# ATI Catalyst 7.8 BETA Released



## malware (Jul 28, 2007)

AMD/ATI has released new Catalyst 7.8 BETA video drivers. Unfortunately there're no release notes for this release. Use at your own risk.

*ATI Catalyst 7.8 BETA all OS*

*View at TechPowerUp Main Site*


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## Paradox (Jul 28, 2007)

Sweet maybe this will help AA with the 2600xt's... and lol at 170mb worth of driver


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## Easy Rhino (Jul 28, 2007)

why would they release beta drivers?


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## Dippyskoodlez (Jul 28, 2007)

Easy Rhino said:


> why would they release beta drivers?



Why not? 

Probably implementing something, that needs a wider stress test than they can do in-shop.


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## jocksteeluk (Jul 28, 2007)

Easy Rhino said:


> why would they release beta drivers?



because they want guinea pigs to test them.


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## imperialreign (Jul 28, 2007)

> because they want guinea pigs to test them.




and we're the sheep to follow . . .


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## Exceededgoku (Jul 28, 2007)

no sh*t sherlock.. so they're going to find bugs which only you the user seems to ever find (and indeed me as well as everyone else) on their own? Hate this sort of comment, how do you expect them to improve the drivers without testing it on the people who report all the problems?????!


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## imperialreign (Jul 28, 2007)

I know all that, I was being sarcastic 

I've already DLed the beta and will throw it on later tonight before I start gaming - I'm really hoping that some of the performance issues with the 7.7 release might be cleared up.  We'll see how it goes


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## Paradox (Jul 28, 2007)

Wow this driver is great!

AA is much better now (75FPS vs 9fps) and I don't get the shadow flickering anymore


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## Nemesis881 (Jul 28, 2007)

Easy Rhino said:


> why would they release beta drivers?



Because they know that 7.7 sucked and they want to test fixes to make sure that the final 7.8 is good.


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## Jimmy 2004 (Jul 28, 2007)

It would be better if their betas were more openly available, like NVIDIA's, that way they could spot any niggling issues before they make it mainstream yet have a large enough sample of people testing to be fairly sure they work.


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## mandelore (Jul 28, 2007)

cool i got over 17k 3dmark 2005  compared to 16.8, so thats an improvement, yet to try anything else, and that was with everything running in background, even antivirus


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## Paradox (Jul 28, 2007)

4827 vs 4446 with a 2600XT


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## Apocolypse007 (Jul 28, 2007)

With the 7.7's immediately after installation my entire monitor switched to all pink. It was a horrible bug and i had to move back to 7.6's. if anyone else had this bug and the 7.8 beta fixes it, please post!


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## selway89 (Jul 28, 2007)

Hoping i see some gain on my card (X1950XT), that would be nice, a higher overcloc with the CCC overdrive feature would be nice.

No money for DX10 yet


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## EastCoasthandle (Jul 28, 2007)

wasn't this discussed over at Rage3d some time ago?


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## Azn Tr14dZ (Jul 28, 2007)

So...is it worth a download?


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## kdeaner (Jul 29, 2007)

imperialreign said:


> I know all that, I was being sarcastic
> 
> I've already DLed the beta and will throw it on later tonight before I start gaming - I'm really hoping that some of the performance issues with the 7.7 release might be cleared up.  We'll see how it goes




I noticed a performance drop too when I went to 7.7 from 7.6 on my X1950Pro. Can I just reinstall the 7.6 drivers over the 7.7's?


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## crow1001 (Jul 29, 2007)

kdeaner said:


> I noticed a performance drop too when I went to 7.7 from 7.6 on my X1950Pro. Can I just reinstall the 7.6 drivers over the 7.7's?




Better to go to the control panel and add and remove programs then look for the ATI- software uninstall utility, run it then restart your PC and install the 7.6 drivers.


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## WarEagleAU (Jul 29, 2007)

no its not adviseable. You will have all sorts of problems installing newer drivers over older ones. Get driver cleaner pro and you will be good to go.


Coincidentally, anyone know if the bug with 7.6 with native resolution of lcd monitors, was fixed?


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## imperialreign (Jul 29, 2007)

> I noticed a performance drop too when I went to 7.7 from 7.6 on my X1950Pro. Can I just reinstall the 7.6 drivers over the 7.7's?




I'd recommend against it, IMHO.  Uninstall the 7.7 drivers first, then after reboot, install 7.6




With this 7.8 beta, just a quick run on 3DMark06:

7.6 Catalyst - 3279 (1440x900; AA 0; AF 0)
7.8 Catalyst beta - 3396 (1440x900; AA 0; AF 0)

that's a jump right there with absolutely no other changes, 3rd party or otherwise - good 'ol ATi driver's workin their magic!

Now to see how she holds up to some gaming this evening - hopefully no bugs, crashes, BSOD's, or hiccups <crosses fingers>!!


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## mandelore (Jul 29, 2007)

the 7.8's so far are looking nice!! no bugs yet, apart from i had to switch my display adaptor thingy between my 2 displays to get em working, but that was easy to remidy!


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## Wile E (Jul 29, 2007)

I picked up 127 pts in 3dMark06 from 7.6s to these

7.6 = 10,914

7.8 beta = 11,041


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## kdeaner (Jul 29, 2007)

I just ran some ATT benchmarks before and after reverting back to the 7.6 Cats:

X1950Pro @ stock on 7.6 drivers
6664

X1950Pro @ OC'd to 621/770 on 7.6 drivers
7287

X1950Pro @ stock on 7.7 drivers
6263

X1950Pro @ OC'd to 621/770 on 7.7 drivers
6850

Quiet a drop. I'm glad the 7.8's are better but I think I'll wate for the final release. I don't like beta SW.


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## Azn Tr14dZ (Jul 29, 2007)

I might give it a try in a bit, see how it affects "older" cards like my X800XL.

EDIT:
3DMark05
X800XL OC @ 440/540 with EMT: 5904

X800XL OC @ 440/540 with EMT: 5928

I guess it affects newer cards more.


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## DOM (Jul 29, 2007)

Is just me or its download is slow


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## Kursah (Jul 29, 2007)

My D/L went max for my connection (160Kbps) the entire time, but it was earlier in the evening also. 

So far I haven't noticed a huge difference, but everything does seem smoother. I will bench soon!


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jul 29, 2007)

lol i.m getting 666kb/sec.


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## DOM (Jul 29, 2007)

Ha Ha 

3.2GHz 
MEM 1000Mhz 5-5-5-15
Card 675/972

7.7: 6766

7.8: 6818 +52


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## SK-1 (Jul 29, 2007)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R looks better to me, on 06' I went from 16080 to 16188!
F.E.A.R  AVG. FPS in test, from 88fps to 96 fps. 
SO far this beta seems the best (at least for my crossfire rig) offering from ATI in a while.
Wonder how long before the public download is ready.


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## Nitrogliserin (Jul 29, 2007)

is there anyone who use this with x1800 and see any increase?


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## eidairaman1 (Jul 29, 2007)

*more?*

damn, and i just updated to 7.7s for a AGP x1950 pro.


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## Steevo (Jul 29, 2007)

I ma downloading right now.


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## MaxSem (Jul 29, 2007)

Core E4300 (3.4GHz), X1950GT (655/1539) 

*CS Source* build 3152 (1024x768, All High, AA4x, AF8x) 
Catalyst 7.7 - 208fps 
Catalyst 7.8beta - 211fps 

*Oblivion* v1.0 (1024x768, All High, AA0x, HDR On) Outdoor 
Catalyst 7.7 - 35fps 
Catalyst 7.8beta - 36fps 

*Stalker* v1.0003 (1024x768, All High, AA0x, AF8x) 
Catalyst 7.7 - 50fps 
Catalyst 7.8beta - 51fps


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## DaMulta (Jul 29, 2007)

My 06 score went up 100 points with 7.8 

1950XTX


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## DRDNA (Jul 29, 2007)

just  installed and   atitoool  is  reporting the install as CCC    7.7   ..i will run a 3dm05  and  see  how these  get  on.


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## Deleted member 24505 (Jul 29, 2007)

the driver version for 7.8 is 8.40.mine said 7.7 on ccc but the driver version is 8.40 not 8.3xx.

hope this helps drdna.

mine is better with this driver too.well done dammit,i guess this will soon be certified 7.8 driver,going by these results.


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## InfDamarvel (Jul 29, 2007)

Im surprised Im not seeing X2600XT and X2900XT users in this thread. Wonder if this drive improves the horrid AA performance drop.


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## MarcusTaz (Jul 29, 2007)

My TV works again w00t!!

will run 3d and post back..

first run no oc 12007

if I try and OC these using overdrive I get blue screen.... will wait for full release


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## itrunshot (Jul 29, 2007)

I only did a quick test of counter strike. All settings maxed 1680x1050 8xMSAA 16xAF

7.7 - avg 61, min 30
7.8 - avg 68, min 34
7.8 - avg 154, min 83  (only changed from wide to box AA)


e6600 @3.6
hd2900xt @default
4gb ram
vista 64


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## Steevo (Jul 30, 2007)

It was a bitch to install. Had to clean my system and delete leftover files.




But I noticed about 1FPS more in TDU and with my current system I only get 28FPS with all the eye candy turned on @ 1680X1050, GPU limited.


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## MarcusTaz (Jul 30, 2007)

Steevo said:


> It was a bitch to install. Had to clean my system and delete leftover files.
> 
> 
> 
> ...



really? I had 7.6 installed and just ran the update with no problems.. 

maybe an XP only issue?


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## mandelore (Jul 30, 2007)

InfDamarvel said:


> Im surprised Im not seeing X2600XT and X2900XT users in this thread. Wonder if this drive improves the horrid AA performance drop.



im on a 2900, and yes it improved 3dmark scores, and zero bugs so far

but im with ya all here, these 7.8's really  are spot on, I wonder if theres room for further improvements? coz between the oem drivers and these theres a substantial improvement

Edit:

im noticing slighty higher idle temperatures on my gpu core, only by a few degrees. could be just my hot room, but can any1 else confirm this on their 2900's?


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## MarcusTaz (Jul 30, 2007)

mandelore said:


> im on a 2900, and yes it improved 3dmark scores, and zero bugs so far
> 
> but im with ya all here, these 7.8's really  are spot on, I wonder if theres room for further improvements? coz between the oem drivers and these theres a substantial improvement
> 
> ...




Yes!!  I noticed Temps went back up for me 10c and now is temps are just like the 7.5 cats, which worked fine with WMC (windows media center) so I wonder if the temp increase is needed to get WMC to run without BSOD? Also again running 10c more do you think 7.6 & 7.7 were just trying to get the card to run cooler and use less energy while sacraficing performance? Like I said before, since I am running Vista I use ATI Overdrive to OC and I cannot OC with these drivers without BSOD running 3Dmark. other then that they run great, played COD2 for 2 hours last night without a hitch...

On another note the 7.5 Cat did not install the "ATI T200 Unified AVStream Driver" Under Device Manager>Sound Video Game Controllers. Rather is saw it as an Unknown Device. It was not until 7.6 and on that it installed...


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## trancito (Jul 30, 2007)

itrunshot said:


> I only did a quick test of counter strike. All settings maxed 1680x1050 8xMSAA 16xAF
> 
> 7.7 - avg 61, min 30
> 7.8 - avg 68, min 34
> ...



This data is very interesting. What is the diference between box and wide AA. Have you tried the new edge detection AA?


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## allen337 (Jul 30, 2007)

InfDamarvel said:


> Im surprised Im not seeing X2600XT and X2900XT users in this thread. Wonder if this drive improves the horrid AA performance drop.





alot better  ~~http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=2597031


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## chefnr1 (Jul 30, 2007)

Installed and reboot no CCC show up so i can't enable CrossFire , wonder why so back to cat 7.5 again


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## devguy (Jul 31, 2007)

They sucked for me.  On a Radeon x800 128mb 432/432, my '06 score was 1300 w/7.8 beta and 1500 w/7.7.

I'll stick w/7.7 thank you very much.


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## EastCoasthandle (Aug 7, 2007)

any more testing with 7.8?


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## MarcusTaz (Aug 7, 2007)

I have no issues with 7.8 and I run them full time as it allows Windows Media Center to run Live TV without BSOD. Also all my games work without issue. Temps are back up like the 7.5 but I can deal with it.

BTW ECH, did you get a 1gb version of the 2900 yet?

Looks like the Sapphire is no longer avail on Newegg and the HIS is out of stock...


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## DRDNA (Aug 7, 2007)

so far same as the 7.6 cats for me.....but better than the 7.7 cats. EVERYthing seems the same as the 7.6 cats.....except the install was over 128MB big


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## wiak (Aug 7, 2007)

i think this fixes some missing refresh rates on Radeon x1250/x1200 series


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 18, 2007)

Anyone having any weird issues with them as a Final Realease?

I am having a problem with them, it seems to turn off AGP Write and AGP Read also PCI Write and Read under smartgart, after trying to retest them the settings are shut off after a reboot, Whats weird is this problem never occured with Catalyst 7.3 or 7.7, I uninstalled the 7.7s with the New GURU3D Driver cleaner utility. After installing the 7.8s is when those settings were shut off, im just wondering why tho. I have tried to uninstall and reinstall the driver, i also tried to uninstall and reinstall the AGP Gart to no luck at all. Anyhelp is appreciated. BTW reason i didn't use Drivercleaner pro is because its outdated as of a revision, and the newest utility costs money (The guy that created the utility is a Sellout).


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## eidairaman1 (Aug 19, 2007)

well i think for now im going to stick with the Catalyst 7.6 since they perform the same as the 7.8s without the SMARTGART problems


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