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Folks who couldn't muster the courage to install AMD's "pre-certified" driver can now download a Microsoft-approved version. Catalyst 12.2 brings several worthwhile updates over the last stable release, though there doesn't seem to be any changes from last month's pre-certified build -- that includes a lack of support for the Radeon HD 7000 series on Windows XP, so you'll need Vista or 7.
Download Catalyst 12.2 WHQL (release notes)
Desktop: Windows XP | Windows Vista/7 32-bit | Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Mobile: Windows Vista/7 32-bit | Windows Vista/7 64-bit
Catalyst 12.2 totes bug fixes for games including Tom Clancy's HAWX, Modern Warfare 3, Dragon Age 2, Battleforge, Bad Company 2, StarCraft II, Arkham City, Crysis Warhead, World of Warcraft and Dirt 3. Various bugs involving Blu-ray playback have also been squashed, while a few new glitches pertaining to Alan Wake and Skyrim have been added to the release notes since the pre-certified version.
Along with adding support for super sampling anti-aliasing in DX10 and 11 applications, Catalyst 12.2 improves Eyefinity 2.1 by enabling custom resolutions, dynamic configuration changes (physically plugging/unplugging displays will automatically load the right profile), HydraVision enhancements (the Windows Taskbar can now be moved and resized), and various tweaks to the Profile Manager.
The latest Radeons aren't fully supported on Windows 8 yet either, though AMD promises that in the coming weeks. Other GPU generations can use last week's Catalyst Driver 8.93.7 RC10 to tap into WDDM 1.2, which includes native Stereo 3D support for full screen and windowed gaming, optimized screen rotation and power consumption, as well as improved sleep and resume performance.
Download Catalyst Driver 8.93.7 RC10 (release notes)
Desktop/Mobile: Windows 8 32 and 64-bit
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User Comments: 9
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LNCPapa said:
Installed these yesterday and I've only tested Pandora Saga so far (played with my kids.) I'll give some of the reportedly improved titles a shot tonight! Path of Exile has never had any Crossfire support for me so this will be interesting.
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I do not get AMD driver naming scheme?
Catalyst Driver 8.93.7 RC10 ???
Catalyst 12.2 WHQL ???
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Cota said:
Guest said:I do not get AMD driver naming scheme?
Catalyst Driver 8.93.7 RC10 ???
Catalyst 12.2 WHQL ???
google it...
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LNCPapa said:
Gave the new drivers a whirl - Still not seeing Crossfire action on Path of Exile - the entire load is being put on one GPU... though it's not maxing it out to vsync it I would think it would split the load to keep temps down.
I also gave it a test on the new 3.0 version of the Heaven Benchmark.
[link]
[link] (lower settings, higher res)
This seems to be a bit better than before, but it may be due to my last run being on Heaven 2.5.
Farcry 2 benchmark:
[link]
[link]
Seems to be about a 10 fps drop for me from drivers I ran with last December. All three runs also look less smooth/consistent.
Metro 2033 benchmark:
[link]
[link]
Looks like a 2 fps drop with the newer drivers over my December drivers
AvP benchmark:
[link]
[link]
1.5 fps drop which is pretty much negligible at these frame rates.
I'll re-run some of my other benches when I get time and compare previous results.
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I tried the new 12.2 drivers too. First by the automatic update through CCC, then through regular uninstall/install. CCC told me both times that the version installed was Catalyst 12.3, and both times I ran the Dirt 3 benchmark, I got almost 25% less frames than with 12.1 (that I reinstalled today). Also tried SuperSampling with Crysis DX10 and it did not work. Maybe that feature is only for the HD 7000 series?
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12.2 Drivers affected World of Warcraft - shaft of lights and liquid detail. So be careful.
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Just installed them and regretting it already. Suffering a minor frame rate hit and worse, Skyrim is absolutely lousy with artifacts.
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wow is artifacting like hell for me
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putting multisampling on 1x fixed the WOW artifacting
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