AUGUST 2019 PCWorld 71significantly so—without making it feel like
your game’s running slower. And now it’s
even better. The latest Radeon Software
update alters Chill so that it “automatically
sets its frame rate targets based on the refresh
capability of the connected display.”
Previously, Chill targeted 72-fps and 144-fps
thresholds on every display. Now, the display-
aware feature will change that to 30 fps and
60 fps on 60Hz monitors “to better match the
rate of in-game animation to the display’s
update rate.”
The lower target thresholds can also
reduce power demands even further. AMD’s
briefing materials claim that Chill can now
deliver up to 2.5x more power savings than
before, and like I said, it was already really
great. I’m looking forward to testing this out
with a 60Hz display.
The new software adds a Settings
Snapshot option that lets you create, save,
and load custom profiles. Radeon Wattman
receives some extra polish, too, with a
new power meter and a summary of
changes after you run one of its
auto-overclocking or -undervolting
tools. Now, you’ll be notified of your
new minimum and maximum clock
speeds after the auto-tuning finishes.
Finally, if you have a gaming PC in
your living room, a new Automatic
Low Latency Mode feature lets your
Radeon GPU force your TV into
gaming mode with no effort on your
end (assuming your TV offers a lower latency
gaming mode, natch).
Now that the stage is set, let’s get to the
games!OUR TEST SYSTEM
Our dedicated graphics card test system is
packed with some of the fastest
complementary components available to put
any potential performance bottlenecks
squarely on the GPU. Most of the hardware
was provided by the manufacturers, but we
purchased the cooler and storage ourselves.- Intel Core i7-8700K processor ($350 on
Amazon at go.pcworld.com/700k) - EVGA CLC 240 closed-loop liquid
cooler ($120 on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/
c240) - Asus Maximus X Hero motherboard
($395 on Amazon at go.pcworld.com/c240) - 64GB HyperX Predator RGB
DDR4/2933 ($420 on Amazon)
Power Savings with Chill
b5DGHRQ5;;7(Watts)21477177217214202218217965472195Chill On 30-60 fps Chill On 70-144 fps Chill OffFortniteDota 2 RebornOverwatchThe Division 2