ATI Catalyst 8.11 WHQL

ATI released a new Catalyst driver, this is the November 2008 edition.

ATI CrossFireX™ Enhancements
This release of ATI Catalyst™ enables users to verify whether an application is running in ATI CrossFireX™ mode. The new option found in the ATI Catalyst™ Control Center system tray, will allow users to verify whether a Direct3D or OpenGL application is running in ATI CrossFireX™ mode. (The “ATI Cross-FireX” logo will be shown on screen when the application is running).

HydraVision Support for Windows XP
This release of ATI Catalyst™ introduces HydraVision support for the ATI Catalyst ™ Control Center under Windows XP. HydraVision enables users to more efficiently organize multiple applications across single or multiple displays. Highlights include:

• HydraGrid – A new feature found in HydraVision that divides the Windows desktop into user definable areas. This helps users to more easily move and organize multiple applications.
• HydraVision Hotkeys – The ATI Catalyst™ Control Center Hotkey Manager can assist users to quickly setup and define their HydraVision specific hotkey commands.
• HydraVision Virtual Desktops – Users can configure up to 9 different virtual desktops. This enables users to manage and group multiple applications across each user defined desktop. Application positions, desktop associations and display settings can be saved for every virtual desktop.
• HydraVision Wizard – Using the ATI Catalyst™ Control Center Wizard, users can configure their HyrdaVision settings with ease.

New Display Enhancements
This release of ATI Catalyst™ Linux introduces support for display scaling to resize the display devices that support TV timings (480i/p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p) through either digital (DVI or HDMI) or analog (component) interfaces. Performance Improvements

The following performance gains are noticed with this release of Catalyst

• FarCry 2 – performance gains of 3 to 10% for Single card mode and 8 to 14% in Crossfire mode, with some specific configurations showing even greater improvements. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD4xxx and Radeon HD3xxx products.
• S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Clear Sky – performance gains of 6 to 18% in single card settings and 10 to 30% in CrossfireX mode. Performance gains were noticed on all Radeon HD04xx and Radeon HD3xxx products. Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System

This section provides information on resolved issues in this release of the ATI Catalyst™ Software Suite for Windows Vista. These include:

• During game play for “Age of Conan”, DirectX 10 may cause the screen to blank Resizing video during playback may intermittently cause desktop video corruption
• Video playback tearing may occur under Windows Vista 32 or XP
• Hardware acceleration is not enabled when playing HD content using Cyberlink
• Catalyst Control Center, Overdrive options missing under Graphics settings
• Some OpenGL content may not align to the Hydravision preset grid
• Catalyst Control Center ‘ShowGrid’ does not display the correct grid settings for the attached displays
• “Gratitude{EF25BC…..}” or HydraGrid.exe executables will be shown under process tab after launching Hydragrid

Download ATI Catalyst 8.11 Video Driver at ATI’s driver downoad page