Variable Graphics Memory.
There have been a lot of rumors lately that AMD seems to be planning to withdraw from the GPU market.
AMD has finally announced the release date and pricing of its highly anticipated Ryzen 9000X3D processors.
MD has officially confirmed for the first time that it is working on the next generation version of its Z-series handheld gaming CPU, called the Z2 Extreme.
With the unimpressive performance of recent CPU generations, Intel seems to be losing popularity in the Chinese market, where rival AMD is increasingly gaining popularity.
Back in December 2023, AMD introduced the Ryz 8040 (Hawk Point) series mobile APUs, while also revealing a few brief details about the next-generation Strix Point series.
After a long wait, AMD has finally announced the official launch date of its first new desktop CPU line developed on the Zen 5 architecture: Ryzen 9000.
Unlike its desktop CPU division, AMD's GPU business can't seem to agree on how to name its commercial discrete cards.
After a long wait, the Ryzen 9 9950X3D has finally been officially launched, serving as a strategic product in AMD's top-of-the-line X3D CPU line.
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