AMD releases ATI Catalyst 8.3 drivers, enables CrossFireX

Get ready to burn through your allowance, kids, as AMD is getting set to loose its Catalyst 8.3 drivers for all to indulge in. What does the download net you, exactly? Why, CrossFireX support, of course. Starting today, users can link up any combination of RV670- and R680-based products -- that includes the Radeon HD 3850, Radeon HD 3870 and Radeon HD 3870 X2 -- in order to acquire triple- and quad-GPU performance within Windows Vista. Additionally, the drivers also introduce ATI Hybrid Graphics support in Vista, which was boasted about already when the firm unveiled its upcoming 780G chipset. Check out the read link for the full list of changes, and keep an eye on the firm's support page for v8.3 to surface any moment now.

[Tim @ Mar 4th 2008 5:06PM]

what? No giveaway?

[Chrono951 @ Mar 4th 2008 5:07PM]

I personally can't wait for PhysX support on my Nvidia card.

[Thomas Prescott @ Mar 4th 2008 6:46PM]

Same!

Its a shame I only own 1 game that can take advantage of it.

[Ratteler @ Mar 4th 2008 5:15PM]

Yay! Still no proper Linux support.

[CosterMonger @ Mar 4th 2008 5:27PM]

you said it, where is my AIGLX?

[Eineins @ Mar 4th 2008 6:02PM]

Probably no proper windows support either don't fell left out. My 1950 has a lower framerate than a much cheaper nvidia card. Also it won't support netflix watch now.

[oppositelock @ Mar 4th 2008 6:31PM]

I agree 100%. I don't get why they can't release a decent linux driver. The fact that my 9800 pro was unable to display dual monitors in linux, and that the x1600 in my laptop needs XGL to do simple desktop effects, that an nvidia fx5200 can do just fine running on the pci bus with dual monitors is pathetic.

Needless to say I replaced the 9800pro and I won't be putting anything ati in any of my future builds unless they shape up quick.

[AndrewNeo @ Mar 4th 2008 6:58PM]

CosterMonger: I may be wrong, but if Ubuntu is running AIGLX by default, it works fine for me with Ubuntu 7.10 and a Radeon 3850.

[kojo87 @ Mar 4th 2008 5:16PM]

*runs to store to buy another HD 3870*

[Dster @ Mar 4th 2008 5:29PM]

ha ha -- you said "vista" and "graphics" in the same sentence -- sweet!

[Jason @ Mar 4th 2008 5:43PM]

Perhaps this post should be titled "AMD about to release ATI Catalyst 8.3 drivers" instead.

[Carl Vitullo @ Mar 4th 2008 7:47PM]

yeah, that got me all excited...

[Paul6 @ Mar 4th 2008 6:07PM]

I don't have any of those cards, and I really would like some linux support....but progress is better than nothing

Obama ~08
soundclick.com/theAdvocate

[InfDaMarvel @ Mar 4th 2008 6:08PM]

Ya know, thought this doesnt rlly matter to me due to my P35 chipset. They need to add support for XP or just gtfo.

[iofthestorm @ Mar 4th 2008 6:33PM]

Another nice feature supposed to be in the 8.3 drivers is the ability to have the graphics card scale images instead of the monitor. This helps for LCDs where it is best to run at native resolution, and any other resolutions cause the monitor to use its ugly interpolation scheme to expand the image to native, whereas with this the graphics card scales the image and the output is always native resolution, which is very nice.

[Ubercharged @ Mar 4th 2008 11:11PM]

Hopefully these drivers wont crash my system constantly and force me to revert to old ones. I cant wait till my next upgrade so i can dump ATI forever, they have been going downhill ever since AMD bought them.

[treats! @ Mar 4th 2008 11:37PM]

Who needs big GPU's on linux? wtf games are you going to play, 10% of PC games that come out?

[Wwhat @ Mar 5th 2008 12:44AM]

Yes

[Gordon @ Mar 7th 2008 11:37AM]

Let's see... UT2K3. UT2K4. UT3 once they deal with the licensing issues. Doom 3. Pretty much anything by iD or Epic has a native Linux version (FYI, UT2k4 has much higher FPS on my Gentoo box than in a clean (except for running all windows updates and installing latest directx and gfx drivers) install of XP SP2). EVE Online (though it isn't native). Anything that'll run in Cedega. Got the picture through your thick skull yet?

[Wwhat @ Mar 5th 2008 12:51AM]

"Digital Panel GPU image scaling: For those using widescreen displays, ATI Catalyst now allows users to enable GPU-accelerated scaling to maintain the aspect ratio of the display while providing superior image quality."

That's been a longtime gripe for many, interesting.

And they finally are giving users control of the video stuff:
"Advanced Video Quality controls: With ATI Catalyst 8.3, multimedia enthusiasts get further control over video quality. Using the new edge enhancement feature, the level of sharpness of video content can be adjusted. Through the new noise reduction feature, ghosting artifacts can be removed while preserving the details of the original video. The new slider controls can be found in the All Settings page of the Avivo™ Video tab found in ATI Catalyst Control Center."

Because noise suppression was already there but you had to jump through hoops to get control of it (partly) if you didn't like it I read on forums.

[Matt @ Mar 5th 2008 5:08AM]

Yes, the GPU scaling is something I've really been waiting for. Now, when is this actually going to be available?

[Gordon @ Mar 7th 2008 11:37AM]

Using XP SP2 and Catalyst 8.3, no matter what setting I use, it refuses to NOT resize my image. I try to play a game that doesn't support wide resolutions on my 1680x1050 LCD. So I set the game to 1280x1024. Tried every last option in CCC. No matter what I set, it won't stick the damn image in the center of the screen with black around it. It insists on resizing it.

[Wwhat @ Mar 11th 2008 1:44PM]

I had some bad experiences with 8.3 too on XP64, it causes flickering and popping in/out of existence of objects and shadow aberrations when I zoom on 'Forged Alliance', and unfortunately I seem unable to move back to 8.2 because it won't completely uninstall for some reason :[

[Jon @ Mar 5th 2008 1:45AM]

Catalyst 8.3 = CATALY~1

[Matt @ Mar 5th 2008 5:08AM]

I chuckled.

[Brian @ Mar 5th 2008 11:39AM]

I just checked ATI's site and still don't see the updated drivers... hoping they'll be posted soon as I can't wait to try out the GPU LCD scaling on my Bravia LCD.

[zenon @ Mar 5th 2008 12:23PM]

Can some1 tell me when the drivers are going to be available, Are they going to be today? 5:21 here in the UK and nothing yet

[anonymous @ Mar 5th 2008 8:05PM]

I just tried them and while the GPU scaling is nice, I don't like losing 150+ fps in older games that run at ~200FPS. Back to 8.2 I guess.