July 21, 2008
This releasenote provides information on the latest posting of AMD’s industryleading software suite, Catalyst™. This particular software suiteupdates both the AMD Display Driver, and the Catalyst™ Control Center.This unified driver has been further enhanced to provide the highestlevel of power, performance, and reliability. The AMD Catalyst™software suite is the ultimate in performance and stability.
This release note provides information on the following:
- Web Content
- AMD Product Support
- Operating systems supported
- New Features
- Performance Improvements
- ATI’s Folding@Home
- Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
- Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
- Known Issues Under the Windows Vista Operating System
- Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
- Known Issues Under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
- Installing the Catalyst™ Vista Software Driver
- AMD Customer Care
- Catalyst™ Crew Driver Feedback
Web Content
The Catalyst™ software suite 8.7 contains the following:
- Radeon™ display driver 8.512
- Multimedia Center™ 9.16 (Windows XP only)
- HydraVision™ for both Windows XP and Vista
- HydraVision™ Basic Edition (Windows XP only)
- Remote Wonder 3.04 (Windows XP only)
- WDM Driver Install Bundle
- Southbridge/IXP Driver
- Catalyst™ Control Center Version 8.7
Caution: The Catalyst™ software driver and the Catalyst™ Control Center can bedownloaded independently of each other. However, for maximum stabilityand performance AMD recommends that both components be updated from thesame Catalyst™ release
Caution: The Catalyst™ Control Center requires that the Microsoft .NET Frameworkversion 2.0 be installed. Without .NET version 2.0 installed, theCatalyst™ Control Center will not launch properly and the user will seean error message.
Note: These release notes provide information on the Radeon™ display driver only. For information on the ATI Multimedia Center™, HydraVision™, HydraVision Basic Edition, WDM, Remote Wonder™, or the Southbridge/IXP driver, please refer to their respective release notes found at: https://support.ati.com/
AMD Product Support
TheCatalyst™ Vista driver for both the 32bit and 64bit versions of theMicrosoft Windows Vista operating system is supported on the followingATI Radeon™ products.
Note: ATI All-in-Wonder™boards operate with AMD’s Windows Vista ready display and capturedrivers under the Windows Vista operating system. However, the WindowsVista Media Center application does not support TV/Capturefunctionality provided by the ATI All-in-Wonder™. TV/Capturefunctionality is qualified to function with Snaptream’s BeyondTV 4.6for Windows Vista. Other third party solutions (such as Arcsoft’s TotalMedia 3) may support TV/Capture with the ATI All-in-Wonder™, but theseapplications have not been fully tested by AMD.
Operating systems supported
The latest version of the Catalyst™ software suite is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:
- Windows Vista (32 and 64 bit versions)
- Windows XP Professional
- Windows XP Home Edition
- Windows XP Media Center Edition
- Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Note: When installing theCatalyst™ Vista driver for Windows Vista, the user must logged on as anAdministrator or have Administrator rights in order to successfullycomplete the installation of the Catalyst™ Vista driver.
New Features
Catalyst™ 8.7 introduces the following new features:
Catalyst Control Center: Information Center enhancements
This releaseof Catalyst™ introduces an enhancement to the Catalyst Control CenterInformation Center. Full Hardware information will be shown for eachphysical graphics accelerator installed in the system.
Support for new Linux operating systems
This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces preview support for the following new operating systems:
Performance Improvements
The following performance gains are noticed with this release of Catalyst™.
- 3DMarkVantage: Performance increases of up to 20% is noticed in thePerformance Preset on single card configured systems when using ATIRadeon™ HD 36xx or ATI Radeon™ HD 34xx products
- Companyof Heroes DX10: Performance increases of 3% to 12% is noticed inspecific maps on single card configured systems when using either anATI Radeon™ HD 48xx, ATI Radeon ™ HD 38xx, or an ATI Radeon™ HD 36xxproduct
- LostPlanet DX10: Performance increases of 4% to 15% is noticed in specificmaps on single card configured systems when using either an ATI Radeon™HD 48xx, ATI Radeon™ HD 38xx, or an ATI Radeon™ HD 36xx product
- CallOf Duty 4 DX9: Performance increases of up to 4% in specific maps isnoticed on single card configured systems when using an ATI Radeon™ HD48xx product
- Lost Planet DX9: CrossFire™ scaling improves up to 1.7x and performance increases up to 80% across all Radeon™ products when AA and AF is enabled
ATI’s Folding@Home
Folding@Homeis a distributed computing project designed by the Stanford University.The application performs intensive simulations of protein folding. Thissimulation will help researchers uncover how certain diseases develop.Folding@Home uses distributed computing to simulate protein folding,the workload is broken up into small work units and distributed acrosshundreds of thousands of computers over the internet. You can help findthe cure to many different diseases! To join Folding@Home, follow thesesteps:
- Download ATI’s Catalyst™ software suite
- Download the Folding@Home GPU client application
Note: The latest GPU client supports the ATI Radeon™ HD 3xx0 series of products only.
- Enter the ATI team number 51394 and start folding!
For more information on Folding@Home visit: http://ati.amd.com/technology/streamcomputing/folding.html
Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
This sectionprovides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATICatalyst™ Software Suite for Windows Vista. These include:
- Assassin’s Creed: Attemptingto launch the game on a system containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 seriesof product and running the Windows Vista operating system (32 bitversion) no longer results in the game exiting to the desktop. Furtherdetails can be found in topic number 737-35804
- Crysis: Edge detect is nowworking when playing the DX9 version of the game with UBM enabled.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35765
- Frontlines Fuel of War:Setting the in-game option to 1152×864 and AA to N/A no longer resultsin corruption being noticed when playing the game on a systemcontaining an ATI Radeon™ HD 38×0 series of product. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-35861
- Hellgate London: Setting thedisplay resolution to 2560×1600 no longer results in the game failingto respond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35886
- Mahjongg Artifacts: Launchingthe game on a system running Windows Vista no longer results in theoperating system failing to respond. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35873
- Rainbow Six Vegas 2:Flickering is no longer noticed when switching between the game and theWindows desktop. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35818
- Rainbow Six Vegas 2: Setting AA to 8x no longer results in AA failing to be applied. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35823
- World In Conflict:Setting the video quality to high no longer results in corruption beingnoticed. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35884
- World of Warcraft: The game’s log-in background is no longer blank when using OpenGL mode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35767
- ZT:Attempting to play the Asian game in a windowed mode or at a displayresolution of 1280×1024 no longer results in the game failing torespond. Further details can be found in topic number 737-34152
- Runningvarious games on a system containing an ATI Radeon™ X18x0 series ofproduct no longer results in Time-out Detection and Recovery (TDR) whenhaving Catalyst AI set to Advanced. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35828
- Ablack window is no longer displayed when attempting to play a DVD titleusing WinDVD 7 when Overlay Theater Mode and clone mode is enabled.Further details can be found in topic number 737-34133
- Connectingan HDMI display device to the DVI port using an HDMI to DVI dongle nolonger results in the display mode of 720×480 failing to be in thedisplay mode list after hot-unplugging the HDMI display device andhot-plugging a DVI display device. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35105
- Clickingon the Scaling Options for the HDMI display device no longer results inthe Panel Information and Image Scaling failing to be restored thegraphics adapter. This issue is also resolved for the Windows XPoperating system as well. Further details can be found in topic number737-35874
- Attemptingto change to clone or single mode no longer fails when display number 2is set a the primary display device. This issue is also resolved forthe Windows XP operating system as well. Further details can be foundin topic number 737-35768
- Connectinga secondary display device no longer results in the secondary displayfailing to be seen in the Catalyst Control Center when using a systemcontaining an ATI Radeon™ HD 2400 series of product. This issue is alsoresolved for the Windows XP operating system as well. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-35802
- Adjustingeither the gamma, brightness or contrast setting in the CatalystControl Center no longer results in certain graphics hardwareinformation failing to be displayed in the Information Center. Thisissue is also resolved for the Windows XP operating system as well.Further details can be found in topic number 737-358633
- Enablingand disabling GPU Scaling no longer results in some of the supporteddisplay resolutions no longer being available. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35047
- TheOverDrive™ clocks are no longer set back to default setting whenexiting the fullscreen samples if the Enable ATI OverDrive™ clocks for3D applications only option is set to Off. Further details can be foundin topic number 737-35755
- Usinga smart dongle no longer results in the mode of 1080i failing to appearin the display manager of the Catalyst Control Center. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-358477
Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
This sectionprovides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATICatalyst™ Software Suite for Windows XP. These include:
- City of Heroes: Characterstretching and double character reflection is no longer noticed whenthe in-game resolution is set to 2560×1600. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35757
- Enemy Territories Quake Wars:Flickering is no longer noticed when playing the game with CrossFire™enabled on systems containing an ATI Radeon™ HD 38×0 series of product.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35788
- Lost Planet: Corruption is nolonger noticed when switching between the game and the Windows XPdesktop. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35782
- Google SketchUp: The Push/Pull tool no longer fails to select some faces. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35800
- World of Warcraft:Enabling AA in the Catalyst Control Center no longer results in theuser failing to log on to the game. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35816
- Installingthe display driver from an installation CD no longer results in awarning message indicating that the Catalyst Control Center is notsupported by the driver version installed. Further details can be foundin topic number 737-35120
- Playinga standard definition DVD using the Windows Media Player (hardwareacceleration enabled) no longer results in the operating system failingto respond when attempting to rotate the display. Further details canbe found in topic number 737-35875
- Intermittentflashing is no longer noticed in the right portion of the display whenplaying a 720p or 1080i media file when using the Windows Media Playerv10. Further details can be found in topic number 737-32666
- Playinga DVD title and selecting the option to use basic color setting todefault in the Catalyst Control Center now results in the option beingapplied. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35803
- Playingan MPEG2 video clip on a display that is rotated no longer results incorruption being noticed when rotating the display back to landscapemode. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35805
Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Operating System
This sectionprovides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATICatalyst™ Software Suite for Windows XP Professional x64 Edition. Theseinclude:
- Gears of War: EnablingCrossFire™ and AA may result in white flickering corruption beingnoticed when playing the game under Windows XP Professional x64Edition. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35123
Known Issues Under the Windows Vista Operating System
This sectionprovides information on known issues that may be experienced under theWindows Vista operating system with the latest version of Catalyst™.These include:
- Call of Duty: Corruption maybe noticed when having Quad CrossFire™ enable and an HDMI 1080p displaydevice connected. Further details can be found in topic number737-35112
- Call of Duty 4 or Crysis:Color corruption may be noticed when running the games in full screenmode with Quad CrossFire™ enabled. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35115
- Company of Heroes: Settingthe in-game options to maximum levels may result in the game exiting tothe desktop after the game has completed loading. Further details canbe found in topic number 737-32600
- Crysis: Playing the game at adisplay resolution lower than the native display resolution of aconnected 30″ display device may result in corruption being noticedwhen CrossFire™ is enabled and having the Catalyst Control Centerscaling the image to full screen. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35111
- Linage II: Switching betweenthe game and the Windows desktop may result in the desktop appearingbrighter than its original setting. Exiting the game and restarting theoperating system may also result in the desktop brightness failing tobe restored to its original setting. Further details can be found intopic number 737-35108
- Lost Planet(DX10 version):Some of the in-game display resolutions may fail to be available whenusing a CRT display device. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35872
- Unreal Tournament 3: The gamemay intermittently fail to launch when a map has texture detail set tomaximum. Further details can be found in topic number 737-31189
- Thesecondary HDMI Display may turn off when resuming from an S1hibernation with an HDMI display connected. Further details can befound in topic number 737-31146
- Settingthe desktop resolution to 1600×1200 or greater may result in greenpixel corruption being noticed when playing certain games. This issuemaybe noticed when using a system running Windows Vista and containingan ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 or HD 2400 series of product. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-31150
- Attemptingto play the HD-DVD title Harsh Verdana, School for Scoundrels using theCyberlink player may result in block corruption being noticed. Furtherdetails can be found in topic number 737-31155
- Anerror message may appear when installing the display driver packagethrough setup.exe. Further details can be found in topic number737-31577
- Installingan ATI Radeon™ X1600 series of product into a system containing an ATIRadeon™ HD 2600 series of product with the display driver alreadyinstalled may result in the operating system entering a continuousreboot. This issue may be averted by removing the ATI graphics driverprior to the installation of the ATI Radeon™ X1600 series of product.This issue may also be experienced with the ATI Radeon™ X1300 and 1550series of products. Further information may be found in topic number737-33471
- Enablingclone mode followed by switching to extended desktop mode may result inthe Windows Vista (64 bit version) failing to respond. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-34125
- Performingan express install of the Catalyst Control Center may result in anerror message being displayed when rebooting the system. Furtherdetails can be found in topic number 737-29532
- Enablingextended desktop mode and setting the color depth below 16bpp mayresult in the secondary display device failing to redraw properly.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35114
- Agreen or black screen may be displayed when configuring MCE to ATSCmode. Further information may be found in topic number 737-27622
- EnablingBOB de-interlacing may result in a green line being noticed on thebottom of the playback window when playing a 1080i clip. Furtherdetails can be found in topic number 737-35895
- Playinga Blu-ray DVD title may result in corruption being noticed when usingcertain display resolutions such as 1360×768, 1360×1024, or 1600×1200.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35896
- Enablingclone mode followed by switching to extended desktop mode may result inthe Windows Vista (64 bit version) failing to respond. Further detailscan be found in topic number 737-357666
Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
Thefollowing section provides a summary of open issues that may beexperienced under the Windows XP operating system in the latest versionof Catalyst™. These include:
- Age of Conan: The inventoryicons may show corruption when playing the game with CrossFire™enabled. This issue may also be experienced under the Windows Vistaoperating system as well. Further details can be found in topic number737-34825
- Company of Heroes: OpposingFronts: Enabling CrossFire™ may result in the displays flashingcorruption when setting the in game graphics options to off or theirlowest settings. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35118
- Witcher: Enabling AA andsetting the in-game options to their maximum levels may result inbackground colors being missing and the game play back being choppy.Further details can be found in topic number 737-35898
- Usingthe WinDVD player (versions 14.x, 11.10x, or 9.xx) to play VC1 videocontent may result in corruption being noticed when hardwareacceleration is enabled. This issue may also be experienced under theWindows Vista operating system. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-35293
- Connectinga CRT display device as the secondary display and playing a Blu-ray DVDusing a Cyberlink player may result in no video playback if extendeddesktop mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number737-30587
- Settingthe display resolution to 1440×900 or lower may result in corruptionbeing noticed when playing a DVD title. Further details can be found intopic number 737-31168
- Connectinga CRT display device as the secondary display and playing a Blu-ray DVDusing a Cyberlink player may result in no video playback if extendeddesktop mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number737-34121
- Thedisplay may be come corrupted with 4 bit color depth after hotunplugging the rotated primary HDMI/DFP display. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35116
- Connectinga Dual Link Panel to the on-board DVI port, followed by hot plugging aDVI display to the add-on DVI card may result clone mode becomingdisabled when rebooting the machine and the secondary display deviceremaining blank. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35117
- Installingthe HDMI audio driver and the VIA audio chipset driver may results in acompatibility issue being noticed and a yellow exclamation mark showingup in the Sound, Video and Game Controllers. Further details can befound in topic number 737-35119
- CatalystControl Center: Configuring a system with multi-adapters may result inan error message being displayed when running the Test Custom Clocks737-29953
- Enablingpull down detection in the Catalyst Control Center may result inflickering being noticed when playing a video clip using the CyberlinkPowerDVD player. Further details can be found in topic number 737-35121
- Connectinga CRT display device as the secondary display and playing a Blu-ray DVDusing a Cyberlink player may result in no video playback if extendeddesktop mode is enabled. Further details can be found in topic number737-35122
Known Issues Under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Thefollowing section provides a summary of open issues that may beexperienced under the Windows XP Professional x64 Edition operatingsystem in the latest version of Catalyst™. These include:
- Runningan OpenGL application and attempting to rotate the desktop may resultin corruption being noticed. Further details can be found in topicnumber 737-29556
For further information and general help on software driver installation, game issues, and more, visit ATI Customer Care.
Installing the Catalyst™ Vista Software Driver
Installation information can be found at: ati.amd.com
AMD Customer Care
The AMDCustomer Care website provides a high level of technical support andease of navigation. The AMD Customer Care website provides accurate andup-to-date product support for optimum usability and performance.Technical issues are categorized and personalized to enhance userexperience. The AMD Customer Care Website can be found at: support.ati.com
To view a known issue or find troubleshooting information, do the following:
- Go to ati.amd.com. The AMD home page is displayed.
- Click on Support & Drivers. The AMD Support and Drivers web page is displayed.
- In the left hand pane, select Graphics Support.
- Inthe top right corner of the Graphics Support page, enter the topicnumber or a general description of the issue you are experiencingwithin the search field.
- In the Select Site field, select ATI.
- Click the SEARCH symbol.
The information requested (if available) is displayed.Catalyst™ Crew Driver Feedback
This driverrelease incorporates suggestions received through the Catalyst™ CREWDriver Feedback program. To provide us with your feedback, visit: Catalyst™ Crew Driver Feedback.
<a href="http://www.ati.com/"> Advanced Micro Devices Inc.</a><br /> http://www.ati.amd.com<br /> Voice: (905) 882-2600<br /> Fax: (905) 882-2620<br />
Author Details
Linus Lee aka y1sh former ATiMania.com sysop during 2001-2012.
DevSecOps Engineer who likes tech, science, programming and solving problems 🙂