Cat 8.3 to be release tomorrow (Wed, March 5, 2008)

[Eastcoasthandle]

Beyond multi-GPU configurations in CrossFireX, ATI Catalyst 8.3 introduces a number of new features including:

* DirectX 10.1 and Tessellation Support: ATI Catalyst 8.3 marks the first time DirectX 10.1 support for the ATI Radeon™ HD 3000 series, and tessellation support for the ATI Radeon™ HD 3800 series have been made available to developers.
* Anti-Aliasing enhancements: ATI Catalyst introduces anti-aliasing support for all Unreal Engine 3.0-based games running in DirectX 9 mode. ATI Catalyst also allows users to enable the Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing filters (box and wide tent) while running in CrossFire Super Anti-Aliasing modes, providing superior image quality.
* HydraVision™ support for Windows Vista: HydraVision support is now included in ATI Catalyst Control Center for Windows Vista. HydraVision enables users to efficiently organize multiple applications across single or multiple displays. You may configure up to nine virtual desktops, and divide the Windows Vista desktop into definable areas helping to easily move and organize multiple applications.
* Digital Panel GPU image scaling: For those using widescreen displays, ATI Catalyst now allows users to enable GPU-accelerated scaling to maintain the aspect ratio of the display while providing superior image quality.
* Advanced Video Quality controls: With ATI Catalyst 8.3, multimedia enthusiasts get further control over video quality. Using the new edge enhancement feature, the level of sharpness of video content can be adjusted. Through the new noise reduction feature, ghosting artifacts can be removed while preserving the details of the original video. The new slider controls can be found in the All Settings page of the Avivo™ Video tab found in ATI Catalyst Control Center.


Availability
ATI Catalyst 8.3 is scheduled to be available as a free download starting Wednesday, March 5 online at http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html.

1. Based on AMD benchmark results that demonstrate a performance/$ ratio in favor of ATI Radeon GPUs vs. competing Nvidia GeForce GPUs. Cost per 3DMark determined based on AMD internal benchmark results in 3DMark06 v1.1.1.0 at 1920x1200 4xAA 8xAF on an ASUS P5E (X38) or EVGA 780i platform running an Intel X9650, 2GB DDR2-800 (5-5-5-12 timings), Windows Vista RTM 64bit, and 8.471-Beta2_080214a-059709E-ATI or ForceWare 169.28beta. Based on the average price at Newegg.com as of March 3, 2008, two ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 X2 cards at $900, and two Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX cards at $900, two ATI Radeon™ 3870 X2 cards combine to score 16412 3DMarks while two GeForce 8800 GTX cards combine to score 12748 3DMarks resulting in the two ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 X2 cards delivering 28% more performance for the same price as the Nvidia solution.

2. Based on AMD benchmark results in Supreme Commander (2560x1600x32 8xAA 16xAF quality=Very High) and Unreal Tournament 3 (2560x1600x32 4xAA 16xAF dxmode=dx9) on an AMD Phenom 2.6GHz platform, using MSI K9A2 Plat (790FX) motherboard, 2GB DDR2-800 (5-5-5-12 timings), Windows Vista RTM 64bit, ATI Catalyst 8.3 beta drivers and Forceware drivers 169.28 Beta. Comparing the performance of two ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 X2 cards vs. one ATI Radeon™ HD 3870 card, Supreme Commander exhibits 3.32 times the performance of the single card when using quad CrossFireX, and Unreal Tournament 3 exhibits 3.23 times the performance of the single card when using quad CrossFireX.

3. Based on AMD benchmark results in 3DMark06 (1280x1024), Quake 4 (1600x1200 HQ), Prey (1280x1024) and FarCry (1600x1200) on an AMD Phenom 2.3 GHz platform using MSI K9A2 Plat (790FX) motherboard, 2GB DDR2-800 (5-5-5-12 timings), Windows Vista RTM 64bit, ATI Catalyst 8.3 beta drivers. With ATI Hybrid CrossFire enabled, the four applications listed above exhibit at least 1.7 times the performance of stand-alone integrated graphics on the AMD780G motherboard without ATI Hybrid CrossFire enabled.

Source

[Kayin]

Whoo-****ing_hoo! I will have drivers when my board comes back!

[RedBull78]

Cool, on my birthday. Niceeeee

[STaRGaZeR]

Cool, on my birthday. Niceeeee

Happy bday!

Can't wait for this. Tomorrow, Cat 8.3 and X-Fi Prelude, wohooo

[fatredwombat1]

So now Australia just has to wait for the rest of the world to get to the 5th already

[STaRGaZeR]

In Europe we are already in the 5th

[X.T.R.E.M.E_ICE]

Today, 03:25 PM is the time this thread was created

[Gambit_2K]

What is this "Digital Panel GPU image scaling", is it support for widescreenresolutions even if games don't support the resolutions?

[Dragy2k]

hi
well the drivers should be nice and mature by the time i dip my toe in this pond.

[ChaosMinionX]

cant wait!!!

[ThatGuy16]

Woot! so it should be coming out the same day my second 3870 arrives

Am i the only one that gets excited over new drivers?

[junkun13]

i've been waiting for this

[vmsein]

Outstanding!!! Been waiting for these since the release of the 3870X2. Happy day tomorrow

[003]

Does the HD2000 series get tessellation support? It had ing better, it uses the same tessellation chip/engine as the HD3000, though it's little talked about.

Man it seems like ATI has given the HD2000 series the shaft, even though it continuously wins 3dmark world records and overclocks like a beast.

[NapalmV5]

Digital Panel GPU image scaling: For those using widescreen displays, ATI Catalyst now allows users to enable GPU-accelerated scaling to maintain the aspect ratio of the display while providing superior image quality.

funny.. scaling worked perfectly fine prior to cats 6.5 without ccc

since then scaling has been a long hellish road..

im very curious what theyve fixed and broken this time..

[Nosfer@tu]

http://www.octeamdenmark.com/forums/...2441#post12441
It is online now
Not at AMD yet though

[KoHaN69]

"ATI Catalyst introduces anti-aliasing support for all Unreal Engine 3.0-based games running in DirectX 9 mode."
-That's great, now recode it completely to AA with shaders instead of ROPs!!


Digital Panel GPU image scaling: For those using widescreen displays, ATI Catalyst now allows users to enable GPU-accelerated scaling to maintain the aspect ratio of the display while providing superior image quality.
-So can it letter/blackbox the screen? if it does: OMFG, that's amazing, do you people realise how awesome this is?

[0maro]

Waiting for x64 Vista version of CAT

[roadie]

Seems to be one of the more significant Catalyst updates. I'll install these in the next few days, I guess.

[ChaosMinionX]

Time to put CrossfireX through the ropes!

[donitsi]

Time to put CrossfireX through the ropes!

Benchies please!!

[Sly Fox]

Well these drivers have done it for me.

Just put down the order on a Sapphire 3870x2. Hopefully I can finally play Crysis at half decent FPS now :P

[zerazax]

NICE! i cant wait for benchies

[jimmyz]

no hybrid x-fire yet, shows the crossfire-x dialog but says both bridges must be connected and the 3870x2 only has 1? put in my other card and same message, so 1 3870 x2 and 2 3850's not working together, waiting for rma return on my second 3870x2 is gonna kill me.

[STaRGaZeR]

Time to put CrossfireX through the ropes!

Test! test! TEST!

Have fun mate