Wednesday, December 10th 2008

ATI Catalyst 8.12 Released

ATI has just released this year's final version of its Catalyst driver package. As you might already know from our previous BETA release post, with the release of ATI Catalyst 8.12 users can now unlock the potential of accelerated applications enabling ATI Stream technology for various ATI Radeon graphics processors. This release also adds Stream technology to ATI's AVIVO Video Converter and many performance improvements.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 8.12

Performance Improvements
  • 3DMark Vantage DX10 - performance gains of up to 5% for Single and
    Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on HD46xx, HD4550 and
    HD4350.
  • Call of Duty: World at War DX9 - performance gains of up to 21% for Single
    and Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD48xx.
  • Crysis DX10 - performance gains of up to 25% for Single and Crossfire
    mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD4xxx.
  • Crysis Warhead DX10 - performance gains of up to 13% for Single card
    mode and up to 16% for Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on
    all Radeon HD4xxx.
  • Devil May Cry 4 DX10- performance gains of up to 6% for Single and
    Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD4xxx and
    HD38xx.
  • Fallout 3 - performance gains of up to 15% for Single card mode.
  • Far Cry 2 DX10 - performance gains of up to 10% for Single card mode and
    up to 57% in Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon
    HD4xxx and HD38xx.
  • FEAR DX9 - performance gains of up to 6% for Single and Crossfire mode.
    Performance gains were noticed on Radeon HD4870X2 and HD4870.
  • Hellgate: London DX10 - performance gains of up to 6% for Single card
    mode and up to 10% for Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on
    all Radeon HD4xxx.
  • Left 4 Dead DX9- performance gains of up to 10% for Single card mode and
    up to 5% for Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon
    HD4870 series.
  • Lost Planet Colonies DX10 - performance gains of up to 10% for Single and
    Crossfire mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD4xxx and
    HD38xx.
  • Prey OGL - performance gains of up to 15% for Crossfire mode. Performance
    gains were noticed on Radeon HD4870 1GB products, HD46xx,
    HD45xx.
  • S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky - performance gains of up to 10% for Crossfire
    mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD4xxx and HD38xx.
  • Unreal Tournament 3 DX9 - performance gains of up to 18% for Single
    card mode and up to 15% in Crossfire mode, especially in cases where AA is
    enabled. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD4xxx and
    HD38xx.
Source: ATI
Add your own comment

87 Comments on ATI Catalyst 8.12 Released

#27
erocker
*
Strange, it works for me and it isn't a restricted page. Clear out your browser cache. Here is the meat of the post:
Get back to a stable state with 8.9 or 8.10 drivers....then disable crossfire
disable crossfire
disable crossfire
just to be safe.....disable crossfire
remember....do it now...disable crossfire
Install the latest .net versions, chipset drivers, windows service packs, c++ runtimes, directX redistributables if you really feel you must - optional
Dump all registry references and files that have anything to do with ati from you computer if you feel you must (standard vga drivers) - optional
Install the 8.11 "driver ONLY" package (the suite will probably work as well but I haven't tried it).
Read the install log to make sure everything was successful.
Restart the computer...you will blue screen at the normal logon.
Goto safe mode using the F8 key before windows loads.
In safe mode, right click "computer" (on the start menu or desk top) and select "Manage"
Expand "services and applications"and Click "services"
Listed on the right is all the services....find the ATI External Event Utility....right click and select "properties"
Stop the service if necessary and change the startup type from automatic to disabled.
Restart the computer and do what ever it is you people do with your computers
Yes thats it.....you're now up and running again. You traveled round the world a dozen times to take one step to the side.
WARNING: your system will now be fully operational and you can install the ccc kit if you like. This will be fully functional but you have to restart for crossfire enable/disables to take effect.....and thats the cause of the problem in a round about way. If you benchmark now, your 3dmark06 scores will be 500-1000 points down with the event utility disabled. You can now switch the utility back on and your marks will instantly rise 500-1000 points. When utility is disabled ccc takes ages to load up. When utility enabled ccc loads rapidly. BUT IF YOU HIT THE CROSSFIRE BUTTON WITH EVENT UTILITY RUNNING.....YOU WILL INSTANTLY BLUE SCREEN! You can use any other feature of ccc including overclocking (overdrive) with the event utility enabled....but dont touch that crossfire button without stopping the utility first.
Posted on Reply
#29
Steevo
Avivo works for me under Vista X64
Posted on Reply
#30
Steevo
The new chipset drivers gave me BSOD and a warning about new controllers and hard disks.



Effing retarded.
Posted on Reply
#31
springs113
if i use the all in one package from msi i can run everything fine without touching a thing
Posted on Reply
#32
leonard_222003
Tried them in GTA4 and the same perforamance , 8.11 was all good but i expected more perf. from this , nothing , i guess i need to upgrade the CPU , video card wasn't a problem in the first place :).
I found one error , locks up with a white screen in combination with gigabyte's overclock tool so now i have to use riva tuner to apply the overclock.
I will test with crysis to see if any improvement has been made , they claim 13% but i hope
Posted on Reply
#33
springs113
erockerStrange, it works for me and it isn't a restricted page. Clear out your browser cache. Here is the meat of the post:
i just disabled ati event utility crap... and it works now...
Posted on Reply
#34
daehxxiD
I just updated to this beautiful driver...

It's just awesome; haven't tried the Stream Processing stuff yet (won't work on my HD2600 anyways I guess), but in Far Cry 2 I noticed an around 2-3 fps increase in normal gameplay over the 8.10 and generally it is much more stable...

Hell, it is the only driver that remembers what I set in the avivo-options since I have my HD2600, when I go into hibernation...

Great stuff, gonna keep this one until SP2 or even longer if it doesn't cause any problems with it. I don't expect to see any more performance improvements for my HD2600 anyways.
Posted on Reply
#35
leonard_222003
No improvement in crysis warhead , the same results as 8.10 , 8.11 and now 8.12.I guess if Nvidia says they released a driver that improve perf. by xx% Ati has to follow , no matter if the improvements are real or not it must be good for the sales.
3dmarks improvement don't count , they are not games.
Posted on Reply
#36
Xaser04
If anyone is interested in the folding performance I just read this over at the folding forum:
foldingforumadmin6.23 will work fine and is tested against the dlls supplied with the client. 8.12 contains updated dlls that we will switch over to at a later date, so for now you will not see a performance change with 8.12 until that switch occurs and/or the newer cores are made public.
Topic can be found here: foldingforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=7402

Seems to be until we get a new core the 8.12 drivers won't make a difference (they don't btw).
Posted on Reply
#37
mrhuggles
how far off is physx for ATI cards?... i wonder, i read some pages that said someone already had it working [google]
Posted on Reply
#38
johnspack
Here For Good!
Also a driver update for ati tuner cards like my 650 theatre pro, also 8.12 for anyone who has one.
Posted on Reply
#39
Megasty
Why does installing these damn drivers have to be rocket science. It took me 3 hrs to get this garbage to install right. Now I don't even feel like testing them.
Posted on Reply
#40
TRIPTEX_CAN
MegastyWhy does installing these damn drivers have to be rocket science. It took me 3 hrs to get this garbage to install right. Now I don't even feel like testing them.
Any tips?
Posted on Reply
#41
Megasty
TRIPTEX_MTLAny tips?
Trial & error :toast: I even gave up 2 or 3 times during the process to go vent. Looking at my poor monitor @ 1600x1200 for so long was just too depressing to leave be.

I ended up installing cat 8.10 then uninstalling the driver & then installing the 8.12 driver. The last few drivers have been giving me nothing but guff. What happened to the perfect 8.8 driver that you didn't need to reboot, screw around with taking out cards & cables, etc.
Posted on Reply
#42
TRIPTEX_CAN
MegastyTrial & error :toast: I even gave up 2 or 3 times during the process to go vent. Looking at my poor monitor @ 1600x1200 for so long was just too depressing to leave be.

I ended up installing cat 8.10 then uninstalling the driver & then installing the 8.12 driver. The last few drivers have been giving me nothing but guff. What happened to the perfect 8.8 driver that you didn't need to reboot, screw around with taking out cards & cables, etc.
That does sound annoying. Knock on wood... I've been issue free when installing any drivers yet. It doesnt matter if I removed everything and installed or simply installed over the old pack, things have been working. I did screwup a bios mod on both card that took me several hours to correct :shadedshu

I'm going to just install over the 8.12 RC3 and see what happens.
Posted on Reply
#43
JrRacinFan
Served 5k and counting ...
Which cards are currently supported under AMD Stream? Think i may be able to give em a shot under Win 7?
Posted on Reply
#44
HTC
MegastyTrial & error :toast: I even gave up 2 or 3 times during the process to go vent. Looking at my poor monitor @ 1600x1200 for so long was just too depressing to leave be.

I ended up installing cat 8.10 then uninstalling the driver & then installing the 8.12 driver. The last few drivers have been giving me nothing but guff. What happened to the perfect 8.8 driver that you didn't need to reboot, screw around with taking out cards & cables, etc.
I had 8.10 installed and, to install 8.12, i just did it without un-installing the others first: no reboot required.

Usually, though, i do it this way:

- go to control panel
- run "ATI Catalyst Install Manager"
- choose option "express un-install ALL ATI Software"
- reboot
- install new drivers
- reboot

Simple.
Posted on Reply
#46
department76
add me to the list: i have vista 64 and a 3870, catalyst 8.12 WON'T install correctly. i'll just wait until the next update, 8.11's work fine.
Posted on Reply
#47
Unregistered
Vista x64 here,did the driver install this way.

- go to control panel
- run "ATI Catalyst Install Manager"
- choose option "express un-install ALL ATI Software"
- reboot
- install new drivers
- reboot

Worked perfect.I am also using vista sp2 beta with no problems.
Posted on Edit | Reply
#48
HTC
tiggerVista x64 here,did the driver install this way.

- go to control panel
- run "ATI Catalyst Install Manager"
- choose option "express un-install ALL ATI Software"
- reboot
- install new drivers
- reboot

Worked perfect.I am also using vista sp2 beta with no problems.
That's the same as me (except for the Vista SP2 part): this has always worked for me.

On 2 occasions though, i installed without un-installing old drivers first and didn't have to reboot: i was successfull in both times. 1 of them was with 8.10 to 8.12 but i don't recall the other one :(
Posted on Reply
#49
BrooksyX
Nice! Talk about sweet timing, I got a new Hard drive in the mail today so I am going to redo my Vista instal. I was gonna wait until the drivers came out. Looks like I won't be waiting!!! :)
Posted on Reply
#50
wiak
i cant figure out why people got problems, everytime i install ati catalyst on my htpc, and my gaming rig it works fine, htpc got a HD 3200 (780G IGP) and my gaming rig got a HD 4870 512MB
Posted on Reply
Add your own comment
Jun 4th, 2024 21:44 EDT change timezone

New Forum Posts

Popular Reviews

Controversial News Posts