Nuovi driver Catalyst 11.3 e 11.4 Early Preview

AMD ha reso disponibile per il download la versione 11.3 dei driver Catalyst, compatibili con le schede video dalla serie Radeon HD 2000 in poi. In questa release AMD ha implementato l'abilitazione di default della runtime AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) OpenCL, con la quale tutte quelle applicazioni che possono sfruttare OpenCL per GPU beneficiano di un incremento prestazionale delegando alla GPU parte delle elaborazioni. Il download di questa nuova revision ufficiale è disponibile a questo indirizzo.

Assieme a questi driver è stata messa a disposizione anche una versione aggiornata dei driver Catalyst 11.4 early preview, release che anticipa le funzionalità che verranno implementate da AMD nella versione di driver Catalyst 11.4 attesa al debutto nel corso del mese di Aprile. Il download dei driver 11.4 early preview è disponibile a questo indirizzo, mentre di seguito sono riportate le note fornite a corredo:

• Support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 6790 series of products
• A number of performance optimizations, as highlighted here:
• http://blogs.amd.com/play/2011/03/14/the-amd-catalyst%E2%84%A2-preview-driver-that-you-have-been-waiting-for/
• Performance enhancement for Shogun 2 (DX11 version) when running Anti-Aliasing
• Enhancements to the AMD Catalyst Control Center™
• New task based Display Management controls
• Simplifies the configuration of displays and display settings
• New Eyefinity setup group
• Setting up an Eyefinity group has never been easier
• New branding (based on system configuration)
• AMD based platform – AMD VISION Engine Control Center
• Discrete AMD GPU with Intel CPU – AMD Catalyst Control Center™
• AMD Catalyst update notification (found within the Information Center)
• Please note this functionality is not yet enabled, but will be in a future AMD Catalyst release
• This feature will be used to notify users that new AMD Catalyst software packages are available
• Includes fixes where Dragon Age 2 would hang in DirectX11 on ATI Radeon™ HD 5800 Series products.
• Includes fixes where MediaEspresso 6.5 and 6.0 may crash while initializing
• Includes a fix for game corruption issues in BulletStorm
• Includes a fix for the AMD Catalyst Control Center install; resolves the issue of not being able to launch CCC after Catalyst has finished installing
• Includes a fix for the Tessellation slider sometimes setting the incorrect value

Di seguito invece sono riportate le note fornite a corredo con i driver Catalyst 11.3:

Highlights of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 Windows release includes:

New Features:

Seamless GPU Compute support

• The AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) OpenCL runtime is now enabled by default within AMD Catalyst.  Applications that leverage OpenCL for GPU based compute tasks will automatically benefit from the significant performance boost that this provides.

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 software suite for Windows 7. These include:

• 3D BluRay playback no longer displays random frame loss.
• The 8x Anti-Aliasing is now correctly listed in some OpenGL applications.
• System no longer shows laggy performance when playing 720P WMV video files.
• Tearing is no longer randomly observed when playing Bioshock with Vsync and MLAA enabled.

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 software suite for Windows Vista. These include:            

• 3DMark 2011 no longer hangs on a quad crossfire HD6990 system.
• World of Warcraft no longer fails to respond when alt-tabbing out and into the game when running on the AMD HD6990.
• Mpeg2 Video playback now correctly uses hardware acceleration when played with Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center.
• Youtube HD Flash video now renders correctly.
• Enabling Anti-Aliasing no longer causes figure to have a bright outline in Medal Of Honor Single Player mode.

Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System

• Need for Speed Shift no longer randomly crashes during gameplay.

Known issues under the Windows 7 operating system
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows 7 operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• OpenGL acceleration may not get enabled even if selected in Photoshop CS5.
• Bulletstorm may display random corruption when DirectX 9 mode is selected.
• PowerDVD 10 player may crash randomly if Crossfire is enabled/disabled during BluRay playback.
• Playing Dirt 2 in DirectX 11 mode may display random corruption while driving through water.
• Star Wars Jedi Knight II / Jedi Academy may crash randomly during launching.

Known Issues under the Windows Vista Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows Vista operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• Performing Bezel compensation on a 3x2 Eyefinity group may cause the bezel group to disappear.
• Doom and Quake 4 may display corruption with a HD 4770 product.

Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows XP operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• Civilization V may stop responding during launch when Crossfire is enabled.
• System may hang while playing Dead Rising 2.

Known Issues under all Windows Operating Systems
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under all supported Windows operating systems in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• LCD Overdrive settings may not be retained after enabling/disabling Crossfire.