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Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition Beta for Blockchain Compute
It is no secret that video cards from AMD are actively used by miners for mining digital currencies. Especially for such tasks the developers from Radeon Technologies Group have created a unique driver package, which should significantly improve the performance of farms based on AMD graphics processors.
The new driverpack is named Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition Beta for Blockchain Compute. The mining drivers have been released in several versions for Windows 7 and Windows 10 operating systems. The software supports almost all popular Radeon video cards that are actively used for cryptocurrency mining (from the HD 7700 series onwards).
Immediately it should be emphasized that the new driver is a beta release, which is not designed for full graphics or gaming loads. Consequently, the chipmaker is conducting a “raw” software release.
In the future, AMD company does not plan to work on optimizing and improving the drivers, the bugs found will also not be eliminated. That is why it is safe to say that this is the first and the last driverpack for miners.
Why do I need AMD Blockchain Driver?
The initial release of the updated Blockchain Compute graphics card software was conducted to integrate support for the Vega series graphics line. The software was released on August 23, 2017, the program is the latest version of the driver, which is optimized for digital currency intelligence. Support for almost all popular AMD cards of several recent generations has been implemented.
Detailed description of AMD Blockchain Driver’s main features and capabilities is available on the official developer’s page. Download links can be found there as well.
If we talk directly about the effect of installing the updated beta driver, then first of all, the problem of increasing the size of the DAG-file is solved. Often, such errors appear in the process of Ethereum cryptocurrency mining.
Mining performance decreases smoothly due to the fact that the size of the DAG-file increases, exceeding the capacity of video memory of the AMD card. Previously, users had to move the external memory to the internal memory. The end result is manifested in the fact that the graphics processes began to show a lower hash rate when mining Ethereum. The mining speed has dropped by about 4-5 MH/s.
A special driver will noticeably improve the processing of increased video memory requirements, and as a result, it will retain the performance of the GPU device and the original hash indicator. In principle, the results of the program testing were ambiguous, but certain improvements in performance are absolutely certain. Anyway, after installing the driver, the user will get 2-5 MH/s extra. However, keep in mind that an increase in power will entail an increase in the amount of power consumed.
Note that if you plan to install this driverpack, do not edit the default VBIOS value in any way. In doing so, install and use the Pixel Clock Patcher, which will solve the driver configuration issue.
Downloading and installing the new driver
Initially, you need to download all the necessary programs. Follow the step-by-step instructions:
· Click the link below to download AMD clean Uninstall Utility. You can use DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller), for this option you should read the instructions of AMD program which can be found in this archive.
· The latest AMD Beta Blockchain Compute driver is available at this link below. It is important to install the correct OS version.
· It’s not hard to find Pixel Patcher online.
After these steps, all the files are downloaded, let’s start the installation.
You need to uninstall the pre-installed drivers. The most affordable approach is an AMD utility with full uninstallation.
To download the utility, you will need to activate the “AMDCleanupUtility.exe” file, which is automatically launched after the driver uninstall confirmation appears. The utility will provide information about the completion of the uninstall process and will offer to restart the PC. Click on “no” because another action is required.
Before restarting your PC, go to the root directory of your local C drive. Look for the AMD folder, and delete it. This is the folder where AMD software extracts files. Despite this you will need to delete this folder as it is recreated and filled with new files during the installation of new drivers.
After deleting the AMD folder, restart your PC.
Users can use one trick. When the system reboots, you should disconnect the LAN cable. This prevents a possible automatic reboot of the operating system and installation of a new driver package before the system boots.
This step is considered optional. Because all the files required for downloading are present. A network connection is required to perform the following steps.
Let’s begin by looking at installing the graphics drivers. When the user has rebooted the PC, you should open the “Downloads” folder. Double-click on the AMD driver installation file. Its name is: “Win10-64Bit-Crimson-ReLive-Beta-Blockchain-Workloads-Aug23.exe”.
The installation files are extracted to the created AMD folder, which was previously deleted by us. The user can choose another location if desired, but this directory is selected by default. Click on “Install”.
The program extracts the installation files to the folder shown in the screenshot above. The execution time depends on the performance of the operating system and the hardware. When all the files are extracted, the program prompts you to install the driver files.
You will need to accept the terms of the page, as shown in the screenshot below, before you can proceed with the installation.
The software will scan the system to calculate the space for the GPUs. It all depends on the speed of the system. When the installation is complete, the screen will show as in the screenshot below.
You can click on the “Express Installation”, which is most often the default. Or opt for a custom installation, which requires you to select the components for your personal installation.
More often than not, a custom installation is chosen. Users give preference to Wattman AMD, GPU control. There are those who opt for third-party programs: Wattool, or Afterburner. It happens that saving AMD Wattman causes a conflict, you need to remove it.
If the user wants to install the HDMI Audio Driver, you must select the default setting.
When the files are installed, the program prompts you to restart your PC. Click on “No” and on “Close” in the lower right corner.
Testing the changes made
To complete the driver installation process correctly, run the previously downloaded pixel patcher before restarting your PC. This software is used to prevent problems related to editing DAG files.
Consider the fact that if you haven’t changed the default settings for your video card in the BIOS, you may not use the pixel patcher at all and reboot your computer immediately after installing the Blockchain Driver.
Let’s start testing. Extract the contents of the previously downloaded patcher archive to the desktop or to a separate directory. After that you need to run the executable file – “AMDdriver.exe”. This will start the program.
If you want to get the test results without checking the signature, then just rename the program’s startup file to look like this on the screenshot. This is done to fix the BIOS signature checking and to ignore additional parameters.
Run the program again, for the BIOS signature check command select the “found” command. Then click “OK”, thereby applying the set settings.
When the pixel patcher is done, you can safely reboot the computer. If the user disconnected the Ethernet cable before, now is the time to plug it back in.
Checking ATI Drivers is not much different from testing similar software from other developers. When the computer restarts, run a quick check, for this launch the Device Manager (click on the Windows icon and in the menu that opens select Device Manager). Open the “Video adapters” section. It is important that the video cards connected to the PC are displayed, and the operating system does not give any warnings.
When the pixel patcher is done, you can safely reboot the computer. If the user disconnected the Ethernet cable before, now is the time to plug it back in.
Checking ATI Drivers is not much different from testing similar software from other developers. When the computer restarts, run a quick check, for this launch the Device Manager (click on the Windows icon and in the menu that opens select Device Manager). Open the “Video adapters” section. It is important that the video cards connected to the PC are displayed, and the operating system does not give any warnings.
