CATALYST 4.2 available now

*CATALYST maker* · Feb 12, 2004, 06:52 PM

Just wanted to inform you (or your readers) that CATALYST 4.2 is now available. This update provides a new driver (now up to version 7.98) and a new multimedia center (now up to version 8.9). The quick link to the XP drivers is http://www.ati.com/home/online/CatalystXPdriver.html

Furthermore I wanted to let you know that ATI in conjuction with Beyond3d.com and DriverHeaven.net have released a "SMARSHADER Effects" tool. This innovative new concept will let users create their own shaders and load them up on CATALYST. Both Beyond3d.com and Driverheaven.net will be hosting this tool as well as having great end user contests to get peoples creative shader juices flowing. These can be found here and I highly recommend checking them out http://www.beyond3d.com/misc/atiss/ and http://www.hardwareheaven.com/smartshader/

Also please vote on the usual DH poll about the the quality of this driver
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/showthre...threadid=37717

Zardon · Feb 12, 2004, 06:58 PM

To get the full info on the changes, fixes, improvements please read the full details at ATIs site but here is a little taster.

Performance Improvements
As with most CATALYST™ releases performance has increased in various situations. This release of CATALYST™ provides performance gains to the ATI DX8 product family. These products include the RADEON™ 9200, 9000, and 8500 series. Performance gains are noticed throughout the following software:

Framerates in Unreal Tournament 2003 is up by 15%
A performance gain of between 5 and 10% is noticed in Aquamark3
A performance gain of between 2-3% is noticed in ShaderMark scores
Framerates in Halo is up between 3-4%
A performance improvement of 2% is noticed in Tomb Raider

Resolved CATALYST™ Driver Issues
This section provides information on CATALYST™ driver issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following:

Logging on as an Administrator under Windows XP and doing a fast user switch to limited user no longer results in display corruption when playing a DVD using WinDVD version 4 or 5
User defined colour setting are now retained when exiting a 3D game or application
The ATI Control Panel no longer fails to launch when attempting to enter the Advanced options of the primary display adapter after disabling extended desktop support
The Cancel button found in the ATI 3D tab is now working properly when switching between a user defined profile and the default setting
Enabling the CRT as the primary display and turning the TV off in the Display page no longer results in a general protection fault under Windows ME
The Anisotropic Filtering custom setting is now retained under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 7200 installed
The D3D panel now retains the user defined AA/AF setting under Windows XP when a RADEON™ 8500 series is installed and the main setting is set to High Quality

Component Video Output Enhancement
The latest ATI software driver now allows the user the choice of using panning mode or a center-timing mode in which the image would appear in the center of the TV screen when using the Component Video output on an HDTV display. This option is found in the ATI Control Panel and is supported under the Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows ME operating systems. This feature is available on the ATI RADEON™ 8500 and higher class of products.

Direct3D Setting Enhancement
Previous versions of the ATI display driver required the monitor going blank for up to 8 seconds when applying Direct3D settings. The latest ATI software driver for the RADEON™ 9500 and higher class of products now allows for the Direct3D setting to be applied without the monitor's display going blank.

JLP · Feb 12, 2004, 06:58 PM

Still no 64-bit drivers

But the Celestia problem on Radeon 8500 is finaly fixed. Or so I hope. I'll have to check it out when I install them.

toddsmack2k · Feb 12, 2004, 07:04 PM

Okay guys please give us your feedback and rate the 4.2 Catalyst drivers.

Vote HERE .

BWX · Feb 12, 2004, 07:12 PM

Wow, that was fast.

Hkhalid · Feb 12, 2004, 07:19 PM

These drivers can be used on Windows 2000 as well ??

**Roadee** · Feb 12, 2004, 07:24 PM

YES

Skinner · Feb 12, 2004, 07:33 PM

It looks like ATI really sticks to their policy about 64 bits drivers

Well, thanx for the improvements anyway, the first impressions of these are good, great work

Banditgr · Feb 12, 2004, 07:42 PM

A couple of mirrors if its any help :

http://files.rage3d.gr/catalyst/wxp-...7m-013420c.exe (XP & 2k)
http://files.rage3d.gr/catalyst/wme-...7m-013420c.exe (ME/9x)

Cyan007 · Feb 12, 2004, 07:54 PM

Figures as soon as I kickup the money for a 9800pro they go ahead and improve my 8500!

scobywhru · Feb 12, 2004, 08:01 PM

Sweet, new drivers, thanks guys gonna go try them out right now

Max Powerz · Feb 12, 2004, 08:36 PM

Cool, DX8 performance increases baby! Anyone see a performance increase in UT2003?

SkyBum · Feb 12, 2004, 08:52 PM

HUGE improvement in NFSU for my tired 'ol AIW 8500DV. No more stuttering. That was driving me nuts and online I was running max low settings because it seemed to reduce the stuttering quite a bit. Just ran a few laps online with everthing maxed except for headlights turned off. Smooth as glass. Unbelievable.

I would have never guessed a driver update for such an old card would be packing such a punch. Never seen such an obvious improvement in a driver before. GREAT job ATI!

----------------------------------------
Asus A7V-266E
Athlon XP 1800+
512 DDR
AIW 8500DV
Seagate Barracuda Raid
XP
Klipsch 5.1 Ultra

*CATALYST maker* · Feb 12, 2004, 08:55 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SkyBum
HUGE improvement in NFSU for my tired 'ol AIW 8500DV. No more stuttering. That was driving me nuts and online I was running max low settings because it seemed to reduce the stuttering quite a bit. Just ran a few laps online with everthing maxed except for headlights turned off. Smooth as glass. Unbelievable.

I would have never guessed a driver update for such an old card would be packing such a punch. Never seen such an obvious improvement in a driver before. GREAT job ATI!

----------------------------------------
Asus A7V-266E
Athlon XP 1800+
512 DDR
AIW 8500DV
Seagate Barracuda Raid
XP
Klipsch 5.1 Ultra

glad you like it! make sure you vote on the poll. All your feedback is invaluable to us. It's the only way we have of knowing how we are really doing.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/showthre...threadid=37717

germanjulian · Feb 12, 2004, 09:04 PM

dam YEAH! you did fix my NFSU performance issues too!. weird. thanks

BWX · Feb 12, 2004, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SkyBum
HUGE improvement in NFSU for my tired 'ol AIW 8500DV. No more stuttering. That was driving me nuts and online I was running max low settings because it seemed to reduce the stuttering quite a bit. Just ran a few laps online with everthing maxed except for headlights turned off. Smooth as glass. Unbelievable.

I would have never guessed a driver update for such an old card would be packing such a punch. Never seen such an obvious improvement in a driver before. GREAT job ATI!

----------------------------------------
Asus A7V-266E
Athlon XP 1800+
512 DDR
AIW 8500DV
Seagate Barracuda Raid
XP
Klipsch 5.1 Ultra

I think it's awesome that ATI is still concentrating some effort on improving older graphic cards' performance like the 8500 series.. Even though I have a 9700pro- it still makes me think ATI is on the right track, because not all people have the fastest hardware- Soon the R420 will be out and maybe by then I'll have a 9800p or XT- but I'll still want ATI to improve performance for those cards in the future.

Also the improvement where the changes made in the D3D control panel doesn't blink the monitor is a welcome change..

Now, if we can only get an option to force AA on on all games, (even as an option, maybe in the "compatibility tab" and default will still be how it has been since the 3.8's for compatibility issues)
It would just give the user more control in some games where AA doesn't work. Maybe a warning could go along with the setting saying that if this causes problems, then turn it off, then it wouldn't compromise the overall stability of the driver. The Customer always benefits from more control over the way the driver works. Just a thought.

TotenMaske · Feb 12, 2004, 09:34 PM

Well after installing the new 4.2 drivers I looked in OpenGL Extension Viewer and discovered that these drivers add full support for all extenstions (1.5 shadow_funcs are supported finally). Very nice release, good job ATI.

___________
Pentium 4 3.40Ghz 800Mhz
2 Gb DDR Ram
160Gb
120Gb
ATI 98000 XT 256
Catalyst 4.2
Windows XP Pro

BWX · Feb 12, 2004, 09:37 PM

[QUOTE]Originally posted by TotenMaske
[B]Well after installing the new 4.2 drivers I looked in OpenGL Extension Viewer and discovered that these drivers add full support for all extenstions (1.5 shadow_funcs are supported finally). Very nice release, good job ATI.

Hmm, I wonder what games use that ext.? Do you know of any? I wonder what the differences will be?

Warpy · Feb 12, 2004, 09:38 PM

Huge improvements with the following for me:

Far Cry beta
NFS Underground
Chrome
Far Cry demo
Rainbox Six - Ravenshield
Broken Sword 3

I had to do a double take at my monitor this morning to see if I was seeing things "ATI catalyst 4.2"

I have voted in the poll.

Funky Monkey

Zardon · Feb 12, 2004, 09:51 PM

Thanks for voting guys, it really is a good indication to Terry and the guys in ATI just what you all think, they do take records of the results.

)-(aVoC · Feb 12, 2004, 10:02 PM

Everytime I try to install this driver I get an error "Setup was unable to complete the installation. Try to setup your display adapter with a standard VGA driver before running the setup." I have no clue what that means or what I should do. I have a 9000 pro and my os is ME.

*CATALYST maker* · Feb 12, 2004, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by )-(aVoC
Everytime I try to install this driver I get an error "Setup was unable to complete the installation. Try to setup your display adapter with a standard VGA driver before running the setup." I have no clue what that means or what I should do. I have a 9000 pro and my os is ME.

can you show me the link to where you are downloading the driver from so I can try it

snake · Feb 12, 2004, 10:12 PM

It's amazing how fast ATI was to release this new set

But to be honest, i'm asking to myself if it's not beacause of, well the kind of tests like Neon Cowboy has done and shown the 4.1 wasn't the leader after all

Anyway, it's a really good job and always a pleasure to test ATI's sets

*CATALYST maker* · Feb 12, 2004, 10:14 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by snake
It's amazing how fast ATI was to release this new set
But to be honest, i'm asking to myself if it's not beacause of, well the kind of tests like Neon Cowboy has done and shown the 4.1 wasn't the leader after all
Anyway, it's a really good job and always a pleasure to test ATI's sets

lol

No trust me, it had nothing to do with Neon Cowboys tests.
We release a new driver every month. Thats our public commitment. So expect a new driver every second week of a given month or so.

Exxtreme · Feb 12, 2004, 10:26 PM

Hi CM,

your readme says:

"Direct3D Setting Enhancement

Previous versions of the ATI display driver required the monitor going blank for up to 8 seconds when applying Direct3D settings. The latest ATI software driver for the RADEON™ 9500 and higher class of products now allows for the Direct3D setting to be applied without the monitor's display going blank. "

But the black screen is still there.

I have installed the "wxp-w2k-catalyst-7-981-040127m-013420c" package (driver + control panel). I'm using Windows 2000 + SP4.

Best regards.

)-(aVoC · Feb 12, 2004, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CATALYST maker
can you show me the link to where you are downloading the driver from so I can try it

I got it off www.ati.com

*CATALYST maker* · Feb 12, 2004, 10:32 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Exxtreme
Hi CM,

your readme says:

"Direct3D Setting Enhancement

Previous versions of the ATI display driver required the monitor going blank for up to 8 seconds when applying Direct3D settings. The latest ATI software driver for the RADEON™ 9500 and higher class of products now allows for the Direct3D setting to be applied without the monitor's display going blank. "

But the black screen is still there.

I have installed the "wxp-w2k-catalyst-7-981-040127m-013420c" package (driver + control panel). I'm using Windows 2000 + SP4.

Best regards.

what card have you got?

*CATALYST maker* · Feb 12, 2004, 10:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by )-(aVoC
I got it off www.ati.com

exact link please. I need to know exactly where you get them from. www.ati.com is our homepage, not the driver download page

Exxtreme · Feb 12, 2004, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CATALYST maker
what card have you got?

I have a Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9700 Pro.

)-(aVoC · Feb 12, 2004, 10:40 PM

http://www2.ati.com/drivers/wme-cata...7m-013420c.exe

Feb 12, 2004, 06:52 PM	#1
CATALYST maker ATI driver guru Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: ATI, Canada Posts: 678 Rep Power: 63	CATALYST 4.2 available now Just wanted to inform you (or your readers) that CATALYST 4.2 is now available. This update provides a new driver (now up to version 7.98) and a new multimedia center (now up to version 8.9). The quick link to the XP drivers is http://www.ati.com/home/online/CatalystXPdriver.html Furthermore I wanted to let you know that ATI in conjuction with Beyond3d.com and DriverHeaven.net have released a "SMARSHADER Effects" tool. This innovative new concept will let users create their own shaders and load them up on CATALYST. Both Beyond3d.com and Driverheaven.net will be hosting this tool as well as having great end user contests to get peoples creative shader juices flowing. These can be found here and I highly recommend checking them out http://www.beyond3d.com/misc/atiss/ and http://www.hardwareheaven.com/smartshader/ Also please vote on the usual DH poll about the the quality of this driver http://www.hardwareheaven.com/showthre...threadid=37717 Last edited by CATALYST maker; Feb 12, 2004 at 07:18 PM.

Feb 12, 2004, 07:04 PM	#4
toddsmack2k It Never..... Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Kentucky Posts: 3,173 Rep Power: 0	Okay guys please give us your feedback and rate the 4.2 Catalyst drivers. Vote HERE . __________________ [color=blue]*Bleeding From the Inside Pouring Out, The* *DriverHeaven* Spiral, We Shall Never Let Go Of.[/color]

Feb 12, 2004, 07:12 PM	#5
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Wow, that was fast. __________________

Feb 12, 2004, 07:19 PM	#6
Hkhalid DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Lahore,Pakistan Posts: 81 Rep Power: 0	These drivers can be used on Windows 2000 as well ?? __________________ Pentium 4 2.80Ghz "Prescott" ASUS P4P800 Deluxe ASUS Radeon 9800 XT SB Audigy2 - Pioneer 5:1 Surround 1 GB PC 4000 Kingston RAM 120 GB Seagate Baraccuda ASUS DVD/CD-RW Compaq P-1100 Trinitron Monitor

Feb 12, 2004, 07:24 PM	#7
Roadee Never forgotten Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Rest In peace, Joe. Posts: 2,198 Rep Power: 69	YES __________________ We are born naked, wet, and hungry. Then things get worse.

Feb 12, 2004, 06:58 PM	#2
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	To get the full info on the changes, fixes, improvements please read the full details at ATIs site but here is a little taster. Performance Improvements As with most CATALYST™ releases performance has increased in various situations. This release of CATALYST™ provides performance gains to the ATI DX8 product family. These products include the RADEON™ 9200, 9000, and 8500 series. Performance gains are noticed throughout the following software: Framerates in Unreal Tournament 2003 is up by 15% A performance gain of between 5 and 10% is noticed in Aquamark3 A performance gain of between 2-3% is noticed in ShaderMark scores Framerates in Halo is up between 3-4% A performance improvement of 2% is noticed in Tomb Raider Resolved CATALYST™ Driver Issues This section provides information on CATALYST™ driver issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following: Logging on as an Administrator under Windows XP and doing a fast user switch to limited user no longer results in display corruption when playing a DVD using WinDVD version 4 or 5 User defined colour setting are now retained when exiting a 3D game or application The ATI Control Panel no longer fails to launch when attempting to enter the Advanced options of the primary display adapter after disabling extended desktop support The Cancel button found in the ATI 3D tab is now working properly when switching between a user defined profile and the default setting Enabling the CRT as the primary display and turning the TV off in the Display page no longer results in a general protection fault under Windows ME The Anisotropic Filtering custom setting is now retained under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 7200 installed The D3D panel now retains the user defined AA/AF setting under Windows XP when a RADEON™ 8500 series is installed and the main setting is set to High Quality Component Video Output Enhancement The latest ATI software driver now allows the user the choice of using panning mode or a center-timing mode in which the image would appear in the center of the TV screen when using the Component Video output on an HDTV display. This option is found in the ATI Control Panel and is supported under the Windows XP, Windows 2000, and Windows ME operating systems. This feature is available on the ATI RADEON™ 8500 and higher class of products. Direct3D Setting Enhancement Previous versions of the ATI display driver required the monitor going blank for up to 8 seconds when applying Direct3D settings. The latest ATI software driver for the RADEON™ 9500 and higher class of products now allows for the Direct3D setting to be applied without the monitor's display going blank.

Feb 12, 2004, 06:58 PM	#3
JLP DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Slovenia Posts: 249 Rep Power: 0	Still no 64-bit drivers But the Celestia problem on Radeon 8500 is finaly fixed. Or so I hope. I'll have to check it out when I install them.

Feb 12, 2004, 07:33 PM	#8
Skinner DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Netherlands Posts: 56 Rep Power: 0	It looks like ATI really sticks to their policy about 64 bits drivers Well, thanx for the improvements anyway, the first impressions of these are good, great work Last edited by Skinner; Feb 12, 2004 at 07:45 PM.

Feb 12, 2004, 07:42 PM	#9
Banditgr DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jan 2004 Posts: 1 Rep Power: 0	A couple of mirrors if its any help : http://files.rage3d.gr/catalyst/wxp-...7m-013420c.exe (XP & 2k) http://files.rage3d.gr/catalyst/wme-...7m-013420c.exe (ME/9x)

Feb 12, 2004, 07:54 PM	#10
Cyan007 DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Sep 2002 Location: Newport News, VA Posts: 212 Rep Power: 0	Figures as soon as I kickup the money for a 9800pro they go ahead and improve my 8500! __________________ Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2 Shuttle SN95G5 v3 AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Geil 1024MB PC3200 DDR400 (512x2) ATI AIW Radeon X800XT Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Seagate Barracude 500GB SATA

Feb 12, 2004, 08:01 PM	#11
scobywhru DriverHeaven Senile Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Penthouse Basement Posts: 619 Rep Power: 0	Sweet, new drivers, thanks guys gonna go try them out right now __________________

Feb 12, 2004, 08:36 PM	#12
Max Powerz DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: Canada Posts: 650 Rep Power: 0	Cool, DX8 performance increases baby! Anyone see a performance increase in UT2003?

Feb 12, 2004, 08:52 PM	#13
SkyBum HardwareHeaven Lover Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Look up! Posts: 234 Rep Power: 0	HUGE improvement in NFSU for my tired 'ol AIW 8500DV. No more stuttering. That was driving me nuts and online I was running max low settings because it seemed to reduce the stuttering quite a bit. Just ran a few laps online with everthing maxed except for headlights turned off. Smooth as glass. Unbelievable. I would have never guessed a driver update for such an old card would be packing such a punch. Never seen such an obvious improvement in a driver before. GREAT job ATI! ---------------------------------------- Asus A7V-266E Athlon XP 1800+ 512 DDR AIW 8500DV Seagate Barracuda Raid XP Klipsch 5.1 Ultra __________________

Feb 12, 2004, 09:04 PM	#15
germanjulian Back in London Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: London Posts: 1,797 Rep Power: 0	dam YEAH! you did fix my NFSU performance issues too!. weird. thanks __________________ /\|\ Asus P5W DH Deluxe, Intel C2D E6600, 2GB Corsair XMS2-6400C4 DDR2, E-VGA GeForce 7800 GT, Creative X-Fi Extreme Music, 500GB Seagate 7200.10 SATA, Lian Li PC-V1100 Aluminum Case Black, etc. http://germanjulian.com /\|\

Feb 12, 2004, 09:34 PM	#17
TotenMaske DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 21 Rep Power: 0	oh something else new about the drivers Well after installing the new 4.2 drivers I looked in OpenGL Extension Viewer and discovered that these drivers add full support for all extenstions (1.5 shadow_funcs are supported finally). Very nice release, good job ATI. ___________ Pentium 4 3.40Ghz 800Mhz 2 Gb DDR Ram 160Gb 120Gb ATI 98000 XT 256 Catalyst 4.2 Windows XP Pro

Feb 12, 2004, 09:37 PM	#18
BWX unplugged Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: USNY Posts: 19,669 Rep Power: 110 System Specs	Re: oh something else new about the drivers [QUOTE]Originally posted by TotenMaske [B]Well after installing the new 4.2 drivers I looked in OpenGL Extension Viewer and discovered that these drivers add full support for all extenstions (1.5 shadow_funcs are supported finally). Very nice release, good job ATI. Hmm, I wonder what games use that ext.? Do you know of any? I wonder what the differences will be? __________________

Feb 12, 2004, 09:38 PM	#19
Warpy DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: USA Posts: 2,761 Rep Power: 0	Huge improvements with the following for me: Far Cry beta NFS Underground Chrome Far Cry demo Rainbox Six - Ravenshield Broken Sword 3 I had to do a double take at my monitor this morning to see if I was seeing things "ATI catalyst 4.2" I have voted in the poll. Funky Monkey __________________ The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

Feb 12, 2004, 09:51 PM	#20
Zardon DriverHeaven Founder Join Date: May 2002 Posts: 32,480 Rep Power: 179	Thanks for voting guys, it really is a good indication to Terry and the guys in ATI just what you all think, they do take records of the results.

Feb 12, 2004, 10:02 PM	#21
)-(aVoC DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	plz help Everytime I try to install this driver I get an error "Setup was unable to complete the installation. Try to setup your display adapter with a standard VGA driver before running the setup." I have no clue what that means or what I should do. I have a 9000 pro and my os is ME.

Feb 12, 2004, 10:12 PM	#23
snake HardwareHeaven Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: France Posts: 422 Rep Power: 65 System Specs	It's amazing how fast ATI was to release this new set But to be honest, i'm asking to myself if it's not beacause of, well the kind of tests like Neon Cowboy has done and shown the 4.1 wasn't the leader after all Anyway, it's a really good job and always a pleasure to test ATI's sets __________________ i7 930@4Ghz-DFI T3EH6-6Go OCZPC12800-GTX480+8800GT Barton 2600+@2.16 (188x11.5) # GeForce 6800 GT@Ultra 1.5Go PC3200 #Asus A7N8X Deluxe Bios 1008 26397 3DMark06/ 57736 3DMark01/163152 Aquamark3

Feb 12, 2004, 10:26 PM	#25
Exxtreme DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Nov 2002 Posts: 14 Rep Power: 0	Hi CM, your readme says: "Direct3D Setting Enhancement Previous versions of the ATI display driver required the monitor going blank for up to 8 seconds when applying Direct3D settings. The latest ATI software driver for the RADEON™ 9500 and higher class of products now allows for the Direct3D setting to be applied without the monitor's display going blank. " But the black screen is still there. I have installed the "wxp-w2k-catalyst-7-981-040127m-013420c" package (driver + control panel). I'm using Windows 2000 + SP4. Best regards. __________________ Author of rTool.

Feb 12, 2004, 10:40 PM	#30
)-(aVoC DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Feb 2004 Posts: 3 Rep Power: 0	http://www2.ati.com/drivers/wme-cata...7m-013420c.exe