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CATALYST™ Release Notes Version 4.7

These release notes provide information on the latest posting of ATI's industry leading software suite, CATALYST™. This particular posting updates the ATI Display Driver to version 8.03. This unified driver has been further enhanced to provide the highest level of power, performance, and reliability. The ATI CATALYST™ software suite is the ultimate in performance and stability.

The CATALYST™ 4.7 Release Notes provides information on the following:

Web Content

The CATALYST™ software suite 4.7 contains the following:

Note: These release notes provide information on the 8.03 display driver only. For information on the ATI MULTIMEDIA CENTER™ 9.1, HydraVision™ 3.25.0006, HydraVision&trasde; 3.25.9006 Basic Edition, WDM version 4.05, or the REMOTE WONDER™ 2.3, please refer to their respective release notes found at: http://ati.com/

Desktop product family support

The CATALYST™ software suite is designed to support the following ATI desktop product family:
RADEON™ X800 series
 		RADEON™ 7500 series
RADEON™ X600 series
 		RADEON™ 7000 series
RADEON™ X300 series
 		RADEON™ 9700 series
RADEON™ 9800 series
 		RADEON™ 9500 series
RADEON™ 9600 series
 		RADEON™ 9100 series
RADEON™ 9200 series
 		RADEON™ 8500 series
RADEON™ 9000 series
 		RADEON™ 7200 series

Note: ATI ALL-IN-WONDER™ variants based on the above are also supported.
Note: All ATI RADEON™ PC Graphic cards are optimized for Microsoft's Media Center Edition when coupled with a supported video capture card.

ATI Integrated Product Support

The CATALYST™ software suite is designed to support the following ATI integrated product family:

Operating systems supported

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

Note: As of January 1, 2004, Microsoft no longer accepts certification submissions for the Microsoft® Windows® Millennium Edition operating system. ATI Technologies Inc. can no longer obtain WHQL certification for this operating system. For more information refer to the following Microsoft® website: http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/hwtest/search/details.aspx?ID=800
Note: Windows Millennium Edition users can obtain the
CATALYST™ 4.3 software suite at: http://www.atitech.com/support/driver.html. Windows 98/98SE is supported through the ME driver.

New Features

This section provides information on new features found in this release of the CATALYST™ Display Drivers. This release introduces a new feature called Temporal Anti-Aliasing. OpenGL and Direct 3D applications will benefit from this feature when custom settings for Anti-Aliasing are used, and Temporal Anti-Aliasing is enabled. The feature provides higher Anti-Aliasing quality when an application frame rate is 60 frames per second or higher. This feature will be located within the ATI 3D tab and will be supported under the English edtion of Windows XP and Windows 2000. Localized support for this feature is expected in the next release of CATALYST™.

Performance Improvements

As with most CATALYST™ releases performance has increased in various situations. The following performance gains are noticed:

  • Further improvements in our Vertex Shader handling bring performance improvements to applications that use stencil shadow volumes. For example, the Battle of Proxycon and Troll's Lair tests gain 10-30% on RADEON™ X800 PRO.
  • Call of Duty framerates improve 5-10% when anti-aliasing is enabled on RADEON™ X800-series products.
  • Aquamark performance is up slightly (2-3%) on RADEON™ X800-series products.

Issues Resolved in CATALYST™ Version 4.7

The following section provides a summary of the issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST 4.7. These include:

Resolved CATALYST™ Driver Issues

This section provides information on CATALYST™ driver issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following:

  • Enabling both the CRT and DVI connectors and setting the CRT to primary no longer results in display corruption being seen on the display connected to the DVI when running 3D Labs applications and disabling the display on the DVI connector
  • The mouse pointer no longer flashes or becomes corrupted when setting the display mode to 1080i and launching Windows MCE
  • DVD playback hesitation at the beginning of a movie is no longer noticed when using the ATI DVD Player under Windows XP with an ATI 8500 ALL-IN-WONDER™ installed
  • The Windows XP operating system no longer fails to respond when a D3D application generates a floating-point exception error
  • The BIOS Version information is now stated correctly in the Details found in the ATI Options tab. Further, the correct DAC and ASIC information is now displayed in the Adapter tab found in the advanced setting of the display properties
  • The Overlay Theater Mode table has now been extended to support 1080i and 720p
  • Launching EVE Online under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 8500, 9100, or 9200 series no longer results in a VPU recover error before the terms and conditions is displayed

Resolved Game Issues

This section provides information on game issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST™. These include the following:

  • Setting the D3D option to Optimal Quality and configuring the game Freedom Fighters to 1280x1024 no longer results in display corruption being seen on the test resolution window. This issue occurred under Windows XP with an ALL-IN-WONDER™ 9200 installed
  • The water that surrounds Death Island in the game Halo: Combat evolved is now seen as blue in colour. This issues was known to occur under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 8500 installed
  • Image rendering issues in the Truform room found in Serious Sam are no longer noticed when increasing the Truform level to maximum under the Advanced Rendering Option
  • Flashing textures in the water are no longer noticed when running Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ X800 XT installed
  • Playing the game TOCA Race Driver under Windows XP no longer results in the shadows being missing under the car when the shadow quality is set to high

Known Issues

The following section provides a brief description of known issues associated with the latest version of CATALYST™. These include the following:

Caution: Forcing on Anti-Aliasing is now permitted. This will permit users to use Anti-Aliasing on games such as Madden 2004 (which users are requesting). Forcing on Anti-Aliasing (through the CATALYST™ control panel) in the following games will cause corruption. Anti-Aliasing is not compatible with the following games:

· Prince Of Persia: Sands of Time
· Splinter Cell / Pandora Tomorrow
· Race Driver (TOCA)
· Crazy Taxi 3

For further information and general help on driver or software installation, game issues, and more, visit the ATI FAQ website.

Downloading the ATI CATALYST™ Software Suite

This section provides information on downloading the CATALYST™ Software Suite for your ATI RADEON™ product. The ATI CATALYST™ Crew recommends that you create a central location for your ATI CATALYST™ downloads. To do this, follow these steps.

  1. Right-click on any open area of your desktop. A drop down menu is displayed.
  2. Select New->Folder. A new folder is created on your desktop.
  3. Name the folder CATALYST™ Downloads.
  4. Navigate to the ATI software download web page, and select the software driver you require.
  5. Click Download. A File download dialog box is displayed.
  6. Click Save. The Save As dialog box is displayed.
  7. Navigate to the CATALYST™ Download folder, and click Save.

You have successfully saved the software driver to your desktop.

Uninstalling the ATI Control and Display Driver

This section provides information on uninstalling the previous versions of your ATI Control Panel and ATI Display Driver for your RADEON™ product.

Note: If your are using Windows 2000 or Windows XP, ensure that you have logged in with system administrative rights.

Before you can install the latest CATALYST™ software driver for your RADEON™ product, you must uninstall the previous ATI Control Panel. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the Add/Remove programs tool provided by Microsoft. This tool is found in the Control Panel.
    Note: Ensure all other applications are closed before continuing with the uninstall of the ATI Display Driver.
  2. Click the Change/Remove button. The ATI Control Panel Setup window is displayed.
  3. Select Remove, and click Next. A Confirm File Deletion dialog box is displayed.
  4. Click OK. The ATI Control Panel Setup window is displayed.
  5. Select No, and click Finish. You are returned to the Add/Remove Program tool.

You have successfully uninstalled the ATI Control Panel.

You are now ready to uninstall the ATI Display Driver. To do this, follow these steps:

  1. Select ATI Display Driver in the Add/Remove Program tool.
  2. Click the Change/Remove button.
    Note: If you have multiple display adapters installed, a dialog box will appear instructing you to choose which ATI Display driver to uninstall. Click the Select All button.
  3. Click Yes when prompted to confirm the uninstall of the ATI Display Driver.
  4. Reboot your system as prompted to compete the uninstall of the ATI Display Driver.
    Note: If you are prompted to start the installation of a display driver upon boot up, click CANCEL

You have successfully uninstalled the previous version of the ATI Display Driver and ATI Control Panel.

Installing the latest CATALYST™ Software Suite

This section provides information on installing the latest CATALYST™ Software Suite for your RADEON™ product. To install the driver, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to the CATALYST™ Download folder on your desktop. Double-click on the folder to view its content.
  2. Double click the CATALYST™ display driver. Accept all the default prompts.
  3. Restart your system as required.

You have successfully installed the latest CATALYST™ software driver.

CATALYST™ CREW Feedback Program

This driver release incorporates suggestions received through the CATALYST™ CREW feedback program. Please refer to http://apps.ati.com/driverfeedback/ and provide us further feedback.

Customer Care Service

The ATI Customer Care Center is focused on delivering accurate, up-to-date product support for optimum usability and performance. Should you require assistance with your ATI product visit, http://www.atitech.com/support/index.html

ATI Technologies Inc.
http://www.ati.com
Voice: (905) 882-2600
Fax: (905) 882-2620