Catalyst 5.7 Drivers: Memory Limited Performance Improvements
by Josh Venning on August 13, 2005 12:05 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
X700 PRO 256 and X700 128
With the 256, we see essentially the same thing as the X800 XT. There are basically no performance gains with the new drivers, and we again see some small framerate losses.
We also see that with this card, FarCry gets much better framerates, specifically without AA enabled. This shows how memory-intensive this game really is. At 1280x1024 without AA, FarCry gets about 11 fps higher with the 5.7 drivers, an impressive 32.6% gain, which would definitely be noticeable. This could easily mean that X700 128 users could step up the resolution in FarCry if they've been playing at lower ones. We also see some smaller performance gains with AA enabled, but they aren't as significant as the framerates remain a bit too low to play.
Unreal Tournament 2004 sees some decent framerate improvements as well, but only with AA enabled. At 1280x1024 with AA, the 8% increase makes these settings a little more playable. It's interesting to note that this was the only card we tested that saw a performance gain in UT. This is probably because it's a very CPU limited game.
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xtknight - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
No.bupkus - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
Where can I download the 5.6?I have a new ATI X800np w/ 256MB and I downloaded and installed this last Tuesday. I notice a small drop in 3DMarks2001 but just shrugged it off as the result of solar flares or whatever. It would be nice if ATI warehoused their older drivers and made them available.
nserra - Tuesday, August 16, 2005 - link
Did you look even look?At Ati site
Drivers and Software
+Windows XP
RADEON
Previous Drivers and Software
They are all there since Catalyst 2.1 or even older.
JarredWalton - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
Try http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?id=18">Guru3D - you can get practically every past driver version for ATI and NVIDIA cards there.JustAnAverageGuy - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
I'm still running the 4.6 drivers because 4.7 makes the textures in Battlefield 2 go crazy with my 9800 Pro.Gamingphreek - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
Where in the world are they pulling these framerate increases from??They have had 3 years to perfect these drivers, why all of a sudden are we seeing 0-10fps increases. Is ATI using shader replacement on more games? Did IQ suffer at all.
It just seems hard to believe that these drivers based on the exact same architecture since the 9700 still have gains of 10fps left in them.
-Kevin
Shadowmage - Sunday, August 14, 2005 - link
Did you even READ the article? ATI implements HyperMemory on ALL cards with 128MB and less of memory.ecvs85 - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
I have a question, since this hypermemory is a software based memory management software that makes use of the system ram, what about the AGP aperture settings in the bios? (well for agp boards)I got 1GB of ram and when I set the AGP aperture to 256MB I don't have much issue running games that need more that 128MB of video ram (which I have 9800pro). So is the hypermemory smooths things out, having less stuttering and results in higher overall framerates? If that is the case then I don't need to upgrade to this driver :P
MrSmurf - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
ATI's drivers have been going downhill lately. I don't care about gaining a few fps especially when they cause more bugs than they fix.I still use the 4.12's.
ElJefe - Saturday, August 13, 2005 - link
dang yo'z.i never had an issue this past year with ati's drivers.
besides my all in wonder not playing DVD correctly. no freakin idea why or how. reloaded all of it 2x and it stil doesnt work right. Cyberlink PowerDVD is what i use now, a shame though as ati's was very nice and integrated. I have a 9800 PRO AIW.
I dont knock ati, i mean, that whole intelligent CLI thing i have running actually works really well for games, i think everyone forgot about that. Works for new and old, i see lag on startup from it as it "thinks" for an older game, runs great though.
I still want to go nvidia myself for new system if I cant manage to run ATI allinwonder x800 XT on a linux system.
What's up with ati not putting out faster/better gaming Linux based drivers like nvidia does? that's a tad self defeating for such a giant in the industry.
I mean nvidia doesnt even make graphics cards! its not the big of a company! (only chips and chipsets and designs)