Nuovi driver Catalyst 8.1

AMD ha rilasciato un set aggiornato dei propri driver Catalyst per schede video ATI Radeon, da utilizzare in abbinamento ai sistemi operativi Windows XP e Windows Vista sia a 32bit che a 64bit. I driver introducono varie ottimizzazioni in numerosi giochi, e per la prima volta implementano la tecnologia MultiView in abbinamento alle API OpenGL

A seguire i link per il download dalla sezione software di Hardware Upgrade:

Catalyst 8.1 Windows XP 32bit

Catalyst 8.1 Windows XP 64bit

Catalyst 8.1 Windows Vista 32bit

Catalyst 8.1 Windows Vista 64bit

AMD ha inoltre predisposto un set di driver Catalyst 8.1 hotfix, non dotati di certificazione WHQL e specificamente destinati all'utilizzo con schede video AGP basate su GPU ATI Radeon; questi driver sono inoltre indicati per l'utilizzo con il gioco Crysis con API DirectX 10 in configurazione Crossfire. Di seguito i link diretti per il download:

Catalyst 8.1 hotfix Windows XP 32bit

Catalyst 8.1 hotfix Windows XP 64bit

Catalyst 8.1 hotfix Windows Vista 32bit

Catalyst 8.1 hotfix Windows Vista 64bit

Di seguito le note fornite a corredo dei driver WHQL e di quelli hotfix, oltre alle note per i driver Linux non ancora ufficialmente resi disponibili:

New features

OpenGL: MultiView support

• This release of Catalyst™ introduces MultiView support.  This feature provides for full hardware accelerated OpenGL rendering across multiple graphics adapters setup in an extended desktop display configuration.

Resolved Issue highlights

• Bioshock: Flickering is no longer noticed during the cinematic introduction of the game.
• Half-Life 2: Episode 2: Playing the game on a system containing an ATI Radeon HD 3800 series of product no longer results in the game failing to the desktop when CrossFire™ is enabled.
• F.E.A.R.: A black screen no longer occurs when the display is set to 2048x1536 and the in-game AA option is enabled.
• Lightsmark 2007: Running the benchmark no longer results in the robot character not being drawn properly.
• Oblivion: Task switching between the game and the Windows Vista desktop no longer results in corruption being noticed when AA is enabled.
• Oblivion: Flickering is no longer noticed when first making a move if the in-game settings are set to maximum, CrossFire™ is enabled and AF is set to 16X.
• Oblivion: The game no longer fails and display corruption is no longer noticed when the game is minimized to desktop and then restored.
• World In Conflict: The game no longer fails to the Windows desktop when the display resolution is set to 1280x768 and AF is set to 16X.
• Call of Juarez and Stalker and Timeshift: Launching the games under Windows XP no longer results in intermittent corruption or flashing being noticed.
• Enemy Territories Quake Wars v1.2: Flickering is no longer noticed when enabling Triple Buffering, setting AA to 8X and setting the display resolution to 2560x1600.
• TianJi: Logging into the game no longer results in the function buttons not working and the system setting window failing to open.
• World of Warcraft: Launching two game windows and switching between the game windows on a system with an Apple 30 inch display device no longer results in the game image failing to be drawn properly.
• Google SketchUP: the application no longer fails to launch on systems running Windows XP and containing an ATI Radeon HD 2900 series of product.

Note:  We have also released the Catalyst 8.1 Hotfix driver with the following fixes / enhancements

• Fix for users having issues with their AGP ATI Radeon graphics card
• Crysis DirectX 10 Crossfire performance optimizations

Download the Catalyst 8.1 hotfix driver from here:  http://support.ati.com/ics/support/default.asp?deptID=894&task=knowledge&questionID=31625

Highlights of the Linux Catalyst 8.1 release (coming soon) include:

New features

Support for new Linux operating systems

This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for the following new operating systems: 

• Ubuntu 7.10
• RedHat Enterprise Linux 5.1
• RedHat Enterprise Linux 4.6

Resolved Issues

• Corruption will no longer be noticed in the lower right corner of the display or on the mouse pointer after the system is running for a long period of time
• Connecting a display device that supports 1680x1050 to a system running Linux will no longer result in a maximum display resolution of 1280x1024 only being available
• Custom mode lines in xorg.conf will no longer be ignored by the fglrx driver
• Suspending to RAM or DISK on kernel version 2.6.23 or later no longer fails

For more information on Catalyst 8.1 (for Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Linux versions), including all of the resolved issues in this release, please see the Catalyst 8.1 release notes found in driver download section.