ATI Performance Driver + Stream Computing- 8.12 Beta

[Sylvanas]

Source

AMD is working hard on ATI Catalyst 8.12 drivers. Here's a little sneak preview of what the new drivers will offer. ATI Catalyst 8.12 Windows driver release include:

ATI Stream support:

With the release of ATI Catalyst 8.12 users can unlock the potential of accelerated applications enabling ATI Stream technology for millions of ATI Radeon? graphics processors worldwide
ATI Stream harnesses the tremendous processing power of the graphics processing unit (GPU) for high-performance, data-intensive computations over a wide range of scientific, business and consumer applications.
ATI Stream enables the hundreds of parallel cores inside AMD graphics processors to accelerate general purpose applications. These capabilities will allow ATI Stream-enabled programs, for a variety of different tasks and from a growing number of software vendors, to operate with optimized performance or with new functionality.
The CAL (Compute Abstraction Layer) is now include in the Catalyst driver package. CAL is the enabling component for ATI Stream


ATI Stream application: ATI Avivo Video Converter

Using ATI Stream technology, owners of ATI Radeon? HD 4800 Series and ATI Radeon? HD 4600 Series of graphics cards can take advantage of this video conversion tool (found in Catalyst Control Center Basic View) to achieve incredible performance levels in video transcoding.
ATI Catalyst Control Center ? Noise reduction for progressive video content:

This release of Catalyst? introduces a new advanced video quality control: Noise Reduction for progressive video content, which removes ghosting artifacts while preserving details of the original video. The slider control can be found in the All Settings page of the Avivo Video tab found in the Catalyst Control Center.

Performance improvements:

* Catalyst 8.12 Preliminary Performance Notes
* Crysis + 2-7%
* Crysis Warhead + 2-3%
* Devil May Cry 4 + 1-6%
* Far Cry 2
* + noAA scores are fixed for Crossfire configs; this is worth +20% on slower cards, and as much as 70% on faster ones
* + 5-10% gains when AA is enabled
* FEAR + 2-6%
* Left 4 Dead + 2-4%
* Lost Planet Colonies + 3-10%, mostly in Area 2
* Prey + 2-5%
* STALKER Clear Sky + 5-10%, primarily on Crossfire configurations

Beta Availiable here expect the official out later this month as usual.

 

[JPB]

Available here too

For Vista and XP.

Actually it looks like my link is for Vista only.

 

[BFG10K]

It's nice to see oldies like Fear and Prey getting performance optimizations. :thumbsup:

I?ve just finished testing nVidia?s Big Bang drivers so I may get an itch to test these too.

 

[VERTIGGO]

No mention of the communication problem with PCI-E 1.1 boards which results in a 4870x2 running in PCI-E 2.0 x1 mode and consequently disabling it's second GPU? Fixing that error alone will bring more than 100% fps improvement in plenty of games.

Eg. In L4D get fps in the 40s with 8.11 and 90s-100s with 8.6 simply because the 8.11 driver gets confused by PCI-E 1.1

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's nice to see oldies like Fear and Prey getting performance optimizations. :thumbsup:

Why? Those games already run perfectly even on older cards. Why do you care if you have 180 fps instead of 170 fps in FEAR?

ATI should fix that stupid FarCry 2 game. I can't play it even today, after 2 months from its release date. Why would I bother for 2-5% increase in performance in Prey ( I finished that in 2006) and FEAR?

 

[amtbr]

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's nice to see oldies like Fear and Prey getting performance optimizations. :thumbsup:

Why? Those games already run perfectly even on older cards. Why do you care if you have 180 fps instead of 170 fps in FEAR?

ATI should fix that stupid FarCry 2 game. I can't play it even today, after 2 months from its release date. Why would I bother for 2-5% increase in performance in Prey ( I finished that in 2006) and FEAR?

but d00d 170fps is so l33t.

Exactly, who gives a shit about Prey and Fear, who plays those? They run great on current gen hardware. Work on NEW GAMES!

 

[lavaheadache]

Far Cry 2 still stu.. stu.. stu.. stutters in dx10 mode and gfx_maxfps x still fixes it. To me this is about the only I can really say Amd is dropping the ball on. WTF... fix this already!!!

 

[error8]

Originally posted by: lavaheadache
Far Cry 2 still stu.. stu.. stu.. stutters in dx10 mode and gfx_maxfps x still fixes it.

gfx_maxfps worked in the beginning, but for some reason, it doesn't anymore. It plays fine for a couple of minutes, but then it totally chokes, no matter if the gfx_maxpfs is set at 20-25 or 30 fps. It just doesn't work.

I never understood why isn't ATi trying to fix this game, since it's the "superstar" of this time. Or, maybe they are trying to fix it, but they can't, because they're retards or something.

 

[SolMiester]

Is that bug in FC2 for x2 only, or all ATi 48xx generation?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: VERTIGGO
No mention of the communication problem with PCI-E 1.1 boards which results in a 4870x2 running in PCI-E 2.0 x1 mode and consequently disabling it's second GPU? Fixing that error alone will bring more than 100% fps improvement in plenty of games.

Eg. In L4D get fps in the 40s with 8.11 and 90s-100s with 8.6 simply because the 8.11 driver gets confused by PCI-E 1.1

Not everyone gets that error. It's more or less a bug in BIOS or something. I've seen people on P35 boards using the x2 and getting scores in line with review sites.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: SolMiester
Is that bug in FC2 for x2 only, or all ATi 48xx generation?

I don't know, Hardocp did an article recently and Farcry 2 ran faster in DX10 than DX9 in all cases. http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/...U5MSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

They didn't mention any stuttering with the 4870. They used the 1GB version which might make a difference, or if people would stop trying to use 8xAA with the newest games out lol.

I really don't know.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: amtbr

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's nice to see oldies like Fear and Prey getting performance optimizations. :thumbsup:

Why? Those games already run perfectly even on older cards. Why do you care if you have 180 fps instead of 170 fps in FEAR?

ATI should fix that stupid FarCry 2 game. I can't play it even today, after 2 months from its release date. Why would I bother for 2-5% increase in performance in Prey ( I finished that in 2006) and FEAR?

but d00d 170fps is so l33t.

Exactly, who gives a shit about Prey and Fear, who plays those? They run great on current gen hardware. Work on NEW GAMES!

Who says they worked specifically on Prey and FEAR? They probably changed some stuff that helped them out too so they mentioned it in the release notes. You assume too much and know too little. Maybe a tweak they added for Crysis or Farcry had an effect ok another game too. If i remember correctly, FEAR makes heavy usage of some shaders. Maybe something they tweaked a bit in the driver for shader performance had an impact?

 

[Sylvanas]

Originally posted by: amtbr

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's nice to see oldies like Fear and Prey getting performance optimizations. :thumbsup:

Why? Those games already run perfectly even on older cards. Why do you care if you have 180 fps instead of 170 fps in FEAR?

ATI should fix that stupid FarCry 2 game. I can't play it even today, after 2 months from its release date. Why would I bother for 2-5% increase in performance in Prey ( I finished that in 2006) and FEAR?

but d00d 170fps is so l33t.

Exactly, who gives a shit about Prey and Fear, who plays those? They run great on current gen hardware. Work on NEW GAMES!

Maybe you didnt't actually read:

Catalyst 8.12 Preliminary Performance Notes
* Crysis + 2-7%
* Crysis Warhead + 2-3%
* Devil May Cry 4 + 1-6%
* Far Cry 2
* + noAA scores are fixed for Crossfire configs; this is worth +20% on slower cards, and as much as 70% on faster ones
* + 5-10% gains when AA is enabled
* FEAR + 2-6%
* Left 4 Dead + 2-4%
* Lost Planet Colonies + 3-10%, mostly in Area 2
* Prey + 2-5%
* STALKER Clear Sky + 5-10%, primarily on Crossfire configurations

These ARE new games. I haven't tried these drivers yet,I figure theres no harm in waiting a few days for the official, my 4870X2 works flawless in everything so theres no need to try a Beta at this stage.

Anyway why is nobody talking about the FREE GPU accelerated Video encoder!

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas

Originally posted by: amtbr

Originally posted by: error8

Originally posted by: BFG10K
It's nice to see oldies like Fear and Prey getting performance optimizations. :thumbsup:

Why? Those games already run perfectly even on older cards. Why do you care if you have 180 fps instead of 170 fps in FEAR?

ATI should fix that stupid FarCry 2 game. I can't play it even today, after 2 months from its release date. Why would I bother for 2-5% increase in performance in Prey ( I finished that in 2006) and FEAR?

but d00d 170fps is so l33t.

Exactly, who gives a shit about Prey and Fear, who plays those? They run great on current gen hardware. Work on NEW GAMES!

Maybe you didnt't actually read:

Catalyst 8.12 Preliminary Performance Notes
* Crysis + 2-7%
* Crysis Warhead + 2-3%
* Devil May Cry 4 + 1-6%
* Far Cry 2
* + noAA scores are fixed for Crossfire configs; this is worth +20% on slower cards, and as much as 70% on faster ones
* + 5-10% gains when AA is enabled
* FEAR + 2-6%
* Left 4 Dead + 2-4%
* Lost Planet Colonies + 3-10%, mostly in Area 2
* Prey + 2-5%
* STALKER Clear Sky + 5-10%, primarily on Crossfire configurations

These ARE new games. I haven't tried these drivers yet,I figure theres no harm in waiting a few days for the official, my 4870X2 works flawless in everything so theres no need to try a Beta at this stage.

Anyway why is nobody talking about the FREE GPU accelerated Video encoder!

Nvidia had a transcoder that used the GPU and there was a thread immediately and everyone was saying how great it is and talking about it as if it's a gift from God.

Anyway, I'll play with it a bit tomorrow or over the weekend.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: SolMiester
Is that bug in FC2 for x2 only, or all ATi 48xx generation?

I don't know, Hardocp did an article recently and Farcry 2 ran faster in DX10 than DX9 in all cases. http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/...U5MSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

They didn't mention any stuttering with the 4870. They used the 1GB version which might make a difference, or if people would stop trying to use 8xAA with the newest games out lol.

I really don't know.

It is a DX10 issue related to most of their dx10 compatible cards. I have an hd3850 512 and an hd4870 512 that they both exhibit the stuttering until you cap the frames. I say most because appparently people with hd4870 1 gig and x2's dont have the problem. Oh and it happens regardless on using AA or not and at any resolution

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: SolMiester
Is that bug in FC2 for x2 only, or all ATi 48xx generation?

I don't know, Hardocp did an article recently and Farcry 2 ran faster in DX10 than DX9 in all cases. http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/...U5MSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

They didn't mention any stuttering with the 4870. They used the 1GB version which might make a difference, or if people would stop trying to use 8xAA with the newest games out lol.

I really don't know.

It is a DX10 issue related to most of their dx10 compatible cards. I have an hd3850 512 and an hd4870 512 that they both exhibit the stuttering until you cap the frames. I say most because appparently people with hd4870 1 gig and x2's dont have the problem

Then it's an issue with 512MB and less.

 

[lavaheadache]

it seems so, btw I edited the last sentence of my previous post

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: SolMiester
Is that bug in FC2 for x2 only, or all ATi 48xx generation?

I don't know, Hardocp did an article recently and Farcry 2 ran faster in DX10 than DX9 in all cases. http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/...U5MSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

They didn't mention any stuttering with the 4870. They used the 1GB version which might make a difference, or if people would stop trying to use 8xAA with the newest games out lol.

I really don't know.

It is a DX10 issue related to most of their dx10 compatible cards. I have an hd3850 512 and an hd4870 512 that they both exhibit the stuttering until you cap the frames. I say most because appparently people with hd4870 1 gig and x2's dont have the problem

Then it's an issue with 512MB and less.

nope

i had no issues with X2 and FC2
.. only with 4870/1GB and FC2; the framerate cap took care of it

i am finishing up benching on Cat 8-11 right now in preparation for these Cat 8-12 Stream drivers; it looks like i also get *two* 1-GB 4870s coming - 1 tomorrow and 1 next week - so i can finally test X2 against 4870-1GB Crossfire
[one is to replace my fried ASUS 4870-1GB]

 

[cmdrdredd]

anyone find the video convertor app? I looked and looked

 

[Sylvanas]

So what kind of results are people getting?

 

[akugami]

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
These ARE new games. I haven't tried these drivers yet,I figure theres no harm in waiting a few days for the official, my 4870X2 works flawless in everything so theres no need to try a Beta at this stage.

Anyway why is nobody talking about the FREE GPU accelerated Video encoder!

I have a 4870. I am not talking about the accelerated video encoder because the last time I was suckered into that by AMD/ATI, it was not supported by any other apps. It looks to be more of the same this time. If it was a plugin for video editors like Adobe Premiere then it would be different. Anyone who is seriously looking at accelerated video encoding wants finer controls as well as the ability to use it in their favorite video editing software.

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
anyone find the video convertor app? I looked and looked

Built into the drivers. And I quote, "found in Catalyst Control Center Basic View."

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: akugami

Originally posted by: Sylvanas
These ARE new games. I haven't tried these drivers yet,I figure theres no harm in waiting a few days for the official, my 4870X2 works flawless in everything so theres no need to try a Beta at this stage.

Anyway why is nobody talking about the FREE GPU accelerated Video encoder!

I have a 4870. I am not talking about the accelerated video encoder because the last time I was suckered into that by AMD/ATI, it was not supported by any other apps. It looks to be more of the same this time. If it was a plugin for video editors like Adobe Premiere then it would be different. Anyone who is seriously looking at accelerated video encoding wants finer controls as well as the ability to use it in their favorite video editing software.

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
anyone find the video convertor app? I looked and looked

Built into the drivers. And I quote, "found in Catalyst Control Center Basic View."

Basic view DOH!

ok that's why I missed it.

 

[SSChevy2001]

Here's a review on the ATi stream encoder.
http://www.pcper.com/article.p...=647&type=expert&pid=3

IMO though it's a POS.

ATi needs to get GPU acceleration to work with one of the following mediacoder, virtualdub, handbrake, ... and stop work on their stupid avivo converter.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: SSChevy2001
Here's a review on the ATi stream encoder.
http://www.pcper.com/article.p...=647&type=expert&pid=3

IMO though it's a POS.

ATi needs to get GPU acceleration to work with one of the following mediacoder, virtualdub, handbrake, ... and stop work on their stupid avivo converter.

Both apps are a step in the right direction.

 

[MadFox]

Has anyone managed to get the GPU accelerated encoding working on XP? I installed the new drivers, fired up AVIVO from the basic menu, aaand it just used the cpu, took 30 minutes to transcode a file, used nearly 100% cpu and gpu was around the 0-6% mark. Bit disappointed tbh, I will have to fire up my vista install and see if it works there. IIRC this happened on the older avivo too, with it just using cpu.