AMD Inc - (Freeware)
AMD Catalyst Drivers is a smart choice for those that want to improve their PC performance while increasing overall stability.
AMD Catalyst Drivers includes the latest 32-bit AMD (ATI) for the graphics card and panel Catalyst Control Center.
The AMD driver provides a gain of performance in several 3D applications thus ensuring an optimal experience. The panel Catalyst Control Center provides quick access to all parameters relating to AMD hardware offering multimedia features, management and display game.
There are different versions of AMD drivers for each operating system.
# New Features
* ATI Catalyst application profiles for ATI CrossFireX supported configurations
This release of ATI Catalyst delivers support for the latest ATI CrossFireX profiles in a separate executable file, ensuring users have access to the absolute latest set of profiles installed on their PC.
> The ATI Catalyst 10.2 package includes the fully qualified ATI Catalyst 10.2 application profile list (which includes all ATI CrossFireX profiles) and is installed by default
> The latest application profile list is posted on amd.com in a separate .exe file that users can install to get the absolute latest application profiles (that have not yet been added to the official ATI Catalyst release)
* ATI Catalyst support for PowerPlay on ATI CrossFireX technology supported configurations
Significant power saving benefits for users with ATI Radeon HD 5900 Series, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series, and ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series setup in ATI CrossFireX configurations.
> Automatically enabled in the ATI Catalyst driver for Windows® 7 and Windows Vista
> Sets secondary GPU(s) engine and memory clocks to low levels and reduces voltage when the GPU(s) are not in use
* ATI Catalyst support for DisplayPort audio
This release of ATI Catalyst provides support for DisplayPort audio for DisplayPort panels.
* Support for ATI CrossFireX on Eyefinity configurations
The ATI Catalyst 9.12 hotfix release provides ATI CrossFireX support on Eyefinity configurations, allowing users to take advantage of their additional GPUs for increased gaming performance when driving high resolution Eyefinity display groups.
Supported on the ATI Radeon HD 5970 Series, ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series, ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series, and ATI Radeon HD 5600 Series.
# Performance Improvements
The following performance gains are noticed with this release of Catalyst 10.2:
* DiRT 2 Overall performance improves up to 8% on ATI Radeon HD 5970, ATI Radeon HD 5800 series, and ATI Radeon HD 5700 series products
* Battleforge CrossFire ATI Radeon HD 5870 performance improves up to 6%
* Unigine Heaven DirectX 9 CrossFire performance has improved significantly on ATI Radeon HD 5700 and ATI Radeon HD 5800 series products
* The Chronicles of Riddick Assault on Dark Athena Overall performance on ATI Radeon HD 5970 improves up to 4%
# All Systems
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst Software Suite for Windows. These include:
* Appropriate prompts will now pop up while creating Eyefinity group with DVI and display port devices in extended mode
* Creating an Eyefinity group on the non-primary display now functions properly
* Catalyst Control Center now responds properly and selection buttons are available when re-creating Eyefinity group
* [Catalyst Control Center] Hotkeys for rotations no longer disappear after disabling rotated Eyefinity mode
* With active display in clone mode, creating an Eyefinity group now functions properly and message prompting user to disable the extended desktop will now popup
* System will no longer freeze while accessing the UVD Decoder
* Intermittent grey screen or vertical line corruption may randomly appear on the screen
# Windows XP
This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst Software Suite for Windows XP. These include:
* Changes to the AVIVO gamma settings during Blu-ray HD playback are now retained after closing and restarting player
* Flickering and corruption no longer observed while playing "Wolfenstein Multiplayer" at high settings
* Resume playback after standby or hibernation no longer causes PowerDVD 9 to freeze or exit abruptly