How to Do an AMD Radeon Driver Update

AMD drivers must be updated on Radeon graphics cards for proper functioning and performance. You can update Radeon cards manually, automatically, or with the AMD Radeon update tool.

The following guide focuses on updating Windows 10 drivers but can be similarly applied across different versions of Windows.

What Does the AMD Radeon Driver Do?

The AMD Radeon driver is a software application that allows communication between the video card and PC. Without the graphics driver, the PC would have no instruction on how to communicate with the graphics card and would not be able to draw the pixels you see on the monitor. Driver updates are usually a good idea when upgrading Windows.

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What Happens When You Don’t Update Drivers?

Contrary to belief, if there are no issues with your current graphics card, an update may not be required; however, if any of the following situations apply, you might consider upgrading:

• New Software: Upgrade if you recently installed a newer 3D game, operating system version, or application.
• Enhancements: Upgrade if you are looking for new features or performance improvements.
• Poor Graphics: Upgrade if you are currently experiencing issues or driver conflicts.

Without the proper AMD driver updates, you’re more likely to experience crashes, graphics issues, and slow render times. Fortunately, Windows provides a quick and easy way to update drivers.

 

How to Update AMD Drivers with Windows

Through the Windows Device Manager, your drivers can be updated automatically. Windows will search your computer and the internet for the latest drivers and install them. Here’s how to update AMD drivers with Windows Device Manager:

 

1. Go to the Start search bar, and look up Device Manager.
   
2. Go to Display adapters and locate your AMD Radeon Graphics Card

3. Right-Click your graphics card and select Update Driver.
4. Search automatically for updated driver software and follow the directions.

Update AMD Radeon Drivers Manually

As an alternative solution, you can update AMD drivers manually. It is more time-intensive than using the Windows update tool, but you’ll know exactly what you’re installing (Windows doesn’t always find the newest driver).

For manual installs, first identify the graphics card.

How Do You Identify Your Radeon Graphics Card?

You can identify an AMD Radeon card by its box, label, or through the PC.

Here’s how:

• Original box – On the original box, the model will be located in the center with the manufacturer label towards the top half of the box.
• By sticker label – The sticker label is normally located on the side of the graphics card and will contain the manufacturer and model of the graphics card.
• Identifying your Graphics Card by software – Use your operating system to identify your graphics card, as described in the next section.

How to Identify the Graphics Card Through the Operating System

The graphics card can be identified through the operating system using the device ID and subsystem vendor ID.

Use this method if you cannot physically inspect the graphics card, as it offers an alternative way to identify it.
Here is how you identify your graphics card:

1. Go to the Start search bar, and look up Device Manager
2. Go to Display adapters and locate your AMD Radeon Graphics Card
3. Right-click the graphics card and select Properties
4. From the Details tab, select Hardware Ids from the Property dropdown.
5. From the menu, we see that our AMD Radeon device ID string is: PCIVEN_1002&DEV_15DD&SUBSYS_84AE103C&REV_C5

From the string ID, we can deduce that the Device ID is 15DD, and the Subsystem Vendor ID is 103C. Use this list to determine the manufacturer.

Note: When determining the graphics card model and manufacturer, only the SUBSYS and DEV values are used. Use the list to determine the manufacturer:

Subsystem ID	Manufacturer
1002	AMD
1025	Acer
1028	Dell
103C	HP
1043	ASUSTEK
104D	Sony
106B	Apple
107B	Gateway
1092	Diamond Multimedia
1179	Toshiba
1458	Gigabyte
1462	MSI
148C	PowerColor
1545	VisionTek
1682	XFX
16F3	Jetway
17AA	Lenovo
17AF	HIS
18BC	GeCube
196D	Club 3D
1DA2	Sapphire

After you’ve located the Subsystem Vendor ID and Device ID you can proceed on to the AMD website to download the specific drivers for your device. Next step, you’ll learn how to install them.

How Do You Do a Manual Install?

After identifying the graphics card, the manual install of AMD drivers should be a breeze. Here is how you do it:

1. Go to the Start search bar, and look up Device Manager.
2. Go to Display adapters and locate your AMD Radeon Graphics Card.
3. 
4. Right-Click your graphics card and select Update Driver.
5. Browse my computer for driver software and follow the directions.

Use the AMD Radeon Update tool

If the manual install seems a bit involved, AMD provides an autodetect tool compatible with any Windows 7 and Windows 10 PC running Radeon graphics cards. The tool will detect the graphics card model and version of Windows installed on your PC and then allows you to install the most recent compatible AMD graphics driver.

Here is how it works:

1. Go to the AMD support page and download the Auto-Detect tool for Radeon Graphics drivers
2. Open the download and Install the application
3. Accept the License Agreement
4. AMD will find the latest drivers for your system, allowing you to install them with one click.

Note: AMD will only install graphics card drivers, for a more comprehensive driver solution: Driver Support will update all of your drivers.

Make Sure Your Radeon Drivers Stay Updated

The AMD Radeon graphics card may exhibit strange behavior when drivers are not updated. It’s best to keep AMD drivers updated to prevent graphics card issues and glitches.

Windows provides an automatic update tool (that does not always work the greatest). It’s best to consider automatic driver updates for the latest updates and to keep your system running smooth.

Trust Driver Support for all your AMD driver needs. Regular AMD driver updates should not take up all your time; let Driver Support track down and update drivers for you. Keep your graphics running smooth, and your system updates worry-free.