AMD and Valve team up to provide ATI Catalyst updates on Steam

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With today’s exciting announcement from AMD and Valve®, Steam gamers will never again have to worry about finding the most recent ATI Catalyst™ graphics driver. PC gamers can now detect and install the latest ATI Catalyst™ driver for their ATI Radeon™ graphics card directly from within Steam! Gamers using ATI graphics will not only be kept posted on the latest available drivers for their hardware, but with every update they’ll know that they’re getting the overall best possible gaming experience AMD and Valve can provide.

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Moar!

:shocked:

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Originally Posted by fellix_bg

[B][URL="http://blogs.amd.com/play/2010/09/14/video-driver-updates-made-easy-amd-and-valve-team-up-to-provide-ati-catalyst-updates-on-steam/"]

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Nice, but hopefully theyve fixed that issue where you get the 'Your display drivers incorrect for your hardware'! I keep getting this despite having the latest Catalyst installed.

would be wonderfull :D

Now this is interesting news. I wonder if they'll deliver Crossfire profiles as well, and if they'll let you choose not to update.

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Originally Posted by RacingTurtle

Nice, but hopefully theyve fixed that issue where you get the 'Your display drivers incorrect for your hardware'! I keep getting this despite having the latest Catalyst installed.

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Function of the game, not of Steam. A few games have this problem.

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Originally Posted by SoulsCollective

Now this is interesting news. I wonder if they'll deliver Crossfire profiles as well, and if they'll let you choose not to update.Function of the game, not of Steam. A few games have this problem.

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I believe he is talking about the pop up that usually occurs after the drivers are installed and Windows reboots.

this is the next major step toward a PC acting more like a console. with a few more steps, steam can revive PC gaming (for those who think it died)

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

I believe he is talking about the pop up that usually occurs after the drivers are installed and Windows reboots.

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I thought Windows only reboots after a control panel install, but not if only the driver is installed.

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Originally Posted by Manicdan

this is the next major step toward a PC acting more like a console. with a few more steps, steam can revive PC gaming (for those who think it died)

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It's funny you think that because most old school pc gamers that I know LOATHE steam as do I. I think if anything them becoming the standard is one more step closer to consolized run of the mill BULLSh1t and the end of PC gaming itself. How are they saving PC gaming? steam is like free xbox live on pc for christs sake... Unless you actually like Tf2 or Counterstrike what quality multiplayer experience do they actually deliver?

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Originally Posted by Rattle

It's funny you think that because most old school pc gamers that I know LOATHE steam as do I. I think if anything them becoming the standard is one more step closer to consolized run of the mill BULLSh1t and the end of PC gaming itself. How are they saving PC gaming? steam is like free xbox live on pc for christs sake... Unless you actually like Tf2 or Counterstrike what quality multiplayer experience do they actually deliver?

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Provide 3 points why Steam is bad for PC gaming.

Who are these "old school pc gamers"? Those who STILL play Quake 2? :rolleyes: Yeah, like their opinion matters to anyone. :)

Yeah, and Counter Strike was only good before beta 5, 1.6 went downhill back in the day and Source is just something to loathe. :rolleyes:

Anything lobby based is absolute junk 1

How about something new better than source so we dont get stuck with old tech and graphics 2

There's more idiots on steam then anywhere else, its just as bad as xbox live if not worse and VAC is a joke 3.

By old school gamers I mean people that prefer things like bc2 or Old school server setups/communities like in previous call of duty games and UT.

I never really liked source, it was fine for single player games, HL2 series and portal.... all their multiplayer games are junk IMO. Just because it has low requirements and its so easily and readily available to every little kid and their mom doesn't make it QUALITY.

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Originally Posted by flippin_waffles

I thought Windows only reboots after a control panel install, but not if only the driver is installed.

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Windows is supposed to reboot after the driver installation and / OR the control panel installation.

I thought 99% of "old school" PC gamers stopped their Steam angst about 5 or 6 years ago, when it evolved to be one heck of an awesome platform. I love Valve and Steam. On the topic of quality I can't really imagine what else Valve would need to do to make a more refined engine such as Steam, or a game as thoroughly developed and polished as Team Fortress 2.

If it's not your style that's fine but that does not take away from it both as a fine example of how to code a game (I am a software developer for what it's worth), and also a great example of how to make a team-based game. Throw on top of it a truly unique visual style and good comedy easter eggs, I freaking love the game even though I stopped playing it regularly a while ago.

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Originally Posted by Rattle

Anything lobby based is absolute junk 1

How about something new better than source so we dont get stuck with old tech and graphics 2

There's more idiots on steam then anywhere else, its just as bad as xbox live if not worse and VAC is a joke 3.

By old school gamers I mean people that prefer things like bc2 or Old school server setups/communities like in previous call of duty games and UT.

I never really liked source, it was fine for single player games, HL2 series and portal.... all their multiplayer games are junk IMO. Just because it has low requirements and its so easily and readily available to every little kid and their mom doesn't make it QUALITY.

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I actually bought BC2 on Steam :). Much easier that way.

Another thing, what does Source have to do with Steam? Oh and your reason number 3 is a little subjective I'd say.

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Originally Posted by Rattle

Anything lobby based is absolute junk 1

How about something new better than source so we dont get stuck with old tech and graphics 2

There's more idiots on steam then anywhere else, its just as bad as xbox live if not worse and VAC is a joke 3.

By old school gamers I mean people that prefer things like bc2 or Old school server setups/communities like in previous call of duty games and UT.

I never really liked source, it was fine for single player games, HL2 series and portal.... all their multiplayer games are junk IMO. Just because it has low requirements and its so easily and readily available to every little kid and their mom doesn't make it QUALITY.

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Sounds to me you're getting all the different elements that make steam, a bit messed up.

You start by saying steam is a lobby based system, when it is not a requirement within steam.

Old school gamers are BC2 gamers! You sure? Then saying they prefer old school serer setups (unlike bc2). Even so, steam doesn't stop you using dedicated servers, in fact most of valves stuff requires it.

Again you attack source. You don't need to use that game engine.

Most people I know are quite happy with steam, veterans to gaming and new people. There is certainly a lot of hate from new people, who only know of MW2.

im not even going to reply to Rattle, sounds like he needs a binky, or blanky, or something else that makes criers happy

steam rocks, i could start a post about why, but that could take all night

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Originally Posted by Rattle

Anything lobby based is absolute junk 1

How about something new better than source so we dont get stuck with old tech and graphics 2

There's more idiots on steam then anywhere else, its just as bad as xbox live if not worse and VAC is a joke 3.

By old school gamers I mean people that prefer things like bc2 or Old school server setups/communities like in previous call of duty games and UT.

I never really liked source, it was fine for single player games, HL2 series and portal.... all their multiplayer games are junk IMO. Just because it has low requirements and its so easily and readily available to every little kid and their mom doesn't make it QUALITY.

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1 - Most Valve games are done with server explorers, you can even put hacks on L4D to do that instead of the lobby.
<edit>With more recent updates they did change the default of their server explorer to be more lobby like, however this is also easily changed back</edit>
As far as Steamworks games I honestly do not know. Is that up to the game producers? I would imagine that it is, and Valve would be able to supply either interface with the steamworks API.

2-That is the engine that Valve uses for their games and has nothing to do with Steam except that Valve also owns Steam. So this is just silly...

3 - VAC is a joke I will give you that, but as with anything you aren't instantly going to find a group of people on a random server whom you love playing with and is free of annoying 12 year olds. you gotta explore and find a good server. they are out there.

I've been a PC gamer since Doom1 and Wolfenstein3D, I don't know if you considered that "Old School" enough. but I freaking love steam. Sure it's not a flawless system. but hey, what is? They have fantastic sales, and everything is in the cloud so you never have to worry about loosing a game disc or have it damaged. All Steam is a content delivery system. And the addition to save me some time when I want to update my drivers is something I like!

Also your biggest complaint seems to be with graphics, while Source isn't the best engine out there, it doesn't look too bad, and they are updating it all the time. But gameplay should always trump graphics anyways... but unfortunately some people tend to disagree and would rather play a game when you cook pancakes in 1080p than anything that would actually be fun.

I would rather get behind a company like Valve who is constantly delivering new updates and content to their games for free rather than constantly buying 10 different DLC packs for each and every game that comes out anymore.

The only real true kick in the balls to make PCs act as consoles has been Modern Warfare 2 with their lack of dedicated servers.

What is killing PC gaming is games like Assassins Creed 2 with over the top DRM. Making piracy a option so that some people can actually play a game that they bought!

Steam owns... get over it...

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

Windows is supposed to reboot after the driver installation and / OR the control panel installation.

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Hmm that's odd. I could have sworn that changed with Vista and WDDM. Did that change with Win7?

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Originally Posted by Rattle

Anything lobby based is absolute junk 1

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Not quite. Do realize that almost every multiplayer game has lobbies where players can chat etc. before, during, and after rounds. If you mean the little 4p, 8p, & 16p player-hosted servers & the matchmaking system, you're correct.

If dedicated 3rd party servers are barred and dedicated official servers suck or are unavailable, that's very bad.

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How about something new better than source so we dont get stuck with old tech and graphics 2

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Steam =! Source games

Steam got its start with Source games. However, Steam isn't Source. Further, Source isn't a bad thing for PC gaming. If everyone needs a Core i7 or Phenom II X4, 4GB RAM, and a GTX260+/HD4850+, there wouldn't be many PC gamers. What's been killing PC gaming is the insane requirements which mean that many $2000 manufactured computers aren't sufficient. Source games actually make that better--expanding the market does bring in more whiny 12-year-old kids but shrinking the market means now, instead of a reformable/maturable 12-year-old kid, you now have an egotistical rich 12-year-old kid with a chip on his shoulder.

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There's more idiots on steam then anywhere else, its just as bad as xbox live if not worse and VAC is a joke 3.

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There are more idiots on AIM than anywhere else. There are more idiots on MSN than anywhere else. On Facebook. On Twitter. On 2ch. On 4chan. Et cetera. There are more idiots on Earth than anywhere else. The difference is that you don't have to interact with idiots. Host your own server or whatever and simply kick and then ban them.

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By old school gamers I mean people that prefer things like bc2 or Old school server setups/communities like in previous call of duty games and UT.

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I agree with this, except "old school gamers" would be more like BF2 than BC2 and more like CSS than MW2.

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

Windows is supposed to reboot after the driver installation and / OR the control panel installation.

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In Windows 7 I get no reboot prompts at all after the first time I install the driver.

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Originally Posted by danielkza

In Windows 7 I get no reboot prompts at all after the first time I install the driver.

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There is a 50 / 50 chance of it happening with the ATI drivers. I have no idea why but one way or another, you should reboot in order to ensure everything is working properly.

I don't want third party software to play my game,offline.ONLINE is diff and the new gui is still kinda of buggy.My css is fubared.If steam ever went down so does steam online only games,bah.

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

There is a 50 / 50 chance of it happening with the ATI drivers. I have no idea why but one way or another, you should reboot in order to ensure everything is working properly.

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I've never had to either since they changed to the new driver model. Not once. Besides, it seems you were implying that a reboot was by design, when in fact it's not. So a reboot isn't necessary after all, and should not be an issue with steam.

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Originally Posted by Rattle

It's funny you think that because most old school pc gamers that I know LOATHE steam as do I. I think if anything them becoming the standard is one more step closer to consolized run of the mill BULLSh1t and the end of PC gaming itself. How are they saving PC gaming? steam is like free xbox live on pc for christs sake... Unless you actually like Tf2 or Counterstrike what quality multiplayer experience do they actually deliver?

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I understand your pain and agree fully, Valve killed competitive gaming by pushing that CS wannabe.
Valve/Steam now infects its games with ads, connects you to some friends network BS, achievements malarkey and social networking nonsense.
Oh, and it's "Sync your steam with this game" blah blah blah...

Then there's it joke of game prices, Fallout 3 / Assasins creed 2 only £30!.. Or go downtown your local game store and get them for £12.99.
Where, get this? Not only do you get a case, you can actually get rid of them when your done!

So.. GFX drivers now being pushed over steam a good thing?
I bet when you install the drivers using Steam your get an advertisement at the end of the install begging and pleading with you to play TF2, the game they cannot stop milking, even though its a failure compared to the original.

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

There is a 50 / 50 chance of it happening with the ATI drivers. I have no idea why but one way or another, you should reboot in order to ensure everything is working properly.

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Windows Vista and 7 let you install from scratch and also replace on the fly any kind of video driver, reloading it in the process.

If you get prompted for a reboot then maybe it's some other driver from the package, like south/northbridge stuff in case you use them, HDMI sound driver or the like.

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Originally Posted by Pontos

Windows Vista and 7 let you install from scratch and also replace on the fly any kind of video driver, reloading it in the process.

If you get prompted for a reboot then maybe it's some other driver from the package, like south/northbridge stuff in case you use them, HDMI sound driver or the like.

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The on the fly is good stuff and work good, but if i'm using 3D or watching a film i would not like steam to change my driver without my will.

So i would prefer auto dl and install on reboot, and an option install it without reboot.

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

Windows is supposed to reboot after the driver installation and / OR the control panel installation.

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On Windows 7 no reboot is needed

Steam just updated itself and apparently the new feature is enabled now:

http://img819.imageshack.us/img819/3481/37259531.jpg

Yeah, but i can't find any Update button for drivers :S Or they didn't put it on 100% ?

/edit After steam update, it will reboot itself... Turn steam off and run again. Will show you news about drivers and click Check Now, it will start dl drivers :)

yeah first 'bug ?'

i got a message : " Setup detected incomplete build : setup will now exit".

I hope this is not serious ;)

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Originally Posted by fiskov

Then there's it joke of game prices, Fallout 3 / Assasins creed 2 only £30!.. Or go downtown your local game store and get them for £12.99.
Where, get this? Not only do you get a case, you can actually get rid of them when your done!

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You can't be serious on this one. Are you? Steam prices are so much lower than any retail store I have been to. Even when Steam isn't having a sale the prices are better than the store, let alone when they do have sales. I spent around $90 at christmas time and got more games than I think I will be able to beat this year!

GJ steam, I Like!:up:
Wonder if they will support nvidia at some point too?

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Originally Posted by Dezmen

Yeah, but i can't find any Update button for drivers :S Or they didn't put it on 100% ?

/edit After steam update, it will reboot itself... Turn steam off and run again. Will show you news about drivers and click Check Now, it will start dl drivers :)

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But where can we find it when it otherwise?

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Originally Posted by SKYMTL

There is a 50 / 50 chance of it happening with the ATI drivers. I have no idea why but one way or another, you should reboot in order to ensure everything is working properly.

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reboot is only required when you manually uninstall the driver first or on a fresh windows installation; running the new driver setup without removing the old drivers first (as recommended by AMD) is much more trouble free, creates less errors and requires no reboot ;)

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Originally Posted by FirePhoenixCtk

GJ steam, I Like!:up:
Wonder if they will support nvidia at some point too?

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Don't think so. Valve have been partners with ATi for some time now. I'm not surprised this AMD integration happened.

This can only mean great things for AMD :up:

updated to 10.9 with Steam, everything worked fine. Though it automatically does an express install for you which is quite annoying. Also it doesn't update crossfire profiles :)

and i still cannot update past 10.7 with server08r2, running server has worked fine for years but now the break it when they use the same drivers. i have no idea how they did it

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Originally Posted by eXa

But where can we find it when it otherwise?

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Maybe you found this already. It's from the top menu, drop down under "steam." You'll see "update AMD video drivers..."

this is an excellent idea. time will tell.

Tried to update from 10.8 to 10.9 via Steam and the ATI installer crashed :(

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Originally Posted by generics_user

reboot is only required when you manually uninstall the driver first or on a fresh windows installation; running the new driver setup without removing the old drivers first (as recommended by AMD) is much more trouble free, creates less errors and requires no reboot ;)

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http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3...updateinfo.jpg

So why then do you believe that AMD recommends doing things their way? I would assume that they would not recommend a process that creates more trouble, creates more errors, and requires a reboot.

^i think their installation tool should also uninstall for you, or atleast provide a checkbox option to do that as part of the process. its just too often skipped, and since vista your old drivers get saved off so when you uninstall it just goes back one version

crashed several times trying to update through steam. no problems using the standard download /shrug

updated from 10.4 => 10.9 just fine.

IF it will work properly... great... :D

It is a really good idea. Honestly if you are posting here I doubt that this will really help you out much.

Mine updated perfectly from 10.8 to 10.9. Valve always provides quality on Steam in my experience.

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Originally Posted by Tom128

You can't be serious on this one. Are you? Steam prices are so much lower than any retail store I have been to. Even when Steam isn't having a sale the prices are better than the store, let alone when they do have sales. I spent around $90 at christmas time and got more games than I think I will be able to beat this year!

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That mostly only applies to the US market. In the EU many countries have to pay a 1 USD :1 EURO exchange rate for games. For instance, if L4D2 is $39.99 we would have to pay €39.99. That's 30% higher at this moment of writing. It gets even stranger though. My friends in the UK and in some other places in Europe are charged a fair USD exchange rate for games. Why not everyone else? Finally, almost everything is cheaper for me from amazon in the UK (including the shipping). Only Steam specials are less...but anything worth getting (for me) I already got long ago.

I was one of the falsely banned people from MW2 and when I tried to submit a ticket about it all I got was copy and paste answers and insults and flaming on the "community support" forums. It sucked really really bad and at no time did anyone tell us there was maybe a mistake and maybe we would be unbanned, it was all you cheated you are banned crap and massive amounts of trolling on the forums.

This shows that you can spend a lot of money on Steam and at the flick of a switch they can cut you off. Besides their anti-cheat system is a load of crap as you can barely find a MW2 game without a hacker inside when the automatic matchmaking does not actually send you on a hacked server by itself. They even deleted a L4D 2 copy from my account because I bought the game code from Ebay.

Their EULA is a joke and I'm sure it's illegal in most countries, but yet what do you do if you are in Europe like me? you get shafted that's all.

The only reason I like steam is because you can buy games cheap thanks to it, but at the cost of being eventually shafted by them at any time.

I think ive seen a false positive ban maybe once or twice and valve quickly fixed it. Chances are you cheated or exploited a file and were banned quit lying to yourself.

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Originally Posted by Circaflex

I think ive seen a false positive ban maybe once or twice and valve quickly fixed it. Chances are you cheated or exploited a file and were banned quit lying to yourself.

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Are you serious or are you trying to be funny?

"Steam proprietor Valve Software has apologised after its cheat-detection software banned over twelve thousand innocent Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 players"

http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/64897

The super first answer from support. Notice how totally sure they are it's legitimate.

Thank you for contacting Steam Support. Our system indicates that this account has been permanently banned by the Valve Anti-Cheat (VAC) from Modern Warfare 2 Multiplayer for use of cheats or other unauthorized modifications to the game (such as a console unlocker, etc.). We will not disclose the cheats which were detected, nor will we provide the date and time the infraction took place. We have confirmed that the ban on the account was applied legitimately and it cannot be removed.

Everyone of us got the same exact copy/paste answer, so much for a gamer friendly company and support. Lucky they fessed up at the end.

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Originally Posted by Razmatazz

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/3...updateinfo.jpg

So why then do you believe that AMD recommends doing things their way? I would assume that they would not recommend a process that creates more trouble, creates more errors, and requires a reboot.

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install manager automatically removes the old driver since sometime in 2009 ;)

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Originally Posted by Nano2k

They even deleted a L4D 2 copy from my account because I bought the game code from Ebay.

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Don't buy keys/codes from ebay? The idea of doing such a thing is just silly to me, how do you know the seller wont sell it to someone else, or wont use it themselves?

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Originally Posted by ryboto

Don't buy keys/codes from ebay? The idea of doing such a thing is just silly to me, how do you know the seller wont sell it to someone else, or wont use it themselves?

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Because once you register it to your account the code is not valid anymore, it becomes useless so you can't use it anymore.

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Originally Posted by Nano2k

They even deleted a L4D 2 copy from my account because I bought the game code from Ebay.

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Well deserved! :clap:

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Originally Posted by Nano2k

Because once you register it to your account the code is not valid anymore, it becomes useless so you can't use it anymore.

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Not really true, if the guy who sold you the key has the retail version or a coupon with the key printed on it he can submit a photo of the printed key as proof of ownership and valve will delete the game from your account and give it to him.
You've been scammed basically.

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Originally Posted by omar little

Not really true, if the guy who sold you the key has the retail version or a coupon with the key printed on it he can submit a photo of the printed key as proof of ownership and valve will delete the game from your account and give it to him.
You've been scammed basically.

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Ok whatever... that was not a big issue for me, I did not think much of it and now they gave me 2 copies of the game for free...

The issue is that Valve can do what they want with your account and registered games. In my case I had an issue and basically there was no support at all, I was told to f... off through copy and paste answers and buy the game again. They fixed the issue, but still if they had not what could I have done anyway? what happens if they block your account? you buy 20-30 games again?

I'll probably continue buying games on Steam because I can get some cheaper than through retail, but my trust in the system is gone. I can whine all I want anyway you can't understand the frustration until this happens to you and you have a big red flag on your account saying VAC banned altough you did nothing wrong.

I just went from 10.8-10.9 In W7 without even restarting or having to redo video settings and to boot it has Steams great download speeds. Took less than a minute. I approve of this.

I've never had any issues with steam. The only problem I ever had was buying a couple of :banana::banana::banana::banana:ty arsed games, that were not compatible with Vista. After submitting a ticket, I received a refund and also got to keep the games (if they ever got patched). Luckily they did, so I ended up with two free games.

Does no one else see this as the marketing exercise that it is?

For AMD it means that their GPUs get associated with Steam more cheaply than stuffing a game voucher in the box.

For Valve it means that they get more users who might just actually buy games from Steam.

considering how almost every valve game has been bundled with ATI cards, this was a pretty expected joint venture

i actually expect that when its time to upgrade, i will get portal 2 free with whatever video card is out at that time

Short FAQ posted about the Steam AMD driver update feature - http://blogs.amd.com/play/2010/09/18...tes-via-steam/

good questions, lets people really know whats included and excluded