ATI Catalyst Display Drivers 11.4 for Windows Vista/7 32-bit

Package Content

The AMD Catalyst software suite 11.4 contains the following:

• AMD display driver version 8.841
• AMD HydraVision for Windows® XP, Windows Vista® and Windows 7
• Southbridge / IXP Driver
• AMD Catalyst Control Center version 8.841

Important! Caution!

The AMD display driver and the AMD Catalyst Control Center can be downloaded independently of each other. However, for better stability and performance AMD recommends that both components be updated from the same AMD Catalyst release.

The AMD Catalyst Control Center requires that the Microsoft® .NET Framework SP1 be installed for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Without .NET SP1 installed, the AMD Catalyst Control Center will not launch properly and the user will see an error message.

Notes:

When installing the AMD Catalyst driver for Windows operating system, the user must be logged on as Administrator or have Administrator rights to complete the installation of the AMD Catalyst driver.

These release notes provide information on the AMD display driver only. For information on the ATI Multimedia Center, HydraVision, HydraVision Basic Edition, Remote Wonder™, or the Southbridge / IXP driver, please refer to their respective release notes found at: http://support.amd.com/.

ATI Eyefinity™ technology gives gamers access to high display resolutions. As pixel count grows, the graphics horsepower required to drive the displays at a reasonable frame rate can increase dramatically. Depending on the game and system configuration, users may notice texture corruption and reduced frame rates when running games in multi-monitor Eyefinity modes.

Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers are no longer bundled in the AMD Catalyst software suite. The WDM drivers install bundle can be downloaded independently through the AMD website

Highlights of the AMD Catalyst 11.4 Windows release includes:

New Features:

Enhancements to the AMD Vision Engine Control Center / AMD Catalyst Control Center

• New task based Display Management controls
  • Simplifies the configuration of displays and display settings
• New Eyefinity setup group
  • Setting up an Eyefinity group has never been easier
• AMD Catalyst update notification (found within the Information Center)
  • This feature notifies users that new AMD Catalyst software packages are available

GPU Compute enhancements:

• The OpenCL runtime (included in AMD Catalyst 11.4) includes performance enhancements supporting zero-copy on APUs and increased performance for PCIe transfers between a CPU and discrete GPU.

Performance Enhancements

• A number of performance enhancements are seen with the AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series and AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series:
• Call of Duty Black Ops – gains of up to 15% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single GPU configurations.
• Battleforge – gains of up to 15% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single and multiple GPU configurations.
• Batman Arkham Asylum – gains of up to 20% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single and multiple GPU configurations.
• Aliens vs. Predator – gains of up to 8% with Anti-Aliasing and Anisotropic Filtering on single and multiple GPU configurations.
• Civilization 5 – gains of up to 15% on single and multiple GPU configurations.
• Far Cry 2 – gains of up to 6% on single and multiple GPU configurations.
• Just Cause 2 – gains of up to 9% on single and multiple GPU configurations.
• Lost Planet 2 – gains of up to 10% on single and multiple GPU configurations.

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System

This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.4 software suite for Windows 7. These include:

• The GPU no longer shows high GPU usage after running Firefox 4 with hardware acceleration enabled.
• Bioshock no longer displays random tearing and screen corruption with Vsync and MLAA enabled.
• Water textures no longer flicker in Two Worlds II in Crossfire mode.
• Bulletstorm lightshafts no longer appear broken when running on a HD 6970 series product.
• Bulletstorm no longer displays random texture corruption when running in Crossfire mode.
• FI 2010 no longer slows down intermittently when in Crossfire mode.
• PowerDVD no longer crashes if Crossfire is enabled / disabled during playback of a BD title.
• WinDVD no longer displays corrupted BD playback when the monitor is rotated to portrait mode.
• Crysis Warhead corruption is no longer randomly observed when launching the game.
• Running the Heaven benchmark no longer displays graphics corruption during DirectX 11 tests.
• Catalyst Control Center Avivo settings are now correctly displayed after connecting a secondary display.
• The Catalyst Control Center screen no longer flickers while adjusting screen brightness.

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System

This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.4 software suite for Windows Vista. These include:

• Mpeg2 video clips now use hardware acceleration when played using Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center.
• Adding bezel compensation to a 2x1 Eyefinity configuration no longer causes both displays to blank out.
• The Catalyst Control Center screen no longer flickers while adjusting screen brightness.

AMD Product Compatibility

The AMD Catalyst™ driver is compatible with the following AMD products:

AMD Desktop Product Family Compatibility

• AMD Radeon™ HD 6900 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series of Products
• AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4700 Series of Products
• AMD Radeon HD 6300 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4670 Series of Products
• AMD Radeon HD 6200 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4650 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 5900 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4550 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4350 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 5600 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4890 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 2900 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 2600 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4850 X2 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 2400 Series of Products

AMD FireStream Product Families

• AMD FireStream™ 9350 Series of Products
• AMD FireStream 9250 Series of Products
• AMD FireStream 9270 Series of Products
• AMD FireStream 9170 Series of Products

AMD Chipset Product Families

• ATI Radeon HD 4290 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon 3200 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4250 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon 3100 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 4200 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon 3000 Series of Products
• ATI Radeon HD 3300 Series of Products

Note: Before proceeding with your driver installation we suggest you make sure you are installing the latest version available and for the appropriate model/revision and Operating System. We strongly suggest following 'readme' instructions for installing drivers when available. Often restarting your system will be necessary for the new driver to become active and start functioning properly.

You can check back regularly for the latest updates at TechSpot's Drivers section or stop by our homepage for the best daily coverage of PC technology news on the Web.