ATi Cat Drivers 4.8 Out

[Sepht]

Get the New ATi Drivers(and drop your 4.9 betas)

http://ati.com/support/driver.html

I HIGHLY recommend getting these

This release of CATALYST introduces the support of Geometry Instancing. This new feature provides assistance when a game has to render many objects where the geometry is highly similar. Geometry Instancing allows the VPU to create multiple objects from a single geometric model, rather than passing an entire new model for each item on the screen. This increases the rendering speed of images such as leaves, or grass.
VPU Recover Enhancement

VPU Recover has been improved in this release of CATALYST. In most cases, VPU Recover will fully recover instead of switching to software rendering mode. This enhancement is supported under the Windows XP operating system.
EIA 861B Timing Specification

This release of CATALYSTâ„¢ introduces EIA 861B Timing Specification for DVI based televisions. The RADEONâ„¢ Software Release version 8.04 will support 256 byte E-EDID and will decode CEA timing extensions. Further, it will retrieve DTV timing information. When the driver detects EIA 861B timings in E-EDID that the controller cannot handle, it will replace the EDID detail timing with adjusted timings suitable to our controller. The modes will be added as EDID detailed timing.

* Direct3D driver efficiency has improved considerably. Significant performance gains are noted in multiple "CPU-bound" cases, including 3DMark2001, Aquamark 3, Comanche4, Dungeon Siege, and Unreal Tournament 2003 and 2004. Typical improvements are in the 1-5% range.
* OpenGL driver efficiency is also improved. Older OpenGL games such as Quake III Arena and Wolfenstein - Enemy Territory show small improvement (1-2%) at low resolutions. Call of Duty framerates are up approximately 4%. Doom3 improves considerably more (as much as 12% on some product configurations) as a result of the same software efficiency improvements.


Full release notes
http://www.ati.com/drivers/Catalyst_48_re....ease_notes.html

So note, these include parts of the OpenGL improvements seen in 4.9 Betas(should be about the same as 4.9Betas in OpenGL)
It is WHQL certied,
and it has decently sized performance increases for DirectX/Direct3D.

[KamisoriX]

I got already the 4.9 beta so I might as well wait for the 4.9 full :thumbup:

[Sepht]

That will be in 1-2 months, These are improved 4.9 betas(4.9 are designed to be the Doom3 Drivers, the ones that take the crown from nvidia as doom3 performance leader, so they will take some time to finish)

Doom3 performance is up 1.5 FPS on the timedemo from the 4.9betas on my box(about 2%)

EDIT: The Cat 4.9 also don't have the improved DirectX rendering.

[Sepht]

After fair testing, all I can say, is I am VERY happy with these drivers.

[Kacperski]

I think i'll wait for some third party 4.8 based drivers.
Catalysts just won't beat softmodding to a higher model

[theGrayFox]

The 4.9b that i now have installed don't have the WDM drivers, so the TV tunner isn't installed. Since i've finished D3, and ain't really interested in a second run, or MP, i'll install the 4.8!

BTW, the 4.9b crashed KOTOR a lot!

[Sepht]

Guess you missed my post, the 4.8 drivers perform BETTER in doom3 then the 4.9betas, they also perfrom bettter in other better in other opengl games and also in D3D games. They are also more stable, all around better, no reason not to get them.

[Kacperski]

Ok, i just tried the 4.8 based dna's
Everythings fine, fixed some glitches (juiced demo), gotta try if the ultra fps install does do anything, ill let you know if i can confirm on that.

[phantomsloth]

totally off topic...


but "gray fox" are you aware that the proper way to spell "gray" is Grey?


just checking

[Sepht]

actually either is correct. Gray is american. Grey is english, both are valid spellings