Tuesday, March 4th 2008

ATI Catalyst 8.3, Hybrid CrossFire and CrossFireX Announced

AMD today announced its latest graphics driver release to advance the Ultimate Visual Experience for PC gaming enthusiasts and casual gamers alike. Expected to be available for download starting March 5, ATI Catalyst 8.3 is a milestone software update in delivering both CrossFireX for Windows Vista - the world's first quad-GPU support, and scalable, cost-effective three GPU support - as well as ATI Hybrid Graphics Technology for casual gamers. These multi-GPU capabilities provide gamers a more realistic and immersive experience allowing them to play at high resolutions with demanding image quality settings, and at a better value than competing multi-GPU solutions.

"AMD packed ATI Catalyst 8.3 with a double-barreled set of leading technologies to simultaneously push the Ultimate Visual Experience to new heights and to a wider population of PC users," said Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Graphics Product Group. "We deliver industry firsts that make a visible difference to PC users, whether it's CrossFireX and the first ever quad-GPU performance on Windows Vista, or ATI Hybrid Graphics that bring a new level of performance to mainstream PC platforms."

Advancing Multi-GPU Gaming with CrossFireX
Through three- and four-GPU configurations in CrossFireX, gamers can see multi-GPU performance scaling across a range of today's most popular DirectX 9 and DirectX 10 games on Windows Vista -- up to 3.2 times the performance over a single GPU2 in some scenarios. The flexible architecture of CrossFireX allows for the mixing and matching of high-performing ATI Radeon GPUs. Any ATI Radeon HD 3850, ATI Radeon HD 3870 or ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 cards can be combined to harness the power of up to four GPUs. CrossFireX also supports a wide range of platforms, enabling many gamers to take advantage of three- and four-GPU gaming on their existing hardware.

Boosting Game Performance through ATI Hybrid CrossFire
ATI Catalyst 8.3 also introduces ATI Hybrid Graphics support for Windows Vista. An industry first that is unique to AMD processor-based platforms, ATI Hybrid CrossFire delivers a significant 3D performance boost. Up to 70 percent increases in performance are possible in some gaming scenarios3 based on PCs comprised of an AMD 780G motherboard and ATI Radeon HD 3400 Series graphics product in Windows Vista. ATI Hybrid Graphics also support up to four independent displays through the SurroudView feature for those who want to maximize productivity.

Additional Innovations Found in ATI Catalyst 8.3
Beyond multi-GPU configurations in CrossFireX, ATI Catalyst 8.3 introduces a number of new features including:
  • DirectX 10.1 and Tessellation Support: ATI Catalyst 8.3 marks the first time DirectX 10.1 support for the ATI Radeon HD 3000 series, and tessellation support for the ATI Radeon HD 3800 series have been made available to developers.
  • Anti-Aliasing enhancements: ATI Catalyst introduces anti-aliasing support for all Unreal Engine 3.0-based games running in DirectX 9 mode. ATI Catalyst also allows users to enable the Custom Filter Anti-Aliasing filters (box and wide tent) while running in CrossFire Super Anti-Aliasing modes, providing superior image quality.
  • HydraVision support for Windows Vista: HydraVision support is now included in ATI Catalyst Control Center for Windows Vista. HydraVision enables users to efficiently organize multiple applications across single or multiple displays. You may configure up to nine virtual desktops, and divide the Windows Vista desktop into definable areas helping to easily move and organize multiple applications.
  • Digital Panel GPU image scaling: For those using widescreen displays, ATI Catalyst now allows users to enable GPU-accelerated scaling to maintain the aspect ratio of the display while providing superior image quality.
  • Advanced Video Quality controls: With ATI Catalyst 8.3, multimedia enthusiasts get further control over video quality. Using the new edge enhancement feature, the level of sharpness of video content can be adjusted. Through the new noise reduction feature, ghosting artifacts can be removed while preserving the details of the original video. The new slider controls can be found in the All Settings page of the Avivo Video tab found in ATI Catalyst Control Center.
Availability
ATI Catalyst 8.3 is scheduled to be available as a free download starting Tuesday, March 4 online at http://ati.amd.com/support/driver.html.
Source: AMD
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83 Comments on ATI Catalyst 8.3, Hybrid CrossFire and CrossFireX Announced

#51
crow1001
LTJOE118Sorry, trying to get the hang of this forum stuff.

So here is my before 8.3 installation



and here is my after 8.3 installation

Looks like you have clocked the X2 after YOU installed the 8.3 drivers, i know GPUZ is showing 2D clocks but they have increased over the first GPUZ shot with previous drivers.
Posted on Reply
#52
kylew
LTJOE118Sorry, trying to get the hang of this forum stuff.
You suck! :D How're you getting such scores? lol, clock for clock an E8400 isn't that much faster than a Q6600 is it? I'm getting about 19,200 with a CPU score of about 5600 :(. I should be getting well over 20k judging from your results.
Posted on Reply
#53
LTJOE118
crow1001Looks like you have clocked the X2 after YOU installed the 8.3 drivers, i know GPUZ is showing 2D clocks but they have increased over the first GPUZ shot with previous drivers.
HMM THATS WEIRD. I know I had them overclocked to max last time. Maybe it was because Last time I used the CCC and this time I used the Rivatuner to OC the card. Thats weird but thanks for catching that one for me. :toast:

Will run some more test after I have some fun with the 8.3 Drivers.

Let me know what you think. :respect:
Posted on Reply
#54
DOM
LTJOE118HMM THATS WEIRD. I know I had them overclocked to max last time. Maybe it was because Last time I used the CCC and this time I used the Rivatuner to OC the card. Thats weird but thanks for catching that one for me. :toast:

Will run some more test after I have some fun with the 8.3 Drivers.

Let me know what you think. :respect:
also the cpu is faster ;)
Posted on Reply
#55
EastCoasthandle
Yea I noticed that too. Why is it that ATI cards reduce cpu scores like that?
Posted on Reply
#56
CY:G
So where can we find the Windows XP version of the drivers, i cant find them!!!!, im so close to breaking 20k too with a e8400 and HD3870x2, im at 19444 right now, im hoping the drivers will bump me to 20k !!!!
Posted on Reply
#57
kylew
ps, I was joking when I said LtJoe sucks :D ;)
Posted on Reply
#58
olstyle
Are there any HydraVision goodies in the guru3d release?
Thats what me and my 2900XT are waiting for.
Posted on Reply
#59
LTJOE118
Wish I could revert back to 8.2 but I don't want to. lol. These drivers are good. Im going to go and get a 3870 for the triple.
Posted on Reply
#60
thequestor
CY:GSo where can we find the Windows XP version of the drivers, i cant find them!!!!, im so close to breaking 20k too with a e8400 and HD3870x2, im at 19444 right now, im hoping the drivers will bump me to 20k !!!!
You wont. CrossfireX is Vista/DX10.1 not XP/DX9 :(
Posted on Reply
#61
Ravenas
Are the 780g boards the only ones that will have hybrid crossfire?
Posted on Reply
#62
CY:G
thequestorYou wont. CrossfireX is Vista/DX10.1 not XP/DX9 :(
So there are no speed upgrades for people with H3870x2, there are no 8.3 Drivers for XP???
Posted on Reply
#63
erocker
*
XP can't recognize more than two gpu's. New XP drivers will be out, however Vista now comes first. If you have an X2 might as well get Vista 64 anyways.
Posted on Reply
#64
CY:G
erockerXP can't recognize more than two gpu's. New XP drivers will be out, however Vista now comes first. If you have an X2 might as well get Vista 64 anyways.
Man i TRIED, when i just finished building my new system a week ago (Specs on sig) i installed Vista 64 on it and it really tested my patience until i just said FUCK THIS and installed XP 64bit....

The offender to getting me mad was a file transfer i was doing from a USB HDD that holds a backup of My Documents folder, the folder weighs 30gb and the progress bar was just not moving, it was SOOO slow, after that i installed XP 64bit, did the same copy and it transfered like butter...

Im planning on getting a single HD3870 to go with my 3870x2 in the near future, and im gonna have to get used to Vista's flaws just so i can use it...
Posted on Reply
#65
EastCoasthandle
Cat 8.3 is now available for download getting while they hot!
Posted on Reply
#67
kylew
CY:GMan i TRIED, when i just finished building my new system a week ago (Specs on sig) i installed Vista 64 on it and it really tested my patience until i just said FUCK THIS and installed XP 64bit....

The offender to getting me mad was a file transfer i was doing from a USB HDD that holds a backup of My Documents folder, the folder weighs 30gb and the progress bar was just not moving, it was SOOO slow, after that i installed XP 64bit, did the same copy and it transfered like butter...

Im planning on getting a single HD3870 to go with my 3870x2 in the near future, and im gonna have to get used to Vista's flaws just so i can use it...
Did you try SP1?
Posted on Reply
#68
MarcusTaz
erockerXP can't recognize more than two gpu's. New XP drivers will be out, however Vista now comes first. If you have an X2 might as well get Vista 64 anyways.
Why 64? I run 32 and I have read that 64 actually does not perform as well in certain cases. Also after installing RTM SP1 the PAE switch seems to work fine...

Anyway, I hope this tessalation support gives our cards the needed boosts to compete with Nvidia...
Posted on Reply
#69
CY:G
kylewDid you try SP1?
Nope, i shall install it in another partition and try SP1.
Posted on Reply
#70
ninjagordy
catalyst 8.3 is kack!

well guys,

i installed 8.3 and my 3870 x2 is running well pants now...going to revert back to my previous drivers....


anyone else get this issue??

:banghead:
Posted on Reply
#71
Fitseries3
Eleet Hardware Junkie
no...my x2 runs fine. but when i enable xfirex, i get the same scores???
Posted on Reply
#73
Fitseries3
Eleet Hardware Junkie
i "borrowed" another x2.
Posted on Reply
#74
binormalkilla
Well surprise surprise, AA does NOT work in UT3 or Frontlines Fuels of War (based on UT3 engine). I tested with 32X AA and I got nothing.......
Posted on Reply
#75
MarcusTaz
So these drivers sound worse then the 8.2???
Posted on Reply
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