AMD Catalyst™ Software Suite Version 12.9 Beta Release Notes 

This article provides information on the latest posting of AMD’s software suite, AMD Catalyst™12.9 Beta. This particular software suite updates the AMD display driver and the AMD Catalyst™ Control Center and the AMD Vision Engine Control Center. This unified driver has been updated and is designed to provide enhanced performance and reliability.

Package Content

The AMD Catalyst software suite 12.9 Beta contains the following:

• AMD display driver version 9.001
• HydraVision™ for Windows Vista^® and Windows^® 7
• Southbridge/ IXP Driver
• AMD Catalyst Control Center version 9.001/ AMD Vision Engine Control Center version 9.001.

Caution ! 

• The AMD Catalyst Control Center/AMD Vision Engine Control Center requires that the Microsoft® .NET Framework SP1 be installed for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Without .NET SP1 installed, the AMD Catalyst Control Center/AMD Vision Engine Control Center will not launch properly and the user will see an error message. 

Notes.

• When installing the AMD Catalyst driver for Windows operating system, the user must be logged on as Administrator or have Administrator rights to complete the installation of the AMD Catalyst driver.
• The Catalyst driver requires Windows 7 Service Pack 1 to be installed.
• These release notes provide information on the AMD display driver only. For information on the ATI Multimedia Center™, HydraVision, HydraVision Basic Edition, Remote Wonder™, or the Southbridge/IXP driver, please refer to their respective release notes found at: http://support.amd.com/.
• AMD Eyefinity technology is designed to give gamers access to high display resolutions. As pixel count grows, the graphics “horsepower” required to drive the displays at a reasonable frame rate can increase dramatically. Depending on the game and system configuration, users may notice texture corruption and reduced frame rates when running games in multi-monitor Eyefinity modes.
• Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers are no longer bundled in the AMD Catalyst software suite. The WDM drivers install bundle can be downloaded independently through the AMD website.

AMD Product Compatibility

The AMD Catalyst driver is compatible with the following AMD products.

AMD Mobility Radeon™ Family Compatibility 

AMD Catalyst Mobility software is a notebook reference graphics driver with limited support for system vendor specific features. When used with Windows Vista or Windows 7, the user experience may be limited or compromised.

The Installation Verification Software is designed to prevent driver download on certain notebook products. This is to protect against the installation of drivers that may disable features or functionality provided by the system manufacturer.  When used with Windows Vista or Windows 7, the user experience may be limited or compromised. In such a situation, it is recommended to revert back to the driver provided by your system vendor for your specific platform. Please contact your system vendor for the most recent drivers for your notebook. 

Compatible Operating Systems 

The latest version of the AMD Catalyst software suite is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:

• Windows 8 32-bit version
• Windows 8 64-bit version
• Windows 7 32-bit version
• Windows 7 64-bit version
• Windows Vista 32-bit version
• Windows Vista 64-bit version
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows XP Media Center Edition
• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition 

Feature Highlights of the AMD Catalyst 12.9 Beta: AMD Catalyst Mobility support for AMD Enduro Technology

AMD Catalyst Mobility now includes support for AMD Enduro Technology.  

• AMD Enduro Technology for Notebooks delivers:
• Long lasting battery life
• GPU accelerated performance for gaming, video, and compute apps
• A Seamless and automatic experience

New features found in Catalyst 12.9 Beta:

• Re-designed Catalyst Control Center user interface
• View all profiled applications
• View recently run applications
• Profile applications based on power source
• Expert mode control and customization
• Performance centric AC
• Battery centric DC   

Feature Highlights of AMD Catalyst 12.9 Beta Linux® Driver:  New OS Support

This release of AMD Catalyst Linux introduces support for the following new operating systems.

• Ubuntu 12.10 early look support
• RHEL 6.3 production support

Performance highlights of AMD Catalyst™ 12.9 Beta (versus AMD Catalyst 12.8)

• Up to 10% in Lost Planet 2 in single GPU configurations

RESOLVED ISSUES

This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst12.9 Beta software suite.

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System

• Krater crashes when run on HD 7000 series products
• Dirt Showdown 8-Ball hangs when CrossFire is enabled
• The Amazing Spider Man stuttering experienced at certain game locations
• Deus Ex Human Revolution: Intro scenes stutter
• F1 2011: Vehicle textures flicker when game is run at low settings
• Dirt Showdown: Flickering seen when benchmark is run in DirectX 11 mode
• Battlefield – Bad Company 2: Flickering textures seen in CrossFire mode
• Alan Wake: freezes when run in DirectX 9 mode with a 3x1 Eyefinity layout.
• Portal 2: freezes when run in DirectX 9 mode with a 3x1 Eyefinity layout
• Catalyst Control Center Overscan settings are now correctly retained across reboots
• Tri and Quad CrossFire+ Eyefinity configurations – Certain DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications lower than expected performance
• FireFox – corruption observed in CrossFire configurations
• Enabling Overdrive settings increased clocks in all power states
• Availability of AMD Video Converter support in AMD Catalyst 12.9 Beta Windows 7 and Windows Vista packages

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System

• Corruption seen during Blu Ray playback using Cyberlink PowerDVD 12

Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System

• Riddick – Assault on Dark Athena : Tearing observed when run at High game settings in a CrossFire configuration
• The audio driver incorrectly installed

KNOWN ISSUES

The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced with the AMD Catalyst 12.9 Beta software suite.

Known issues under the Windows 7 operating system

• Max Payne 3: Lights may flicker when run in Direct X 11 mode in a triple Crossfire configuration
• Metro 2033: Menus may  flicker when run in DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 mode
• Guild Wars 2: Texture flicker/corruption may be  seen when changing graphics settings 

Installing the AMD Catalyst Software Driver

For further information and general help on software driver installation, game issues, and more, visit AMD Customer Care.

Installation information can be found at: How to Install Your AMD Product.

AMD ISSUE REPORTING FORM

This driver release incorporates suggestions received through the AMD Issue Reporting Form. To provide us with your feedback, visit the AMD Issue Reporting Form.