AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis

AMD has just released a new Catalyst 10.10 driver for Radeon graphics cards - we check out performance under Windows 7.

Published
Updated
Manufacturer: AMD
5 minutes & 53 seconds read time

Introduction


CATALYST 10.10 PERFORMANCE ANALYSIS




Amongst the launch of the HD 6800 series from AMD we've seen a new driver hit us in the form of the 10.10. I'm going to keep it a little brief as I continue to work hard on more HD 6800 series content and no doubt have to prepare for the launch of the HD 6900 series next. So let's look at the performance improvements AMD are telling us to expect and then just get stuck into it.


Aliens vs. Predator™ DirectX 11 Benchmark

Performance increases up to 6% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire
Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire
Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5600 Series
Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series
Performance increases up to 4% on ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series


BattleForge™

Performance increases up to 6% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire configurations with anti-aliasing enabled
Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire configurations with anti-aliasing enabled


Crysis Warhead

Performance increases up to 9% on Single ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series products with anti-aliasing enabled


Far Cry™ 2

Performance increases up to 7% on Single ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series products


Metro 2033™

Performance increases up to 7% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire configurations
Performance increases up to 8% on ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire configurations
Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5600 Series in DirectX 11 and 10 modes
Performance increases up to 5% on ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series in DirectX 11 and 10 modes
Performance increases up to 4% on ATI Radeon HD 5400 Series in DirectX 11 and 10 modes


S.T.A.L.K.E.R.™ : Call of Pripyat Benchmark

Performance increases up to 7% on single ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series products


Unigine™ Heaven

Performance increases up to 9% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire configurations with anti-aliasing enabled
Performance increases up to 8% on ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire configurations with anti-aliasing enabled


World in Conflict™

Performance increases up to 9% on ATI Radeon HD 5600 Series
Performance increases up to 10% on ATI Radeon HD 5500 Series

Test System Setup and 3DMark Vantage


AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 99


We would like to thank the following companies for supplying and supporting us with our test system hardware and equipment: Intel, ASRock, Kingston, Mittoni, Noctua and Corsair.

Again, I'm just going to keep it brief, but it's safe to say that AMD has offered us a whole mess of updates. Let's see how these translate into the games and benchmarks we test here.

Let's get started!


3DMark Vantage

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.0.1
Developer Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com
Product Homepage: http://www.futuremark.com/products/3dmarkvantage/
Buy It Here




3DMark Vantage is the new industry standard PC gaming performance benchmark from Futuremark, newly designed for Windows Vista and DirectX10. It includes two new graphics tests, two new CPU tests, several new feature tests, and support for the latest hardware.

3DMark Vantage is based on a completely new rendering engine, developed specifically to take full advantage of DirectX10, the new graphics API from Microsoft.

AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 20


HD 5770 Here we see no change.

HD 5870 Here we see a little change, but nothing really worth noting.

HD 5970 Here we see a little change, but nothing really worth noting.

Benchmarks - Mafia II


Mafia II

Version and / or Patch Used: Latest Steam Update
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.2kczech.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.mafia2game.com/
Buy It Here




Mafia II is a third-person action-adventure video game, the sequel to Mafia: The City of Lost Heaven. It is developed by 2K Czech, previously known as Illusion Softworks, and is published by 2K Games. The game is set from 1943 to 1951 in Empire Bay (the name is a reference to New York's state nickname "The Empire State"), a fictional city based on San Francisco and New York City, with influences from Chicago and Detroit. The game features a completely open-ended game map of 10 square miles. No restrictions are included from the start of the game. There are around 50 vehicles in the game, as well as licensed music from the era.

AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 21


HD 5770 Here we see no change.

HD 5870 Across the board we can see a slight dip in performance.

HD 5970 Across the board we for the most part see an increase. 1920 x 1200 performance seems to have corrected itself; 108 FPS clearly didn't seem to be right.

Benchmarks - Aliens vs. Predator


Aliens vs. Predator

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark
Developer Homepage: http://www.rebellion.co.uk/
Product Homepage: http://www.sega.com/games/aliens-vs-predator/




Aliens vs. Predator is a science fiction first-person shooter video game, developed by Rebellion Developments, the team behind the 1999 original PC game, and published by Sega for Microsoft Windows, the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360. The game is based on the Alien vs. Predator franchise, a combination of the characters and creatures of the Alien franchise and the Predator franchise. There are three campaigns in the game, one for each race/faction (the Predators, the Aliens and the Colonial Marines), that, while separate in terms of individual plot and gameplay, form one overarching storyline.

Following the storyline of the campaign modes comes the multiplayer aspect of the game. In this Multiplayer section of the game, players face off in various different gametypes in various different ways.

AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 22


HD 5770 A small 1 FPS bump at both resolutions.

HD 5870 A little dip at the lower resolutions.

HD 5970 A 1 FPS bump at all resolutions.

Benchmarks - Final Fantasy XIV


Final Fantasy XIV

Version and / or Patch Used: Standalone Benchmark
Timedemo or Level Used: Built in Benchmark - Elezen (Male)
Developer Homepage: http://www.square-enix.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.finalfantasyxiv.com/




Final Fantasy XIV, also known as Final Fantasy XIV Online, is the fourteenth installment in the Final Fantasy series. The game is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game and is developed and published by Square Enix. The game takes place in a land called Hydaelyn, mainly in a region named Eorzea, which will have a contemporaneously aesthetic blend of science fiction and classic fantasy elements.

The battle and job systems will be different from the one previously used in Final Fantasy XI, which utilized experience points and level-based progression. Final Fantasy XIV is being designed to utilize a skill-based progression[15] system similar to that of Final Fantasy II. Character races will resemble and allow players to create avatars similar to ones in Final Fantasy XI. Group play has been de-emphasized, and now solo and group play have been balanced. Weapon use will alter "character development".

Note: Final Fantasy XIV gives us a score and not a normal FPS rating, our understanding is that anything around 2000 points or above is considered playable.

AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 23


HD 5770 Here we see no change.

HD 5870 Here we see a little change, but nothing really worth noting.

HD 5970 Here we see no change.

Benchmarks - Far Cry 2


Far Cry 2

Version and / or Patch Used: 1.01
Timedemo or Level Used: Ranch Long
Developer Homepage: http://www.ubi.com/
Product Homepage: http://www.farcry2.com/
Buy It Here




The Dunia Engine was built specifically for Far Cry 2 by the award-winning Ubisoft Montreal development team. It delivers the most realistic destructible environments, amazing special effects such as dynamic fire propagation and storm effects, real-time night-and-day cycle, dynamic music system, non-scripted enemy A.I. and so much more.

AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 24


HD 5770 Performance is up here at both resolutions.

HD 5870 Performance is up across the board.

HD 5970 Performance for the most part is up across the board; our 1920 x 1200 minimum is a little off, though.

Benchmarks - High Quality AA and AF and Final Thoughts


High Quality AA and AF

Our high quality tests let us separate the men from the boys and the ladies from the girls. If the cards weren't struggling before, they will start to now.

AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 25


AMD Catalyst 10.10 Windows 7 Driver Analysis 26


HD 5870 We see a really nice boost to performance under Far Cry 2.

HD 5970 We see a really nice boost to performance under Far Cry 2.


Final Thoughts

This is a driver set that carries with it some nice performance promises. While we don't see all of them for the simple fact that we don't test all the programs that are mentioned in the release notes, you can see in our line up some nice gains are seen across the board nonetheless.

The stand out is no doubt AA performance under Far Cry 2. Not to take anything away from the AMD driver team, but this driver was a lot better than I expected. To be honest I figured AMD would be so busy with the launch of the new HD 6000 series that the HD 5000 series might've gotten a little bit left out.

I'm not sure how we're going go next month with another launch from AMD, but I don't think we'll be seeing the same kind of gains. Come the 10.12 December release, though, and the driver team normally has some holiday goodies in store for us. Time will tell. For now, though, enjoy the free extra FPS!

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Shawn takes care of all of our video card reviews. From 2009, Shawn is also taking care of our memory reviews, and from May 2011, Shawn also takes care of our CPU, chipset and motherboard reviews. As of December 2011, Shawn is based out of Taipei, Taiwan.

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