AMD Releases ATI Catalyst 10.9 WHQL Driver Suite

[btarunr]

AMD released the latest version of the ATI Catalyst software suite. Version 10.9 WHQL comes rather early for this time of the month, when normally it's out towards the end or last week. ATI Catalyst installs drivers and system software for ATI Radeon graphics processors (HD 2000 series and above), AMD chipset integrated graphics, and other ATI multimedia products. Although Catalyst 10.9 does not mention any notable feature changes, it does offer some game-specific performance improvements across the board, as well as CrossFireX profiles that make the graphics driver take advantage of CrossFireX specific to games. Notable improvements include up to 20% in STALKER: Call of Pripyat Benchmark on Radeon HD 5800 series, and up to 6% on The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena, when running Radeon HD 5970 single or CrossFireX. A usual load of bug fixes goes with this version.

DOWNLOAD: ATI Catalyst 10.9 WHQL for Windows 7/Vista 64-bit, Windows 7/Vista 32-bit, Windows XP 32-bit, Windows XP 64-bit

A complete list of changes follows.

The Catalyst Software Suite 10.9 contains the following:

• ATI Radeon display driver 8.771
• HydraVision for both Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7
• Southbridge/IXP Driver
• ATI Catalyst Control Center Version 8.771

Catalyst Application Profiles
The following application profiles are available with this release of Catalyst 10.9:

• Aliens Vs. Predator - Profile update
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Profile update
• F1 2010 - Profile update
• Kane & Lynch 2 - New profile

Performance Improvements
The following performance gains are noticed with this release of Catalyst 10.9:

• STALKER: Call of Pripyat Benchmark
  o Performance increases up to 20% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire configurations with Enhanced full dynamic lighting (DX11) and anti-aliasing enabled
  o Performance increases up to 12% on ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire configurations with Enhanced full dynamic lighting (DX11) and anti-aliasing enabled
• The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena
  o Performance increases up to 4% on ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire configurations
  o Performance increases up to 4% on ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series single and CrossFire configurations
  o Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire configurations
  o Performance increases up to 6% on ATI Radeon HD 5970 Series single and CrossFire configurations

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System

• UVD clocks will now return to normal speeds after switching from HD to SD content
• Flickering no longer visible while running 3D games on HDMI displays with Quad CrossFire enabled
• Mesh corruption is no longer visible in "The Chronicles of Riddick 2: Assault on Dark Athena" when SSAO in-game setting is set to high
• CrossFire now functions properly and in-game Anti-Aliasing can now be enabled in "StarCraft II"
• Adobe Flash Player will no longer display green screen after resume from sleep
• Negative CrossFire scaling on "Final Fantasy-XIV" no longer occurs
• Intermittent perfomance drops no longer observed with hardware cursor enabled in "World of Warcraft" game in extended mode

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System

• AVI video no longer lags during playback within Microsoft PowerPoint slide deck
• Desktop corruption no longer occurs during PowerDVD SD/Blu-ray content playback on 120Hz displays
• Choppy HD playback no longer occurs while changing color vibrance and fleshtone correction in Catalyst Control Center - Advanced Color

Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System

• Copy protection message will no longer appear when viewing a DVD with Windows Media Player on a Windows XP system with PowerDVD 9 installed

For more information, refer to the Release Notes document.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[claylomax]

Just two weeks after the last one; last Nvidia WHQL driver was almost two months ago.

 

[DRDNA]

well the early release is odd...seeing as how there isnt much listed..Sh1t I havnt even fully tested the 10.8b that I loaded this morning.

 

[Divide Overflow]

AMD's site doesn't even have these posted yet. Perhaps this release is a bit too early?

 

[Mindweaver]

Very nice! but 2 very odd games to focus on?

 

[douglatins]

They should have a catalyst updater tray

Just two weeks after the last one; last Nvidia WHQL driver was almost two months ago.

Yes, AMD should implement something like windows updates, that automatically keeps up with the driver updates

 

[Dos101]

Desktop may dim after exiting "Mafia II" game on some cards

Changes to HDMI display scaling might fail to be retained after system reboot

Crap, was hoping those would have been fixed by now. Guess I'll keep 10.7 installed then.

 

[Tatty_Two]

Just two weeks after the last one; last Nvidia WHQL driver was almost two months ago.

Is that good or bad? .... not sure, perhaps NVidia's current drivers don't have so many issues.

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

I've felt for awhile no that amd could greatly improve their drivers if they went to every other month, spent more time testing, maybe work on a better driver install system since many errors comes from installing over old drivers.

 

[ShogoXT]

Just installed them. I have not seen the Super Sampling option shown for the past 2 drivers (10.8 and this one). Is it shown for anyone else? Only Adaptive is there.

 

[DigitalUK]

probably because of the ati drivers being able to be updated from steam from today.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Just two weeks after the last one; last Nvidia WHQL driver was almost two months ago.

nvidia doesnt need to release as many drivers. They are solid already unlike ati's

 

[erocker]

nvidia doesnt need to release as many drivers. They are solid already unlike ati's

That's somewhat of a blanket statement. I have not had an issue with an ATi driver in the past year at least. Plus, do these driver make any difference to what you use? Just don't make silly statements like that, it causes things to go off topic.

Just started using the 10.9's and so far so good as usual.

 

[ERazer]

nvidia doesnt need to release as many drivers. They are solid already unlike ati's

it doesnt even concern u, do u have ati card?

 

[Mr McC]

I might try these if I hear positive reports, thanks for the reminder OP.

That's somewhat of a blanket statement. I have not had an issue with an ATi driver in the past year at least. Plus, do these driver make any difference to what you use?

Just started using the 10.9's and so far so good as usual.

erocker, are you going by your own guide or are you simply overwriting? Thanks

 

[Dent1]

nvidia doesnt need to release as many drivers. They are solid already unlike ati's

Buddy with a GTX480 was having issues with these drivers retaining 2d clocks in games running in windowed mode. Just be on the lookout if you play games in windowed mode.

with this driver i loose all voltage control on my card (GTX280) i cannot increase nor deacrese, WTF!! idk what nvidia changed but they changed something. im rolling back

Forceware 260.52

NVIDIA pulls 196.75 driver amid reports it's frying graphics cards

One of the discussions that arise anytime we bring up a new graphics card from ATI or NVIDIA is about which company has the better drivers. Well, this should help sway the argument a little bit. It would seem StarCraft II Beta players were among the first to notice low frame rates while using the latest drivers from NVIDIA, and further digging has uncovered that the automated fan-controlling part of said firmware was failing to act as intended. The result? Overheated chips, diminished performance, and in some extreme cases, death (of the GPU, we think the users will be okay). The totality of it is that you should avoid the 196.75 iteration like the plague, and NVIDIA has temporarily yanked the update while investigating the reported issues. Shame that the company hasn't got any warnings up on its site to tell those who've installed the update but haven't yet nuked their graphics card to roll back their drivers, but that's what you've got us for, right?

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/05/nvidia-pulls-196-75-driver-amid-reports-its-frying-graphics-car/

Nvidia Driver Bug Stops Overclocking; Fix Soon
Nvidia earlier this week released the new GeForce/Ion drivers version 196.21, which added SLI and multi-GPU support for many new gaming titles as well as upgraded PhysX System Software to version 9.09.1112. But as with any new software, there's always the chance of a bug that'll cause some unintended results.

Enthusiasts who like to overclock quickly found that their once trusted overclocking software didn't work as it did in previous versions. Specifically, tweaking software RivaTuner V2.24C, EVGA Precision V1.9.0, and Galaxy MagicPanel HD all had problems in managing at least one of the core, shader, or memory clocks, according to Expreview.

Nvidia today confirmed with Tom's Hardware that the driver's behavior with overclocking tools is indeed a software bug and that an updated driver package is being worked on at the current time. Stay tuned.

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-driver-software-overclocking-bug,9489.html

 

[erocker]

I might try these if I hear positive reports, thanks for the reminder.

So far no difference from 10.8's. I have about a 4-ish FPS boost in Mafia II. BCBC2 is working fine, loads up fast. Left 4 Dead 1&2 no issues. One thing I recommend is going into the video settings and turning down all of the "denoise" and "deblocking" type options down to at least 20 for best video quality. It seems the default settings like to overdo things a bit. * I went by the guide, it's 2nd nature to me now.

 

[Mr McC]

Mine's bigger than yours. My daddy could beat your daddy in a fight.

 

[Mr McC]

So far no difference from 10.8's. I have about a 4-ish FPS boost in Mafia II. BCBC2 is working fine, loads up fast. Left 4 Dead 1&2 no issues. One thing I recommend is going into the video settings and turning down all of the "denoise" and "deblocking" type options down to at least 20 for best video quality. It seems the default settings like to overdo things a bit. * I went by the guide, it's 2nd nature to me now.

The guide is great, thanks for that. You have persuaded me to try these out.

 

[ERazer]

The guide is great, thanks for that. You have persuaded me to try these out.

wat guide? am i messing out on something?

 

[erocker]

wat guide? am i messing out on something?

Here: How To: Reinstall Video Drivers (Quick Guide)

Honestly though, it's really not necessary to do.

 

[ERazer]

Here: How To: Reinstall Video Drivers (Quick Guide)

Honestly though, it's really not necessary to do.

ohh silly me yeah ive read that great stuff

 

[MrMilli]

To the guys thinking nVidia drivers are 'solid', read this:
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/258.96/258.96_WinXP_Desktop_Release_Notes.pdf
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Windows/258.96/258.96_Win7_WinVista_Desktop_Release_Notes.pdf

These are the release notes of the 258.96 driver. Look under knows product limitations.

The fact is that Ati has always been very open (maybe too open) about the known/fixed issues while nVidia puts them nicely away in a pdf somewhere.
No driver will ever be '100% solid'.

 

[Dent1]

nvidia doesnt need to release as many drivers. They are solid already unlike ati's

According to Nvidia's own site:

http://us.download.nvidia.com/Window...ease_Notes.pdf
http://us.download.nvidia.com/Window...ease_Notes.pdf

Open Windows XP Issues in Version 258.96
As with every released driver, version 258.96 has open issues and enhancement requests
associated with it. This section includes lists of issues that are either not fixed or not
implemented in this version. Some problems listed may not have been thoroughly
investigated and, in fact, may not be NVIDIA issues. Others may have workaround
solutions.
For notebook computers, many of these issues are system‐specific and may not be seen
on your particular notebook.
 “NVIDIA Recommendations” on page 9
 “Windows XP 32‐bit Issues” on page 9
 “Windows XP 64‐bit Issues” on page 11
NVIDIA Recommendations
 Single display modes such as TV‐only, DFP/LCD‐only, or CRT‐only provide the best
performance and quality from Windows Media Center Edition.
Dual display modes such as Dualview and nView Clone and Span modes are not
recommended when using the Windows Media Center.
Windows XP 32-bit Issues
NVIDIA Issues—Single-GPU
All GPUs
 HQV DVD shows corruption when played using Windows Media Player.[302235]
GeForce 400 Series
 GeForce 400/200 Series: Borderlands–while playing the game with ambient occlusion
enabled and Dynamic Shadows turned on, shadow corruption occurs when changing
the game resolution. [646331]
GeForce 9 Series
 GeForce 9800 GT: Lineage 2–the game world is extremely dark. [531486]
 GeForce 9800 GTX: Changes made on the “Adjust Screen Size and Position” page are
not saved after changing the HD formats. [524751]
 GeForce 9600 GT: The HDMI TV momentarily goes blank when playing an audio clip
(using HD audio) and then switching to full‐screen mode. [674934]
Release 256 Graphics Drivers for Windows - Version 258.96 RN-W25896-02v01 | 10
Open Windows XP Issues in Version 258.96
GeForce 8 Series GPUs
 GeForce 8800 GTX: Flat panel scaling control is unavailable when the display
resolution is less than 1920x1440. [501230]
 GeForce 8800 GTX: Half‐Life 2 Episode 1–purple textures appear with 16xQ CSAA
enabled at 2560x1600 resolution.[302602]
 GeForce 8800 GTX: The TV desktop cannot be resized using the NVIDIA Control
Panel. [674417]
 GeForce 8400: The primary Dualview display cannot be switched. [508817]
 GeForce 8400 SE: The NVIDIA Control Panel shows non‐HDCP capable GPUs as
HDCP capable. [521675]
GeForce 8M Series GPUs
 GeForce 8800M GTX: NHL 2009–forcing Vertical Sync off using the NVIDIA Control
Panel causes the game’s main menu to not be displayed. [619351]
GeForce 7 Series GPUs
 GeForce 7 Series: Supreme Commander 2–blocky corruption appears at the edges of
the water at all detail levels. [657045]
 GeForce 7 Series: 709 color space is not present during playback of Blu‐ray discs or HD
DVDs.[263124]
 GeForce 7600 GT: ʺThe Battle Of The Middle Earth IIʺ–corruption occurs when loading
the game.[261274]
 GeForce 7300 GS: Lost Planet: Extreme Condition–color corruption appears after
launching with the default settings. [359015]
GeForce 6 Series GPUs
 GeForce 8 Series, GeForce 6600: HQV DVD shows corruption when played using
Windows Media Player.[302235]
NVIDIA Issues—Multi-GPU
All GPUs
 [SLI]: The NVIDIA logo in the Adjust Image Settings with Preview page does not
rotate and shows corruption after switching to the display connected to the SLI slave
GPU. [402589]
GeForce 200 Series
 [SLI], GeForce 200 Series, GeForce 9800 GTX, GeForce 8500 GT: World in Conflict–the
radar in the game flickers. [532526]
GeForce 9 Series GPUs
 [SLI], GeForce 9600 GT, GeForce 8500/8400/8300: Changes made from the Resize
HDTV Settings page are note saved after enabling SLI mode. [529759]
Release 256 Graphics Drivers for Windows - Version 258.96 RN-W25896-02v01 | 11
Open Windows XP Issues in Version 258.96
GeForce 8 Series GPUs
 [SLI], GeForce 8600 GT: Battlefield 2–there is texture corruption on the wall in ʺGulf
Of Omanʺ map. [350931]
 [SLI], GeForce 8300/8400/8500/8600: Blue‐screen crash occurs when using the Set SLI
Output control to switch from a display on the SLI master GPU to a display on the SLI
slave GPU.
This occurs with “bridgeless” SLI configurations. When there is no SLI bridge connector, you
can use only the displays connected to the SLI master GPU.
GeForce 8M Series GPUs
 [SLI], GeForce 8800M GTX: With SLI mode enabled, The NVIDIA Control Panel does
not refresh the DVI monitor entry after hot unplugging and then hot plugging the
DVI. [536617]
 [SLI], GeForce 8700M: Dead Space–the application launches to a black screen. [544198]
Windows XP 64-bit Issues
NVIDIA Issues—Single GPU
 GeForce GTX 280: Call of Duty: World at War–there is flickering within the smoke.
[531341]
NVIDIA Issues—Multi-GPU
 [SLI]: After installing the driver, the nView Desktop Manager option is not available
in the system tray, and no ʺSLIʺ pop‐up appears. [663291]
 [SLI], GeForce 200 Series, GeForce 9800 GTX, GeForce 8500 GT: World in Conflict–the
radar in the game flickers. [532526]

Windows Vista/Windows 7 32-bit Issues
Single GPU Issues
 GeForce 9800 GX2: After overinstalling the graphics driver without rebooting the
system, the driver vanishes/unloads while trying to disable multi‐GPU mode from the
NVIDIA Control Panel. [626740]
 GeForce 9600M GT: HD resolutions 1080p, 1080i, and 576p cannot be applied.
[616739]
 Quadro FX 3700M: Blue‐screen crash occurs when hot‐plugging the DisplayPort
panel. [663922]
 Quadro FX 1600M: With the notebook connected to a docking station, the DVI display
is not detected when hot‐plugged. [657660]
Windows Vista/Windows 7 64-bit Issues
Single GPU Issues
 Half Life 2: Episode 2–the in‐game brightness is greatly reduced if Enhanced or
Override AA is enabled from the NVIDIA Control Panel. [429254]
 ION: Several DirectX games (e.g. RUSE or Assassin’s Creed) are not rendered
properly when played at 1600x900 resolution. [681809]
 GeForce GTS 250M: With Dualview mode enabled and the desktop set to either
portrait or portrait‐flipped rotation, the primary display cannot be changed. [662136]
Multi-GPU Issues
 [SLI]: The NVIDIA Control Panel takes a long time to open. [673062]
 [Quad‐SLI], GeForce GTX 295: On a Quad‐SLI system, the NVIDIA Control Panel
shows an Enable Multi‐GPU option instead of Enable Quad SLI. [638635]
 [SLI], GeForce 9600 GT: The display resolution switches to 800x600 from1920x1200
after enabling SLI mode. [592469]

I hope this ends all the stupid "Nvidia drivers are god threads/posts".

 

[TRIPTEX_CAN]

As far as I'm aware this thread is a discussion about ATI's current driver release and all comparisions to Nvidias drivers (while informative) are irrelevent.