ATI Catalyst 3.2 Released

[Nick[FM]]

Go go go go ... before ATI's servers get too hammered! :D

http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/winxp/radeonnowdm-xp.html?cboOS=Windows+XP
http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/win2k/radeonnowdm-2k.html?cboOS=Windows+2000
http://www.ati.com/support/drivers/winme/radeonnowdm-me.html?cboOS=Windows+ME

http://pdownload.mii.instacontent.net/ati/drivers/control-panel-7-84-030228a1-008040c-efg.exe

Let's see what they bring us.. The fixlist (here (http://pdownload.mii.instacontent.net/ati/drivers/Catalyst_32_Release_Notes.html)) is mighty hefty..

[Himself]

Not hefty enough for win98se, the install is foobar, infsetup.exe crashes using setup.exe and even doing the add new hardware thing it creates two entries for uninstall, ATI drivers and ATI Display Drivers.

Back in the oven for you, you're not quite done yet.

[Randell]

downloading XP ones now. Wont have time to test though before weekend.

[John Reynolds]

Slight stutter the 3.1s were giving me at the start of a new map in UT2003 seems better with the 3.2s, but I've only fired up Anubis, Magma, and The Shire (user made map) so far.

[Dave Baumann]

ATI just mailed me about this:

ATI is releasing yet another fully unified and fully WHQL certified CATALYST driver version 3.2. This updates the driver to version 7.84. This one just over 4 weeks since the last one. This release also supports the RADEON9800 product. ATI's CATALYST drivers continue to be the most frequently updated and most stable drivers in the 3D VPU market. These are available at www.ati.com or more specifically at http://www.ati.com/support/driver.html

Typically all CATALYST releases add stability fixes, features and performance. Below is some highlights of each (full details in the release notes):

Stability: Selecting D3D 8.1 renderer in NASCAR 2003 followed by selecting Replay Studio in the main menu no longer results in the car having missing textures.
Running the game Combat Flight Simulator 3 with 4x Anti-Aliasing enable no longer results in texture corruption being displayed.
Freelancer shows no corruption in the menus for the RADEON9700Features: First posted driver to support the RADEON9800Performance: CATALYST(tm) 3.2 corrects a problem with 2D applications running in the background that can cause a momentary reduction in frame rate (i.e." stuttering") in full screen Direct3D and OpenGL games. Specific instances of "stuttering" have also been addressed (e.g. Rallisport Challenge when the sun enters or exits the scene).
Dungeon Siege frame rates are improved as much as 24% across multiple products, especially when running at higher resolutions.
Framebuffer read-back performance has improved dramatically (500% or more) in CATALYST(tm)3.2. This feature allows an application to retrieve a fully rendered frame from the graphics adapter and manipulate it or store it in the system RAM or on the hard disk.
Vertex Shader performance has improved dramatically (as much as 100% in some situations) for our DX8.1-class products such as RADEON(tm) 8500, 9000 and 9100. This brings significant gains to Vertex Shader intensive scenes such as the Battle of Proxycon and the Troll's Lair (both up 15-25% on RADEON(tm) 9000 PRO).

[BenSkywalker]

These break Half-Life, BlueShift, OpposingForce, TeamFortress Classic and CounterStrike from functioning properly(if you try to access the menu under OpenGL it hard locks the system, Direct3D the menus just don't show up). I'm now closing in on a dozen games installed on my HD that have major issues with ATi's drivers, at this rate none of them will work within a couple driver releases. ATi's driver team is nVidia's best PR now hands down :evil: :evil: :evil:

[K.I.L.E.R]

These break Half-Life, BlueShift, OpposingForce, TeamFortress Classic and CounterStrike from functioning properly(if you try to access the menu under OpenGL it hard locks the system, Direct3D the menus just don't show up). I'm now closing in on a dozen games installed on my HD that have major issues with ATi's drivers, at this rate none of them will work within a couple driver releases. ATi's driver team is nVidia's best PR now hands down :evil: :evil: :evil:

Yes you are right, though I have a walkaround. :)
When playing in OGL, save game, hit the windows key and then ctrl-alt del and end task. :)
Works fine that way. :)

[horvendile]

From the Performance improvements list:

Framebuffer read-back performance has improved dramatically (500% or more) in CATALYST?3.2. This feature allows an application to retrieve a fully rendered frame from the graphics adapter and manipulate it or store it in the system RAM or on the hard disk.

That is interesting, regarding the discussion we had earlier about doing, eh, exactly what the quote above says. Er.

[demalion]

These break Half-Life, BlueShift, OpposingForce, TeamFortress Classic and CounterStrike from functioning properly(if you try to access the menu under OpenGL it hard locks the system, Direct3D the menus just don't show up). I'm now closing in on a dozen games installed on my HD that have major issues with ATi's drivers, at this rate none of them will work within a couple driver releases. ATi's driver team is nVidia's best PR now hands down :evil: :evil: :evil:

Well, that's all one game...
I don't know, I've had negative impressions of half life updates in terms of stability...it seems they concentrate primarily on feature additions (a good thing except things like the alt-tab sound bug and the like seem to be ignored). Before you move up to 4 angry emotes :!:, consider that just maybe it isn't something Cat 3.2 broke, but something broken in half-life that a change in Cat 3.2 exposed.

BTW, you mentioned this in the Cat 3.2 thread on Rage3D too, right?

Oh, just remembered that for half-life, the indication is that the menuing system is being overhauled for the next release based on a Steam 2.0/CS 1.6 preview I recall reading, so unless they introduce even more bugs with it (which seems a possibility, unfortunately), perhaps that will resolve the problem.

It is too bad the Cat 3.2 drivers didn't fix the other games giving you problems, though. :-?

[John Reynolds]

These break Half-Life, BlueShift, OpposingForce, TeamFortress Classic and CounterStrike from functioning properly(if you try to access the menu under OpenGL it hard locks the system, Direct3D the menus just don't show up). I'm now closing in on a dozen games installed on my HD that have major issues with ATi's drivers, at this rate none of them will work within a couple driver releases. ATi's driver team is nVidia's best PR now hands down :evil: :evil: :evil:

Ben, did you try Sacrifice? Just curious. I don't have it installed and thought about seeing if it's now fixed and I'm too lazy to reinstall the game and try it myself. Such a great, under-appreciated game.

[rich]

What about Mafia? I have not played the game on my 9000 Pro since the drivers screwed up the in-game text. I hope these drivers at least address this rather old issue.

[rich]

What about Mafia? I have not played the game on my 9000 Pro since the drivers screwed up the in-game text. I hope these drivers at least address this rather old issue.

Just answered my own question on the Rage3D forums. Looks like these drivers are good for Mafia.

[Randell]

These break Half-Life, BlueShift, OpposingForce, TeamFortress Classic and CounterStrike from functioning properly(if you try to access the menu under OpenGL it hard locks the system, Direct3D the menus just don't show up). I'm now closing in on a dozen games installed on my HD that have major issues with ATi's drivers, at this rate none of them will work within a couple driver releases. ATi's driver team is nVidia's best PR now hands down :evil: :evil: :evil:

I do not get these issues.
edit: tell a lie - I didnt realise it was after being in the game and pressing esc. Menus/game function fine going into them from the beginning, but yep, lock up if press esc mid-game, which of course you do when you lose sound when you alt-tab to resume to get sound back.

[John Reynolds]

What about Mafia? I have not played the game on my 9000 Pro since the drivers screwed up the in-game text. I hope these drivers at least address this rather old issue.

Just answered my own question on the Rage3D forums. Looks like these drivers are good for Mafia.

Mafia's been fine for me since the 3.1s.

[demalion]

Ben, did you try Sacrifice? Just curious. I don't have it installed and thought about seeing if it's now fixed and I'm too lazy to reinstall the game and try it myself. Such a great, under-appreciated game.

EDIT: Woah, quoted the wrong message.

I had this problem with the previous driver until I re-installed Sacrifice.

This problem occurred when I installed Sacrifice and then patched it without running it unpatched first. After futzing around with driver settings to no effect, seeing no mention of it in the Rage3D forums where some people discussed the game, and double-checking that the patch I had was the latest, I uninstalled it to test this theory as to why others who indicated they had used the patch didn't report a problem.

The specific problem I corrected this way was no text in the menus (it was hard for me to get further to see if there were any other problems). I don't know if this relates to the problem you are having, and it may be that my fix was somewhate coincidental (i.e., I changed some config options while I ran it unpatched, and the problem may still be there with different settings).

[Tahir2]

These drivers do not seem to fix the issue of a blue screen if enabling AA in Sim City 4. Now this may be a game issue (it was kinda borked when it was released as it is) or it might be just my system... but I cannot enable AA with the new drivers or the 3.1 drivers.

Can anyone else confirm or deny these problems on their system?

[THe_KELRaTH]

I had a small amount of stuttering when scrolling around maps in C&C Generals - now it's perfect. I thought BF1942 was smooth with Cat3.1 but now it's like butter. RalliSport Challenge - Perfect.
Really can't fault these drivers, ATI team have done a superb job.

[BenSkywalker]

Ben, did you try Sacrifice?

Yes, problem is still there, doesn't seem to have changed at all.

The Half-Life issue bothers me as I just went out and bought a new A3D capable sound card a couple of days ago mainly for all of the Half-Life games.

I'm not having problems with Mafia(that would be the straw to break the camel's back) involving menu corruption, but I didn't have those problems with the other drivers either(Win2K Pro).

[John Reynolds]

Yes, problem is still there, doesn't seem to have changed at all.

Damn. I've been in the mood to play it again here lately (even though I've yet to finish Mafia, Unreal 2, Age of Mythology, Medieval: Total War, Splinter Cell, and IL-2: FB).

The Half-Life issue bothers me as I just went out and bought a new A3D capable sound card a couple of days ago mainly for all of the Half-Life games.

Aureal is one company I truly wish was still around.

I'm not having problems with Mafia(that would be the straw to break the camel's back) involving menu corruption, but I didn't have those problems with the other drivers either(Win2K Pro).

The only game giving me corrupted text is Age of Mythology, though I haven't fired it up since installing the 3.2s. I'll have to try it this weekend. It's not the interface, just the in-game messages that appear for a brief time.

[Ante P]

What about Mafia? I have not played the game on my 9000 Pro since the drivers screwed up the in-game text. I hope these drivers at least address this rather old issue.

Gaming away right now at 1280x960 with 6x AA and 16x Q AF
no stuttering, high framerates, no artifacts, flickering shadows or corrupted text

just 110% pure mafioso fun :)
this game is really a showcase example when it comes to AA/AF! it just looks soooo damn nice

just about to do the bank job with Paulie, damn that Salieri for screwing us on the diamdon/cigar deal :twisted:

ps. with Cat 3.1 I could only play at 1280x960 with 4x AA and 16x P AF and I had some stuttering and low framerates in general

using the "9800 hack" though..

[horvendile]

These drivers do not seem to fix the issue of a blue screen if enabling AA in Sim City 4.

Well, you've probably seen this already, but:

Known Issues
Playing the game SimCity 4 with the display set to 1024x768 32bpp and Anti-aliasing 4x enabled results in the system not responding

That's the setting I'd have used by default, but I suppose you've tried others?

[BenSkywalker]

John

Damn. I've been in the mood to play it again here lately (even though I've yet to finish Mafia, Unreal 2, Age of Mythology, Medieval: Total War, Splinter Cell, and IL-2: FB).

With 5600Ultra boards making their way in to retail soon, I think that will end up being what fixes my Sac problems. I guess I can still hope for the next driver revision to fix things, but each new driver seems to break more then it fixes.

Aureal is one company I truly wish was still around.

Amen to that. If I could have gotten the A3D board I had to run properly under Win2K I would still be using it. I did do the mod adjusting the settings(can't remember which utility it was, one of H Oda's IIRC) to try and keep it as long as possible, but it ended up having too many problems. Maybe nVidia will release a SoundStorm add in board with full A3D support, my understanding is that they hired most of the A3D engineering team after Creative sued them to bankrupt them(added to Creative's driver problems, I won't consider a CL board for anything anymore).

[Nick[FM]]

Aureal is one company I truly wish was still around.
I know what you mean... :cry: I have 2 Vortex2 based sound cards, and they still(!) rock! It's a pity that the Vortex3 never made it to the masses. It might have been a grrreat card!

[OpenGL guy]

These drivers do not seem to fix the issue of a blue screen if enabling AA in Sim City 4. Now this may be a game issue (it was kinda borked when it was released as it is) or it might be just my system... but I cannot enable AA with the new drivers or the 3.1 drivers.

Can anyone else confirm or deny these problems on their system?
Have you tried cleanly reinstalling? I'm pretty sure the fix I put in for Sim City 4 went into Cat 3.2. I'm at home now and can't verify it.

You're using a Radeon 9500/9700, right?

Edit: I just saw horvendile's post. I'll check into this tomorrow as I thought it got into the release.

[RussSchultz]

My 9500 still goes wonky when I force AA in D3D from the control panel. (Strange scrolling bars and noise all over the place)

I have to reboot and it all works fine after that, but its a pain in the ass to remember what the key strokes are.

[Colourless]

Have you tried cleanly reinstalling? I'm pretty sure the fix I put in for Sim City 4 went into Cat 3.2. I'm at home now and can't verify it.

You're using a Radeon 9500/9700, right?

Edit: I just saw horvendile's post. I'll check into this tomorrow as I thought it got into the release.

Well, it appears it didn't. Dies here too. I do have a 9700.

[OpenGL guy]

Have you tried cleanly reinstalling? I'm pretty sure the fix I put in for Sim City 4 went into Cat 3.2. I'm at home now and can't verify it.

You're using a Radeon 9500/9700, right?

Edit: I just saw horvendile's post. I'll check into this tomorrow as I thought it got into the release.

Well, it appears it didn't. Dies here too. I do have a 9700.
I just checked and see that it didn't make it into the Cat 3.2 release, sorry.

[Tahir2]

It's OK as I think AA is unusuable in the game as it is. It kills my friends GF4 Ti 4400 at 4600 speeds when enabling AA with his massive cities (damn him he is doing better than me at this game).

But yea I tried all the different AA modes to be honest and even though my system is not 100% clean I look after the OS very carefully. :)

EDIT: When I do see the Sim City 4 fix implemented in the next driver set (hopefully) I will have you to thank for it! Thx Guy!