Version: 13.8
Build: 13.200.0.0000
WHQL Certification: No
Download
Installation instructions for Windows 8.1 users:
- Download the latest AMD Catalyst Win 8.1 Release Preview Drivers.
- Extract it.
- Replace the "Drivers" folder inside "Packages" with the one that comes with 13.8
- Run the setup.
Reviews:
Mod edit: added release notes and reviews. Special thanks to lacrossewacker and rpsgc for finding some of the reviews.
Build: 13.200.0.0000
WHQL Certification: No
Download
Installation instructions for Windows 8.1 users:
- Download the latest AMD Catalyst Win 8.1 Release Preview Drivers.
- Extract it.
- Replace the "Drivers" folder inside "Packages" with the one that comes with 13.8
- Run the setup.
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Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta Driver for Windows:
- Support for AMD CrossFire™ Frame Pacing
- Frame Pacing ensures that frames rendered across multiple GPUs in a CrossFire configuration will be displayed at an even and regular pace.
- Enabled through the AMD Catalyst Control Center; Globally or on a per application basis.
- Frame Pacing is enabled by default.
- Supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications, and resolutions up to and including 2560x1600 (single display).
- OpenGL 4.3 support - full support for the OpenGL 4.3 feature set
- Performance improvements found in AMD Catalyst 13.8 Beta for Windows:
- Metro: Last Light - improves performance up to 7% on the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000 Series
- OpenGL support for User Profiles and Catalyst Application Profiles:
- Users can now create per application 3D setting profiles for OpenGL applications.
- OpenGL applications are now supported through Catalyst Application Profile updates (for single GPU and AMD CrossFire configurations).
- AMD Enduro Technology enhancement - Catalyst Control Center will now show which applications are active on the Performance GPU, and the Power-Saving GPU
- Resolved issues:
- Resolved crash when enabling AMD CrossFireX™ on some AMD 970 platforms
- Improved stability for AMD Radeon HD 7790
- Resolved intermittent mouse cursor corruption when rapidly moving the cursor across window borders
Reviews:
- Guru3D
- Anandtech
- PC Perspective
- Hardware Heaven
- HardOCP
- Hot Hardware
- HardwareCanucks
- ComputerBase.de (German)
- PCGamesHardware (German)
- Tech Report
Guru3D
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AnantechWe are going to give credit where credit is due as AMD deserves that. In a relatively short time period the driver team has been able to tackle micro-stuttering significantly. Though they are not there 100% yet the overall latency differential has improved dramatically. Mind you that frame pacing only works with DX10 and DX11 titles for now. AMD is still working on DirectX 9, but that will be addressed in the upcoming Beta's.
Comparing apples to oranges, when you look at the charts NVIDIA still has a better overall solution as their latencies differentials for each even and odd frame are a hint better. But the difference with AMD is very close, so close that we doubt very much it can be seen visually. We are pretty sure that over time, AMDs frame pacing algorithm will get even more refined as remember, NVIDIA has been working on this rendering anomaly (or byproduct if you will) for a much longer time.
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PCPERUltimately we have to give AMD the kudos they deserve. They have come forward about their issues, set out a plan to fix them, and have begun delivering on those plans. There's still room for further improvement within AMD's drivers, so AMD's job is far from done, but today they have taken the first step needed to settle the frame pacing problems that have been dogging their products.
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Hardware HeavenAMD deserves a lot of credit for stepping up and addressing these frame pacing issues with the 13.8 beta driver. It took a brand new testing methodology to really prove that there was an issue with CrossFire and even internally at AMD it seemed there was a debate if the results we published were "real." Not only does this driver validate everything we have worked on for the last two years but the fact that AMD has decided to enable the frame pacing fix by default emphasizes that fact even more. Evenly paced frames results in a smoother animation and does not mean that your input latency increases in any way.
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Hard OCPOverall we have to say this release doesn't deliver what we would have expected and to be honest we are not sure why AMD has rushed to deliver it in a state where there are no significant real world improvements in key titles... or why they felt waiting until all resolutions and DX9/OpenGL were ready wasnt worthwhile. It could be that there is an improvement in tests which use FCAT technology to record driver improvements but until the gains are replicated in real world use for games such as Crysis 3 we see no reason to change our conclusions from recent reviews.
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Hot HardwareFrame Pacing is what AMD has needed for a long time now on CrossFire. It's a foot in the right direction, it improves upon what was there in a big and noticeable way. There is still room for improvement, but Frame Pacing has made AMD CrossFire more competitive. We will continue to investigate even deeper on these issues in the future. For now, people with AMD CrossFire go upgrade to Catalyst 13.8 Beta. Keep in mind that Frame Pacing will only work on single-display up to 2560x1600 right now. However, in Phase 2 later this month Eyefinity will be supported. Even if you are playing in Eyefinity, Catalyst 13.8 Beta alone has some game performance improvements versus Catalyst 13.6 Beta 2.
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Hardware CanucksWhile the Catalyst 13.8 beta drives don't address every game across any possible resolution, they should help the vast majority of the market, running a single monitor at a resolution up to and including 2560x1600. DirectX 9 support would be nice, but since they're typically less taxing, they're not likely to be GPU bound on a higher-end CrossFire setup, so the benefits of enabling frame pacing are less impactful. Ultimately, AMD is on the right track and just make CrossFire and CrossFire-dependent products like their flagship Radeon HD 7990 more attractive. Kudos to AMD for making good on their promise to deliver a drive this summer.
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Tech ReportEven though frame pacing does represent a large improvement for Crossfire solutions, we just can't bring ourselves to laud it as a technological achievement. Late is certainly better than never but with the 13.8 beta drivers, AMD is simply fixing something which shouldn't have been broken for so long in the first place.
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If you have any sort of graphics setup that relies of AMD's CrossFire technology, you'll want to download the Catalyst 13.8 beta and install it right away. Since AMD has wisely decided to enable frame pacing by default, gamers should see the benefits of that feature in any DirectX 10/11 games immediately. Based on our benchmark results, the slow-mo videos we've captured, and our own seat-of-the-pants impressions, I think we can say with confidence that AMD's frame pacing solution appears to work just as well as Nvidia's SLI frame metering. The Radeon HD 7990's frame production and delivery results look much more like what you'd get from a single fast GPU-and that's exactly the behavior you'd want.
Mod edit: added release notes and reviews. Special thanks to lacrossewacker and rpsgc for finding some of the reviews.