Catalyst 13.1 Out Now (New 13.2 Beta Links 3,4&5)

[Black Octagon]

I must have tried all Catalyst drivers released since getting my 7970 at launch. Never had a single problem. The only exception is that I experience microstutter when Crossfire is enabled. I certainly 'hope' that this is fixed today but honestly won't hold my breath (such a feat would be truly historical)

 

[3DVagabond]

I must have tried all Catalyst drivers released since getting my 7970 at launch. Never had a single problem. The only exception is that I experience microstutter when Crossfire is enabled. I certainly 'hope' that this is fixed today but honestly won't hold my breath (such a feat would be truly historical)

Is the micro stutter on all games? Just curious, because it seems to be pretty random.

 

[Black Octagon]

Is the micro stutter on all games? Just curious, because it seems to be pretty random.

Yes all games, but the EXTENT of the stutter varies a lot from game to game. Well made games (like Deus Ex) tend to stutter less than badly made games (like Skyrim) but that could just be my limited experience.

No stutter on any game when in single card mode

 

[Elcs]

Ahhh this is good news. Just got my 7950 in last week and haven't noticed any issues with microstuttering, though I haven't particularly pressed the card much yet.

 

[Rvenger]

No drivers uploaded yet.

 

[lavaheadache]

No drivers uploaded yet.

lol, thanks.

Can we get an hourly update like that?

 

[Rvenger]

I formatted my machine last night so I just didn't install any video drivers... so yes I am waiting!! LOL

 

[Dstoop]

Just curious, those of you seeing artifacts what is your card clocked at?

All three of my cards have been factory overclocked, I have not OCed them past the factory.

You can drop the clocks, raise the clocks, try different models, manufacturers, etc. The artifacting is still there.

It doesn't affect every DX9 game, but it *has* been narrowed down to strictly a driver issue with these DX9 games. You can test it by putting the dlls from older drivers in the same folder as the game exe, which forces it to use those instead of the default driver bundled stuff (this was a popular fix to a lot of Fallout 3 problems, IIRC). Some versions of the drivers are way worse than others, and a lot of people have noticed that it seems to be related to lighting effects/shadows in some way.

I can run FurMark all day long and my card never breaks 75C or reports an error, but games that barely push my GPU over the 40% utilization mark consistently show artifacts.

It's a real issue, it's not a bad card and it's not an unstable OC and it's not heat, we promise It's notoriously bad in Guild Wars 2, it's not 100% reproducible, but for example if I walk past a lantern and see an artifact nine times out of ten if I attempt to do the same exact thing that caused it i'll see a similar artifact.

 

[dguy6789]

Just curious, those of you seeing artifacts what is your card clocked at?

stock reference clocks, not even factory OC

 

[Rvenger]

Just curious, those of you seeing artifacts what is your card clocked at?

Stock 925mhz! I don't artifact with the stock Windows 8 video drivers though.

 

[guskline]

Revenger, just picked up a Gigabyte 7870 OC to put in a Bulldozer 8150 rig (don't laugh!)

Nice video card. First 7000 series AMD card I've used. Have the Cat 12.10 drivers from 10/22/12. I wonder if the 13.1 drivers will affect this card?

 

[Dankk]

Still no 13.1 uploaded. I wonder what the hold-up is?

 

[jackstar7]

I'm watching for a tweet to see when it goes up.

Is there even a usual time of day to see them go up?

 

[VulgarDisplay]

Just thought you guys should know the drivers haven't been uploaded yet.

 

[NIGELG]

I'll try them if they are good.Any rumoured increases in performance/fixes for Farcry 3?

 

[Black Octagon]

C'mon AMD release them already. If these drivers magically solve my stutter then I will cancel my plans to sell my 7970s and forever sing your praises

 

[Red Hawk]

All three of my cards have been factory overclocked, I have not OCed them past the factory.

You can drop the clocks, raise the clocks, try different models, manufacturers, etc. The artifacting is still there.

It doesn't affect every DX9 game, but it *has* been narrowed down to strictly a driver issue with these DX9 games. You can test it by putting the dlls from older drivers in the same folder as the game exe, which forces it to use those instead of the default driver bundled stuff (this was a popular fix to a lot of Fallout 3 problems, IIRC). Some versions of the drivers are way worse than others, and a lot of people have noticed that it seems to be related to lighting effects/shadows in some way.

I can run FurMark all day long and my card never breaks 75C or reports an error, but games that barely push my GPU over the 40% utilization mark consistently show artifacts.

It's a real issue, it's not a bad card and it's not an unstable OC and it's not heat, we promise It's notoriously bad in Guild Wars 2, it's not 100% reproducible, but for example if I walk past a lantern and see an artifact nine times out of ten if I attempt to do the same exact thing that caused it i'll see a similar artifact.

I've been getting artifacting on my 7870 both DX9 games and DX11 games, like Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, and Arkham City, even after sending it in for RMA. Changing clock speeds does seem to effect artifacting in Arkham City. I'm about to send it in for another RMA, does it sound like it could be the same issue?

 

[Dankk]

I've been getting artifacting on my 7870 both DX9 games and DX11 games, like Mass Effect 3, Dragon Age 2, and Arkham City, even after sending it in for RMA. Changing clock speeds does seem to effect artifacting in Arkham City. I'm about to send it in for another RMA, does it sound like it could be the same issue?

What's the nature of the artifacts? Are they very brief and sporadic? Kind of like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPLrkozKoA

 

[Red Hawk]

What's the nature of the artifacts? Are they very brief and sporadic? Kind of like this? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIPLrkozKoA

Brief and sporadic, yes. That's most similar to the artifacts I got in Skyrim, where just walking around in the game overworld caused multicolored (not black) artifacts like that. That artifacting did disappear after I RMAed my card the first time; I still get stuff like black artifacting on characters' faces in Arkham City, white lines in menu and interface elements in Dragon Age 2, and texture flickering in Mass Effect 3.

 

[Dankk]

Brief and sporadic, yes. That's most similar to the artifacts I got in Skyrim, where just walking around in the game overworld caused multicolored (not black) artifacts like that. That artifacting did disappear after I RMAed my card the first time; I still get stuff like black artifacting on characters' faces in Arkham City, white lines in menu and interface elements in Dragon Age 2, and texture flickering in Mass Effect 3.

Interesting. Your issue sounds similar, but if you RMA'd your card and it helped (or at least changed), then your problem might be different from mine

In my case, I used two entirely different 7870's, in two entirely different PCs, and was able to reproduce artifacts in the exact same games in the exact same places, which is when I came to the conclusion that it's a driver problem.

Duke Nukem Forever and Train Simulator 2013 have black artifacts, like those in the video above.

Dead Island, Ridge Racer, and Sniper Ghost Warrior appear a bit more colorful (but behave exactly the same: brief, intermittent, sporadic).

 

[Rvenger]

I can remain stable with the same artifacts even if I overclock the GPU at default voltage. I know they are driver related since the stock Windows 8 drivers are not artifacting at all. I believe the Microsoft drivers are 12.8s without CCC.

 

[Red Hawk]

Interesting. Your issue sounds similar, but if you RMA'd your card and it helped (or at least changed), then your problem might be different from mine

In my case, I used two entirely different 7870's, in two entirely different PCs, and was able to reproduce artifacts in the exact same games in the exact same places, which is when I came to the conclusion that it's a driver problem.

Duke Nukem Forever and Train Simulator 2013 have black artifacts, like those in the video above.

Dead Island, Ridge Racer, and Sniper Ghost Warrior appear a bit more colorful (but behave exactly the same: brief, intermittent, sporadic).

Do the artifacts not appear in 12.8 for you? I've really only tested the card with 12.10 and the 12.11 betas.

 

[Dankk]

Do the artifacts not appear in 12.8 for you? I've really only tested the card with 12.10 and the 12.11 betas.

They do appear in 12.8. They appear in 12.6 as well.

In my unscientific testing, the only way I managed to get rid of the artifacts was to revert all the way back to 12.4. Using drivers that old isn't really acceptable to me though.

 

[Red Hawk]

They do appear in 12.8. They appear in 12.6 as well.

In my unscientific testing, the only way I managed to get rid of the artifacts was to revert all the way back to 12.4. Using drivers that old isn't really acceptable to me though.

Neither is it for me...didn't the 7000 series have a wake from sleep bug back then, too? Argh. To RMA or not to RMA, that is the question...

 

[Dankk]

Neither is it for me...didn't the 7000 series have a wake from sleep bug back then, too? Argh. To RMA or not to RMA, that is the question...

Yup, 12.4 had a crippling issue of it's own, making PCs hard-crash after the monitor went to sleep.

Let's hold onto our horses and wait until AMD posts 13.1 for download, like they said they would. Any time now...