The catalyst 9.7 driver version crashed on install on my Vista SP2 system (with a newly installed 4830 card). Turned out to be a problem with Visual Studio 2005 runtime redistributible. Had to install Microsoft hotfix KB961894 to get it to work.
Derek, I am surprised at the lack of facts in this "review". Just received my brand new XFX 4890 on wed and got it running on thursday under a clean install of Vista 64 SP2.
The game H.A.W.X. constantly crases (included in box btw), locks up my system, Older games like Company of heroes, crashes, glitches or locks up. ATI overdrive (auto) won't finish properly.
Rolled back to the catalyst 9.6 package and stuff works fine.
Now before you say it's my ps or ram, Mushkin replaced 1 bad stick that made my EP45-ud3r act up. PS is a Corsair 650TX, stock settings on my e8500 rig, no OC on it or the card. These included drivers with 9.7 are SH!7, and how did you manage to miss that ?!?!
Is it just me or does the new Catalyst Control Centre in 9.7 have fewer options than it did in 9.6. It's also harder to navigate than previously. What was wrong with having the quick nav bar at the side? Now I have to scroll through menus?
A stupid change.
Now you need to do EVEN MORE clicks to get somewhere.
Pointless.
ATI need to drop the uberugly stardock skinned controls and use the windows default controls. It's amazing how ugly the CCC looks in XP and Vista with the "old 9x" butttons at the bottom. Or at least they should give the option of using the default system controls.
Par for the course for ATI, and par for the mindset that drives the programmers or whomever is making those kinds of decisions on more than just ATI software (Windows comes to mind - with their " buried deep within" "intuitive and conveneince improvements" - which are of course EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE.)
I suspect ATI hired a gaggle of ex-mfst geeks.
Do you plan reviewing the new nVidia driveres. Judging by the version number change 186.x to 190.x there needs to be a significant change. I read the resease notes but nothing caught my eye. I just put it on one of my desktops this morning but I haven't had time to mess around with it. I would appreciate it if you save me the time and tell us what good it is.
AFAIK, the only major addition is the ability to manually enable multiple power states on 9 series and up desktop processors that support multiple power states. This can be done on a per application basis if I understand right.
The bottom line is that you could throttle down your power consumption if you are running the SIMs or an MMO that doesn't require a lot of power and you don't want to run up your electric bill.
Hopefully this newer driver and soon win 7 RTM will make us happy gamers again with stability in the x64 mode. To correct some of the Blue screens that occurs under win 7 with 9.6 drivers. Seems to happen in some games using ati 4890 1gb card. (blue screen 10000ea error)
Thanks for the article for this, great info keeping us readers up to date. Im off to install n try the new catalyst -KT
I'm excited about the potential performance gains and Win7 compatibility of the driver, but not yet sold on the CCC update. To me, it seems like one of those "updates" that doesn't really add any additional functionality, it just requires you to relearn how to do things. Of course, I may change my opinion after installing it, but I don't have any problems with the layout of the current CCC.
I've been using the leaked version of 9.7 for a week or so and the CCC is plain annoying. I did not get any new screens/options. The only diference is that instead of clicking on the manu to the left, now you have to click one on the drop down menu and then select the screen you want to go to. It is more of a one step back instead of one step forward. What they should have done is add a maximize botton so u can do full screen.
To something "simpler" but far more annoying to use. For the first time I find myself tempted to download only the driver update, without the updated CCC. That's still an option, right?
I've been doing just that for a while now. I use the latest version of ATI Tray Tools to handle all my 3D settings and custom profiles. The only option from CCC that I miss is GPU scaling, which is not implemented in ATT. But even that is not entirely necessary, so it's all good. :)
That is definitely still an option. But as time goes on you will probably need to update at some point in the future. But there should be a good life span for pre-9.7 CCC anyway.
Not only does this mean that from here on out you do not get anymore support for Windows 7, but if you own an ATI X1950 or older video card, you also do not get any more support for Vista or Windows XP. ATI has dropped all DX9 only video cards to legacy support. Which means that any bugs that arise with DX9 only cards will not get fixed, and any new features will not get integrated into the driver for legacy cards.
I'm sure Vista drivers will work just fine on Win7 for older cards. Besides, every graphics card has an optimum driver version at some point. Most driver updates are aimed at improving newer cards. For example, my old 3870 seemed to work best on Cat 8.6. Newer versions either hurt performance or caused problems.
My X1950Pro works great with the Windows 7 RC 'in-box' driver. I've had no problems running games with that driver; yes it would be nice to have updated driver support going forward along with CCC, but I can't really complain with the results so far. You will undoubtedly get similar results with your x800.
AMD just (7/6/09) released updated drivers for legacy products. It is a fix of catalyst 9.3 so it is not 9.7 nor 9.6 but 9.3 is not really that bad. They do not have an official Win7 drivers but the one for Vista should work just fine.
Cheers!
well, you are half right. the only thing updated in the legacy driver 9.3.1 is the WDM capture driver; the video driver and ccc are stock 9.3. they don't support Windows 7 per se, but the note on the driver does say you can indeed install them on Windows 7.
whether the driver itself is any better than the win7 box driver is unknown, but at least you get CCC (which of course not everyone considers a bonus).
X800 is from 2004. The driver development probably is as good as it's gonna get. Most Vista drivers work in 7 anyway cuz the two OSs are extremely similar believe it or not.
The driver included Windows isn't going to have OpenGL support, and of course the CCC is missing.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
28 Comments
Back to Article
Kaleid - Friday, July 31, 2009 - link
" Unfortunately, despite the fact that organization is arguably improved, it seems to take more clicks to get where we want to go"Well..then its not an improvement. Less clicking and a larger window please so there is less of a need to even scroll.
Hopefully image scaling will be fixed soon on Win7 x64 (don't know about 32bit) and don't hide the functions so well.
monkeyman1140 - Monday, July 27, 2009 - link
Thats an interesting point of view for commenters here.karhill - Saturday, July 25, 2009 - link
The catalyst 9.7 driver version crashed on install on my Vista SP2 system (with a newly installed 4830 card). Turned out to be a problem with Visual Studio 2005 runtime redistributible. Had to install Microsoft hotfix KB961894 to get it to work.royalcrown - Saturday, July 25, 2009 - link
Derek, I am surprised at the lack of facts in this "review". Just received my brand new XFX 4890 on wed and got it running on thursday under a clean install of Vista 64 SP2.The game H.A.W.X. constantly crases (included in box btw), locks up my system, Older games like Company of heroes, crashes, glitches or locks up. ATI overdrive (auto) won't finish properly.
Rolled back to the catalyst 9.6 package and stuff works fine.
Now before you say it's my ps or ram, Mushkin replaced 1 bad stick that made my EP45-ud3r act up. PS is a Corsair 650TX, stock settings on my e8500 rig, no OC on it or the card. These included drivers with 9.7 are SH!7, and how did you manage to miss that ?!?!
mmntech - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
Is it just me or does the new Catalyst Control Centre in 9.7 have fewer options than it did in 9.6. It's also harder to navigate than previously. What was wrong with having the quick nav bar at the side? Now I have to scroll through menus?Trailmixxx - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
Dell XPS Studio 1640, feels noticeably cooler, with the powerplay option set to performance. I dont have numbers, It's only what I feel with my hands.zhilik - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
A stupid change.Now you need to do EVEN MORE clicks to get somewhere.
Pointless.
ATI need to drop the uberugly stardock skinned controls and use the windows default controls. It's amazing how ugly the CCC looks in XP and Vista with the "old 9x" butttons at the bottom. Or at least they should give the option of using the default system controls.
SiliconDoc - Thursday, July 30, 2009 - link
Par for the course for ATI, and par for the mindset that drives the programmers or whomever is making those kinds of decisions on more than just ATI software (Windows comes to mind - with their " buried deep within" "intuitive and conveneince improvements" - which are of course EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE.)I suspect ATI hired a gaggle of ex-mfst geeks.
Stas - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
Wait, people use CCC? O.O damn, feel sorry for you guys. ATI Tray Tools FTW!jonup - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
Do you plan reviewing the new nVidia driveres. Judging by the version number change 186.x to 190.x there needs to be a significant change. I read the resease notes but nothing caught my eye. I just put it on one of my desktops this morning but I haven't had time to mess around with it. I would appreciate it if you save me the time and tell us what good it is.DerekWilson - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
AFAIK, the only major addition is the ability to manually enable multiple power states on 9 series and up desktop processors that support multiple power states. This can be done on a per application basis if I understand right.The bottom line is that you could throttle down your power consumption if you are running the SIMs or an MMO that doesn't require a lot of power and you don't want to run up your electric bill.
Other than that it seems like bug fixes mostly.
jonup - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
Thanks! That was my understanding, too. I was just hoping for some hidden performance improvements.haplo602 - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
I guess OpenGL does not interest windows gamers, but looking here http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&...">http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=a...amp;item... it seems the 190 Nvidia drivers include some opengl 3.2 version. so that's actualy a big change.I just hope the ATI 9.7 driver does about the same.
KOOLTIME - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
Hopefully this newer driver and soon win 7 RTM will make us happy gamers again with stability in the x64 mode. To correct some of the Blue screens that occurs under win 7 with 9.6 drivers. Seems to happen in some games using ati 4890 1gb card. (blue screen 10000ea error)Thanks for the article for this, great info keeping us readers up to date. Im off to install n try the new catalyst -KT
cghebert - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
I'm excited about the potential performance gains and Win7 compatibility of the driver, but not yet sold on the CCC update. To me, it seems like one of those "updates" that doesn't really add any additional functionality, it just requires you to relearn how to do things. Of course, I may change my opinion after installing it, but I don't have any problems with the layout of the current CCC.jonup - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
I've been using the leaked version of 9.7 for a week or so and the CCC is plain annoying. I did not get any new screens/options. The only diference is that instead of clicking on the manu to the left, now you have to click one on the drop down menu and then select the screen you want to go to. It is more of a one step back instead of one step forward. What they should have done is add a maximize botton so u can do full screen.TejTrescent - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
To something "simpler" but far more annoying to use. For the first time I find myself tempted to download only the driver update, without the updated CCC. That's still an option, right?Shuri - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
I've been doing just that for a while now. I use the latest version of ATI Tray Tools to handle all my 3D settings and custom profiles. The only option from CCC that I miss is GPU scaling, which is not implemented in ATT. But even that is not entirely necessary, so it's all good. :)DerekWilson - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
That is definitely still an option. But as time goes on you will probably need to update at some point in the future. But there should be a good life span for pre-9.7 CCC anyway.cosmotic - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
Still looks like crap. =(james jwb - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
I've got a second PC running an old ATI card (x800), does this mean i get no support for windows 7?PSMR - Friday, July 24, 2009 - link
Not only does this mean that from here on out you do not get anymore support for Windows 7, but if you own an ATI X1950 or older video card, you also do not get any more support for Vista or Windows XP. ATI has dropped all DX9 only video cards to legacy support. Which means that any bugs that arise with DX9 only cards will not get fixed, and any new features will not get integrated into the driver for legacy cards.MonkeyPaw - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
I'm sure Vista drivers will work just fine on Win7 for older cards. Besides, every graphics card has an optimum driver version at some point. Most driver updates are aimed at improving newer cards. For example, my old 3870 seemed to work best on Cat 8.6. Newer versions either hurt performance or caused problems.johnsonx - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
My X1950Pro works great with the Windows 7 RC 'in-box' driver. I've had no problems running games with that driver; yes it would be nice to have updated driver support going forward along with CCC, but I can't really complain with the results so far. You will undoubtedly get similar results with your x800.jonup - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
AMD just (7/6/09) released updated drivers for legacy products. It is a fix of catalyst 9.3 so it is not 9.7 nor 9.6 but 9.3 is not really that bad. They do not have an official Win7 drivers but the one for Vista should work just fine.Cheers!
johnsonx - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
well, you are half right. the only thing updated in the legacy driver 9.3.1 is the WDM capture driver; the video driver and ccc are stock 9.3. they don't support Windows 7 per se, but the note on the driver does say you can indeed install them on Windows 7.whether the driver itself is any better than the win7 box driver is unknown, but at least you get CCC (which of course not everyone considers a bonus).
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Lega...">http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/w...mp;produ...
swaaye - Sunday, July 26, 2009 - link
X800 is from 2004. The driver development probably is as good as it's gonna get. Most Vista drivers work in 7 anyway cuz the two OSs are extremely similar believe it or not.The driver included Windows isn't going to have OpenGL support, and of course the CCC is missing.
kmmatney - Thursday, July 23, 2009 - link
Woow - it looks like your are showing the "advanced" view of the drivers. I hate to see what the "basic" view looks like - a blank screen?