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It's that time of month again from the formerly red team and the green team

AMD and NVIDIA this week released new graphics drivers for its graphics cards. AMD’s latest ATI Catalyst Software Suite 7.9 introduces the usual new features, performance improvements and resolved issues. New to the ATI Catalyst 7.9 drivers is a color temperature control panel. The color temperature control lets users adjust chromatic levels on ATI Radeon X1000 and HD 2000 series graphics cards.

AMD also introduces the Avivo Video Converter application to Windows Vista 64-bit users. The Avivo Video Converter application allows users to transcode various video formats such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, DivX, WMV, H.264/AVC and others.

The latest driver set improves performance in various games such as Far Cry, Call of Duty 2, Half-Life 2, Serious Sam 2 and Quake 4. Performance enhancements are seen mostly on AMD’s ATI Radeon HD 2000 series graphics cards, though X1600/1650 Pro and X1300/X1550 products receive anti-aliasing improvements in Quake 4.

NVIDIA users are also treated to a new beta driver release. The latest beta, version 163.67, improves compatibility with Bioshock and Crysis under Windows Vista and XP.

AMD users can grab the latest ATI Catalyst 7.9 from the website for Windows XP, XP-64, Vista and Vista-64. NVIDIA users can grab the beta ForceWare drivers for Windows XP, XP-64, Vista and Vista-64.

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Unreal Engine 3
By niaaa on 9/12/2007 5:59:45 AM , Rating: 1
ATI released those drivers early to help Unreal Engine 3 based games like Bioshock....and I still can't run it in DX10 mode with my HD2600XT.

Creative released unified beta drivers for Audigy/X-FI to help with unreal engine 3 also...I wonder why correct drivers have to come out AFTER the new games are released...I guess driver programming doesn't make money, except when you sell functions that pple already paid for, like Alchemy (who paid for a stupid DLL really ?)




RE: Unreal Engine 3
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/12/2007 8:31:26 AM , Rating: 5
I went out and replaced my X1900XTX with an 8800GTX for Bioshock and other DX10 games to come. ATI just didn't seem to have their shit together for DX10.


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By 1078feba on 9/12/2007 9:26:21 AM , Rating: 3
You running SLI? In Vista? If so, what driver version are you running?

Reason I ask is that I recently purchased a couple of MSI 8800 Ultras and Vista Ultimate x86 (came with that free "Anytime Upgrade" disc to x64, haven't used it), and I had nothing but problems in any game, including Bioshock.

I ran drivers 163.33 beta, 162.22 and the one just prior to that, ensuring that I uninstalled correctly and cleanly, and Vista hated both of them. Kept getting the dreaded "nvlddmkm - driver stopped responding but Vista reinitiated" problem. I was giving those poor forum moderators a bit of hell, respectfully, of course, over at SLIZone.

Seems to me that both AMD/ATI and NVidia are having problems...


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 9/12/2007 1:24:42 PM , Rating: 2
No, I don't do SLI. SLI lacks logic. Both Crossfire and SLI had problems under XP and continue to have problems under Vista.

I'm using a single 8800GTX on Vista Ultimate 64 using the latest nVidia drivers. (The ones listed here infact) I was able to play through Bioshock without problem. I have a suggestion for you, dump the second gfx card and forget about SLI. My single 8800GTX can pump out respectable framerates on max settings on my 37" LCD TV. It does fantastic on my dual 19" Samsung LCD's for gaming.

I don't see any logic to SLI (Also SLI refuses to allow me to utilize 2 displays which is a no-go for me)


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By EndPCNoise on 9/12/2007 2:38:03 PM , Rating: 3
Graphics companies have been trying to use multi-GPU technology since the 3Dfx Voodoo days. Multi-GPU tech, while much improved over years ago, still has many bugs that need to be worked out.

Quote from X-bit Labs article dated Sept. 11, 2007.

"Microsoft has acknowledged that its new and actively promoted operating system Windows Vista does not support multi-GPU technologies inherently . The OS does not redirect the driver’s draw requests to GPUs other than the main one. As a result, only one GPU is used no matter how many GPUs there are in the graphics subsystem , and you get an appropriate resulting performance."
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/dia...

According to the "Steam" online gaming website survey, multi-GPU tech used with Vista make up about 1% of the market anyway.
http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html

I'm surprised SLI/Crossfire tech receives as much hype as it does. I'm frustrated enough with the bugs from just a single GPU let alone multi-GPU's. I have been fixing PC gaming bugs for over 10 years, and the PC gaming industry is NOT showing enough signs of improvement. I'm finally jumping ship over to console gaming.

Goodbye countless hours of bug fixing frustration. Hello hours of fun gaming on an XBOX 360 OR PS3!


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By 1078feba on 9/12/2007 3:05:56 PM , Rating: 2
Thanks very much for the responses. Much appreciated.

Interesting point of view of dual gpu usage. I might try that, although I did fail to mention in my original post that the problem seemed so ingrained and pervasive that I ran home to mama: reinstalled XP. Haven't tried to reinstall Bioshock yet, but will soon.


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By z3R0C00L on 9/12/2007 2:26:57 PM , Rating: 2
http://www.nvidia.com/object/windows_vista_hotfixe...

Here you go.. hot fixes fixed my issues with SLI.


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By murphyslabrat on 9/17/2007 12:34:12 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
I recently purchased a couple of MSI 8800 Ultras and Vista Ultimate x86

Holy cow, what organ did you sell to buy those? I hope it wasn't anything important, 'cause it'd be a shame to have you lying dead in front of all of that(well, that and the rest of what you probably got)!


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By niaaa on 9/12/2007 10:00:00 AM , Rating: 2
well that problem is only on the HD2600XT, and I don't have that kind of money for a VC. For 100 euros you can't beat the HD2600XT


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By Aprime on 9/13/07, Rating: 0
RE: Unreal Engine 3
By hopsandmalt on 9/13/2007 12:07:12 PM , Rating: 3
Just so people see both sides of the fence...

I bought an EVGA 8800 GTX the day they came out (last October?) and I have had only ONE game that has given me any problems and I play a ton of games. That game was LOTRO and was related to Vista and memory use. This was fixed in a recent update by Microsoft two weeks ago though.

Games I have played that have worked: Supreme Commander, Oblivion, LOTRO, Splinter Cell, BF2, MS FS X, WoW, Guild Wars, BioShock, and a list of others.


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By typo101 on 9/13/2007 10:38:49 AM , Rating: 2
I'm not sure what you are getting at here. Are you complaining that a DX9 card can't handle a DX10 game? I think anything else would be a pleasant surprise.


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By Captain Orgazmo on 9/15/2007 4:29:37 AM , Rating: 3
I have a 2900XT, Core 2 @ 2.8, 2 GB fast DDR2, and Bioshock, Call of Juarez run like clockwork on Vista for me. Bioshock especially runs 60 fps or more consistently, no lag or choppiness, and on maxed out settings at 1680*1050. The new 7.9 drivers fix that nasty missing/black textures problem right up.

I choose the ATI over NV because I have heard bad things about the vista (dx10) nvidia drivers, and my own bad experiences with them in the past, and also because the 2900XT seems to have the best performance/price ratio, and the most future performance potential.


RE: Unreal Engine 3
By EndPCNoise on 9/12/2007 1:59:23 PM , Rating: 2
"Technically" the HD2600XT is DX10 compatible, BUT in reality, the HD2600XT is clearly not powerful enough to handle games in DX10. It's really stretching the truth (almost false advertising) for ATI to market the HD2600XT as a "DX10 capable" card.

I'm not knocking you friend, as I have been a victim of this same "stretching the truth" marketing myself in the past. This kind of marketing has been common in the graphics card market since the 3Ddx Voodoo days, and is, unfortunately, even more common today.

If you MUST have a DX10 card, I would recommend nothing less than an Nvidia 8800 GTS 320 for about $250 USD after mail-in rebate.

Anyhow, I hope things work out for you in the end.


Yeah, I think I'll wait
By GroBemaus on 9/12/2007 9:24:54 AM , Rating: 3
Yeah, I think I'll let everyone else test those oh so great ATI drivers. The last release worked like crap for my x1950 Pro AGP card. Icons turned inviso and the like.

Everyone's so Vista oriented now it's sad, especially when a majority of people are still using XP. Oh, look our new driver improves Vista performance...oh sorry it craps out on XP.

Almost like the drug commercials you see, "Our drug X cures Y, but has a side effect of sudden death." Eh, what?




RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 9:31:45 AM , Rating: 2
Vista = future
XP = past

AMD is focusing in the right direction.


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By totallycool on 9/12/2007 9:42:41 AM , Rating: 5
I would like to make a small modification to that logic

Vista = future
XP = Present.

Minor but a very important note.


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By IGoodwin on 9/12/2007 11:55:51 AM , Rating: 1
Perhapse we can all rephrase :)

Vista = looking forward
XP = Looking back fondly

Any time there is change, there are many who are unhappy.


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By TomZ on 9/12/2007 12:42:09 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Vista = future XP = Present

Speak for yourself - there are millions of people running Vista today.


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By Oregonian2 on 9/12/2007 2:20:35 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Speak for yourself - there are millions of people running Vista today.


But for what small percentage is it fully and happily working? For XP it's probably near 100%.


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By Treckin on 9/13/07, Rating: 0
RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By leexgx on 9/12/2007 7:19:17 PM , Rating: 2
if thay plan on not playing games And not installing Malware/spyware (format and reload in alot of cases) thay be happy


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By animedude on 9/12/2007 11:14:42 PM , Rating: 2
This deserve an 6. Vista is not worth the switch, at the moment.


RE: Yeah, I think I'll wait
By formulav8 on 9/16/2007 5:04:33 PM , Rating: 2
I have to say that you are very Wrong saying XP is 'Past'. 'Present', like someone else mentioned is much more accurate.

I build many upon many computers everyday and guess which OS most of those goes out on? Nope, Not any Vista variant, it is Windows XP Pro, then XP Home, then Vista Premium, SVR2003, Business/Ultimate.

Its more like every 5-10 XPs there will be 1 Vista variant. And when I do 50-100 builds it is almost Always XP.

This is of course my 'personal' experience but it is in line with what others are saying as well.

Jason


New Website
By Aeros on 9/11/2007 7:55:02 PM , Rating: 3
Wow nice new look to the AT...AMD site.




RE: New Website
By mikeyD95125 on 9/11/2007 9:44:03 PM , Rating: 2
Definitley. Intel should learn something from the AMD site. Intel's is relativley boring site. Though the cheetah anamation is "cute".


RE: New Website
By iGo on 9/11/2007 11:42:41 PM , Rating: 2
There was a time when AMD site was boring as green hell and also very unorganized. I like their current site though, gives a better rep as company.

Intel site has always been boring and plain, but I find it very well organized. Never had problem in finding what I wanted on their site. Now only if they spice up things a bit with it, like they have done with their processors it would be nice to look at.


RE: New Website
By xti on 9/12/2007 12:24:53 PM , Rating: 2
have you noticed the pro-diversity in a lot of their banners?


RE: New Website
By leexgx on 9/12/2007 7:22:43 PM , Rating: 2
wish it redirect me to ATI drivers when i type in ATI.com in new users will be confused, before it was 2-3 clicks away now have to Read whats on the site to make sure i am getting an driver

but site does look better


RE: New Website
By jtesoro on 9/14/2007 7:22:40 AM , Rating: 2
Agree with your Intel comments. I'm also able to find what I need very quickly in their site, and also get a lot of other relevant info along with it. In this particular case, efficiency FTW.


Hardware video decoding
By erikejw on 9/11/2007 8:56:19 PM , Rating: 6
I'm still waiting for a XP driver that supports hardware video decoding on my Nvidia 8600GT card.

It was promised for june, they did not disclose what year.




RE: Hardware video decoding
By MonkeyPaw on 9/11/2007 10:32:43 PM , Rating: 2
Maybe it will show up after they start supporting Vista?


RE: Hardware video decoding
By Ajax9000 on 9/12/2007 3:36:47 AM , Rating: 4
XP beta drivers with PureVideo HD decode hardware acceleration for 8 series enabled were released about 21 August -- 163.44 XP/2000 32-bit and 163.44 Server 2003 x64 & XP Professional x64.


AGP
By picklebill on 9/11/2007 9:57:26 PM , Rating: 2
Well, For the holdout AGP folks the release notes say that the x1950pro cards still need to stay with the 7.7 drivers.
One of the top agp cards able to play most any game with respectable frame rates and it can't draw the desktop properly or causes boot problems...Guess I should finally look for that PCI-E card after all.




RE: AGP
By smitty3268 on 9/12/2007 12:33:34 AM , Rating: 2
Can you not just stick with the 7.7 drivers for a few more months until they fix the problem? Honestly, if this causes you to move on you really should have been looking for PCI-E cards for a while now.


RE: AGP
By GroBemaus on 9/12/2007 9:31:04 AM , Rating: 2
picklebill:
Yeah, but wasn't it really fun icon hunting?

smitty3268:
Some people still use AGP my friend. My x1950pro plays Bioshock and MOH:Airborne great at 1280x1024, not bad for a $200 video card.


RE: AGP
By smitty3268 on 9/12/2007 10:21:38 AM , Rating: 4
Yes, I know that. But if they're happy using ancient technology like AGP, then why can't they use a 2 month old driver?


7.9 breaks Bioshock Demo
By paulpod on 9/13/2007 6:00:47 PM , Rating: 2
First of all:

Vista (a.k.a New Coke) = Never
XP (Coke Classic) = Forever

My 2600XT played Bioshock Demo flawlessly using the "Hotfix" driver. Shortly into the Demo using the Cat 7.9 driver, it hung once, continued for a bit, then crashed completely (driver stopped, not BSOD).

Was there ever a claim that the hotfix fixes made it into the 7.9 build?




RE: 7.9 breaks Bioshock Demo
By EndPCNoise on 9/13/2007 9:10:40 PM , Rating: 2
I see you have a "technically capable" DX10 card.

Too bad DX10 only works with Vista.


RE: 7.9 breaks Bioshock Demo
By paulpod on 9/14/2007 5:45:02 PM , Rating: 2
The card was purchased to see whether next gen GFX hardware will support the video software and features on XP. It is way too slow for any gaming and I have a x1900XTX for that.

None of the video software I use, like ATI MMC's highly configurable capture app or Nvidia PureVideo decoder (which works fine on ATI cards), will ever be ported to Vista.

The good news is that video features do work on the 2600. Including flawless deinterlace and Theatermode dual display (windowed + fullscreen).

But note that the Avivo transcoder is NOT supported. So we ARE starting to see features get dropped.


RE: 7.9 breaks Bioshock Demo
By SavagePotato on 9/14/2007 6:49:57 PM , Rating: 2
Thats exactly what was said when XP released, people f-ing hated it. 98 forever!, that worked out well. Sorry, progress marches on. I was one of the know it all 15 year olds yelling DOS forever in 1995 too, It's called growing up and learning.

Some of the transitions to XP related criticisms.

Fisher price OS,
Windows for dummies,
Dumbed down OS,
Bloated and unnecessary,
Win98 forevar!!!

Any of that sound familiar to the vista detractors?


VIVO in Vista x64
By soydios on 9/11/2007 8:41:15 PM , Rating: 3
So...can I use VIVO again on my X1900XT in Windows Vista? I was greatly surprised that AMD hadn't included that feature, as they were so on-the-ball with Vista drivers performance- and stability-wise. It was a real pain to reinstall XP on a spare hard drive just to do video capture.




RE: VIVO in Vista x64
By Etsp on 9/12/2007 11:56:10 AM , Rating: 2
AFAIK nvidia has made no comment on whether or not the VI part of VIVO will ever be supported for any version of Vista...Why is this functionality so hard to implement??? Lucky you picked up an ATI card... I used to be an avid fan of NVIDIA, but for this reason I may very well pick up an ATI card myself...


GeForce Go 7900GS
By InternetGeek on 9/11/2007 7:57:46 PM , Rating: 2
I'll be a happy man they day nVidia releases new drivers for the GeForce Go 7900GS. This is a recent chipset, used in many laptops sold recently. Yet they let makers roll them out which never happens.

Supposedly it is because makers have the option to build their Go Cards in their own way and nVidia cannot cater for all the different variations.

To install any new driver on my laptop, I have to add the entry for my chip manually and then it works perfectly well.




LINUX :)
By gescom on 9/13/2007 4:06:39 AM , Rating: 2
What is really interesting here are AMD/ATi LINUX 8.42. drivers soon + AMD just released GPU Specs :) Big day for Linux community!
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px...
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item...
GREAT!




Any benefit to legacy hardware?
By RU482 on 9/19/2007 12:02:33 AM , Rating: 2
Pardon my ignorance on the subject of video card drivers...do these driver revisions provide any benefit to someone who is running...say...a radeon 9700 or an x1600?

Just curious. I seem to run about 1-3 years behind the curve when it comes to upgrades, and my current rig has been in existence for at least 4 years now, with some upgrades.




"Designed by NVIDIA"
By crystal clear on 9/15/2007 5:48:27 AM , Rating: 1
Out goes the "Designed by NVIDIA"-In comes the ???????

NVIDIA ending "Designed by NVIDIA" program

First introduced in 2006 and widely promoted early in 2007, NVIDIA has now formally decided to end its "Designed by NVIDIA" program. Ostensibly, the program was designed to ensure that all chipsets and products were manufactured according to NVIDIA reference designs and quality standards, while simultaneously guaranteeing users a fully functional, bug-free product. In reality, many suspected the point of the program was to bolster NVIDIA's chipset business. Once the darling of AMD, the ATI+AMD acquisition threw a slight wrench into that particular partnership, and left NVIDIA in more direct competition with Intel—and the CPU giant's product line.


http://arstechnica.com/journals/hardware.ars/2007/...




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