The new set of drivers for ATi- powered graphic cards is finally out! Version 5.12 brings some nice fat improvements in performance. Read more for the Changelog and Download links.
Performance Improvements
Catalyst 5.12 improves a variety of CPU-bound performance cases when an ATI product is installed in conjunction with a dual-core or hyperthreading CPU. Performance gains include:
3DMark05 gains as much as 5.7% 3DMark03 gains as much as 3.3% 3DMark2001 SE gains up to 10% Aquamark 3 gains up to 16% Comanche 4 improves as much as 20% Far Cry gains as much as 25% on some product configurations Half-Life 2 performance improves as much as 8% Splinter Cell improves as much as 8% in certain parts of the game Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness runs as much as 10% faster Unreal Tournament 2004 framerates improve as much as 10%
Issues Resolved in Catalyst® Software Suite 5.12
The following section provides a summary of the issues that have been resolved in the latest version of Catalyst®. These include:
Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil: Playing the game under Windows XP MCE with CrossFire? enabled no longer results in ghosting effect being noticed. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21187 EverQuest II: Playing the game on a system containing an ATI Radeon® X1800 series, no longer results in the operating system failing to respond after approximately 5 minutes of game play. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21189 FarCry: Launching the game on systems using an ATI Xpress 200 series product and running the Windows XP operating system no longer results in the operating system failing to respond. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20978 Quake4: Selecting the Ultra Quality option within the game no longer results in the game failing to load after the restart required by the game. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20981 Enabling clone mode, followed by playing a video clip, no longer results in the underscan/overscan option failing to work when using Theater mode. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20973 Connecting a display device using an interlink cable to the ATI Radeon® X800 CrossFire? Edition, no longer results in CrossFire? becoming disabled if the interlink cable is disconnected from the Radeon® X800 CrossFire? and then reconnected. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20977 Catalyst® Control Center: Attempting to extend the desktop display when using a CRT, TV and DFP display devices no longer results in display corruption being noticed on the primary display adapter. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20982 Connecting a CRT and a TV to an ATI Radeon® X300/600 series and attempting to enable clone mode, intermittently no longer results in extended desktop mode being applied. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20983 Corruption is no longer noticed within the Catalyst® Control Center once a VPU Recover event is triggered. This issue is known to occur under the Windows XP MCE operating system when using an ATI Radeon® X1800 series product. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20984 Connecting an HDTV as the only display device using the component video connector on an ATI Radeon® X1300 no longer results in the display image shrinking when making changes to either AA or AF found in the 3D aspect page of the Catalyst® Control Center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737- 21186 Connecting a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display to an ATI Radeon® X1300 series that is installed in a system running Windows 2000, no longer results in the display image being off center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21188 Color corruption is no longer noticed when hot unplugging and hot plugging an LCD display from an ATI Radeon® X1800 series using the DVI connector. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21190 The TV Format now matches the TV Output when enabling TV after boot of the operating system. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21196 Enabling extended desktop mode followed by playing a DVD at 480i no longer results in corruption being noticed when moving the playback window to the secondary display device. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21191 Connecting an Apple Cinema display device to an ATI Radeon® X1800 series no longer results in the failure to playback a DVD when using the ATI DVD Player. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21192 Playing an HQV DVD using the WinDVD 5.0 player on systems containing an ATI Radeon® X1800 series, and running the Windows XP operating system, no longer results in Poor video playback quality being noticed. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21193 Catalyst® Control Center: Attempting to extend the desktop display when using a CRT, TV and DFP display devices no longer results in display corruption being noticed on the primary display adapter. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20982 Using WinDVD to playback a DVD title while having the Catalyst® Control Center running, no longer results in the playback of the DVD pausing momentarily. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21194 The 1080i optimum mode is now available in the Digital Panel properties when connecting both a DFP and a CRT to an ATI Radeon® X850 series. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21197 Catalyst® Control Center: Proceeding through the step by step process to enable the Component Video display, followed by applying a desktop resolution of either 1280x720 or 1920x1080 no longer results in the Custom Setting box failing to appear when clicking on the Add button. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21195 The Help page is now available for the Digital Panel Properties page found in the Catalyst® Control Center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21198 Windows Movie Maker: Captured *.avi files no longer appear corrupt in color during playing back. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21199 Scheduling multiple TV recordings no longer results in the audio being distorted in some of the captured TV recordings. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21200 The Capture Video Preview image no longer appears off center when using a PAL version of the ATI Theater? 550 Pro. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21201 The tool tip for the Contrast slider bar found in the Catalyst® Control Center is now translated properly for Traditional Chinese. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21202 The slider bars found in the Overdrive aspect page of the Catalyst® Control Center are now the proper length when selecting Italian as the language of choice. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21203 Dashes are no longer displayed in the front of the ASIC name when selecting the Magyar language option for the Catalyst® Control Center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21204 The lower portion of the scroll bar found in the All Settings aspect page of the Catalyst® Control Center is no longer missing. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21205.
Catalyst 5.12 Release Notes
CATALYST Windows 2000 5.12 - Driver Download
CATALYST Windows XP 5.12 - Driver Download
CATALYST Windows XP Media Center Edition 5.12 - Driver Download
Download ATI Multimedia Center 9.08
CATALYST 5.12 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Catalyst Mobility 5.12
ATI Proprietary Linux x86 Drivers for XFREE86 / X. Org Version 8.20.8
ATI Driver Home
Thanks to PrEzEs
Performance Improvements
Catalyst 5.12 improves a variety of CPU-bound performance cases when an ATI product is installed in conjunction with a dual-core or hyperthreading CPU. Performance gains include:
3DMark05 gains as much as 5.7% 3DMark03 gains as much as 3.3% 3DMark2001 SE gains up to 10% Aquamark 3 gains up to 16% Comanche 4 improves as much as 20% Far Cry gains as much as 25% on some product configurations Half-Life 2 performance improves as much as 8% Splinter Cell improves as much as 8% in certain parts of the game Tomb Raider Angel of Darkness runs as much as 10% faster Unreal Tournament 2004 framerates improve as much as 10%
Issues Resolved in Catalyst® Software Suite 5.12
The following section provides a summary of the issues that have been resolved in the latest version of Catalyst®. These include:
Doom 3 Resurrection of Evil: Playing the game under Windows XP MCE with CrossFire? enabled no longer results in ghosting effect being noticed. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21187 EverQuest II: Playing the game on a system containing an ATI Radeon® X1800 series, no longer results in the operating system failing to respond after approximately 5 minutes of game play. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21189 FarCry: Launching the game on systems using an ATI Xpress 200 series product and running the Windows XP operating system no longer results in the operating system failing to respond. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20978 Quake4: Selecting the Ultra Quality option within the game no longer results in the game failing to load after the restart required by the game. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20981 Enabling clone mode, followed by playing a video clip, no longer results in the underscan/overscan option failing to work when using Theater mode. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20973 Connecting a display device using an interlink cable to the ATI Radeon® X800 CrossFire? Edition, no longer results in CrossFire? becoming disabled if the interlink cable is disconnected from the Radeon® X800 CrossFire? and then reconnected. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20977 Catalyst® Control Center: Attempting to extend the desktop display when using a CRT, TV and DFP display devices no longer results in display corruption being noticed on the primary display adapter. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20982 Connecting a CRT and a TV to an ATI Radeon® X300/600 series and attempting to enable clone mode, intermittently no longer results in extended desktop mode being applied. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20983 Corruption is no longer noticed within the Catalyst® Control Center once a VPU Recover event is triggered. This issue is known to occur under the Windows XP MCE operating system when using an ATI Radeon® X1800 series product. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20984 Connecting an HDTV as the only display device using the component video connector on an ATI Radeon® X1300 no longer results in the display image shrinking when making changes to either AA or AF found in the 3D aspect page of the Catalyst® Control Center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737- 21186 Connecting a 30 inch Apple Cinema Display to an ATI Radeon® X1300 series that is installed in a system running Windows 2000, no longer results in the display image being off center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21188 Color corruption is no longer noticed when hot unplugging and hot plugging an LCD display from an ATI Radeon® X1800 series using the DVI connector. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21190 The TV Format now matches the TV Output when enabling TV after boot of the operating system. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21196 Enabling extended desktop mode followed by playing a DVD at 480i no longer results in corruption being noticed when moving the playback window to the secondary display device. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21191 Connecting an Apple Cinema display device to an ATI Radeon® X1800 series no longer results in the failure to playback a DVD when using the ATI DVD Player. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21192 Playing an HQV DVD using the WinDVD 5.0 player on systems containing an ATI Radeon® X1800 series, and running the Windows XP operating system, no longer results in Poor video playback quality being noticed. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21193 Catalyst® Control Center: Attempting to extend the desktop display when using a CRT, TV and DFP display devices no longer results in display corruption being noticed on the primary display adapter. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-20982 Using WinDVD to playback a DVD title while having the Catalyst® Control Center running, no longer results in the playback of the DVD pausing momentarily. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21194 The 1080i optimum mode is now available in the Digital Panel properties when connecting both a DFP and a CRT to an ATI Radeon® X850 series. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21197 Catalyst® Control Center: Proceeding through the step by step process to enable the Component Video display, followed by applying a desktop resolution of either 1280x720 or 1920x1080 no longer results in the Custom Setting box failing to appear when clicking on the Add button. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21195 The Help page is now available for the Digital Panel Properties page found in the Catalyst® Control Center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21198 Windows Movie Maker: Captured *.avi files no longer appear corrupt in color during playing back. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21199 Scheduling multiple TV recordings no longer results in the audio being distorted in some of the captured TV recordings. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21200 The Capture Video Preview image no longer appears off center when using a PAL version of the ATI Theater? 550 Pro. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21201 The tool tip for the Contrast slider bar found in the Catalyst® Control Center is now translated properly for Traditional Chinese. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21202 The slider bars found in the Overdrive aspect page of the Catalyst® Control Center are now the proper length when selecting Italian as the language of choice. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21203 Dashes are no longer displayed in the front of the ASIC name when selecting the Magyar language option for the Catalyst® Control Center. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21204 The lower portion of the scroll bar found in the All Settings aspect page of the Catalyst® Control Center is no longer missing. Further details on this resolved issue can be found in topic number 737-21205.
Catalyst 5.12 Release Notes
CATALYST Windows 2000 5.12 - Driver Download
CATALYST Windows XP 5.12 - Driver Download
CATALYST Windows XP Media Center Edition 5.12 - Driver Download
Download ATI Multimedia Center 9.08
CATALYST 5.12 Windows XP Professional x64 Edition
Catalyst Mobility 5.12
ATI Proprietary Linux x86 Drivers for XFREE86 / X. Org Version 8.20.8
ATI Driver Home
Thanks to PrEzEs
