The last performance analysis of Catalyst 11.2 vs. 11.1a was published here<\/a>. We are currently evaluating the WHQL Catalyst 11.3 drivers and taking a preview look at the beta 11.4s. Now we are using our overclocked Core i7-920 at 3.8 GHz and we use the same settings that we used for our Introducing AMD\u2019s HD 6790<\/a> article. This time we are not testing with CrossFire as a CrossFire vs. SLI evaluation using WHQL 11.4 will be published here later on this month. The percentage of change from upgrading the drivers should remain about the same for any capable CPU platform.<\/p>\n We are going to test Catalyst 11.3 and 11.4 beta against Catalyst 11.2 using our current benchmark suite of 28 games plus three synthetic benchmarks, Heaven 2.0, 3DMark11 and Vantage. Our testing platform is Windows 7 64-bit using Intel Core i7-920 at 3.80 GHz, 6 GB DD3, and our video cards are a single HD 6870 and a HD 6970 to represent the Radeons. All of our games are tested at two of these three resolutions: 2560×1600, 1920×1200, 1680×1050, with 16xAF, and we use DX11\/10\/10.1 whenever possible.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s get right to the test configuration, the driver’s release notes and the tests.<\/p>\n Test Configuration<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n Test Configuration – Hardware <\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Test Configuration – Software<\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/p>\n The Benchmarks<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/strong> <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n Please note that we are using the exact same settings that we used for our\u00a0<\/a>Introducing AMD\u2019s HD 6790<\/a> article this week. The performance changes result solely from upgrading each driver from the previous one.<\/p>\n Lets look at some of the release notes from AMD<\/a> regarding Catalyst 11.3 before we head to performance testing.\u00a0 They look like mostly bug fixes and also seamless GPU compute support was added.<\/p>\n Highlights of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 Windows release includes:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>New Features:<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong>Seamless GPU Compute support<\/strong><\/p>\n Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System<\/strong><\/p>\n Known issues under the Windows 7 operating system Known Issues under the Windows Vista Operating System Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System Known Issues under all Windows Operating Systems Let’s head to the charts and see if there are any performance improvements. Look for Part Two of our SLI vs. CrossFire evaluation next week that will show the very latest CrossFire scaling with WHQL 11-4.\u00a0 If the betas are any indication, they promise major performance improvements over Catalyst 11.3<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Performance charts & Conclusion<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Here are our results of thirty-one benchmarks – twenty-eight games and three synthetics – compared between Catalyst 11.2 and 11.3.\u00a0 The HD 6970 was also benched with (*) Beta Catalyst 11.4 preview drivers.\u00a0 “Wins” are in bold<\/strong>; if there is a tie, both (or all three) results will be in bold type.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n We note a few performance improvements over Catalyst 11.2 with Catalyst 11.3 in a couple of games with HD 6000 series. However, we see large performance increases with Catalyst 11.4 beta as tested with the HD 6970. This is the third set of improvements involving multiple games that we have noticed in a long time and we are looking forward to the WHQL drivers.<\/p>\n We are sorry that we did not have time to post the benches for CrossFire. However, we will have a new article on SLI versus CrossFire published here in two weeks with Catalyst 11.4 when it becomes WHQL and you will be able to check CrossFire scaling for yourself. Do not forget to download and install the Catalyst Application Profiles if applicable to your PC (they are downloaded in addition <\/em>to Catalyst 11.3 from the same AMD support page).<\/p>\n To sum it up, we would recommend upgrading to Catalyst 11.3 because there are new features, and the many pluses that we found outweigh that any slight and very few negatives. However, if you are looking for performance, definitely try out the beta 11.4s.\u00a0 Even if you have a HD 5000 series Radeon, it would be wise to upgrade just for the new features of Catalyst 11-3 (or beta 11.4).<\/p>\n We will be back later this month to compare the performance of Catalyst 11.3 versus WHQL Catalyst 11.4 unless we cover it in our CrossFire versus SLI series.\u00a0 Perhaps we can also cover the new GeForce WHQLs when they are (probably) released this month as the last 270 beta GeForce drivers brought good DX11 performance increases and features to Nvidia’s cards.\u00a0 Happy gaming!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Please join us in our Forums<\/a><\/p>\n Become a Fan on Facebook<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us on Twitter<\/a><\/p>\n For the latest updates from ABT, please join our RSS News Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Join our Distributed Computing teams<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/i2.wp.com\/alienbabeltech.com\/main\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/LP2DX11.jpg\" "\\"LP2DX11\\"")
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\nTest Configuration & Driver Release Notes<\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/span> <\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/em><\/li>\nRelease Notes Highlights for Catalyst 11.3
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\n<\/strong>This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 software suite for Windows 7. These include:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 software suite for Windows Vista. These include:<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/strong>The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows 7 operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows Vista operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows XP operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:<\/p>\n\n
\n<\/strong>The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under all supported Windows operating systems in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:<\/p>\n\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a>Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n
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