ATI has just released new Catalyst drivers, Catalyst 3.1. Post your results here. Link to the Drivers. There is also a new control panel: Link to Control Panel. Get them before ATI's servers get hammered!
Here's the release notes from ATI:
Here's the release notes from ATI:
Operating systems supported
The latest version of the CATALYST? software suite is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:
Windows XP
Windows 2000
Windows Millennium Edition (ME)
Windows 98/98SE through the ME driver
Performance Improvements
As with most CATALYST? releases, the performance has increased in many various situations. Here are some examples observed in CATALYST? version 3.1.
RADEON?9700
Anisotropic Filtering and OpenGL performance on the RADEON? 9700 series of cards is up substantially across several applications. These performance improvements include:
A performance improvement of up to 35% at high resolutions is noticed in ChameleonMark
A performance improvement between 2 and 7% is noticed in 3Dmark
A performance improvement between 6 and 24% is noticed in Comanche4
A performance improvement of 10% is noticed in Max Payne
A performance improvement between 20 and 40% is noticed in UT2003 Flyby
A performance improvement between 30 and 40% is noticed in IL-2 Sturmovik when Aniso or Aniso and Anti-Aliasign is enabled at the display resolution of 1600x1200
A performance improvement between 17 and 24% is noticed in Jedi Knight II when Aniso or Aniso and Anti-Aliasign is enabled at the display resolution of 1600x1200
RADEON?8500
The following section provides information on performance improvements noticed on the RADEON? 8500. This includes:
Anti-Aliasing scores rise 15-35% across various benchmarks
A performance improvement between 10 and 50% is noticed in NHL2002
RADEON?7500
The following section provides information on performance improvements noticed on the RADEON? 7500. This includes:
A performance improvement of 5% is noticed in the 3DMark2001 SE Vertex Shader test
New Features of CATALYST 3.1
The CATALYST? software suite includes the following new features.
Improved Problem Report Wizard
The improved Problem Report Wizard guides end users of the ATI Product line through new dialog boxes. These dialog boxes create a text file containing information that can be E-mailed to the ATI Customer Support Center.
Combined Scheme and Resolution Selection
The latest ATI Display Driver now combines the Scheme and Resolution selection. Selecting Scheme from the ATI Desktop Icon now configures the desktop scheme and resolution into one step that the user defines.
16 Bit Full Screen Anti-Aliasing
The RADEON? 9700 and RADEON? 9500 series of cards now offer Anti-Aliasing for 16 Bits Per Pixel Applications
Issues Resolved in CATALYST? Version 3.1
The following section provides a summary of the issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST? 3.1.
Table 1: Issues Resolved in CATALYST? Version 3.1
Report Headline Operating System
Running the Retest All option found in the SMARTGART tab no longer results in the AGP setting not returning to its original default value of 4X
Windows XP
Dragging a DVD playback window back and forth between the extended desktop and primary desktop no longer results in display corruption in the DVD playback window
Windows XP
Setting the display to 1024x768 32bpp followed by changing the AGP speed setting in the Smartgart Control Panel no longer results in the new speed setting not taking effect
Windows XP
Running Nascar 2003 and switching the render option to OpenGL, followed by selecting the ShadowChange replay option no longer results in display corruption of the shadow
Windows XP
Running the game Dungeon Siege with the display set to 1024x768 32bpp and AntiAliasing enabled no longer results in texture corruption
Windows XP
Enabling the TVOut option no longer results in display corruption on both the TV and CRT displays
Windows XP
Ending a 3DS Max session under Windows XP with the RADEON? 9700 installed no longer results in the Task Manager indicating that the 3DS Max session is still running
Windows XP
Selecting the female option within the game Neverwinter Nights no longer results in the system not responding
Windows 2000
Playing the game Mafia, with the display set to 1024x768 32bpp and details set to high, no longer results in the graphics flickering and display corruption
Windows ME
Running the game Need for Speed Hot Pursuit 2 with all options set to maximum and the display set to 1024x768 32bpp results in a system hang
Windows ME
Known Issues
The following section provides a brief description of known issues associated with the latest display driver.
Running the game Combat Flight Simulator 3 with 4x Anti-Aliasing enable results in texture corruption being displayed. This issue occurs under Windows XP with the RADEON? 8500. The current workaround is not to use Anti-Aliasing
Enabling extended desktop mode and setting the display resolution to 1024x768 32bpp results in the game Aquanox and Star Trek Armada 2 failing to respond. This issue occurs under Windows XP with the RADEON? 9000 installed. The current workaround is to either disable extended desktop mode, or trying a different resolution
3Dmark2003 GT4 runs a little slower than expected on certain chipsets where AGP writes are disabled. A future CATALYST? will resolve this and provide a higher benchmark score
3DMark2003 has some minor corruption on the RADEON? 9500 and RADEON? 9700 series cards when running in Anti-Aliasing modes. This however does not impact scores
Star Wars Jedi Knight 2 may hang when using High Quality setting in the video quality selector. This is a known issue for the RADEON? 7500. Try lowering your video quality slider
Myth III may crash when enabling TRUFORM for the RADEON? 9500 and RADEON? 9700 series cards. The current workaround is to not use TRUFORM at the current time