May 22nd, 2008
ATI Catalyst 8.5 brings improvements and performance boost for some games
AMD/ATI release new Catalyst drivers on pretty much a monthly schedule. The updates range from tiny tweaks to major improvements. Yesterday’s release of Catalyst 8.5 brings with it some significant improvements.
Here’s a list of new features:
- Catalyst Control Center Component Video
- ATI Graphics Driver Un-install Enhancement
- SECAM TV Out Support
- 1080p HDTV custom mode
- HDMI Audio for non-standard TV modes
- Adaptive AA on OpenGL for Catalyst™ Control Center
- 1080p24 Mode Support
- Windows XP Service Pack 3 support
Performance improvements include:
- Call of Juarez DX10: Performance increases up to 12% on systems containing an ATI Radeon HD 3xx0 series of product
- Halo: Performance increases by 10-30% across all of the supported ATI Radeon series of products
- Lost Planet DX10: Performance increases from 5 to 35% on systems containing an ATI Radeon HD 3xx0 series of product
- Stalker DX9: Performance increases by 20-50% when HDR is enabled in the game; across all ATI Radeon HD38×0 series of products
- World in Conflict DX10: Performance increases up to 25% on systems containing an ATI Radeon HD36×0 and/or an ATI Radeon 38×0 series of product. Higher performance gains are noticed on systems containing an ATI Radeon 3870×2 series of product
As you can see, if you have a graphics card from the Radeon HD 3xx0 series then these drivers seem to bring with them quite a few performance related tweaks. Those running 38×0 and 3870 X2 cards might now start to see the benefits of their investment.
Drivers available here
Release notes available here
Adrian is a technology journalist and author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology. He also runs a popular blog called The PC Doctor. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations
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