ATI Catalyst Drivers Updated/Optimized For Eyefinity/Mobility

[cangelini]

Rarely do we cover driver updates. However, ATI recently showed off a handful of features that we know owners of Radeon HD 5000-series cards, CrossFire configurations, and Mobility Radeon GPUs have been asking to see. Check out what's coming in Cat. 10.3!

ATI Catalyst Drivers Updated/Optimized For Eyefinity/Mobility : Read more

 

[aberchonbie]

This is great! Especially the Eyefinity/CrossfireX capability which I'm sure a LOT of ATI 5xxx owners will enjoy and be glad to have!

 

[JohnnyLucky]

Interesting update. I like the bezel feature.

 

[witcherx]

hoobah! hoobah! hoo!

 

[Annisman]

Anybody know where I can download these ? They are not on ATI.com yet, articles are saying it will be released today.

Hope it fixes my CF issues with ETW.

 

[akoegle]

Will if fix my Grey screen?

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]annisman[/nom]Anybody know where I can download these ? They are not on ATI.com yet, articles are saying it will be released today.Hope it fixes my CF issues with ETW.[/citation]

Keep checking back--ATI says they'll be up on the 17th. But bear in mind that this only applies to the 10.2s--10.3 will be March!

 

[micky_lund]

hmmm...they should get a hotfix out for 5700series black/grey screens....
the 5800s are fixed, but not the 5700s

 

[vulmer]

"But now ATI is pulling the multi-GPU code from the 3D driver and re-writing it into a new, separate multi-GPU driver. This won’t offer any tangible benefit today, but it will in the future, ATI says."

So ATI is looking at creating driver based hybdrid gpu setups? Or are they just improving the current code for motherboards that support this feature?

 

[JAYDEEJOHN]

Great to see this, and its looking to change alot of things

 

[frozenlead]

I tried eyefinity last week with my dual 5870's. I didn't take them out of CF mode and they performed beautifully on everything but Crysis. Didn't check on if the 2nd GPU was loading or anything, but perhaps I can convince my friends to bring their monitors over one more time...

 

[DXRick]

ATI is still ignoring the 2D performance issues for the 5000 series?

 

[cangelini]

[citation][nom]DXRick[/nom]ATI is still ignoring the 2D performance issues for the 5000 series?[/citation]

They've addressed it, but it's not in the driver yet, nor do we have a date when they'll be adding it. We won't let 'em forget tho ;-)

 

[lashton]

does this mean I can mix a 5850 with a 4850?

 

[anamaniac]

I would rather pay $190 for a second 5770 then $150 for a DP to DVI adaptor. Let me use the outputs from two cards at once!

Bezel correction is nothing new, Matrox worked on it for their TH2G.
Also, why hasn't DisplayPort become more popular? Licensing fees are less than HDMI (from what I can remember).

I currently own 3xSamsung 2343 (22" 2048x1152). I would absolutely love if they made a gen 3 (they already have 2 gens of the 2343, I own a single g1 and two g2) with DisplayPort and 120Hz. Maybe even use a SPVA panel. Most importantly, still be affordable (the 2343 is the EyeFinity dream monitor, high resolution, small size, thin bezel, cheap, and also, did I say cheap?).
I would love to play games in 3D, but current 120Hz monitors are twice as expensive, and I'd rather not use 3D n a 60Hz monitor.

 

[carlhenry]

will this improve performance? say for example the mysteriously less fps of 5450 that should have a slight edge on its predecessor the 4550. i mean on paper the 5450 has an extra 50MHz (correct me if i'm wrong). im planning to add a discrete low profile gpu on my htpc but i dont want to be a generation behind when upgrading. the dx11 looks sweet but a +3-5fps on games of the 4550 is just so hard to pass on.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

LOVE the FIRST LINE of the 2nd page !!

Been a long time coming, just hope it's better implemented than the XP version which also left it up to the OEM partners who never updated the drivers, and Vista whom ATi put the responsibility in the hands of the OEM too.

Hopefully this now means, when you buy an ATi GPU it will actually have modern drivers to allow it to function, and not simply modern excuses as to why no one is providing the patch to enable HDMI output and support for a game that came out before the laptop was bought.

I have high hopes, and hopefully someone will test this 'promise' and see if it's anywhere near the wide support they quote in their slide "Supported by most major OEM/ODM notebook manufacturers" ;
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/Data/2010_2_17/AMD-brings-ton-of-features-to-the-Catalyst-drivers/AMD_ATI_Catalyst_10.3_675.jpg

You will notice in your article that MY OEM Fujitsu is one of the A-holes who've opted out.

Which makes me extra mad because they provided a BS 'driver update utility'

which they later admitted was broken, and when questioned about updated drivers, they also said they would not be providing any and that we had to go to ATi... who told us to go to Fujitsu... etc.

Here's the description;

Fujitsu Driver Update V1.2 L16
1. Product overview
===========================================================
Fujitsu Driver Update checks for and installs the latest drivers and
software available from Fujitsu for your computer via the Internet. The
program runs automatically as a system tray icon and notifies you when
new updates are available. Also, you can check for updates at any time
by right-clicking the tray icon and choosing "Check for updates..."

In the 2+ year I've owned this laptop it's NEVER provided an update, even when there was a 2 critical ones on their site (for Robson and the Fingerprint Reader) plus a Bios update. For all that effort to make and adopt an application to pretend to do what we should be able to do on our own, it's pretty sad & slimy that they are opting out.

Simple solution is to never recommend or buy the laptops of the OEMs who opt out.

I'm fine because I know how to take other current laptop drivers and make them work (better than the driver mod tool), but most people can't which is why I won't recommend anyone not in the program.

Anywhoo buying another laptop in the Spring (other than the new ASUS TP91MT I just bought) and for sure anyone on the opt out list won't even be considered, just too much hassle even for someone who knows how to work it.

 

[anamaniac]

LOVE the FIRST LINE of the 2nd page !!

Been a long time coming, just hope it's better implemented than the XP version which also left it up to the OEM partners who never updated the drivers, and Vista whom ATi put the responsibility in the hands of the OEM too.

Hopefully this now means, when you buy an ATi GPU it will actually have modern drivers to allow it to function, and not simply modern excuses as to why no one is providing the patch to enable HDMI output and support for a game that came out before the laptop was bought.

I have high hopes, and hopefully someone will test this 'promise' and see if it's anywhere near the wide support they quote in their slide "Supported by most mahor OEM/ODM notebook manufacturers" ;
http://www.brightsideofnews.com/Data/2010_2_17/AMD-brings-ton-of-features-to-the-Catalyst-drivers/AMD_ATI_Catalyst_10.3_675.jpg

You will notice in your article that MY OEM Fujitsu is one of the A-holes who've opted out.

Which makes me extra mad because they provided a BS 'driver update utility' http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/1108/fdrivers.jpg which they later admitted was broken, and when questioned about updated drivers, they also said they would not be providing any and that we had to go to ATi... who told us to go to Fujitsu... etc.

Here's the description;

Fujitsu Driver Update V1.2 L16
1. Product overview
===========================================================
Fujitsu Driver Update checks for and installs the latest drivers and
software available from Fujitsu for your computer via the Internet. The
program runs automatically as a system tray icon and notifies you when
new updates are available. Also, you can check for updates at any time
by right-clicking the tray icon and choosing "Check for updates..."

In the 2+ year I've owned this laptop it's NEVER provided an update, even when there was a 2 critical ones on their site (for Robson and the Fingerprint Reader) plus a Bios update. For all that effort to make and adopt an application to pretend to do what we should be able to do on our own, it's pretty sad & slimy that they are opting out.

Simple solution is to never recommend or buy the laptops of the OEMs who opt out.

I'm fine because I know how to take other current laptop drivers and make them work (better than the driver mod tool), but most people can't which is why I won't recommend anyone not in the program.

Meh, I've always only picked up the basic drivers from the company site and went directly to realtek/ati/nvidia etc. for everything else and just hope it works. Has so far. =)
Though really, why opt out of others doing the work for you when you won't do it yourself?

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The thing about the basic desktop package and modding it is that you miss out on some laptop-centric features, like the pixel mapping and originally most of the TV detection and HDMI support was better in the mobile drivers.
Which is why I still prefer taking other companies' updates and then modding them myself to work on my laptop. I also still like to put ATT ontop of that driver package too to get the most out of them, but sometimes with the newest drivers cause problems with ATT until an update comes out so even that needs to be troubleshot.

I'll probably still be able to get the drivers even though Fujitsu opts out, I'll just need to use one of the Lenovo or Dells at work to get them (that is if ATi even bothers with a very-fuk-eh-shun tool like they had for XP [despite direct download links elsewhere ]).

 

[Guest]

What about the gray lines problem? If I cannot play a 3d game who care about these extras?!

 

[bourgeoisdude]

"Currently, Sony, Toshiba, and Fujitsu are asking that their products not be updated by the new drivers."

Sony's always been a dick about drivers; nvidia, intel, and now ati drivers are useless. Sony: "All your drivers are belong to us."

 

[rhino13]

I have to say I am pleased with AMD's commitment to releasing drivers. It's nice to know that my cards worth continues to go up after buying it. It seems like everything else I buy for the PC just gets lamer over time.

 

[Bolbi]

Wow. Glad to hear Mobility Radeon support is coming in 10.3. It's actually not unexpected, since it was already incorporated into the leaked 10.2 RC2 packages floating around on the internet.

 

[stridervm]

"Mixing cards from different generations, not just cards from the same generation."

Confirmed or speculation? If it is, nVidia should crap their pants right now because this, could mean crossfiring a midrange card to a highend card. Which is what I am dreaming for years.....

 

[notty22]

A lot of speculation and promises. Smells and sounds a lot like pr makeup call for exposing the 2d issue and the gray lines/flickering debacle.