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.

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