AMD releases Catalyst 13.8 WHQL and beta drivers on 31st July

Big day coming! AMD promised to fix CrossFireX issues. For a while now users running two AMD graphics cards (or a graphics card and an APU) have been suffering from performance issues.
The new Catalyst should offer “improved multi-GPU frame pacing” to eliminate micro-stutter issues.

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Are you guys excited?



Download links;

13.8 Beta 2 Mobile

13.8 Beta 2 Desktop

 

Oh heck yeah I am! I've been holding onto my Lenovo ThinkPad Edge E425 (A8-3510MX + 6470M) because Its a good notebook but also hoping AMD would fix the Dual-Graphics Asynch-Crossfire some day and it looks like that day has finally come. Too bad it took them so long as this could've worked heavily in their favor back when Llano came on the stage. I will be testing the driver myself and report back with my findings.

 

Please do that, really curious if driver fix will do goods for such an old hardware as your!

 

even duke nukem came out eventually. thank god i only had to wait ONE YEAR after the purchase of my lappy (m18x with cf) for a decent driver, provided that it is decent indeed.

 

Ill get excited when I can install it first try without a BSOD.
Anyway, I can't wait but remain cautiously optimistic.
Ill be clicking the refresh button at midnight.

 

Alright everyone, hold your breath and don't make a sound.. It might be shy

 

So basically there's nothing they can do to keep you happy.......

 

Judging from AMD's long standing with previous releases, it'll most probably be named 13.7.

probably the date it was digitally signed (by Microsoft's WHQL departments) is late June or early July.

Sent from my GT-I8190 using Tapatalk 4 Beta

 

Bout time, Amd always seems a bit slow on drivers...

 

It is coming Alaska time 11.59PM

 

Looks like AMD is taking their time again....

https://www.facebook.com/AMDGaming/posts/506186919453800

Was hopping for some new enduro beta drivers today..

 

So where are these magical drivers? lol I've tried looking but can't seem to find them. C'mon AMD gimme gimme gimme

 

Big_Vulture's darn right this was gonna be 13.8, if not 13.9

AMDRadeon Twitter: We are sorry for the delay in Catalyst 13.8 Beta! We postponed it for additional testing. It will be released on 8/1.

 

Nooooo... Delays..
Maybe they are working on a BSOD fix part of the drivers still ...

 

Good news peeps,

You can grab the drivers here.

AMD Catalyst 13.8 BETA (13.200.0.0 July 23) - Guru3D.com Forums

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/amd_catalyst_13_8_beta_(13_200_july_23)_download.html

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the liink lol only we would get excited over drivers software:

 

I was waiting for someone to use that GIF. Good job davidricardo86


Can someone post their observations after using this driver. Can wait.

 

Ok guys, here are the links from AMD's official site;

Mobility

Desktop

 

Confirmed it's missing switchable graphics menu and crossfire menu on APU's.

Really AMD, this crap again?

 

any feedback....any improvent in game play (mine is 7660g+7670m) ....?

 

Glad that AMD finally released this driver, it's been a long time coming. Absolutely a required download for CrossFire users. CrossFire is still not as good as SLI in terms of frame pacing but it's a massive improvement over previous drivers:

Frame Rating: Catalyst 13.8 Brings Frame Pacing to AMD Radeon | PC Perspective

AnandTech | AMD Frame Pacing Explored: Catalyst 13.8 Brings Consistency to Crossfire

 

Dude go download them RIGHT NOW and try them out for yourself. The results appear to be very positive.

 

For my 7970M CFX the result is visible. 3DMark used to show disgusting microstuttering that was pushing the definition of "micro" but now the visuals are well-paced and fluid. For gaming experience I can only say that it feels smoother than before especially at low FPS. Certainly a big step in the right direction, well worth the wait! (Would have been better if it was available right from the start but well.. )

 

hi Frnds,

i installed amd catalyst 13.8 beta driver. but there will be no frame pacing option. i checket game settings also. i cant find it. my GPU is dual graphics 7660g+7670m.. Any idea

 

May be it doesn't work with hybrid crossfire?

 

no, it does not work yet. there are a lot of similar reports at Guru3D. i suggest you use AMD's bug report page and let them know about this. if they get a lot of feedback from dual graphics users, they'll hopefully fix it soon.

 

Dual graphics user here too. Same problem. I will submit a bug report.

Sent from my XT557 using Tapatalk 2

 

Some people and myself kinda think it's Llano and W7 problem. There are reports that Trinity and Richland on W8 working with switchable graphics.

 

Do the dual graphics solutions do AFR? Coz otherwise it is not going to help. AFR would be good if both GPUs rendering the frames were of equal power or the lower powered one was able to render frames at a large enough rate that it wouldn't matter. If you have a weaker GPU that can do 10 fps and one that can do 30, if you render alternate frames on those, I'm not sure how that would work.

 

All I can say is WOW and FINALLY.
These drivers are a brilliant step in the right direction. Notable mentions are Farcry, Skyrim, and 3D Mark 11 benchmark.

 

Far Cry 3 is the only game where it appears nothing has improved much in the new driver, and it stutters like mad for everybody:

Frame Rating: Catalyst 13.8 Brings Frame Pacing to AMD Radeon | Far Cry 3

 

That links down at the moment so not to sure what you're trying to say or prove. But anyway, I can tell you from my experience, I've had Farcry 3 since its release and not been able to play it on every set of drivers due to disgusting Crossfire MS until now. So clearly by definition it doesn't stutter for 'everybody'.
What would be more helpful to the thread is posting up your own hands on feedback rather than attempting to disprove mine.

 

The link is fine, you need to look at the graphs and read the article, better yet along with the other ones before it in the series. Ryan's testing showed that 13.8 Beta made no improvement for 7990 stuttering in Far Cry 3 at 1920x1080 compared to 13.4. It was only at 2560x1440 that we saw a huge improvement going from 13.4 to 13.8. Since you're playing on a laptop I'm assuming you at 1080p. Overall, Far Cry 3 seems to problematic for multi-GPU systems in general, not just AMD. It's very obvious looking at the frame times graphs just how thick the lines are for everybody in Far Cry 3, especially if you look at how tight it is in other games that were tested.

There is no way I would be able give "hands-on" feedback on this issue because I have nowhere near the means of replicating PCPer's frame rating testing. Any other testing methodology, such as FRAPS, which takes data at the beginning of the graphics pipeline has already proven to be worthless in this regard. The capture-based testing methodology was created specifically to address this shortcoming. Not many people can afford the $2000 capture card and 8-SSD RAID 0 array that Ryan uses for his testing, not to mention the test benches, displays, GPU's, and access to FCAT and PCPer's custom tools.

So yeah, I'm gonna take his word for it, because unless someone else has the means of replicating his testing and proves him wrong, his data is about as reliable as we can get right now.

 

That's all well and good. But no one on NBR has a 7990 in their laptop so it very well may not be and is looking not to be accurate for users on mobile platforms. More so my experience is with 13.8 mobility.
So to clarify for apples to apples sake.. As a user who has 7970m in crossfire, who was previously on 13.3 beta 3 drivers. The difference is night and day. As stated I've used 13.8 beta Mobility drivers. One of the best ways to test stutter and runt frames that doesnt cost $2000 is to actually play and experience it for yourself. So here is where I can attest that Farcry 3 previously ran at 60fps @ 1080p for me and felt and looked like dog poop. Now it still plays at 60fps and the stutter has been eliminated - respectfully, no amount of reviews you link me is going to change that. Take of it what you will but its a pretty futile exercise trying to convince me otherwise don't you think?
The devil might just be in the detail here.
Better still, perhaps some more people can chime in on their experiences here.

 

It is accurate for users on mobile platforms. The frame pacing issues and the fix affect all 7000-series GPU's, mobile and desktop. Ryan's already did some frame rating testing of mobile GPU's and, for the most part, they behave very similarly to their desktop brethren except in the special case where Optimus contributes to stuttering. Since 7970M CrossFire is essentially desktop 7870 CrossFire, which was tested in the article, it's very relevant to you. The problem with your claim of the massive improvement that the new beta driver brings in Far Cry 3 is that it is a completely subjective statement with no hard evidence to back it up, whereas frame rating captures exactly what the end-user sees, frame-by-frame, and leaves no question as to what is actually happening. The objective data says that 13.8 brings about no improvement in Far Cry 3 at 1920x1080 compared to 13.4.

Furthermore, what may feel smooth to you may feel like a stutter-fest to me. Just looking at this graph right here, I can tell you that I would have a hard time ignoring the stutter on any of the tested cards, even on a single-GPU card like the Titan that is otherwise not affected by frame pacing issues, because Far Cry 3 is just that bad. So by that token, even in the best-case scenario that the frame pacing fix did work in Far Cry 3 and brought the Radeon close the level of the GeForce, I would consider neither to be stutter-free.

 

I've noticed a dramatic improvement in Farcry 3 coming from 13.3. Is it 100% stutter free without so much as a runt frame? Unlikely. Is it a massive improvement from 13.3? Yes is most definitely is. Is it the most butter smooth experience I've had? No.
But you'd rather negate those experiences in improvements as subjective and thats fine but guess what? Not too many people posting in this thread own frame metering machines here so 'subjective' analysis is something you'll have to learn to deal with.
While its nice you've posted a link. I'm more interested in hearing user reviews from other members that actually use an AMD card, particularly in CF.

 

Has anyone noticed any improvements other than Metro Last Light for single gpus? Is it worth updating for none Xfire people?

 

Much as we feel defensive towards naysayers when it comes to something that pleasantly surprised us, you and I can't really argue with the graphs shown by Dr. Oc There might also be a case of the placebo effect for some games, after we've witnessed the revolutionary improvement in 3DMark 11 smoothness.

What I found most incredible in the PCPer review with FC3 was how it saw no effect in 1080p and then suddenly massive improvements in 1440p. Could there have been a glitch that caused the frame metering mechanism to be disabled when running the 1080p benchmark? Human error, software bug, useless driver.. too many possibilities to consider

 

I hear you and all but its not a placebo, so much as you fella's hearing me, but not really listening. I'm the first to complain out games running badly. Ive had Farcry 3 shelved away since its release. I've tried running it each time I installed new drivers. It's always MSed so badly so I'd always patiently wait for another day. No it's not 100% but its a MAJOR step in the right direction.
The only thing explanation I can see was that I may have been starved from the improvements that 13.4 brought to Farcry 3 ( I came from 13.3). But for me to say there is no improvement from 13.3 couldnt be further from the truth.
Have you tested it out Brother GTO? I agree there are a lot of variables at play here including human error, which is why it would be nice if someone could actually validate or invalidate what I'm saying here rather than spectate and not try themselves and point me to an article to tell me I'm hallucinating. It's pretty disappointing no one has actually tried except me.
Anyway, I've got nothing more to say in the matter. I'm pretty wrapped with how these drivers are performing

 

Would've loved to try it myself but I don't go back on games that I've already finished.. I do remember FC3 to be quite stuttery back in the days-- I finished it purely for the fun

(Just to clarify, I listed human error etc as possible causes for the article not seeing any improvement in FC3 1080p, not for your experience with the game )

 

Nah I all good either way. Brother GTO I'm always happy to hear your feedback so id it would be great to hear if you noticed a big improvement like I did and maybe even put it to rest either way.

Someone without a pair (of 7970m's) that cant tell me for themself, then trying to tell me it isn't so because of someone else's research means diddly squat when we are all here posting back our feedback.

Yes I've been wanting to play Farcry 3 on DC11 without that hideous stutter which is for the most part totally gone.

 

13.8 beta 2 driver available from here.

 

If anyone can download and install the mobility driver, how the heck did you do it? All I get from the AMD site is a broken file way smaller than the desktop version (54 MB vs. 234 MB) ((

 

Nothing wrong with dowload, it's 234mb and working just fine.

 

the first beta didnt work for me and i have to reinstall windows (since it messed up the display driver pretty bad). But this 2nd beta works fine so far.

 

I tried it with 5 different computers and every possible browser, Win7, Win8, Ubuntu, Mac OS, Chrome, Firefox, Safari... even on my iPhone the mobility driver from the AMD page is 54 MB and not installable...

Could you please post your download link, because under http://www2.ati.com/drivers/beta/amd_catalyst_13.8_mobility_beta2.exe there is just a broken file.

 

Try this
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/2260/amd-catalyst-13-8-beta-2/

 

To clarify, I can download the normal 13.8 beta 2 with 234 MB but not the mobility variant.
Installing the normal catalyst beta 2 does not work, or at least after the installation the version is still the old one of the beta 1 even with a successful installation without errors.

There are multiple sites with the normal download, but no one seems to have the mobility catalyst...