AMD Issues Clarification on Driver Support for RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 GPUs
AMD, in an official statement, has reiterated its drive support for its Radeon GPUs based on RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 architectures. This somewhat alleviated the confusion from the Adrenalin 25.10.2 driver release among a section of users.
Where the Confusion Stepped In
The confusion arose when the Adrenalin 25.10.2 driver changelog stated that the older RDNA 1 (Radeon RX 5000 series) and RDNA 2 (Radeon RX 6000 series) GPUs would be moved to a Maintenance Mode separate branch. Initial statements by AMD trying to clarify the situation were taken to be very vague so it just brewed more concern in the community.
AMD's Official Stand Two Optimized Driver Paths
In this new statement, AMD laid to rest all doubts. The company is not going to discontinue support for its older architectures. Instead, it is introducing two separate optimized drivers pathways:
- One branch for RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 GPUs.
- A second branch for RDNA 3 (RX 7000 series) and RDNA 4 (RX 9000 series) GPUs.
What This Impacts RDNA 1 & RDNA 2 GPU Owners
The owners of RX 5000 and RX 6000 series graphics cards will continue receiving full driver support. According to AMD, this entails:
- Game support for all new titles.
- Continuous stability and optimization for games.
- Security updates and fixes for bugs.
The crucial difference is that these GPUs will benefit from being on a dedicated and stable driver branch worked on and optimized for several years. This is intended to provide a regular and reliable gaming experience.
What Prompted the Change
AMD suggested that with separate driver branches, it could enable its engineers to deploy new features for RDNA 3 and RDNA 4 architectures at a much more rapid pace. In doing so, RDNA 1 and RDNA 2 were insulated from rapid changes, thereby stabilizing them for good performance in current and future games.
AMD reiterated its commitment to all Radeon gamers and said owners of all RDNA generations would continue to enjoy the reliability and performance they expect.
