ATI Catalyst 8.10 Beta Graphics Drivers
Categories: Catalyst Tags: ATI, beta, catalyst, catalyst 8.10, gpu caps viewer, gpu-z, graphics driver, radeon, radeon hd 4850
The upcoming (october 2008 version) Catalyst graphics driver is available in BETA version. You can download the huge archive (~200Mb) here:
- Catalyst 8.10 BETA for Vista
- Catalyst 8.10 BETA for XP
As soon as the WHQL version is available, I will publish the OpenGL extensions because GPU Caps Viewer told me that Cat8.10 has around 115 extensions…
Here are the screenshots of my Radeon HD 4850 and Catalyst 8.10 BETA under XP32:
[source]
Linux, Catalyst 8.9 and Four ATI FireGL V5600 = 8 Monitors
Categories: Catalyst, Linux, OpenGL Tags: ATI, catalyst, firegl, Linux, opengl, parallel rendering, ubuntu, v
Here is a video that shows OpenGL acceleration on 8 monitors. The system runs Ubuntu 8.04, and four ATI FireGL V5600 graphics cards with Catalyst 8.9. Each FireGL V5600 has 2 DVI ports.
Catalyst 8.9: OpenGL Extensions – Radeon HD 4850
Categories: Catalyst, OpenGL Tags: catalyst, catalyst 8.9, extension, graphics driver, opengl, opengl 3, Programming, radeon hd 4850, video card
Here is the list of OpenGL extensions supported by the Catalyst 8.9 graphics drivers for the Radeon HD 4850 under Windows XP SP2 32-bit.
The release note says Catalyst 8.9 add the phase 1 of OpenGL 3.0 support. But what does it mean? Compared to Catalyst 8.8, Catalyst 8.9 bring only 3 new extensions:
- GL_AMD_texture_texture4
- GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate (OpenGL 1.5)
- GL_EXT_depth_buffer_float
GL_EXT_depth_buffer_float has the same role than NVIDIA GL_NV_depth_buffer_float. GL_EXT_blend_equation_separate is an OpenGL 1.5 extension and GL_AMD_texture_texture4 is not documented. But most of the new OpenGL 3 extensions quoted in the release note are not present in Catalyst 8.9 under Windows XP and Vista. Maybe AMD/ATI have introduced the same principle than NVIDIA, with a kind of OpenGL 3.0 activation somewhere (see here). But here again, no documentation is available. Or more simply, AMD want to show to the community that they do an effort to support the new major version of OpenGL, but any OpenGL 3 extension is currently available to developers. Communication is a tough art at ATI!
Catalyst 8.9, like Catalyst 8.8, still slow down the GPU when FurMark is detected (see here and here for more detail).
Graphics driver information:
- Operating System: Windows XP SP2 32-bit
- Drivers Version: 8.501.0.0 – Catalyst 08.9
- ATI Catalyst Version String: 08.9
- ATI Catalyst Release Version String: 8.53-080820a-068898C-ATI
- OpenGL Renderer: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
- Drivers Renderer: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
- OpenGL Version: 2.1.7976 Release
- GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language) Version: 1.20
- ARB Texture Units: 8
- Vertex Shader Texture Units: 16
- Pixel Shader Texture Units: 16
- Geometry Shader Texture Units: 0
- Max Texture Size: 8192×8192
- Max Anisotropic Filtering Value: X16.0
- Max Point Sprite Size: 8192.0
- Max Dynamic Lights: 8
- Max Viewport Size: 8192×8192
- Max Vertex Uniform Components: 512
- Max Fragment Uniform Components: 512
- Max Varying Float: 68
- Max Vertex Bindable Uniforms: 0
- Max Fragment Bindable Uniforms: 0
- Max Geometry Bindable Uniforms: 0
- MSAA: 1X
- MSAA: 2X
- MSAA: 4X
- MSAA: 8X
OpenGL Extensions: 108 extensions
The extensions exposed by the old Catalyst drivers are HERE.
You can use GPU Caps Viewer to retrieve the list of extensions of your graphics card.
ATI Catalyst 8.9 Graphics Drivers
Categories: Catalyst Tags: ATI, catalyst, catalyst 8.9, graphics driver, opengl 3, radeon
The September 2008 version of Catalyst graphics drivers is out. Catalyst 8.9 introduces the following new features:
- Catalyst Control Center: New Display mode support
- OverDrive™ support for QUAD CrossFireX configurations
- OpenGL 3.0 extension support
OpenGL 3 support? From the release note, the following extensions have been added:
- ARB_half_float_pixel
- ARB_draw_instanced
- ARB_instanced_arrays
- EXT_texture_compression_3dc
- EXT_texture_compression_rgtc
- EXT_texture_compression_latc
- EXT_texture_shared_exponent
- EXT_depth_buffer_float
- EXT_gpu_shader4
- ARB_map_buffer_range
OpenGL 3 means the possibility to create an OpenGL 3.0 rendering context (see here). But it seems a function to create such a rendering context is not included yet. I will look at this in detail when I’ll publish Catalyst 8.9 OpenGL extensions very soon.
Download links:
Hacking Radeon HD 4800 Series Profile XML File
Categories: Graphics Cards Tags: ATI, catalyst, ccc, control center, hd 4800, profile, radeon, xml
TechARP shows us how to create a profile for your Radeon HD 48xx with ATI Catalyst Control Center and how to edit it manually (the profile is saved as a XML file).
In Windows Vista, the profile is placed in “C:\Users\Your Windows ID\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE\Profiles\”
In Windows XP, you will find the XML profile file in “C:\Documents and Settings\Your Windows ID\Local Settings\Application Data\ATI\ACE\Profiles\”.
[Geek3D-Test] FurMark, Catalyst 8.8 and HIS Radeon HD 4850: Torture Test PASSED!
Categories: Catalyst, FurMark, Graphics Cards, Test Tags: catalyst, catalyst 8.8, furmark, graphics card, graphics driver, hd 4850, heat, mosfet, overheat, radeon hd 4850, thermic, video card, voltage regulator module, vrm
Ok now that I have in my hands a HIS’s Radeon HD 4850, I played with this card and of course did the FurMark renaming experience with Catalyst 8.8 (see ATI Optimizes Catalyst 8.8 to be FurMark-Proof!). The difference of score in simply… incredible, better it’s shocking! Here is the score when I launch FurMark.exe: 2234 points
And now, the score when FurMark.exe is renamed in… ati.exe (why not?): 4383 points
This score is almost twice the first one. That explains now the odd result I get with FurMark in this post: ATI Catalyst 8.8 vs 8.7: OpenGL Performance Drop.
I launched in the same time the Catalyst Control Center in the Overdrive panel to check how frequencies vary:
In both tests, the frequencies were the same. ATI Catalyst 8.8 does not downclock the GPU frequency but makes the GPU running slower (what does it means???). Anyway, it seems obvious the Radeon HD 4800 series have some serious thermic problems. Maybe I could add a kind of GPU temperature limitation for Radeon HD 4800 series. If temperature exceeds 90 degrees on Radeon HD 4850 and HD 4870, FurMark will stop the rendering or will render one frame over two or three… But actually I think I’m not going to do that. FurMark is a torture test but it’s most of all a standard OpenGL application. I don’t use low level code or different rendering path for Radeon or GeForce. The same code is injected in both rendering pipeline. And then any OpenGL 2.0 compliant GPU should process this code if the surrounding graphics hardware (I mean memory modules, power MOSFETs properly cooled, etc.) is well designed and implemented by graphics cards makers. The proof, HIS’s Radeon HD 4850 PASSED all FurMark tests I did, with stock clocks as well as with overclocked clocks.
Now dear readers, let’s burn HIS’s Radeon HD 4850.
- Stock clocks: GPU=625MHz and Memory=993MHz
- 94 degrees after 3 minutes in 640×480 no AA windowed mode: TEST PASSED!
- 96 degrees after 3 minutes in 1024×768 no AA windowed mode: TEST PASSED!
- Basic Overclocking: GPU=660MHz and Memory=1005MHz
- 96 degrees after 3 minutes in 1024×768 no AA windowed mode: TEST PASSED!
- Overclocking: GPU=680MHz and Memory=993MHz
- 96 degrees after 3 minutes in 1024×768 no AA windowed mode: : TEST PASSED!
- Overclocking: GPU=680MHz and Memory=1100MHz
- 97 degrees in 1024×768 no AA windowed mode. After 140 seconds, VPU Recover:
Yes the latest overclocking was a little bit extreme, but it shows HIS’s Radeon HD 4850 is a very good product and is already FurMark-Proof. No need hidden tweak in Catalyst to run FurMark. I think graphics cards that do not resist to FurMark torture tests are either bad quality products or have some bad cooled parts like the VRM (voltage regulator modules)…
Related Links:
Catalyst 8.8: OpenGL Extensions – Radeon HD 4850
Categories: Catalyst, OpenGL Tags: 3d, catalyst, catalyst 8.8, game development, graphics card, graphics driver, hd 4850, opengl, opengl extension, Programming, radeon, radeon hd 4850, video card
[French]
Voici la liste des extensions OpenGL supportées par les pilotes graphiques Catalyst 8.8 pour la Radeon HD 4850 sous Windows XP SP2 32-bit.
[/French]
[English]
Here is the list of OpenGL extensions supported by the Catalyst 8.8 graphics drivers for the Radeon HD 4850 under Windows XP SP2 32-bit.
[/English]
[French]
Les Catalyst 8.8 n’apportent pas de changement dans les extensions OpenGL.
Carte graphique utilisée: HIS Radeon HD 4850
[/French]
[English]
Catalyst 8.8 do not bring changes in OpenGL extensions.
Graphics card used: HIS Radeon HD 4850
[/English]
- Operating System: Windows XP SP2 32-bit
- Drivers Version: 8.512.0.0 – Catalyst 08.8
- ATI Catalyst Version String: 08.8
- ATI Catalyst Release Version String: 8.522-080731a-067975C-ATI
- OpenGL Version: 2.1.7873 Release
- GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language) Version: 1.20
- OpenGL Renderer: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
- ARB Texture Units: 8
- Vertex Shader Texture Units: 16
- Pixel Shader Texture Units: 16
- Geometry Shader Texture Units: 0
- Max Texture Size: 8192×8192
- Max Anisotropic Filtering Value: X16.0
- Max Point Sprite Size: 8192.0
- Max Dynamic Lights: 8
- Max Viewport Size: 8192×8192
- Max Vertex Uniform Components: 512
- Max Fragment Uniform Components: 512
- Max Varying Float: 68
- Max Vertex Bindable Uniforms: 0
- Max Fragment Bindable Uniforms: 0
- Max Geometry Bindable Uniforms: 0
- Multiple Render Targets / Max draw buffers: 4
- MSAA: 1X
- MSAA: 2X
- MSAA: 4X
- MSAA: 8X
OpenGL Extensions: 105 extensions
[French]
Les extensions des anciens pilotes Catalyst se trouvent ICI.
Vous pouvez utiliser GPU Caps Viewer pour récupérer la liste des extensions de votre carte graphique.
[/French]
[English]
The extensions exposed by the old Catalyst drivers are HERE.
You can use GPU Caps Viewer to retrieve the list of extensions of your graphics card.
[/English]
Radeon HD 4870 in Crossfire Work Now with FurMark
Categories: Benchmarks, Catalyst, OpenGL Tags: catalyst, catalyst 8.8, crossfire, furmark, opengl, radeon hd 4870
The new Catalyst 8.8 seem to have fixed a Crossfire bug in OpenGL with Radeon HD 4000. A member of oZone3D.Net forums has reported that his two Radeon HD 4870 in Crossfire work now perfectly with FurMark.
If you have a SLI of GeForce 8/9 or GTX 200, please tell us how FurMark works?
ATI Optimizes Catalyst 8.8 to be FurMark-Proof!
Categories: Catalyst, FurMark, Graphics Cards Tags: anti furmark, catalyst, catalyst 8.8, furmark, graphics driver, radeon hd 4850, radeon hd 4870, tweak
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Here is an incredible news to start the day: Expreview has found that ATI’s Catalyst 8.8 have been optimized to detect FurMark and downclock the frequencies of a Radeon HD 4850/4870 to avoid to burn the GPU. |
So if you have a Radeon HD 4850 or Radeon HD 4870, just rename FurMark.exe in something.exe and you will see the difference!
Expreview has done the test with Quake Wars: Emeny Territory and has renamed etqw.exe to FurMark.exe and saw performance drop from 141.3FPS to 93.7FPS!
I have not a Radeon HD 4000 series but I think that I’m going to buy a Radeon HD 4850 today!
It’s a pain to develop a benchmark to make it running properly on most graphics hardwares and now I have to include in FurMark a Catalyst anit-cheat???? Thanks AMD/ATI….
Why AMD doesn’t contact me directly to find out the problem???
Update
ATI Radeon HD 4870 Overclocking Guide
Categories: Graphics Cards, Overclocking Tags: catalyst, ccc, control center, gpu clock, memory clock, Overclocking, radeon hd 4870
TechARP has published an article about Radeon HD 4870 overclocking. They used ATI Catalyst Control Center (or CCC) to overclock the card. The overclocking principle is to firstly to overclock the graphics memory with steps of 10Mhz until you see some visual artifacts. Once you see artifacts, downclock by around 10/20MHz. Second phase, overclock the GPU. Reset memory clock to default and increase GPU clock with steps of 10MHz and do the same artifact test than for memory.
Read the complete overclocking guide here: ATI Radeon HD 4870 Overclocking Guide
ATI Catalyst 8.8
Categories: Catalyst Tags: ATI, catalyst, catalyst 8.8, graphics card, graphics driver, radeon, video card
ATI has released the new Catalyst graphics driver August 2008 (8.8) for all Radeon-based graphics cards!
Downloads:
- Catalyst 8.8 – XP 32-bit
- Catalyst 8.8 – XP 64-bit
- Catalyst 8.8 – Vista 32-bit
- Catalyst 8.8 – Vista 64-bit
New Features:
- Catalyst™ Control Center: New Avivo video features
- Hybrid Graphics Support for Windows XP
Related Links:
- AMD Catalyst 8.8 Linux Driver @ Phoronix
- ATI Radeon CrossFire On Linux @ Phoronix
Update (2008-08-27)
Catalyst 8.8 BETA
Categories: Catalyst Tags: beta, catalyst, catalyst 8.8, graphics driver
A set of Catalyst graphics drivers is available for XP and Vista and supports every Radeon-based graphics card released since the days of the Radeon 9500, including the Radeon HD 4850, 4870 and 4870 X2.
Download links:
- Catalyst 8.8 BETA WinXP 32/64-bit
- Catalyst 8.8 BETA Vista 32/64-bit
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[via]
ATI Catalyst 8.7 Analysis
Categories: Catalyst Tags: ATI, catalyst, catalyst 8.7, graphics driver, performance analysis, radeon
TweakTown checks out performance under XP and Vista of the latest Catalyst graphics drvers for Radeon based graphics cards.
Read the analysis HERE.
While the new drivers don’t offer massive performance gains or anything like that, there are a number of nice little bumps on offer here today. With the fixes implemented in the driver, they’re a good upgrade for most users.
Catalyst 8.7: OpenGL Extensions – Radeon HD 3870
Categories: Catalyst, Graphics Cards, OpenGL Tags: catalyst, catalyst 8.7, game development, gamedev, graphics driver, graphics programming, opengl extension, radeon
[French]
Voici la liste des extensions OpenGL supportées par les pilotes Catalyst 8.7 pour la Radeon HD 3870 sous Windows Vista SP1 64-bit.
[/French]
[English]
Here is the list of OpenGL extensions supported by Catalyst 8.7 drivers for the Radeon HD 3870 under Windows Vista SP1 64-bit.
[/English]
[French]
Les Catalyst 8.7 apportent 3 nouvelles extensions:
- GL_ARB_color_buffer_float
- GL_ATI_shader_texture_lod
- WGL_ARB_pixel_format_float
Carte graphique utilisée: Radeon HD 3870
[/French]
[English]
Catalyst 8.7 bring 3 new extensions:
- GL_ARB_color_buffer_float
- GL_ATI_shader_texture_lod
- WGL_ARB_pixel_format_float
Graphics card used: Radeon HD 3870
[/English]
- Operating System: Windows Vista SP1 64-bit
- Drivers Version: 8.512.0.0 – Catalyst 08.7
- ATI Catalyst Version String: 08.7
- ATI Catalyst Release Version String: 8.512-080703a-066914C-ATI
- OpenGL Version: 2.1.7769 Release
- OpenGL Renderer: ATI Radeon HD 3870
- GLSL (OpenGL Shading Language) Version: 1.20
OpenGL Extensions: 105 extensions
[French]
Les extensions des anciens pilotes Catalyst se trouvent ICI.
Vous pouvez utiliser GPU Caps Viewer pour récupérer la liste des extensions de votre carte graphique.
[/French]
[English]
The extensions exposed by the old Catalyst drivers are HERE.
You can use GPU Caps Viewer to retrieve the list of extensions of your graphics card.
[/English]
ATI Catalyst 8.7
Categories: Catalyst Tags: ATI, carte graphique, catalyst, catalyst 8.7, graphics card, graphics driver, pilote graphique, radeon
ATI/AMD released a new version of their Catalyst graphics drivers for all Radeon-based graphics cards.
Catalyst 8.7 introduces the following new features:
- Catalyst Control Center: Information Center enhancements: full Hardware information will be shown for each physical graphics accelerator installed in the system.
- This release of ATI Catalyst Linux introduces preview support for the following new operating systems: Ubuntu 8.04 production support and SLED 10 sp2 production support.
Download links:
- Catalyst 8.7 WinXP 32-bit
- Catalyst 8.7 WinXP 64-bit
- Catalyst 8.7 Vista 32-bit
- Catalyst 8.7 Vista 64-bit
Stay tuned, I’ll update shortly the OpenGL extensions list.
