Catalyst 13.11 Beta Performance Analysis versus GeForce 331.58

Test Configuration & Driver Release Notes

Test Configuration – Hardware

• Intel Core i7 3770K (overclocked to 4.5GHz); Turbo is on.  Supplied by Intel.
• EVGA Z77 FTW motherboard (Intel Z77 chipset, latest beta 03-12-13 BIOS, PCIe 3.0 specification; CrossFire/SLI 16x+16x using Plex chip.) Supplied by EVGA.
• 16GB Kingston Beast HyperX DDR3 Kingston RAM (8x2GB, dual-channel at 2133MHz; supplied by Kingston)
• Noctua NH-DH14 CPU cooler, supplied by Noctua plus 7 case fans.
• EVGA GeForce 780, 3GB, reference design and clocks, on loan from EVGA.
• Nvidia GTX 770 (2GB, reference design and clocks), supplied by Nvidia
• PowerColor HD 7970 3GB at stock clocks (925/1375MHz) and at GHz Edition Boost speeds (1050/1500MHz)
• Onboard Realtek Audio
• Genius SP-D150 notebook speakers, supplied by Genius
• Two identical 500GB Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 hard drives configured and set up identically from drive image; one drive for Nvidia GeForce drivers and one for ATI Catalyst drivers
• Two 240GB Kingston HyperX SSDs; supplied by Kingston. Both SSDs configured and set up identically from drive image; one drive for Nvidia GeForce drivers and one for ATI Catalyst drivers..
• Cooler Master Platinum Pro 1000W PSU, supplied by Cooler Master
• Thermaltake Overseer RX-I full tower case, supplied by Thermaltake
• Philips DVD SATA writer
• HP LP3065 2560×1600 thirty inch LCD

Test Configuration – Software

• Nvidia GeForce WHQL 331.58 an WHQL 327.23 High Quality; Single-display Performance mode; Prefer Maximum Performance
• AMD Catalyst 13.9 WHQL and 13.11 beta drivers. All optimizations off (Use application settings); High Quality
• Windows 7 64-bit; very latest updates
• Latest DirectX
• All games are patched to their latest versions.
• Vsync is forced off in the control panels.
• Varying AA enabled as noted in games; all in-game settings are specified with 16xAF always applied; 16xAF forced in control panel for Crysis.
• All results show average frame rates
• Highest quality sound (stereo) used in all games.
• Windows 7 64, all DX9 titles were run under DX9 render paths, DX10 titles were run under DX10 render paths and DX11 titles under DX11 render paths.

The Benchmarks

• Synthetic
  • FireStrike (and FireStrike Extreme)
  • 3DMark 11
  • Heaven 4.0
  • Valley 1.0

   

  DX9
  • Serious Sam 3 BFE
  • Alan Wake: Ameican Nightmare
  • The Witcher 2
  • Borderlands 2
  • Aliens: Colonial Marines

   

  DX10
  • Crysis

   

  DX11
  • BattleForge
  • Alien vs. Predator
  • STALKER, Call of Pripyat
  • Metro 2033
  • Lost Planet 2
  • Civilization V
  • Total War: Shogun II
  • Crysis 2
  • DiRT 3
  • DiRT: ShowDown
    
  • Batman: Arkham City
  • Battlefield 3
  • Max Payne 3
  • the Secret World
  • Sleeping Dogs
  • Sniper Elite V2
  • Hitman: Absolution
  • Far Cry 3
  • Tomb Raider: 2013
  • Assassin’s Creed 3
  • Crysis 3
  • BioShock: Infinite
  • Metro: Last Light
  • GRID 2

Lets look at the release notes from AMD regarding the Catalyst 13.11 beta before we head to performance testing.  Driver release notes and the performance analysis of GeForce 331.58 WHQL drivers can be found here.  However, first up, the release notes from AMD regarding Catalyst 13.11 Beta drivers.

Always start here to download AMD graphics drivers.

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta Driver for Windows

Includes support for the new products:

• AMD Radeon™ R9 280X
• AMD Radeon R9 270X
• AMD Radeon R7 260X
• AMD Radeon R7 250
• AMD Radeon R7 240

Performance improvements for the AMD Radeon HD 7000 Series in the following games:

• Total War™: Rome 2 – improves performance up to 10%
• Splinter Cell® Blacklist™ – improves performance up to 7% on single GPU and AMD CrossFire™ configurations
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim® – improves performance up to 9%

Compatible Operating Systems

The AMD Catalyst 13.11 Beta Driver for Windows is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:

• Windows 8.1 (32 & 64-bit version)
• Windows 8 (32 & 64-bit version)
• Windows 7 (32 & 64-bit version with SP1 or higher)

Installing The AMD Catalyst Software Driver

For additional information and general help on the software driver installation, game issues and more visit, AMD Support.

Let’s head to the charts and see the performance comparison in 30 games and in 4 synthetics since we recently tested the GTX 770 versus the VisionTek HD reference HD 7970.