Cat 8.8 Beta review (Powerplay 2.0 working)

[Hornet331]

We made a small test (3dmark Vantage) of a Radeon 4850 Crossfire System with the Catalyst 8.8 beta. We tested with a Intel Q6600 (3.8 GHz) and 4GB DDR3. The benches I've added. Look forward, the final Catalyst 8.8 can maybe a little bit better! The powerconsumption is the whole system.

review

driver

nearly 40watts drop in idle power consumption.

[STaRGaZeR]

review

driver

nearly 40watts drop in idle power consumption.

Will drivers be able to low the idle voltage in the 4870? The 4850 can do it via BIOS, show us the 4870

[Dragy2k]

links were so slow i needed another shave

[Macadamia]

That. Is. A. HUGE. Vantage. Jump.

And I thought by looking at 06 the 4850s weren't that potent...

[informal]

Good increase in Vantage + great improvement in idle power cons.
I hope this driver package brings some game improvements as well.

[STaRGaZeR]

Jedi Academy working (it wasn't in 8.7), Assassin's Creed crash on me in 1 minute. No improvements in idle frequency or power consumption (single 4870).

[informal]

What cards you have?4xxx series?Are you sure PowerPlay is functioning properly(verify the clocks and voltage)?

[gosh]

Catalyst 8.8: CrossFire and PowerPlay 2.0

[mr2sw21]

Jedi Academy working (it wasn't in 8.7), Assassin's Creed crash on me in 1 minute. No improvements in idle frequency or power consumption (single 4870).

Yeah me two the Assassin's Creed crash on me two I thought I am the only one. But I think I can play it about 30mins but actually it is pretty random crash. I don't understand why either so it is because of the 8.7 driver?

[STaRGaZeR]

What cards you have?4xxx series?Are you sure PowerPlay is functioning properly(verify the clocks and voltage)?

Single 4870. Yep, no clocks/voltage difference, 500/750 for idle/load, 1.275v always (using DMM). Power consumption of my entire system stays between 150-160W at idle, just like before.

Yeah me two the Assassin's Creed crash on me two I thought I am the only one. But I think I can play it about 30mins but actually it is pretty random crash. I don't understand why either so it is because of the 8.7 driver?

I didn't have any crashes in AC with 8.7, with this beta it crashes just after you appear in the master's office, always in the same place. Other games work like a charm though.

[fellix_bg]

The latest reference BIOS for HD4870 (.029335) already has lower idle voltage for the GPU.

[[XC] gomeler]

Anyone have a download link for these that isn't pctreiber.net? Their server is timing out, must have crashed.

edit: nm, links at the bottom of the first post work.

[STaRGaZeR]

The latest reference BIOS for HD4870 (.029335) already has lower idle voltage for the GPU.

Where is that BIOS? The last one I have notice is the ASUS TOP which is .029329

[Mysterfix]

I can't even get these drivers to work at all on vista 64. The first file won't open and the second one is missing the ini file.

[Mechromancer]

Jedi Academy working (it wasn't in 8.7), Assassin's Creed crash on me in 1 minute. No improvements in idle frequency or power consumption (single 4870).

You only see a drop in power consumption if you have a CROSSFIRE system. One card powers down at idle probably. There won't be any difference with a single card.

[kryptobs2000]

oh yes, please link to the bios with working pp for the 4870. Why does it take amd so long to get this feature working?

You only see a drop in power consumption if you have a CROSSFIRE system. One card powers down at idle probably. There won't be any difference with a single card.

So are you saying powerplay will never work on the 4870's?

[RaZz!]

so the improvements are only for crossfire? i'd have expected them to reduce power consumption with a single card also... :O

[STaRGaZeR]

You only see a drop in power consumption if you have a CROSSFIRE system. One card powers down at idle probably. There won't be any difference with a single card.

So you suggest in Crossfire with 8.7 both cards are at full clocks/voltage and with this beta one of the cards goes idle? That doesn't make any sense at all. And a 40W drop, 20W per card...

I won't trust those numbers until confirmed by a reliable source, ie an user here.

[GAR]

Anyone have any results, are these better than the 8.7's does CCC work in vista 64???

[Calmatory]

So the 40W drop is bogus?

[GAR]

I still get the INF error with ATI's drivers....... time to ebay these cards and get a single GTX 280

[GAR]

Finally got them to install after 3 tries, CCC still doesnt work under Vista 64, I can care less if anyone agrees, ATI's drivers suck a$$

[spajdr]

This drivers changes pretty much nothing

[Praz]

Anyone have any results, are these better than the 8.7's does CCC work in vista 64???

Don't know about these but CCC works fine in Vista64 using both the hotfix and 6.7. with the 4870.

[kryptobs2000]

Finally got them to install after 3 tries, CCC still doesnt work under Vista 64, I can care less if anyone agrees, ATI's drivers suck a$$

I don't know about with crossfire, but CCC works for me in Vista x64. I won't deny that ATI's drivers suck (as does the CCC), but they suck comparable to nvidias. Have fun going green, if drivers are what you want I'd suggest getting an Intel card.