Sunday, February 2nd 2014

AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta 1.6 Posted

Here it is, the first public beta of AMD Catalyst 14.1, featuring Mantle, AMD's 3D graphics API designed to rival Direct3D and OpenGL. The driver enables the Mantle renderer on Battlefield 4, which is known to enhance performance on certain GPUs based on AMD's Graphics CoreNext micro-architecture. The driver can't be installed as an upgrade to an existing driver, which must be cleanly uninstalled first. In addition to Mantle, Catalyst 14.1 beta resolves rendering issues on a boat-load of games.

If Battlefield 4 crashes as soon as you go to options, disable your integrated graphics in BIOS or device manager.
DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 14.1 beta 1.6

The change-log follows:

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Driver for Windows

Support for the following new AMD Desktop APU (Accelerated Processors) products:
  • AMD A10-7850K
  • AMD A10-7700K
Mantle Beta driver
  • AMD's Mantle is a groundbreaking graphics API that promises to transform the world of game development to help bring better, faster games to the PC
  • Performance gain of up to 45%(versus the DirectX version) for Battlefield 4 on the R9 290 Series
  • Performance gain of up to 200% (versus the DirectX version) for Star Swarm on the R9 290 Series
  • AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta must be used in conjunction with versions of these applications that support Mantle
  • It is expected that these applications will have future updates to support additional AMD Mantle features
AMD Mantle Beta driver is currently supported on:
  • AMD Radeon R9 Series GPUs
  • AMD Radeon R7 Series GPUs
  • AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series GPUs
  • AMD Radeon HD 8000 Series GPUs
  • AMD A10-7000 Series and AMD A8-7000 Series APUs
  • Enhanced AMD CrossFire frame pacing - Support for 4K panel and Eyefinity non-XDMA CrossFire solutions (including the AMD Radeon R9 280, 270 Series, 7900 Series, 7800 Series) and Dual Graphics configurations
  • Frame pacing ensures that frames rendered across multiple GPUs in an AMD CrossFire configuration will be displayed at an even and regular pace
  • Supported on 4K panels and Eyefinity configurations
  • Supported on AMD Dual Graphics configurations
  • Supported on DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications
  • Resolved issue highlights of AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta
  • Resolves ground texture flickering seen in Total War: Rome 2 with high settings (and below) set in game
  • Resolves flickering texture corruption when playing Call of Duty: Ghosts (multi-player) in the space station level
Resolved Issues
  • Ground texture flickering seen in Total War: Rome 2 with high settings (and below) set in game
  • Flickering texture corruption when playing Call of Duty: Ghosts (multi-player) in the space station level
  • Blu-ray playback using PowerDVD black screen on extended mode
  • Streaming VUDU HD/HDX content on Sharp PN-K321 (DP) causes the right-side half to flicker in and out
  • Black screen happened after wake up the monitor
  • Full screen issue at rotation in DX9 mode
  • Video window black screen when using Samsung Kies to play video
  • Crysis 2 negative scaling in outdoor scene
  • Crysis 2 has insufficient CrossFire scaling in some scene
  • Red Faction: The game has no or negative crossfire scaling with DX9 and DX11
  • Age of Conan has corruption and performance issues with crossfire enabled
  • Company of Heroes shadows are corrupted when using crossfire
  • Resident Evil 5 's performance is unstable when display mode set to Window mode
  • Total War: Shogun 2 flickering menu/text
  • Frame rate drop when disabling post-processing in 3DMark06
  • Negative Crossfire scaling with game "The Secret World" in DX11 mode
  • F1 2012 Crashes to desktop
  • Tomb Raider Hair Simulation Stutters on CFX
  • Negative CrossFire scaling experienced in Call of Duty
  • Battlefield 3 performance drop on Haswell systems
  • Choppy video playback on 4k Video
  • VSync ON Tearing with 2x1 Eyefinity SLS CrossFire
  • Far Cry 3 - Game flickering while changing resolutions
  • Display corruption and BSOD occurs when extending a display after disabling Multiple GPU SLS array
  • Flickering seen when enable three 4kx2k panels at the same time
  • No Video, just a black screen when setting Chrome to run in "High Performance" when playing certain video clips
  • Image crashed on Starcraft game
Known Issues
  • Mantle performance for the AMD Radeon HD 7000/HD 8000 Series GPUs and AMD Radeon R9 280X and R9 270X GPUs will be optimized for BattleField 4 in future AMD Catalyst releases. These products will see limited gains in BattleField 4 and AMD is currently investigating optimizations for them.
  • Multi-GPU support under DirectX and Mantle will be added to StarSwarm in a future application patch
  • Intermittent stuttering or stability issues may occur when utilizing Mantle with AMD CrossFire technology in BattleField 4 - AMD recommends using the DirectX code path when playing Battlefield 4 with multiple GPUs. A future AMD Catalyst release will resolve these issues
  • Notebooks based on AMD Enduro or PowerXpress technologies are currently not supported by the Mantle codepath in Battlefield 4
  • AMD Eyefinity configurations utilizing portrait display orientations are currently not supported by the Mantle codepath in Battlefield 4
  • AMD Eyefinity technology is not currently supported in the Star Swarm application
  • AMD testing for the AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Mantle driver has been concentrated on the following products: AMD Radeon R9 290X, R9 290, R9 280, R9 270, R7 260X, R7 260, HD 7000 Series, HD 8000 Series, A10-7850K and A10-7700K. Future AMD Catalyst releases will include full test coverage for all AMD products supported by Mantle.
  • Graphics hardware in the AMD A10-7850K and A10-7700K may override the presence of a discrete GPU under the Mantle code path in Battlefield 4
  • Frame Pacing for Dual Graphics and non-XDMA configurations above 2560x1600 do not currently work with Battlefield 3 and Battlefield 4. An upcoming release will enable support
  • DX9 Dual graphics is not supported in AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta. An upcoming release will enable support
Add your own comment

108 Comments on AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta 1.6 Posted

#51
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
pr0n InspectorIt's a D3D11 feature that can provide large performance increase in some situations.
that literally tells me nothing.
Posted on Reply
#53
Solaris17
Super Dainty Moderator
I see unfortunately this is only for D3D commands and the structure in which they are stored this has nothing to do with mantle and the performance would not be comparable considering mantle is not d3d. It may be of some use to nvidia but this is a d3d call change that needs to be programmed into the game engine this has nothing to do with drivers or API. this change would also benefit AMD cards but as I said is not the same as mantle.
Posted on Reply
#54
pr0n Inspector
How it works doesn't really matter to end users like me. With it, the performance difference between D3D and Mantle is much smaller for this demo.

AMD drivers don't support driver command lists. Or didnt, not sure if newer drivers support it now.
Posted on Reply
#55
freeleacher
These are my d3d results.

Win 8.1 2560x1600 170 res scale full ultra


Win 7 2560x1600 170 res scale full ultra

100 RES SCALE 2560X1600 FULL ULTRA


100 RES SCALE 2560X1600 FULL ULTRA except for 2x aa



Mantle just bsod constantly and ive tried everything for it not to.
I have seen the performance of it @ 200 res scale 2560x1600 for about 3 seconds.
CPU 5ms GPU was 12ms fps was around 145
Then it bsod on me lol
Posted on Reply
#56
Steevo
freeleacherThese are my d3d results.

Mantle just bsod constantly and ive tried everything for it not to.
I have seen the performance of it @ 200 res scale 2560x1600 for about 3 seconds.
CPU 5ms GPU was 12ms fps was around 145
Then it bsod on me lol
Disable your integrated GPU in the BIOS. The HD3000, and I would probably make sure you uninstall all your drivers before the new install, including all the drivers that may have been installed for the HD3000 built into the CPU.


In short. RTFM & YMMV.
Posted on Reply
#57
freeleacher
SteevoDisable your integrated GPU in the BIOS. The HD3000, and I would probably make sure you uninstall all your drivers before the new install, including all the drivers that may have been installed for the HD3000 built into the CPU.


In short. RTFM & YMMV.
Its off already I actually tried it with it turned on without much luck.
Ive reset 3x once from scratch and installed everything including windows updates and drivers from scratch once from my unattend usb win 7 I made a few weeks ago with all my drivers and windows updates within the win7.wim file then I tried win 8.1 evaluation copy that's good for 90 days, It made no difference, I used the Display Driver Uninstaller to make sure there is no conflicts aswell.
Ive tried lowering cpu clocks and memory timings,
ive tried changing the different option given in the bios for the pcie express from auto 1 2 and 3 with no effect,
Ive tried putting old drivers in then removing them then putting the beta back in just in case there is a missing dll or library file,
Ive tried running at a lower screen res no effect, Ive tried updating punk buster no effect, Ive tried plugging my fans back into the gfx card in case there is a hidden speed fan profile no effect, ive tried driver booster to check if there is any outdated drivers,ive tried plugging the pc into the tv from the usb port, ive tried disabling the on board audio on the cards ive tried playing that star demo from steam before opening the game in case there there maybe a file no opened when running bf4.Ive tried running in 32 bit mode no effect,ive tried other things but I see this is getting way to long.

Anyone have a idea im all ears thx
Posted on Reply
#58
Steevo
If its still happening at stock clocks I would run a few tests on the cards to make sure it is OK before proceeding with anything else. Have you tried a single card?
Posted on Reply
#59
Bjorn_Of_Iceland
Well so far, I've seen a couple of people getting lockups, stutters, bsods, getting stuck at loading etc.

Acceptable since it is still in its early stages handled by AMD's mighty fine driver team and to make things more complex, it is being debut on DICE's half assed BF4.

Luckily, there is a simple flag to just disable Mantle usage for now, and wait for everything to be ironed out:
Open PROFSAVE_profile located in
:\Users\%username%\Documents\Battlefield 4\settings


GstRender.MantleEnabled 1
and change it to
GstRender.MantleEnabled 0
So it is either that or just continue to be a guinea pig.
Posted on Reply
#60
freeleacher
SteevoIf its still happening at stock clocks I would run a few tests on the cards to make sure it is OK before proceeding with anything else. Have you tried a single card?
Yeah tried that.

Star swarm works ok no problem there but only one card works no crossfire support at all for that.
Posted on Reply
#61
neliz
cadavecaIt's an ASUS 7970 MATRIX w/ R9 280X MATRIX BIOS.
never mind that AMD said they had driver issues getting the most out of these chips well over a year ago, but performance hasn't increased...stability has, sure.
It's a shame no one really does these kinds of overall performance testing anymore but actually performance did increase over the 7970's lifetime.

www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=942&page=11 from 12.11 to 13.1 is a 35% increase

www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1100&page=14 from 13.1 to 13.10 is a 8% increase

per reference, NV performance increase is 20% over the lifetime of the 680.
www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1098&page=14
Posted on Reply
#62
the54thvoid
Intoxicated Moderator
Bjorn_Of_IcelandWell so far, I've seen a couple of people getting lockups, stutters, bsods, getting stuck at loading etc.

Acceptable since it is still in its early stages handled by AMD's mighty fine driver team and to make things more complex, it is being debut on DICE's half assed BF4.

Luckily, there is a simple flag to just disable Mantle usage for now, and wait for everything to be ironed out:



So it is either that or just continue to be a guinea pig.
It's not Mantle causing the lock ups. Since the 1+Gb patch, I've had 2 CTD in two nights and when I lowered my GPU clocks (still above stock) I was getting screen locks that would recover after a second or two. I'm on Nvidia with Intel so no Mantle performance for me but BF4 performance is now very erratic.

I don't think anyone should blame these BF4 crashes or lock ups on Mantle. It's DICE being shit again.
Posted on Reply
#63
CrackerJack
freeleacherThese are my d3d results.
Mantle just bsod constantly and ive tried everything for it not to.
I have seen the performance of it @ 200 res scale 2560x1600 for about 3 seconds.
CPU 5ms GPU was 12ms fps was around 145
Then it bsod on me lol
In the release notes...
  • Intermittent stuttering or stability issues may occur when utilizing Mantle with AMD CrossFire technology in BattleField 4 - AMD recommends using the DirectX code path when playing Battlefield 4 with multiple GPUs. A future AMD Catalyst release will resolve these issues
Posted on Reply
#64
WTF
happitaI didn't see the R9 270X in their support list unfortunately, which is weird because that is where the sweet spot for price/performance is. What are they thinking, is AMD dumb?

I'll check how Mantle runs after I get home in a few hours, hopefully it will have increased my frames with my setup. I want to start using more than 100% resolution scaling at a playable FPS. I'm sure it'll look amazing :)
<<What are they thinking, is AMD dumb?>>
Answer:
<<you don't seem to grasp the concept of "beta">>

AMD try to make something better than Direct-X, and it is open / will even work on Intel and nVidia not only AMD Radeon.
They started at the beginning: high-end GPUs', where the difference is most noticeble, and to offer those users the best, as promised.
And this effort for something free and this comprehensive is coming from a company with less employees than nVidia/Intel, you inconsiderate ...

Just try using those extinct brain-cells, research what you are talking about, don't act/speak dumb... -.-' :
Apparently everyone is complaining of free improvements that were not promised at the card's purchase, and while nVidia, Intel and Microsoft are mintrubbing in this concern.
Posted on Reply
#65
zsolt_93
They were promised at the cards purchase. Everyone knew mantle will come sooner or later. The rest of your post is also BS, none of those facts is true, you are just flaming. Because someone put up the actual problem: why power users who already have good performance and are a small share of the market get it instead of the midrange users, who don't throw out $400 every generation of GPUs. The average joe might not even know about mantle and it should be available for those people too, when the final version gets out somehow notify the people using outdated drivers to update as not everyone runs the laterst driver, most people run 1-2 year old drivers because they are not into tech, and they are missing out a lot, compared to us.
Posted on Reply
#66
Prima.Vera
AsRockI guess my problem is common sense, this is BETA with new added stuff that there be even more of a chance of there being a issue.
I haven't use a WHQL driver since I first bought my cards, I always used beta drivers. My point was that in each release they fix something, but they also broke something that was working in previous one.
And yes, if I use a WHQL monthly driver, I will have all the issues, no CFX updated profiles, etc....
Posted on Reply
#67
the54thvoid
Intoxicated Moderator
Here's a thought...

It seems like far more people are experiencing problems in BF4 since the Mantle patch. Could there be any coding issues that might be influencing general stability due to Mantle being present? In which case, it is DICE's poor implementation or a side effect of the API?

This is based on the recent upsurge in CTD's and BSOD's people are seeing. This isn't a pop at Mantle, it's a genuine question.
Posted on Reply
#68
RCoon
the54thvoidHere's a thought...

It seems like far more people are experiencing problems in BF4 since the Mantle patch. Could there be any coding issues that might be influencing general stability due to Mantle being present? In which case, it is DICE's poor implementation or a side effect of the API?

This is based on the recent upsurge in CTD's and BSOD's people are seeing. This isn't a pop at Mantle, it's a genuine question.
Fairly certain this is a DICE problem, after reading around it happens to plenty of people without AMD anything. People just like to find something they don't understand to blame everything on, especially when it's new to the field. DICE are just bad at implementing anything. This is why developers use Alpha, closed BETA and open BETA testing. Evidently DICE learns nothing, ever.

Granted, sh!t is happening for people with Mantle-supporting hardware, but even if mantle was working properly, they'd still experience the issues everyone else is having.
Posted on Reply
#69
TheMailMan78
Big Member
As much as I would LOVE to troll the Mantel worshipers about the CTD in BF4 I will have to admit its a DICE issue. Ever since they "patched" it for Mantle support it hasn't been as stable. Even I had a crash the other night getting into a tank (which is a known bug). I wouldn't count on Mantle giving you 300 FPS more than what you are getting now but, I also wouldn't fully blame it for all the crashes in BF4. Its the perfect storm of fail. New DICE patch + New AMD driver/Tech = Epic Fail Sauce. Give it a while before you fully judge.

As for the BSOD's well that Ill bet money is AMD's fault. CTD is one thing. BSOD is AMD without a doubt.
Posted on Reply
#70
tokyoduong
zsolt_93They were promised at the cards purchase. Everyone knew mantle will come sooner or later. The rest of your post is also BS.
Bro, I'm staring at my 2 X 7850 boxes with no promise of Mantle anywhere. The R9 280 cards have none on it either. The cards are priced according to their current performance at the time, not some promised future performance.

The rest of your post is also BS.
Posted on Reply
#71
tokyoduong
TheMailMan78As for the BSOD's well that Ill bet money is AMD's fault. CTD is one thing. BSOD is AMD without a doubt.
I've played games that caused hard locks and BSOD before. It also happened on both my 660GTX and Radeon 7850. I will admit these are rare situations. However, saying BSOD is AMD's fault without a doubt may be stretching it too far. I would say it is probable but there's still a chance it could be anything. It is DICE we're talking about here. I've never seen a game with such a high budget but end up with so many problems even on a console. Yes, that game completely crash my Xbox One and my friends' PS4s all the time and forced a restart. That's the equivalent of BSOD on a console.
Posted on Reply
#72
freeleacher
I found building a unattended windows 7 usb install improved my d3d performance and general system stability 10 fold.
It only takes a few hours depending how many programs you want to install and configure and the speed of your hard drives and internet for the updates.
And with this joshcellsoftwares.com/products/advancedtokensmanager/
Registering windows is dead easy as well saving you having to phone them up and run through that horrid 50 digit key press.
Its something most of you already do I imagine..
This is probly in the wrong place lol

As for my bsod ive been getting 100% of the time only happened on bf4, on this star swarm it didn't happen a single time.

I can see mantle giving me 180 fps @ 5k + screen res maxed out.
Ive seen about 3 seconds of the performance that's waiting for me the cpu and graphics delay time was below 10ms for both.
The cpu was 9 ms the gpu around 5 ms this was on 2560x1600 res scale 200 res scale.
Having a game + 150 fps at these kind of details is something I would expect in 3 to 5 years from now or 4 titans.
Posted on Reply
#73
TheMailMan78
Big Member
Well its simple to find out if the BSOD is caused by AMD. Check the error. Bet its driver related. BSOD is almost all the time related to driver/hardware issues.
Posted on Reply
#74
cadaveca
My name is Dave
nelizIt's a shame no one really does these kinds of overall performance testing anymore but actually performance did increase over the 7970's lifetime.

www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=942&page=11 from 12.11 to 13.1 is a 35% increase

www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1100&page=14 from 13.1 to 13.10 is a 8% increase

per reference, NV performance increase is 20% over the lifetime of the 680.
www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1098&page=14
LuLz. I see virtually ZERO increase. 3dmark11 increase of 1000 points from 12.10 to 13.1??

Skyrim, AvP, and a couple of other titles saw boosts, yep. For sure. Interesting choice of tests though, tessmark.. accounts for a large part of that increase? Perhaps it's a bit OS-dependent.
Posted on Reply
#75
pr0n Inspector
freeleacherI can see mantle giving me 180 fps @ 5k + screen res maxed out.
Ive seen about 3 seconds of the performance that's waiting for me the cpu and graphics delay time was below 10ms for both.
The cpu was 9 ms the gpu around 5 ms this was on 2560x1600 res scale 200 res scale.
Having a game + 150 fps at these kind of details is something I would expect in 3 to 5 years from now or 4 titans.
yeah, no.
Posted on Reply
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