ATI Driver Comparison Cat 5.1/5.2/5.3/5/4 Omega

[mike]

Hi,

I am new member here and thought I start with contributing something first:

Here is a comparison between the current Catalyst drivers including the Catalyst Control Panel and the Omega 2612 driver, running benchmarks under 3DMark05:

The test were run on a fresh install of Windows XP Pro, the computer specs were the following:
Asus P5AD2-E Premium
1GB OCZ 5400
WD7400 2-drive Raid 0
Intel P4 660
ATI Radeon X850 XT PE

Everything on the computer was set to stock speeds ( 540mhz core / 587mhz memory) - all The Catalyst driver 3D options were set to max performance.

I ran each driver 3DMark05 benchmark 3 times ( installed driver 5.4 - uninstalled driver - installed next driver....started 2nd round of benchmarks...3rd round)

The below benchmarks are the average of all three runs:

Catalyst 5.4: Average Score: 6270

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787212

Catalyst 5.3: Average score: 6288 :clap:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787233

Catalyst 5.2: Average score: 6285

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787125

Catalyst 5.1: Average score: 6222

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787146

Catalyst 4.12: Average score: 6028

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787580

Omega Driver 2.6.12: Average Score: 6146

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787178

TechPowerUp 5.3 based driver: 6277

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787717

ATI Cat 5.3 without Control Center: 6276

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787825


I have to add that I am not familiar with the Omega driver and have not seen any performance settings off hand to match the optimized for performance settings I used in the Catalyst control panel.


Overall I can attest that for pure 3DMark05 benching purposes the Cat 5.3 is the best pick

Cheers

Mike

PS let me know if you want me to bench any other drivers in this comparison.

[cantankerous]

Welcome to the forums and thanks for the time put into your post.

[craig588]

Catalyst 5.4: Average Score: 6270

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787212

Catalyst 5.3: Average score: 6288

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787233

Catalyst 5.2: Average score: 6285

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787125
Margin of error

Omega drivers are for IQ not performance, according to Omega himself.

[mcnbns]

Omega drivers are usually not any faster than ATi's own Catalysts. If anything they're slower because of all the extra crap he puts into them. They're nice if you want an all-in-one package, but how hard is it to download ATiTool or Radlinker separately?

Thanks for taking the time to compare all these drivers, mikeguava. :toast:

[danbob]

for me cat 5.4 seems to be a lot of then 5.3 on 3dmark03

[AKURA]

Anyone has a link to where I can download the Catalyst 8.07 Beta Drivers? I remember when this beta driver first came out and it was fast and stable. :)

[mike]

Let me know where it is too - I'll bench it too - while I still have not changed anything on my system.

Mike

[][nSaNe]

Omega drivers are usually not any faster than ATi's own Catalysts. If anything they're slower because of all the extra crap he puts into them. They're nice if you want an all-in-one package, but how hard is it to download ATiTool or Radlinker separately?

Thanks for taking the time to compare all these drivers, mikeguava. :toast:

Omegas are streamlined ATI Cat's. The omegas have all the bs removed that ati has added.... omega drivers open up all the settings into a easy access setup.. unlike the CATs. and if you go head to head with the cats vs the omegas... the omegas will win if you know how to set them up right.

[mike]

[nSaNe']Omegas are streamlined ATI Cat's. The omegas have all the bs removed that ati has added.... omega drivers open up all the settings into a easy access setup.. unlike the CATs. and if you go head to head with the cats vs the omegas... the omegas will win if you know how to set them up right.

Let me know how they need to be set-up ( without overclocking/latency changes) and I'll run the bench again.

Mike

[mcnbns]

[nSaNe']Omegas are streamlined ATI Cat's. The omegas have all the bs removed that ati has added.... omega drivers open up all the settings into a easy access setup.. unlike the CATs. and if you go head to head with the cats vs the omegas... the omegas will win if you know how to set them up right.
If they're so much better why don't more people use them? Are any of the top 3DMark scores with Omegas? :stick:

I used to use them, but now I just download the official Cats because sometimes Omegas don't get FM approved, which sucks.

EDIT: I just re-read your post. There is no way someone can tell me the Omegas have LESS in there. They give you an entire freaking package to clutter up things, plus some custom "Driver Cleaner" software, plus an overclocking tool that won't show temps even if you've got sensors on your card.

With ATi's package you just get the driver and something to adjust visual quality settings. (Smart people don't use CCC.)

Not only that, you have to wait a couple weeks after new drivers are released before you can dl the Omega equivalent. (Cat 5.2s are the latest Omegas available at www.omegadrivers.net.)

[mike]

I just want to add to the above the biggest surprise in my comparison test - i had assumed that the Catalyst Control panel free driver version and the Techpowerup - softmodded/reduced drivers - would have an edge - not so! Both were about 10 bench points lower. Anticipated that less would be more - not at least in my case


Mike