AMD’s Latest Adrenalin Driver Reportedly Bricks Windows 11 Systems for Some Users
AMD’s Adrenalin 23.2.1 driver for Radeon RX 6000- and RX 7000-series GPUs is reportedly causing some users’ Windows 11 systems to fail to boot, according to complaints on Twitter and German tech site ComputerBase.
While driver updates can sometimes cause system issues, it is rare for a driver to completely corrupt an operating system. The official Twitter account for frame capture tool CapFrameX has suggested that the driver may be modifying the system BIOS, which could be the cause of the issue.
While AMD’s reputation for driver issues is not new, this could be a concerning development as the company continues to gain ground on Nvidia in the consumer GPU market with its RDNA 3 graphics cards.
While it remains to be seen how widespread the issue is, and whether AMD will provide a fix or any additional information, the incident underscores the risks associated with updating drivers. While updates can bring new features, performance improvements, and bug fixes, they can also introduce new problems, as users have discovered. It is always a good idea to back up important data and create a restore point before installing any new drivers, just in case.
AMD has had a mixed track record with its drivers, with some releases causing issues with various games, crashes, and other problems. However, the company has made significant progress in improving its drivers in recent years, and the latest incident should not detract from the fact that AMD currently offers some of the best graphics cards on the market, particularly for budget-conscious gamers.
It is also worth noting that Nvidia has had its fair share of driver issues as well, including an incident in 2018 where a driver update caused some users’ GPUs to fail entirely. As with any complex software, there is always a risk that things can go wrong, and users should exercise caution when installing updates.
In the meantime, for those who have not yet updated to the latest AMD driver, it may be best to hold off until more information becomes available. For those who have already installed the driver and are experiencing issues, there are several potential solutions, including rolling back to a previous driver version, performing a system restore, or reinstalling Windows 11 entirely.