AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition — Release History
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition (formerly Radeon Software) is AMD's all-in-one driver and software package for Radeon GPUs and Ryzen processors with integrated graphics. Introduced in December 2017, it replaced the older Radeon Software Crimson ReLive Edition. The suite bundles GPU drivers with overlay tools, performance tuning (WattMan), streaming (ReLive / Record & Stream), upscaling technology (FSR), frame generation (AFMF), and a gaming hub. The version numbering scheme changed in 2026 from a calendar-year YY.MM.x format to a pure version number starting at 26.x.x.
Major Annual Editions (2017–2022)
From 2017 to early 2022, AMD released one flagship "Edition" per year, each with a distinctive brand name, alongside incremental YY.MM.x updates throughout the year.
Radeon Software: Adrenalin Edition
Released: December 12, 2017
The debut of the Adrenalin brand, succeeding Crimson ReLive Edition.
- Radeon Overlay — new in-game HUD for monitoring and settings without alt-tabbing
- AMD Link — iOS/Android companion app for remote monitoring and ReLive control
- Enhanced Sync — extended to Vulkan, Multi-GPU, and Eyefinity configurations
- Radeon WattMan — added profile save/load/share for custom GPU tuning
- ReLive improvements — Vulkan recording support, Eyefinity capture, GIF/social sharing
Radeon Software: Adrenalin 2019 Edition
Released: December 13, 2018
The second annual "Adrenalin" branded release (confusingly branded for 2019 but released in late 2018).
- Radeon Advisors — Game Advisor, Settings Advisor, and Upgrade Advisor for in-overlay recommendations
- AMD Link — game streaming to iOS/Android at up to 4K 60 Hz; desktop access; "Hey Radeon" voice commands
- Radeon Chill — up to 20% power efficiency improvement in select eSports titles
- FreeSync 2 HDR — automated tone-mapping added
- WattMan — one-click auto-overclock / auto-undervolt; advanced fan curves; memory optimisation
Radeon Software: Adrenalin 2020 Edition
Released: December 10, 2019
Focused on UI redesign and new performance features. Claimed an average 12% performance gain over the 2019 launch driver.
- Revamped UI — modern gaming hub with in-game overlay access and one-click optimisation profiles
- Radeon Boost — dynamic resolution scaling during fast motion to raise FPS with minimal quality impact
- Radeon Anti-Lag — expanded DX9 support; global activation toggle added
- Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS) — DX11 support added; dynamic toggle and sharpness control
- Integer Display Scaling — pixel-perfect scaling for classic/retro games on high-DPI displays
- DirectML Media Filters — ML-based noise reduction and video upscaling
Radeon Software: Adrenalin 2021 Edition (21.4.1)
Released: April 20, 2021
The 2021 major release arrived mid-year rather than December and focussed on connectivity and accessibility.
- AMD Link 4.0 — stream to Windows 10 PCs (not just mobile); 144 Hz support; Dolby 5.1; "Game Link" virtual co-op
- Custom installer — choose Driver Only, Minimal, or Full install at setup time
- Ryzen CPU metrics — CPU performance stats now displayed alongside GPU stats in the overlay
- Radeon Boost + VRS — Variable Rate Shading integration for DX12 Ultimate games
- AMD Crash Defender — BSOD/hang recovery tool to preserve data
- Color Deficiency Correction — accessibility sliders for users with colour blindness
- AV1 hardware decode — Microsoft PlayReady DRM + AV1 on RX 6000 series
AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 2022
Released: March 17, 2022
The "Radeon" was dropped from the software suite name to reflect support across the broader AMD product line (including APUs and Ryzen AI).
- Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) — driver-level spatial upscaling (FSR 1 algorithm) for thousands of DX11/DX12 full-screen games on RDNA+
- FSR 2.0 preview — temporal upscaling announced for Q2 2022; wider GPU compatibility than DLSS
- AMD Link (5.0) — "personal gaming cloud"; friends on Intel/NVIDIA hardware can join via AMD Link from anywhere
- RIS expansion — Radeon Image Sharpening extended to video playback and web content
- AMD Privacy View — eye-tracking-based privacy screen dimming (Eyeware powered)
Incremental Releases (2023)
From 2023 onward, AMD moved to a purely incremental versioning model (YY.MM.x), dropping the annual "Edition" brand names.
| Version | Date | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| 23.2.1 | ~Jan 30, 2023 | Support for Forspoken and Dead Space; performance boosts up to 7% for Forspoken at 4K; improved AMD Link connectivity |
| 23.3.1 | Mar 2023 | Game support for Halo Infinite Ray Tracing update, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, The Last of Us Part I |
| 23.4.2 | Apr 20, 2023 | Support for Dead Island 2; up to 14–15% performance gains on RX 6000/7000 at 4K |
| 23.5.1 | May 24, 2023 | Support for The Lord of the Rings: Gollum; up to 16% performance gain on RX 7900 Series |
| 23.9.2 | ~Sep 13, 2023 | Lies of P, Party Animals, The Crew Motorfest day-one support; Anti-Lag+ added for Starfield, The Witcher 3, Elden Ring |
| 23.12.1 | Dec 2023 | Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, THE FINALS support; HYPR-RX Eco for power savings on Radeon 7000; redesigned Home and Gaming tabs in UI; expanded OpenGL Interop |
Incremental Releases (2024)
| Version | Date | Driver Version | Highlights |
|---|---|---|---|
| 24.1.1 | Jan 26, 2024 | 23.40.02 | AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) — up to 97% FPS boost in DX11/DX12 via driver-level frame gen on RX 7000 desktop; AMD Video Upscaling for improved video playback; AMD Smart Technology tab; AMD Assistant |
| 24.2.1 | Feb 2024 | 23.40.19.01 | SKULL AND BONES, Nightingale day-one support; expanded HYPR-Tune for THE FINALS, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Forza Motorsport; new Vulkan extensions (VK_KHR_calibrated_timestamps etc.) |
| 24.4.1 | ~Apr 25, 2024 | — | Performance fixes for HELLDIVERS™ 2 |
| 24.5.1 | May 1, 2024 | 23.40.33.01 | Ghost of Tsushima DIRECTOR'S CUT, Senua's Saga: Hellblade II, F1® 24; expanded HYPR-Tune profiles |
| 24.7.1 | ~Jul 16, 2024 | 24.10.29.01 | Zenless Zone Zero, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess (up to 16% perf gain); AFMF extended to RX 6000 and laptop 700M series |
| 24.10.1 | Oct 2024 | 24.20.19.01 | Unknown 9: Awakening, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 day-one support; expanded HYPR-Tune with auto-FSR + frame gen configuration |
| 24.12.1 | Dec 10, 2024 | — | Year-end stability and performance release |
Incremental Releases (2025–2026)
In 2026, AMD further changed the version scheme: instead of 25.x.x the year prefix reset to 26.x.x, reflecting a move away from calendar-year branding entirely.
| Version | Date | Highlights |
|---|---|---|
| 25.3.1 WHQL | Mar 6–18, 2025 | RX 9070 / RX 9070 XT (RDNA 4) launch driver; FSR 4 (ML-based, RDNA 4 exclusive) and AFMF 2.1; AMD Chat, AMD Image Inspector, AMD Install Manager AI tools; ROCm on WSL for RX 7000 Series; day-one for FragPunk and Split Fiction |
| 25.6.1 | Jun 10, 2025 | Mid-year stability and game support update |
| 25.8.1 | Aug 5, 2025 | Mid-year update |
| 25.9.1 | Sep 8, 2025 | Mid-year update |
| 25.10.2 | Oct 29, 2025 | Ryzen AI 5 330 product support; Battlefield 6 (DX12) and Vampire: The Masquerade — Bloodlines 2 (DX12) game support |
| 25.11.1 ⭐ | Nov 13, 2025 | Recommended long-term stability release |
| 26.1.1 | Jan 21, 2026 | Optional AI Bundle one-click install (local LLM / AI workload tooling); Ryzen AI 9 and AI 7 processor support; Starsand Island game support |
| 26.2.2 | Mar 3, 2026 | Resident Evil Requiem and Marathon day-one support |
| 26.3.1 WHQL | Mar 19, 2026 | FSR Upscaling 4.1 for RX 9000 Series (ML upscaling with sharper detail, smoother camera motion); FSR Ray Regeneration 1.1; Crimson Desert and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach support; Cyberpunk 2077 / Path Tracing crash fix; mouse & keyboard lock fix in AMD Software UI |
⭐ 25.11.1 is AMD's current recommended long-term driver as of early 2026. If you want the newest features (FSR 4.1), use 26.3.1 WHQL.
Key Recurring Features
| Feature | Introduced | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Radeon Overlay / Performance Monitoring | Dec 2017 | In-game HUD for GPU/CPU stats, recording, and settings |
| AMD Link | Dec 2017 | Mobile/PC companion app for remote control and game streaming |
| Radeon WattMan | Dec 2017 | GPU overclocking, undervolting, and fan curve editor |
| Radeon Chill | Pre-2017 | Frame rate cap when stationary to reduce power and heat |
| Radeon Anti-Lag | 2019 | Reduces input latency in DX9/DX11/DX12 games |
| Radeon Boost | Dec 2019 | Dynamic resolution scaling during fast motion |
| Radeon Image Sharpening (RIS) | 2019 | Contrast-adaptive sharpening post-process |
| Integer Display Scaling | Dec 2019 | Pixel-perfect scaling for retro games |
| Radeon Super Resolution (RSR) | Mar 2022 | Driver-level FSR 1 spatial upscale; works with any full-screen DX game on RDNA+ |
| FSR (FidelityFX Super Resolution) | Jun 2021 | Spatial (FSR 1), then temporal (FSR 2/3), then ML (FSR 4 on RDNA 4) upscaling |
| Anti-Lag+ | Sep 2023 | Game-engine-integrated low-latency mode (game must support it) |
| HYPR-RX / HYPR-Tune | 2023 | One-click preset profiles combining Anti-Lag, Boost, and FSR per game |
| AMD Fluid Motion Frames (AFMF) | Jan 2024 | Driver-level frame interpolation for DX11/DX12 on RX 6000+ |
| AI Bundle | Jan 2026 | Optional one-click local AI/LLM tooling installation |
Naming Convention
| Era | Naming Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Radeon Software: Adrenalin Edition | — |
| 2018–2021 | Radeon Software: Adrenalin Year Edition | Adrenalin 2020 Edition |
| 2022 | AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition Year | Adrenalin Edition 2022 |
| 2023–2025 | AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition YY.MM.x | 24.7.1 |
| 2026+ | AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.x.x | 26.3.1 |
Sources
- AMD Release Notes index (amd.com)
- AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 26.3.1 Release Notes
- TechPowerUp Driver Database — AMD
- TechPowerUp: AMD Software 25.3.1 WHQL
- Tom's Hardware — Adrenalin Edition 2022 Review
- VideoCardz — AMD Adrenalin 2020 Edition
- WCCFTech — Adrenalin 2019 Edition feature breakdown
- AMD Wikipedia article
- Patchbot.io — AMD Software changelog feed