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ATI Catalyst 9.11 Now Available for Download

Paul Lilly — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:30:49 -0600

ATI on Tuesday released its Catalyst software suite, version 9.11, for Windows XP, Vista, and Windows 7. The latest release appears to put a heavy focus on squashing bugs as opposed to injecting performance enhancements to specific gaming titles.

New features include GPU acceleration of H.264 video content using Adobe Flash Player 10.1 beta, and high quality downscaling for video transcoding MSE. Everything else in the release notes is geared towards resolving issues for various OSes. Some of these include:

Users can now enable and disable CrossFire when three displays are configured in extended mode (all OSes)
Catalyst Control Center no longer stops responding when setting Eyefinity SLS mode for extended HDMI display (all OSes)
Resolved an issue where high bit rate audio from Blu-ray discs might not output when using PowerDVD 10 (Windows 7)
Wolfenstein no longer stops responding when running a 2560x1600 resolution (Windows 7)
No more green lines at the bottom of the screen when playing some interlaced content (Vista)
PowerDVD no longer intermittently terminates when playing HD MPEG2 content in extended/clone mode (Vista)
Transcoding of AC3 files no longer shows corruption in transcoded files (XP)

There are plenty of other bug fixes, as well as some lingering known issues, all of which you can view in the release notes here (PDF).

Catalyst Download

Image Credit: AMD

ATI Catalyst 9.10 Drivers Now Available

Paul Lilly — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 08:45:40 -0500

AMD's latest graphics drivers -- ATI Catalyst 9.10 -- are now available for download, and it appears that most of the attention was placed on squashing bugs.

On the performance side, AMD claims the latest release adds GPU acceleration for the Windows 7 Drag and Drop video converting application, and super anti-aliasing for the ATI Radeon HD 5800 series has been tossed into the mix as well. And that's it, at least according to the release notes.

Bug fixes are another story. Catalyst 9.10 resolves several issues, some of which include:

Video preview in Avivo Video - Basic Quality page no longer flickers while playing SD/HD Blu-ray titles
Switching profiles in Avivo Video - Basic Quality now works as it should
Ghostbusters game no longer flickers between desktop and game play when AA is set to 8X and game resolution set to 2560x1600 in under Windows 7
Combat Mission Shock Force no longer fails after a duration of game play (Vista)
Intermittent flashing no longer visible in Windows with ViewSonic VE150m displays (Vista)
No more corruption during Blu-ray DVD H.264/VC-1 content playback (XP)

For the full list of changes and bug fixes, reference the Release Notes here (PDF). Driver downloads here.

Image Credit: ATI

AMD Releases WHQL-Certified ATI Catalyst Graphics Drivers for Windows 7 RTM

Paul Lilly — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:00:45 -0500

Now that Windows 7 has officially been released to manufacturing (RTM), expect to see third-party driver development kick into high gear, especially as the OS's October 22nd release date inches closer. AMD appears to be ready and has announced the release of the company's first WHQL-certified ATI Catalyst graphics drivers for the RTM.

AMD's Catalyst drivers are of the unified variety, meaning the same set works with both Windows 7 and Vista. With regards to Windows 7, AMD promises its drivers will offer stability and compatibility out of the gate, bring "full support for the visually stunning desktop environment of Windows 7," better gaming performance when compared to Vista, and full support for ATI FirePro professional graphics.

Catalyst 9.7 Driver Download
Release Notes

Image Credit: AMD

ATI Releases New Catalyst 9.6 Videocard Drivers

Paul Lilly — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 09:00:24 -0500

AMD/ATI this week released new Catalyst drivers, now in version 9.6. The new driver package sports a number of performance improvements, including:

Company of Heroes - up to 25 percent better performance with HD 4600 series
Crysis - up to 13 percent better performance in multi-GPU configurations
Crysis Warhead - up to 11 percent better performance in mutli-GPU configurations
World in Conflict - up to 30 percent better performance in settings that were previously CPU limited

In addition to goosing performance in a handful of titles, Catalyst 9.6 also squashes a boatload of bugs and resolves a ton of issues across all current Windows operating systems. Some of these include:

Opening Crossfire pages no longer causes Catalyst Control Center to stop responding (all Windows OSes)
Catalyst Control Center no longer appears interlaced when automatic deinterlacing is enabled (all Windows OSes)
On some configurations, video artifacts are no longer visible during playback of transcoded video files (Vista)
Team Fortress 2 some slowdowns no longer occur during gameplay (XP)
Catalyst Control Center no longer shows Crossfire as disabled (Windows 7)

For a full list of improvements (and there are many), refer to the release notes (PDF). Driver downloads available here.

Image Credit: AMD

AMD Catalyst 9.5 Now Available

Paul Lilly — Wed, 20 May 2009 10:18:54 -0500

It took a bit of waiting, but those Catalyst 9.5 downloads that started appearing on the web days ago are finally available direct from AMD. For those of you who grew impatient and snagged the download from an alternate source, they should be the same ones now appearing on AMD's site.

Catalyst 9.5 promises a handful of performance improvements, including:

Performance gains of up to 11 percent for single GPU and ATI CrossFireX configurations with AA enabled in Unigine Tropics DX9
Up to a 10 percent boost in Company of Heroes
Up to a 10 percent boost in BattleForce for CrossFireX configurations

Several bugs have been squashed in the new release, a handful of which apply to Windows 7. Win 7 owners should no longer see dropped frames while playing certain Blu-ray interlaced content, and moving a video clip across an extended desktop should no longer cause the system to flicker or for the media player to stop working.

Release Notes (PDF)
Download

ATI Catalyst 9.4 Now Available

Paul Lilly — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 08:56:46 -0500

AMD has just released new Catalyst 9.4 drivers for ATI videocard owners. In keeping with the promise the company previously made, Catalyst 9.4 offers unified support for Windows 7, XP, and Vista.

Highlighted in the 9.4 release is the new ATI OverDrive auto-tuning application. Designed for the ATI Radeon HD 4000 series, the new OverDrive module claims to "accurately determine the best overclocked engine and memory values for ATI OverDrive supported ATI Radeon graphics accelerators." AMD cautions it will not warranty busted videocards that give up the ghost as a result of using the utility, which further highlights why it's so cool XFX, who will have your back, now sells ATI-branded cards.

Catalyst 9.4 resolves a number if issues covering all supported operating systems. Among the resolutions:

World of Warcraft no longer flickers when Shadow is set to medium/high in a CrossFire configuration (Vista)
Resolutions above 1024 x 768 will now full screen properly for specific HDMI displays (Vista)
Overlay Theater Mode display no longer corrupt after enabling 3D screen saver (XP)
Display now redraws correctly in City of Villains after changing graphics settings (Windows 7)
No more jitter or flicker caused by WinDVD9 HD playback (Windows 7)

Release Notes (PDF)
Drivers Download

Image Credit: ATI

AMD's New ATI Catalyst 9.3 Driver Adds Support for Windows 7

Paul Lilly — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:37:16 -0500

Windows 7 is already feeling the love from both graphics camps. Earlier this month, Nvidia released a specialized Forceware driver for the beta OS along with the promise of regular updates, and now AMD has followed suit with its new ATI Catalyst 9.3 driver this week. However, the new Catalyst driver rolls both Windows 7 and Vista support into a single download, allowing the company to lay claim as offering the "first unified driver installation package to incorporate Windows 7 support." AMD says future Catalyst releases will also be unified for both the current and upcoming Windows OSes.

"AMD's expertise in visual computing shines through in the combined experience of Windows 7 and ATI Radeon graphics," said Anantha Kancherla, group manager responsible for Windows graphics, Microsoft. "With today's release of a Windows 7 unified driver, AMD once again demonstrates its ability to deliver perfromance and cutting-edge driver support."

Along with full WDDM 1.1 compliance under Windows 7, AMD says Catalyst 9.3 boosts performance in several games where framerates are CPU limited. AMD only offered one example, saying Lost Planet: Colonies will see up to 20 percent better framerates on 4800 series videocards, and up to 50 percent on 4600, 4500, and 4300 series.

Catalyst 9.3 squashes a number of bugs in Vista and XP, including video combing effects no longer being visible during movie playback while fast forwarding or rewinding (Vista), Avivo video color settings being retained after resume from Sleep/Hibernate (Vista), rotation now works if Aero mode is turned off (Vista), faster Alt-Tab toggling between 3D games to the desktop (XP), and a handful of other fixes.

And for you Folding@Home fans, Catalyst 9.3 purportedly crunches through WUs better, too.

Release Notes (PDF)
Driver Downloads

New ATI Catalyst 9.1 Available, Offers OpenGL 3.0 and Better Linux Support

Paul Lilly — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 09:21:14 -0600

ATI has just released its Catalyst 9.1 driver package, bringing full OpenGL 3.0 support to the table, a feature which was made available to Nvidia videocard owners for the first time a month ago. While Direct3D has emerged as a front runner for Windows gaming, it should be noted that OpenGL 3.0's features can be enabled on both XP and Vista, and also Linux and Mac OS.

As can be expected are a number of bug fixes with the new driver, but perhaps surprisingly to some, ATI's Catalyst 9.1 shares the love with Linux, an area long considered a weak spot. ATI says the new driver introduces support for Ubuntu 8.10, while also enabling Hybrid CrossFireX. Also in the driver's bag of open-source tricks is MultiView support, which can be enabled using single or multiple GPU configurations.

Grab your download(s) here.

Image Credit: ATI