AMD today put out its fourth Radeon Software release of the month, the Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.11.4 Beta. These drivers come with optimization for "Doom" VFR, and Oculus Dash Open Beta. The drivers fix an issue with certain levels of HBCC size adjustments causing system instability on machines with Radeon RX Vega series graphics cards. It also fixes a system hang noticed when switching display modes on "Star Wars Battlefront II" on CrossFire machines. Also fixed, are incorrect clock and power values being reported on some machines with RX Vega series graphics cards. Grab the drivers from the link below.DOWNLOAD: AMD Radeon Software Crimson ReLive 17.11.4

Another day, another set of Vega results see the light of it. It would seem like this saga has been going on for ages, ever since we've seen AMD showcase its prototype Vega cards running Star Wars Battlefront (4K, Ultra settings at over 60 FPS) and Doom (4K, Vulcan render path at over 60 FPS on pre-production hardware). But with the lack of official information coming from AMD (let's hope this changes on May 16th), it would seem the company is content to see us hardware news sites jumping at every detail and offering free publicity.

This is known to be Vega because the device ID, 687F:C1, was spotted on AMD's own hands while running that Doom demo in 4K. The device clocks seem to be in line with previous leaks: a 1200 MHz core clock and 8GB of video memory running at 700 MHz memory clocks. With these clocks (which are expected to be extremely conservative when we take into account what we know of Vega), the Vega video card manages to deliver a 17,801 points graphics score, approximately 1,400 points more than your average Fury X, but some hundreds less than your average, current-generation GTX 1070. Remember: AMD's MI25 is expected to come in at 1,500 MHz core clocks, and this is a professional, passively-cooled graphics card. This means that unless AMD greatly overestimated the clock capability of its Vega cards, the consumer version of Vega will have necessarily higher clocks. But we'll stay here, waiting for some more details to pour our way, as always.

Building on the success made with Doom's implementation of Vulkan, and the overall through-the-roof performance levels for that title considering its graphical quality, AMD today announced a long term strategic partnership with Bethesda, a major game publisher ("The Elder Scrolls" series, "Doom," and "Dishonored," etc.) This, according to AMD's Raja Koduri, will see Bethesda optimize its entire library of games (at least the recent ones), for AMD Ryzen 8-core processors, and the upcoming Radeon "Vega" GPU architecture. The first product of this new partnership will be the 2017 release of "Prey," the hotly anticipated survival-horror game.

NVIDIA released its latest GeForce "Game Ready" drivers. Version 365.19 WHQL comes with optimization for "Doom" (2016), "Homefront: The Revolution," and "Master of Orion." This includes optimization, SLI profiles (if the game engine supports it), and GeForce Experience optimal settings. This is perhaps the last driver release before NVIDIA GeForce 10 Series. Grab them from the link below.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 365.19 WHQL for Windows 10 64-bit | Windows 10 32-bit | Windows 8/7/Vista 64-bit | Windows 8/7/Vista 32-bit

At its pre-Dreamhack launch show for the GeForce GTX 1080, NVIDIA treated the audience with a fairly long gameplay segment from the "relentless" campaign of Doom (2016). The big takeaway from that reveal is that Doom will support the Vulkan API. Projected on a large-format screen at 1080p, with its details maxed out, Doom was shown running at upwards of 110 frames per second (fps), never dropping below 60 fps. The brief gameplay reveals that Doom could feature a pretty fun single-player campaign for fast-paced, almost Serious Sam-like, rapid monster-bash. You use unique new weaponry to take on hordes of monsters that come out of nowhere. We were at the event, and took a brief video.

AMD released the second edition of Catalyst 13.8 Beta driver suite, marked by "V2." The drivers bring with them a bucket-list of game specific performance improvements, beginning with up to 25 percent on Saints Row 4 at 1920 x 1080 and Ultra settings enabled; up to 9 percent on Splinter Cell: Blacklist at 2560 x 1600 and Ultra settings; improvements on single-GPU and CrossFireX performance with Final Fantasy XIV; improves single-GPU performance on RIPD; CrossFire performance on Minimum and Castlevania Lords of Shadow.

Catalyst 13.8 Beta V2 also fixes image quality issues with Van Helsing, display corruption when enabling anti-aliasing through Catalyst Control Center, for Far Cry 3 and FC3: Blood Dragon; random corruption issues on Doom 3 BFG Edition, and CrossFire frame-pacing issues with World of Warcraft, Sniper Elite, Watch Dogs, and Tomb Raider.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta V2

The enhanced re-release of Doom 3 is coming just in time for Halloween, publisher Bethesda Softworks has announced. The "BFG Edition" of id's classic FPS will be available on October 16 on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3. The console versions will retail for $40, while the PC version will be $30. BFG adds Doom 3, Resurrection of Evil, and "The Lost Mission"--all optimized in 3D, 5.1 surround sound, achievements, improved rendering and lighting, and a new checkpoint save system. There's also an armor-mounted flashlight, "allowing players to illuminate dark corners and blast enemies at the same time."

The BFG Edition also includes the original Doom and Doom 2, making it the "definitive collection" for the series. Perhaps after this release, id will be a bit more forthcoming about Doom 4.

For all those who missed the 2004 cult classic Doom 3, Bethesda and id are remastering it for today's gaming platforms (widescreen PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3). Called Doom 3 BFG Edition, the new title includes the entire back catalogue of the Doom franchise, plus Doom 3 (main and Resurrection of Evil) with added levels, that's remastered (our wishlist includes higher resolution textures, improved special effects, tessellation maps, and EAX 4-like sound effects over software). What's more, the perspective will finally be optimized for 16:9 and 16:10 widescreen displays.Bethesda and id will detail the title further at E3. For now, check out the groovy trailer after the break.

This month is the 20th Anniversary of Wolfenstein 3D. To celebrate id Software and Bethesda have given us all a free browser-based version of its seminal shooter. John Carmack has also given a director's commentary, full of the usual fascinating Carmackchat. You can play the snazzy HTML 5 version of Wolf 3D if you're browsing in Firefox 10, Chrome 16, Internet Explorer 9, Safari 5, or newer. Fingers crossed that your work computer is updated vaguely frequently. id Software got distracted by Doom and Quake after the release of a Wolf 3D prequel, but the series returned in 2001 with Return to Castle Wolfenstein from Grey Matter and Nerve Software. Splash Damage followed this with the superb free multiplayer spin-off Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, then the last entry in the series was Raven's Wolfenstein in 2009. The iOS version is also going temporarily free in the App Store some time later today. Here is the Link

Despite the less than mind-blowing title Rage, gamers who have been around long enough have come to know not to take id Software and its upcoming games lightly, especially if they're from one of its star franchises such as Doom and Quake. AllGamesBeta posted what it claims to be leaked screenshots of Doom 4, which it also goes on to claim as being "doomed" (cancelled), citing rumors. Close to two dozen of these screenshots can be found at the source. They reveal what [could have been] the setting of Doom 4, probably of the horrors unleashed on Mars (in Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil) finding their way to Earth.