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CATALYST™ Release Note Version 5.2

These release notes provide information on the latest posting of ATI's industry leading software suite, CATALYST™. This particular software suite updates both the ATI Display Driver (version 8.10), and the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER (version 5.2). 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™ 5.2 Release Note provides information on the following:

Web Content

The CATALYST™ software suite 5.2 contains the following:

Desktop product family support

TheCATALYST™ software suite is designed to support the following ATI desktop products:
RADEON™ X850 series
 		RADEON™ 9500 series
RADEON™ X800 series
 		RADEON™ 92X0 series
RADEON™ X700 series
 		RADEON™ 9200 series
RADEON™ X600 series
 		RADEON™ 9100 series
RADEON™ X300 series
 		RADEON™ 9000 series
RADEON™ 9800 series
 		RADEON™ 8500 series
RADEON™ 9700 series
 		RADEON™ 7500 series
RADEON™ 9600 series
 		RADEON™ 7200 series
RADEON™ 95X0 series
 		RADEON™ 7000 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 2005 when coupled with a supported video capture card.

ATI Chipset Product Support

The CATALYST™ software suite is designed to support the following ATI chipset products:
RADEON™ XPRESS 200 series
 		RADEON™ 9000 IGP
RADEON™ IGP 340
 		IXP 300
RADEON™ IGP 330
 		IXP 250
RADEON™ IGP 320
 		IXP 200
RADEON™ 9100 IGP
 		IXP 150
RADEON™ 9100 IGP Pro

Operating systems supported

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

New Features

This section provides information on new features introduced in the latest release of the CATALYST™ Software Suite.

The CATALYST™ Software Suite 5.2 introduces 3D setting options to the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER system tray. The shortcut allows the user to easily adjust their 3D settings without having to load the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER.

The 3D setting submenu will be found in the Adapter menu of the system tray. When a user selects the 3D submenu option, the following options will be made available:

  • Anti-Aliasing. Application managed options include, 2X, 4X, 6X, and Enable Temporal Anti-Aliasing
  • Anisotropic filtering. Application managed options include, 2X, 4X, 8X, and 16X.
  • CATALYST™ A.I. (For RADEON™ 9700 and above). Options include:
    • Disabled
    • Standard
    • Advanced
  • Mipmap detail level. Options include; High performance, Performance, Quality, and High quality.
  • TRUFORM™. Options include; Application pref, or Always Off.
  • Wait for vertical refresh. Options include; Always off, Off unless application specifies, On unless application specifies, and Always on
  • Direct3D Setting. Options include; Enable geometry instancing, Support DXT texture formats, and Alternate pixel center
  • OpenGL Settings. Options include; Triple buffering, and Force 24-bit Z-buffer depth

This feature is supported on ATI RADEON™ 9500 series or higher product line.

Note: SmartShader Effects options will not be supported in the System Tray.

Performance Improvements

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

  • Efficiency improvements in vertex processing have produced performance enhancements in key applications such as Far Cry and 3DMark05 on RADEON™ X850, X800 and X700 series products
  • Far Cry "Regulator" and "Volcano" scores are up as much as 20% on RADEON™ X800 PRO at 1600x1200 resolution
  • 3DMark05 gains range from 1-3% on RADEON™ X800 series products to as much as 9% on some RADEON™ X700 configurations

Issues Resolved in CATALYST™ Display Driver Version 5.2

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

  • 4x4 Evolution2: Attempting to play the game under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ X300/X600 series installed no longer results in the operating system failing to respond when the screen is set to 1600x1200 32bpp and OpenGL Renderer is enabled
  • 4x4 Evolution 2: Display corruption is no longer noticed when having the display set to 1600x1200 32bpp along with the texture detail set to high and split screen rendering enabled
  • Serious Sam: Playing the game under Windows XP results in the display flashing when TRUFORM is enabled
  • Sims 2: Playing the game Veronaville under Windows XP while having the desktop set to 1024x768 32bpp along with AA set to 6X no longer results in corruption being noticed in the fields
  • Selecting the option; Enable Video Mode, results in the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER not being able to return to the default setting for the Enable Video Mode option
  • Switching language support for the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER no longer results in the slider bar for the engine clock being enabled when the option found in OVERDRIVE™ is locked
  • Navigating to View->Define a Custom View and deselecting all options found in the 3D option of the Edit Custom View tab, no longer results in the Standard Settings option remaining selected
  • Intermittent failure of the VPU Recover report not being sent is now resolved
  • Double-clicking the slider bar found in CATALYST™ A.I. no longer results in the Disable CATALYST™ A.I. option becoming de-selected
  • Disabling 3D preview no longer results in the preview continuing to run on a secondary display device
  • Having the 3D preview running on the secondary display adapter and attempting change display modes, no longer results in the primary display device displaying a black screen and error messages appearing
  • English is no longer the default language when installing the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER under Windows XP Japanese version
  • The CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER Version number is now displayed correctly in all localized languages
  • The Display Manager Notification dialog box is now displayed in the correct localized language
  • The OpenGL driver is no longer disabled after boot up when both AGP Read and PCI Read are disabled

Known Issues for CATALYST™ Display Driver Version 5.2

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

  • 3DMark2001: A black screen is displayed when launching 3DMark2001 after launching Aquamark3 when the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER is installed. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4785.html
  • Call of Duty: Corruption is noticed when playing a saved game under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON™ 9100 PRO IGP series installed and having a variety of graphic options provided by the game set high. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4656.html
  • Pacific Fighters: Playing the game after playing any track for a short period of time and having the landscape detail set to perfect results in the clouds becoming blocky when flying. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4732.html
  • Rainbow six3: Athena Sword: Playing the game under Windows 2000 with an ATI RADEON™ X700 installed results in the game failing to retain its resolution option of 1600x1200 if you Alt-tab out of the game and then Alt-tab back to the game. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4633.html
  • Accessing the Problem Report Wizard option from the ATI icon in the system tray results in the Problem Report Wizard not being translated in supported localized languages. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4762.html
  • Hesitation and display corruption is noticed when moving a Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005 window from the primary display device to a secondary TV or DVI display device. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4764.html
  • Assigning a hotkey to increase the overlay gamma results in the hotkey not functioning properly when playing an MPEG using the Windows Media Player. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4604.html
  • The Apply button in the Custom settings of the Advanced mode found under the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER Video standard settings, is grayed out when playing a media file. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4606.html
  • Entering the Video option found in the Graphic Setting tab of the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER results in a missing side scroll bar for the secondary display device when it is connected to an ATI RADEON™ 9800 series under Windows XP. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4765.html
  • The Welcome tab found in the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER is not completely localized for the Japanese version of Windows XP, or 2000. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4767.html
  • Using the CATALYST™ CONTROL CENTER to access the Display Manager results in corruption being seen on top of menu text in the Dutch, French, Spanish, and Portuguese versions of Windows XP. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4768.html
  • Currently the TV formats do not correspond to the country selected in the TV properties. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4783.html
  • Having a CRT and TV connected to the ATI RADEON™ X850 series results in the TV image quality page not being grayed out when enable video mode is enabled. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4784.html

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 Panel 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™ software suite you have downloaded. Accept all the default prompts.
  3. Restart your system as required.

You have successfully installed the latest CATALYST™ software suite.

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.

ATI Customer Care

The ATI Customer Care 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