AMD Catalyst 12.8

Anyone with a Sager NP9150/70 and a 7970m try the new 12.8 drivers?

 

They are not compatible with the 9170, the AMD installer won't continue.

 

Yes, and no discernible difference in GPU performance

 

I have P170EM with 7970M (in sig) and I'm on 12.8 with CAP3. I haven't noticed any difference in performance so far.

 

Looks like "switchable graphics enabled notebooks" aren't supported in this release

AMD Catalyst

 

Weird. Seems fine to me. I also noticed 99% usage on BF3 multi-player but the fps is lower?! I'll do some more testing.

UPDATE: Uploading a video now. I forgot to include a capture of the settings but it's all set to the absolute highest with v-sync on. I haven't changed anything since the last time I did this test except I went from 12.7 beta to 12.8. I'll provide the link once it's done.

UPDATE #2: Never mind. My first assessment was right. There's no difference in performance. Here's the video anyway: P170EM + 7970M using AMD 12.8/CAP3 drivers (Battlefield 3) - YouTube

 

Thank you all, but that sucks! Pretty sure I'm not going AMD this time around. Never had an issue with their desktop graphics, but this is ridiculous...

 

this is mobile (notebooks) ?
I think its for desktop.

 

they have mobility version catalyst 12.8 and i installed on my sager np9170. no problem except enduro. switchable function also working fine

 

Both versions are out there.

 

I see only 12.6 for notebooks AMD Catalyst

 

its not on AMDs website... you gotta get it from another source like rage3d or asder

 

if its not on amd site so who release these drivers?
why no on amd site?

 

Honestly, I don't know why. @CatalystCreator announced that it was out and asder released it, providing the links.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/573379-clevo-driver-thread-81.html#post8786531

D/L: Rage3D Discussion Area - View Single Post - AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL (8.982.0 July 27)

 

If it isnt an official beta it doesnt get released on AMDs website. These are beta drivers that are in testing at AMD that basically get leaked.

 

Actually, it wasn't leaked.

https://twitter.com/CatalystCreator/status/236100662507737089

I don't know why they're not on the site, though.

 

Haha this is funny. I remember yesterday when I checked on AMD site and select to download mobility drives, the 12.8 popped out. Now that I tryed it the 12.6 are there weird. Still I managed to download them but you dont even need to bother installing them. Tryed clean install - installed the intel driver first thatn These amd drivers-Swithcable graphic didnt work, thus only intel graphic worked. Then installed them over the stock clevo/sager drivers like we used to do with 12.7 and thaty actually worked, BUT no gain in performance, still the same enduro bull****, and as a present that came with 12.8 - BSOD every second time I turned on the laptop.

 

How can i instal it with switchable graphics ???
When i instal it i dont see intel components

is it normal ???

 

Yes, cause the intel paccage isnt included in those drivers. But when you install the intel driver first it still doesant seem to work. I just installed them over the old ones, but as I said they didnt fix anything

 

omg... what is this very bad trip with AMD....

 

Here's the way I did it (I never use the cleaners because someone advised me that it's actually harmful):

1) Uninstall CAP first (if you have it installed)
2) Reboot if it asks
3) Uninstall AMD Catalyst Install Manager
4) Go to custom and make sure to select all when choosing which components to remove
5) Reboot if it asks
6) Once you're in Windows running on iGPU, install the new CCC (use custom and select all)
7) Install the Hydra, codec, CAP, etc. (I didn't reboot in between installations unless it asked me to and I always checked all in custom installation)

That's it.

I never touch the Intel drivers unless I'm updating it as well. In which case, I uninstall that (and only that) first. Never both Intel and AMD together. Then I reinstall the newer version. After I make sure that at least one of my cards are supported with proper drivers only do I touch the other. I never uninstall Intel and AMD together before updating to newer drivers. That has caused a BSOD for me in the past which forced me to use system restore.

 

If you go on amd site and select notebook, radeon 7xxx windows 64 bit you get 12.6, if you select desktop, you get 12.8

Hehe, i think i#ll be gettin the 7970m CF for the x7200 and try to instal the desktop drivers, since the 7970m is basically a downclocked 7870. On a desktop platform that is.

Only question is now should i get the second power brick. Thats why i got me a power metter, to see how the current setup that i have influences consumption.

 

I had only put my notebook together yesterday, all drivers installed fine except the GPU.

I couldn't get any driver to work until I tried 12.8.
It worked straight away

Though I have the older gen sager (which has a plus of not having any enduro problems).

Max temp I had was 77C (no cooling mods yet). Stock clocks.

 

I'm begining to think that when one chooses mobile, one gets a sh.it.ier 12.6 driver. When one selects desktop, then the 12.8 drivers works better, and i'm willing to bet that on a platform like x7200 where there is no integrated GPU in the CPU, and together with 7970m that is a desktop 7870 with lower clock, i think it will work as the desktop cards.

Thats why i think in the end, i will get the 7970m CF for my x7200.

THe only problem is that i dont know if a single source of 300W is really enough, or if it is mandatory to get the second source.
Thats why i bought a belkin wattmetter to see how much my current configuration really draws.

Here is 12.8
AMD Catalyst

 

I just tried 12.8 and it increased my temp on bf3 from 65C to 84C... still 99% utilization... no clue why this is happening now, but it's kinda eerie so ima stick with 12.7 beta for now.

 

Maybe it has nothing to do with the drivers.

For instance i installed fans on my cooler master storm laptop cooler, 2xnoctuas 120mm and 2x80mm fans, the first time i installed the 120m fans in pull configuration, that is they were pulling out the air the laptop cooler was suppose to pull in, simply put it the 2 fans system were one agianst another.

Temps war so bad i thought something was wrong with the gpus.
What im saying is you need to look someplaces and not that is something else.

Here is 12.8
AMD Catalyst

August 16 is the post, thats 1 day in the past at the time of the writing of this post.

Here is what AMD says regarding 12.8 driver
AMD Catalyst

Bassicaly supports all desktop cards.
Mobile cards untill 6900m series, but better read further:

The following notebooks are not compatible with this release:

Any notebook launched after this driver release.
Switchable Graphics enabled notebooks.
Toshiba notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver support for these. notebooks)
Sony VAIO notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver support for these notebooks)
Panasonic notebooks (please contact the notebook OEM for driver support for these notebooks)

So thats why the 7970m has sh.ity driver support.

There is no driver support.
If you have also a 6xxx or 7xxx series card near a GPU CPU, like most intels mobile cpus if not all, your toast, bound to have problems.

The maximum compatibility with driver 12.8 would be a 6990m CF on a x7200 platform, or similar platfrom without GPU in the CPU.

What we need, would be support for 7xxxM series, and then support for switchable graphics.

 

I am a little fuzzy on this, but I don't think AMD is even responsible to release Microsoft certified drivers for the switchable GPUs due to the fact that the cards are modified and applied differently for different laptop configurations. The Clevo 7970m is not the same as the Alienware 7970m, and both systems have different physical video setups on the motherboard. Because of this, the laptop manufacturer has to take the beta's from AMD and create a proper driver that is specific for one laptop series, yet I don't know if even those drivers need to be or even are WHQL.

 

I have installed the Catalyst 12.8 WHQL without any problems, my Clevo 7970M was detected, all the software was installed and is working properly. In an MSI GX740 laptop. Clevo card works with either Clevo (HM type) vBIOS or Dell vBIOS. I have tried both.

 

Which vbios would you say is better?

EDIT: DW I just read your reply in the GPU silicon quality thread, thanks for that.

 

The drivers on AMD’s Website are not Beta! Unless they I.D. them as being beta. The Mobile Drivers are called “Reference” Drivers. AMD creates the full, official driver for their GPUs. However, in the case of switchable graphics and/or other potential modifications by OEMS – it is up to the OEM to take the “Reference” Driver and modify it to support whatever changes the OEM made.

The reason, why in the Release notes it says that Switchable Graphics are not supported, is because the “Reference” Driver does not contain the Intel Drivers. I have an HP with an AMD Radeon HD 6550M and an Intel Graphics HD GPU. On HP’s support page for my Notebook, they took a “Reference” Driver from AMD and updated it to install the Intel Drivers as well. I have learned that, and Intel’s Support Site says this as well, that in an Intel Switchable Graphics situation, never install the individual Intel Graphics Driver. OEMs always modify either the AMD or nVidia Graphics Driver!

Now, the best way to install the GPU drivers in a switchable graphics situation is to do it from a clean install of Windows 7. Then, run Windows Update and install the Switchable Graphics Driver. This will install the least amount of driver needed but is WHQL certified! This is perfect, because it allows Windows to correctly see both GPUs and understand how to use one or the other. While, in the case of the AMD Discrete GPU, it does not install OpenGL, OpenCL, Catalyst Control Center, Media CODECS, etc. This is good because this allows you to download the latest “Reference” Driver from AMD and simply do a full install! Whatever special files that OEMs add to the Catalyst Control Center to support Switchable Graphics, are installed by the Windows Update Process. So, when you do a full install (over install) of the latest Catalyst “Reference” Driver – and reboot the computer; when the notebook boots up, you will see the option in Catalyst Control Center to configure the Switchable Graphics and you now have the latest OpenGL, OpenCL, CCC, Media Codecs, etc. for the AMD Discrete GPU! Yes, the Intel Driver may be old but who cares – the AMD GPU is the important one. I simply configure the Switchable Graphics to always use the AMD GPU, even when on Battery. This will allow you to take advantage of Hardware Acceleration from Games, Media Players, 3D Animation Software, Photoshop, etc.

I hope this clarifies and helps any issues with setting up a Mobile GPU in a switchable Graphics environment! As well as, understand that the drivers on AMD’s website are “Reference” Drivers and not Beta!