Thursday, August 16th 2012
AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL Software Suite Released
AMD released the first WHQL-signed Catalyst drivers since June. Catalyst 12.8 WHQL is the first unified Catalyst driver certified for Windows 8, its release follows the RTM version of the operating system being available to enterprise and industry customers, ahead of the October 26 consumer retail launch. The driver introduces target-independent rasterization (TIR), an efficient new Direct3D rendering path. The driver also works to improve GPU power consumption. A suite of Windows 8-exclusive features, including native stereo 3D support and unified video API are included. Catalyst 12.8 WHQL also introduces performance-improvements specific to games, including up to 25% performance increase in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, 10% in Dirt 3, 6% in Batman: Arkham City, and 3% in Battlefield 3. Several game-specific bugs were patched.
DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL for Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (64-bit), Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (32-bit), Windows XP (32-bit), Windows XP (64-bit)
The change-log follows.
Features:
DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL for Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (64-bit), Windows Vista, 7 and 8 (32-bit), Windows XP (32-bit), Windows XP (64-bit)
The change-log follows.
Features:
- AMD's first official unified and logo certified driver for Windows 8, Windows 7 and Windows Vista
- Target-Independent Rasterization (TIR): TIR is a new rendering path that enables superior anti-aliasing in Direct3D driver applications
- Native Stereo 3D Support: Windows 8 natively supports stereoscopic 3D gaming and videos via compatible applications
- Unified Video API: Video playback has been integrated into the DirectX 11 API, enabling simultaneous video and gaming content. Transcoding performance may also be improved for supporting applications.
- Optimized screen rotation for rotation aware devices
- Improved sleep/resume performance
- Optimized GPU power consumption
- Major technologies / features also supported under Windows 8:
o AMD Eyefinity technology
o OpenCL
o OpenGL
o Unified Video Decoder (UVD)
o AMD Dual Graphics
o AMD CrossFire technology
o AMD Overdrive
o AMD Catalyst Control Center
o Vision Engine Control Center
- Up to 25% in Elder Scrolls: Skyrim
- Up to 3% in Battlefield 3
- Up to 6% in Batman: Arkham City
- Up to 3% in Dues Ex: Human Revolution
- Up to 6% in Crysis 2
- Up to 15% in Total War: Shogun
- Up to 8% in Crysis Warhead
- Up to 5% in Just Cause 2
- Up to 10% in Dirt 3
- The Secret World (DX11): Resolves corruption seen in HUD/options when running in CrossFire mode on the AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series
- TorchLight 2 - Improves single GPU performance, and disables CrossFire due to incompatible support when running in a Multi-GPU configuration
- Spec Ops: The Line: Improves CrossFire performance
- Hawken: Improves CrossFire performance
- Over/underscan settings are correctly restored on system reboot
- Audio is no longer disabled if the connected HDTV Is switched off/on
- Shogun 2 : Flickering text is no longer experienced
- Star Wars - The Old Republic : In game cinematic no longer experience flicker when using the arrow keys
- Dirt Showdown: 8-Ball track No longer hangs with Crossfire enabled
- Max Payne 3 : A black screen is no longer observed when launching game in DirectX 11 mode with Crossfire enabled
103 Comments on AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL Software Suite Released
Ya gotta be selective on what ya check off in the CCleaner options . :toast:
Pay 9-1 odd's, Driver sweeper is the problem
Aussi man, CCleaner is a big deal over in the united states lmao...
But to tell ya something.... I've used CC Crap Cleaner for 5 yrs and it never, ever, let me down!
Installed these the other day but haven't had a chance to check games or benchmarks yet, but nothing weird so far :roll: just installed over 12.6's
at least the games CPU limited, not GPU
everyone knows big rigs racing was the worst.
Uninstalled, reinstalled, ran driver sweeper, redownloaded it, reinstalled, no dice. CCC won't open.
Also seems to cause trouble playing Sleeping Dogs, sometimes it crashes on boot, or refuses to run full screen at all. Otherwise no problems on my 7950 crossfire, but these are bad enough to force me back into 12.7 betas.
I never really did like the ATI drivers, a part of me wants to toss these 7950s in the sale section and go for a pair of 670s in sli.