Tuesday, March 29th 2016

AMD Preparing to Drop 32-bit Support for Radeon Drivers?
Is AMD planning to retire driver support for 32-bit Windows? A bulk of the company's Radeon R9 and Fury series GPUs feature 4 GB or more of video memory, and 64-bit Windows users making up the overwhelming majority, the company has begun steering users away from using 32-bit Windows altogether. We got whiff of this when we visited AMD's Drivers + Download Center on the company website, and tried clicking on the "32-bit" links of some of its Windows 10 and Windows 8.1 drivers, which redirected to an ominously-worded AMD knowledge-base article (Article #GPU-622).
This knowledge-base article, intended for people looking for 32-bit drivers, reads:
This knowledge-base article, intended for people looking for 32-bit drivers, reads:
A system running Microsoft Windows 10 64 Bit can take full advantage of the advanced visual and performance features of these graphics cards. However, AMD also provides 64 Bit drivers for Microsoft Windows 8.1 and Microsoft Windows 7 to accomodate those users who choose to use an older Microsoft Operating System.The knowledge-base article has no links for the drivers users are looking for. A little URL guessing later, we did manage to find 32-bit versions of Radeon Software 16.3.2, but that's something ordinary users will not be able to make. According to the download page, AMD's recently launched Radeon Pro Duo already completely lacks 32-bit Windows support, and the company is only providing 64-bit drivers. This move could prove useful for AMD as it frees up resources inside the driver team.
83 Comments on AMD Preparing to Drop 32-bit Support for Radeon Drivers?
Also if we're talking Zen we're talking brand spanking new. If it's a laptop why isn't it 64-bit? If its a desktop why isn't it 64-bit?
Not really seeing a scenario where zen + 32-bit will happen at all, much less make any sense. Now if you're talking existing hardware then sure it might sting but there's always a driver already out. The only ones affected are those on existing hardware with a 32-bit OS where existing drivers have some flaw the user is waiting on being fixed.
That can't really be a significant chunk of the market.
I've already explained why desktops aren't all 64-bit.
Windows will provide with latest legacy driver as it does now.
Old machines are old, they have their own golden software combo. It does not need anything new anymore. Special cases with rare special devices are not a serious statistic counter. VIA still produces their own CPU's and board and GPU, so you will have an option for industrial tech.
New mainstream machines are new, even office chaps now consume more than 4GB of RAM and it really leaves no option. Browser + office really starts to hit the swapfile too much. Blame chrome and web content...
Microsoft also has noted that this will be the last update having x86 builds.
Eventually... most of office peps buy laptops with an OEM OS. There even wont be a choice. Custom desktop machines are actually rare, even more places use NUC if large screens are needed and laptop is not an option also mobility for meetings is not needed.
So this is really a natural way of doing things...
I guess since I deal with this on a regular basis with customers, I see the need for 32-bit.
yeah don't see a reason for 32 bit OS to float around!!
It's a computer, not the starter for a big-block Chevy. ;-)
Most components are drawing less power, not more, these days, so I don't really see the need for higher amperage (please do educate me if I am wrong)
The 32bit windows market that will care about a Zen APU is probably a smaller market than the Linux market.
i wonder how much face this is saving microsoft for when they stop making 32bit os?
like most, vista saw the end of 32bit for me too, then for the past 3 os release i have wondered why they still bothered with the 32bit flavour :s
Could someone explain why are there still SO MANY boards with damn PCI slots? I've been looking for a Z170(!!!) board for my wife's PC last week and some of the boards even have two PCI slots! My brain is full of f*ck!
1.) When you go to the driver download page they have made it almost impossible to find the 32-bit drivers. When you click on the link to take you to the 32-bit drivers it now takes you to a knowledge base page with no link to download the drivers.
So yes, essentially the old driver have gone away. Sure, you can use the driver from Windows Update, but its usually several months old.
2.) The old drivers won't work with new computers when Zen comes out. Probably, I work with several printing companies that have massive printers that require 32-bit computers to manage and send jobs to. Printers that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to replace.
I also work with several companies that still run software that they had custom made 15 years ago, that only runs on 32-bit versions of Windows. Software that manages their entire company and the cheapest estimate we received for replacing this software was $30,000.
A fraction of the picture? Sure. But for a company that needs all the business it can get, completely dropping 32-bit is a stupid move. They don't have to keep the 32-bit drivers on the same development cycle as the 64-bit, that isn't what I'm saying at all. What I'm saying is releasing a 32-bit driver a couple times a year should be done. Again, that is nice for now. But when new products come out and there are no drivers available at all? Sure there are ways, but none are as good as running OS natively on the computer. And in the case of my printer clients, a virtual machine will not properly interface with their printers.
And I'm not talking about XP. I just installed a Windows 10 computer to control their printers. I don't know why everyone seems to want to think 32-bit means XP. Do you all not realize every version of Windows has had a 32-bit version? If it isn't a big part of the market worth considering, you have to wonder why Microsoft will releases 32-bit software... Not the business I support. I custom build almost exclusively AMD systems for them. They are just down right cheaper, and my customers like that. That is a bit off base. Just because a company needs 32-bit Windows because they don't want to spend $500,000 replacing their printer, or $30,000 to replace their software, doesn't mean they don't have the money to replace computers.