# AMD Catalyst Driver Update Thread [ 12.8 ]



## SunE (Jul 2, 2012)

As most of us know the Catalyst 12.6 WHQL is out now.
Here are some of the resolved issues:



> RESOLVED ISSUES
> 
> Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 OperatingSystem
> 
> ...



Full release notes can be found here.

You can download it from here.
*

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE:*

So I'm using a Sapphire HD 7850 and started with 12.4. After upgrading to 12.6, I played 2 games, namely Battlefield 3 and GTA IV.

In BF3 the minimum FPS increased by about 11(getting min FPS of 53 in multiplayer now , earlier it was 42).

In GTA IV the average FPS now stays in the range of 53-63. Earlier it was always under 55 and rarely crossed 60. Also the minimum FPS has now become 38 from 29.

Thus for me 12.6 is a great update 	. Please share your views on it's performance. Also I've heard 12.7 is even better. Anybody try the beta yet?


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## sumonpathak (Jul 3, 2012)

will post a comparison soon....


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## rider (Jul 3, 2012)

I'm now getting upto 45fps in max payne 3 in all high settings, 2x mxaa and t'tion at medium. 
Awesome update!!


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## Jripper (Jul 3, 2012)

Does the 12.6 improve performance of the 6850?


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## ico (Jul 3, 2012)

Jripper said:


> Does the 12.6 improve performance of the 6850?


I've seen improvement for my HD 6950.


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## topgear (Jul 3, 2012)

Jripper said:


> Does the 12.6 improve performance of the 6850?



even I'm eager to know that but I think I will go for 12.7 - installed 12.4 before - faced lots of issue ( actually this started with 12 series driver ) - currently using 11.12 driver but if 12.6 proves to be stable for HD6850 I might update to it.


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## Jripper (Jul 3, 2012)

@topgear Hmm I heard changing drivers is always a bit of a mess. :S I didn't have a gpu before and the first drivers I installed were the 12.4 ones. So far no issues in any games.

@ico That sounds promising.  But I think I'll wait for someone else to try he 12.6 on the 6850 first


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## asingh (Jul 3, 2012)

Drivers are mature now. You can just overlay.


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## sumonpathak (Jul 3, 2012)

Jripper said:


> But I think I'll wait for someone else to try he 12.6 on the 6850 first



try yourself na


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## abhidev (Jul 3, 2012)

will there be any performance boost for my HD5770?


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## SunE (Jul 3, 2012)

Hey guys don't be cowards  Try it yourself and find out if there are any performance improvements.


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## kapilove77 (Jul 3, 2012)

Do we have to remove older driver 1st or just update it?


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## ico (Jul 3, 2012)

^^ I just updated it.


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## asingh (Jul 3, 2012)

kapilove77 said:


> Do we have to remove older driver 1st or just update it?



If Win7, just over ride it.


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## topgear (Jul 4, 2012)

I always prefer clean install using driversweeper just to be free from any issue - anyway, I'll give 12.6 a try with DiRt showdown


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## Zangetsu (Jul 4, 2012)

I am currently on ATI 12.4 will jump to 12.6 



abhidev said:


> will there be any performance boost for my HD5770?


No changes for HD5770 but u can still update to make performance optimum


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## comp@ddict (Jul 4, 2012)

On 12.7 beta for a while. Great performance.

It may be witcher 2 enhanced edition's optimization or catalyst drivers since last year because except ubersampling EVERY SETTING is at max (textures 1 below because my HD5850 is a 1GB card).

And this time not only is the performance smoother at HIGHER settings, I'm also using MLAA. Higher frame rate, higher settings, MLAA enabled. I couldn't really ask for more.


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## kapilove77 (Jul 4, 2012)

ico said:


> ^^ I just updated it.


ok thx



asingh said:


> If Win7, just over ride it.



Yes win7 ok thx.


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## topgear (Jul 5, 2012)

comp@ddict said:


> On 12.7 beta for a while. Great performance.
> 
> It may be witcher 2 enhanced edition's optimization or catalyst drivers since last year because except ubersampling EVERY SETTING is at max (textures 1 below because my HD5850 is a 1GB card).
> 
> And this time not only is the performance smoother at HIGHER settings, I'm also using MLAA. Higher frame rate, higher settings, MLAA enabled. I couldn't really ask for more.



did not know that even you areusing a HD6850 - great  and thkas for feedback on 12.7 beta 

BTW, guys how do I benchmark  games like BF3, BFBC2, MP3 - I mean I don't want to use fraps - any dedicated benchmark tools for them like Crysis 2 benchmark tool ?? Also Witcher 2 and Skyrim has built in benchmark tools or not ??


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## sumonpathak (Jul 5, 2012)

^^they don't 
facing the same problem here.....


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## rchi84 (Jul 5, 2012)

On my 6950 (unlocked), my 3D Mark 11 scores have shot up in the last six months. I used to score around 51xx in Performance preset last year, but now, I am getting scores in 55xx, so it's a decent bump in scores.

Gamewise, not much has changed though. Still can't enable AA in BF3, without dropping FPS..


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## Monk (Jul 5, 2012)

Downloading now, will surely update the performance. 

*Edit:* Downloaded and installed, to my surprise the screen turned completely white, with horizontal black lines. It scared the living .... out of me!!
Perhaps some downloading error? Did a system restore, uninstalled the ATi display drivers and downloaded the 12.7 beta from the website, installed and *boom*, every game runs sweeter now, specially skyrim! It runs really smooth, much better than before. Will check more games!


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## topgear (Jul 6, 2012)

sumonpathak said:


> ^^they don't
> facing the same problem here.....



ok ... I'll do my best to make a benhcmark comaprision with all possible games but this may take 2-3 days more.


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## krishnandu.sarkar (Jul 7, 2012)

I have installed 12.6 and I'm facing a problem. My screen is not fitted into monitor bezel.

So I set Overscan under Scaling Options. (I have also used this setting previously)

So the problem is, whenever I reboot my PC, it goes to same old state. When I open Catalyst Control Center, it shows Overscan settings perfectly fine, still it's not fitted till screen bezel.

I have to manually Detect Display everytime I start my PC, this is really frustrating.

Any idea what's wrong..??

(Sorry for my bad english, if I'm not able to explain the problem perfectly)


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## ico (Jul 7, 2012)

krishnandu.sarkar said:


> I have installed 12.6 and I'm facing a problem. My screen is not fitted into monitor bezel.
> 
> So I set Overscan under Scaling Options. (I have also used this setting previously)
> 
> ...



*AMD Catalyst 12.6 Released (+ 12.7 Beta) - Beyond3D Forum*

Example of where to create:


Spoiler



*i.imgur.com/w3HlR.png



PS: I haven't faced this problem.


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## krishnandu.sarkar (Jul 7, 2012)

^^Thanks I created the dword value as it's stated. Let's reboot and check 

Yeah I got that. I created under ###/0000 with most values / settings.

*UPDATE : Not working *

[Solved] Catalyst 12.6 Overscan setting restart issue. - ATI - Graphic-Displays

They say the problem is fixed. But not for me. 

Well, the problem is not fixed, instead the font got hazy...

*i.imgur.com/pnF2w.jpg

Will be trying 12.7 Beta and if it doesn't works revert back to 12.4


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## yabbadaaba (Jul 7, 2012)

i am not even able to download from amd site..their download link is dead i think..
tried from their US site also but to no avail..


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## topgear (Jul 8, 2012)

there's not much performance improvement I can see compared to 11.12 - actually the performance has degraded so far in most of the benchmarks - will complete other benchmark tests today and post the complete result tomorrow.


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## kapilove77 (Jul 8, 2012)

krishnandu.sarkar said:


> I have installed 12.6 and I'm facing a problem. My screen is not fitted into monitor bezel.
> 
> So I set Overscan under Scaling Options. (I have also used this setting previously)
> 
> ...



Same problem with me Exactly same. 

Update: It really works I just created without changing any values in it and Restarted my pc n voila it worked!


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## the_conqueror (Jul 8, 2012)

krishnandu.sarkar said:


> I have installed 12.6 and I'm facing a problem. My screen is not fitted into monitor bezel.
> 
> So I set Overscan under Scaling Options. (I have also used this setting previously)
> 
> ...



Same happening with me. But 5 minutes after rebooting, the screen automatically fits upto the bezel.


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## coderunknown (Jul 8, 2012)

yesterday i updated drivers to 12.6 from 12.4 and while checking some videos, the screen kind of changed colour (32 to 16bit i guess) and after a few minutes back to normal. and also whole system kind of locked up for 10-12sec. This happened for the first time in a long time. Though it is fine after that. no affect on any game i played today.

Looks like with the removed support for legacy GPU some important codes got erased too.


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## krishnandu.sarkar (Jul 8, 2012)

@kapilove77 Ok trying without changing the value.

@the_conqueror Well, the situation is same for me. So I'm assuming it's not working. It doesn't mean anything if it gets fixed after five mins. So I end up opening Catalyst Control Center everytime.


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## ico (Jul 9, 2012)

kapilove77 said:


> Update: It really works I just created without changing any values in it and Restarted my pc n voila it worked!


The fix I posted, right?

yea, it should be working for everyone.


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## topgear (Jul 9, 2012)

CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H x.x
Installed RAM: 4.00 GB
Installed Memory Type and Speed : DDR2 800 Mhz
Operating System: Windows 7 x64 SP1
Video adapter: AMD Radeon HD 6850 ( 800/1100 )
Video driver: Catalyst 11.12 and 12.6
Resolution : 1080P - maximum settings used in every benchmark with all the advanced option like Tessellation, DoF, Physx etc. turned on*

Test Result : ( left is 11.12 and right is 12.6 )
Green = Performance Increase
Blue =  Performance decrease

===========================================
AvP 2010 :
Average FPS: 29.9 - *33.4*
===========================================
Sniper Elite v2 :
Average FPS: *10.2* - 9.9
============================================
PLA Game BenchMark : ( Unreal Engine 3.0 )
Average FPS: 37 - 37
============================================
3DMark 11 BenchMark ( Xtreme Preset ) :
Graphics Score: 1037 - *1052*
Physyx Score : 3773 - *3815*
============================================
Street Fighter IV BenchMark :
Graphics Score: *10380* - 8896
Average FPS: *130.04* - 115
============================================
Lost Planet 2 BenchMark :
Average FPS: B - *33.4* ( Test A ) - 31.0
Average FPS: C - 25.0 ( Test B ) - *25.6*
=============================================
METRO 2033 BENCHMARK:
Average Framerate: *16.00* - 15.67
Max. Framerate: *33.95* - 30.68
Min. Framerate: *6.58* - 6.37
============================================
3DMark Vantage BenchMark : ( 1080P )
Graphics Score: *X7190* - X7141
============================================
Crysis 2 BenchMark :
Average FPS: 23 ( Central Park - Edge Blur - High Res Tex - Ultra ) - 23
Average FPS: 31 ( Times Square - Edge Blur - High Res Tex - Ultra ) - 31
============================================
Unigine Heaven 3.0 :
FPS: 18.7 - *18.8*
Scores:	470 - *474*
Min FPS: 5.7 - *8.2*
============================================
RE5 DX10 :
AVG FPS :*76.2* ( Fixed ) - 76.1
AVG FPS :87.9 ( Variable ) - *88*
============================================
DiRT ShowDown :
Min FPS :*28* - 25.26
AVG FPS :*38 *- 33.21

So guys post your feedback


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## krishnandu.sarkar (Jul 9, 2012)

ico said:


> The fix I posted, right?
> 
> yea, it should be working for everyone.



Yeah, it's working fine without the values. 

@ico That solution doesn't work if you set that default DWORD value.


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## kapilove77 (Jul 9, 2012)

ico said:


> The fix I posted, right?
> 
> yea, it should be working for everyone.



Yes its working. thx


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## SunE (Jul 9, 2012)

topgear how can the average fps for Sniper Elite V2 be so low? My PC does over 120 fps maxed out and AFAIK the difference between a HD 6850 and a HD 7850 can't be 110 fps??!!


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## topgear (Jul 10, 2012)

^^ yep, that's odd - I can run the game at Ultra settings ( with every other settings maxed out too ) smoothly - must be ~30+fps but the benchmark tool of this game is really acting weird - will update to 12.7 beta and test again with only with the benchmark software ( large one ) - this time I won't use the adrenaline bench tool for the benchmark app.


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## Zangetsu (Jul 10, 2012)

Downloaded the 12.6 driver.will install today


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## topgear (Jul 11, 2012)

currently testing with 12.7 beta .


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## SunE (Jul 11, 2012)

^^ Great! Please post some benchmarks soon 

BTW your name is one of my fav TV shows


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## iittopper (Jul 11, 2012)

Increased max payne 3 FPs by 9-11 . Now game feels awsome . This drivers also boost performance for 5xxx card .


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## topgear (Jul 12, 2012)

^^ using FRAPS to benchmark MP3 ??



SunE said:


> ^^ Great! Please post some benchmarks soon
> 
> BTW your name is one of my fav TV shows



tomorrow I'll post benchmark results.

and that was even my fav show once


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## iittopper (Jul 12, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ using FRAPS to benchmark MP3 ??



Yeah !


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## theserpent (Jul 12, 2012)

I din't get any increase in FPS still now


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## topgear (Jul 13, 2012)

^^ compared to which version and on which games ?



iittopper said:


> Yeah !



OK .. which chapter yu are isng for benchmark/Performance monitoring or this is based on overall game performance based on different chapters ?

Anyway, here's the Benchmark Results with 12.7 Beta :

CPU: AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor
 Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-MA785GM-US2H x.x
 Installed RAM: 4.00 GB
 Installed Memory Type and Speed : DDR2 800 Mhz
 Operating System: Windows 7 x64 SP1
 Video adapter: AMD Radeon HD 6850 ( 800/1100 )
 Video driver: Catalyst 11.12 and 12.6
 Resolution : 1080P - maximum settings used in every benchmark with all the advanced option like Tessellation, DoF, Physx etc. turned on*

Test Result : ( left to right 11.12 - 12.6 - 12.7 Beta )

===========================================
AvP 2010 
Average FPS: 29.9 - 33.4 -*33.4*
===========================================
Sniper Elite v2 :
Average FPS: 10.2 - 9.9 - *10*
============================================
PLA Game BenchMark :
Average FPS: 37 - 37 -*37*
============================================
3DMark 11 BenchMark ( Xtreme Preset ) :
Graphics Score: 1037 - 1052 -*1053*
Physyx Score : 3773 - 3815 - *3801*
============================================
Street Fighter IV BenchMark :
Graphics Score: 10380 - 8896 - *8675*
Average FPS: 130.04 - 115 - *110.55*
============================================
Lost Planet 2 BenchMark :
Average FPS: B - 33.4 ( Test A ) - 31.0 - *32.7*
Average FPS: C - 25.0 ( Test B ) - 25.6 - *27.8*
=============================================
Average Framerate: 16.00 - 15.67 - *15.67*
Max. Framerate: 33.95 - 30.68 - *37.58*
Min. Framerate: 6.58 - 6.37 - *5.70*
============================================
3DMark Vantage BenchMark :
Graphics Score: X7190 ( 1080P ) X7141 - *x7150*
============================================
Crysis 2 BenchMark :
Average FPS: 23 ( Central Park - Edge Blur - High Res Tex - Ultra ) - 23 - *23.6*
Average FPS: 31 ( Times Square - Edge Blur - High Res Tex - Ultra ) - 31 - *31.6*
============================================
Unigine Heaven 3.0 :
FPS: 18.7 - 18.8 - *18.8*
Scores:	470 - 474 - *473*
Min FPS: 5.7 - 8.2 - *7.7*
============================================
RE5 :
AVG FPS :76.2 ( Fixed ) - 76.1 - *76.2*
AVG FPS :87.9 ( Variable ) - 88 - *88.9*
============================================
DiRT ShowDown :
Min FPS :28 - 25.26 - *21.62*
AVG FPS :38 - 33.21 - *29.95*

so that completes the performance test among 11.12, 12.6 and 12.7 by me - overall though old 11.12 has got the performance crown


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## Zangetsu (Jul 17, 2012)

I m facing an issue after 12.6 update...
the scaling option is not working..
I have set the resolution to 1080p but still I used to get black borders around the screen..so I used scaling option in CCC (which worked perfectly to cover full screen).
but right in 12.6 I can all set the same in CCC but after a reboot it all gets changes to those black bars 
what to do?


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## ico (Jul 17, 2012)

^ Read my post in previous page. I've posted the solution.


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## Zangetsu (Jul 17, 2012)

ico said:


> ^ Read my post in previous page. I've posted the solution.



Oh man lot of other users r facing the same issue...
I guess the problem is with HDMI connection (which i m using)?

thanx for the solution.

AMD shud fix this minor issue in next stable release


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## Zangetsu (Jul 22, 2012)

Thanks ico..the solution worked.


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## iittopper (Jul 22, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ compared to which version and on which games ?
> 
> 
> 
> OK .. which chapter yu are isng for benchmark/Performance monitoring or this is based on overall game performance based on different chapters ?



Updated the game from original to 1.0.0.22 and updated the driver from 12.5 to 12.6 . Fps increase by 5-6 in almost every chapter . Earlier getting 26 fps and now constant 30-33 fps


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## topgear (Jul 23, 2012)

Ok .. thanks for the info

BTW, any news n the final release of 12.7 driver or we will see a jump to 12.8 directly ??


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## Flash (Aug 22, 2012)

12.8 is out.
Any threads anywhere about performance increase?


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## topgear (Aug 23, 2012)

^^ renamed the thread - why not test the 12.8 driver by yourself - compare it with the previous version you have and post the result here.


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## Flash (Aug 23, 2012)

topgear said:


> ^^ renamed the thread - why not test the 12.8 driver by yourself - compare it with the previous version you have and post the result here.



Seriously i dont have any expertise to compare the versions and post the comparisons here. 
I recently bought a HD6670 and 12.6 is my 1st version! 
Excuse me!


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## coderunknown (Aug 23, 2012)

^^ play a particular segment of a game. use FRAPS to benchmark it. update driver and play same segment of the game. post the difference. this is what TG did. it doesn't need any expertise.


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## topgear (Aug 24, 2012)

^^ buddy I did not play any game to benchmark  and I don't trust on Fraps FPS measurement - what I did is used some pre built game benchmark app which made the process a lot more easier.


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## coderunknown (Aug 25, 2012)

well he was asking for performance numbers. Thats why i told him to do the simple test himself rather than ask others to test and post the new values.
yes, that way results will be much more accurate


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## panwala95 (Aug 25, 2012)

i updated from 12.7 to 12.8 and the difference in bf3 and syrim + max payne3 is very noticeable
we are talking 4-5 fps in bf3, 10 fps (yes 10) in skyrim and another 4-5 fps in max payne 3
great update 
thanks amd !


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## Jripper (Aug 25, 2012)

^ Seriously?  

Thats huge improvement. Wonder whether my 6850 will show improvement as well. Will try it out soon.


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## topgear (Aug 26, 2012)

if the improvements are that huge I'll update to 12.8 from 12.7 beta I've.


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## mandarpalshikar (Aug 26, 2012)

panwala95 said:


> i updated from 12.7 to 12.8 and the *difference in bf3 and syrim + max payne3 is very noticeable*
> we are talking 4-5 fps in bf3, 10 fps (yes 10) in skyrim and another 4-5 fps in max payne 3
> great update
> thanks amd !



Yes... I can confirm as well. 12.8 seems to be a very good driver.



@topgear - Update it right away


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## panwala95 (Aug 27, 2012)

yea i had gotten  a big improvement even from 12.7


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## koolent (Aug 27, 2012)

Any improvements for HD 6770 ? If yes than I am looking forward to update as my PC Crashes as soon as I start GTA Bully, it it this month's earlier driver only which I downloaded from AMD . So, Lets see

any improvements ?


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## sharang.d (Aug 27, 2012)

I uninstalled AMD CCC completely. 
Wanna try out the win-update drivers..


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## panwala95 (Aug 27, 2012)

the post i have made are with respect to a hd 6770 
please refer to my signature


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## Skud (Aug 27, 2012)

In my case, Max Payne 3 has become slower.


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## krishnandu.sarkar (Aug 28, 2012)

Yeah 12.8 seems nice. Updated it just now


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## panwala95 (Aug 28, 2012)

Skud said:


> In my case, Max Payne 3 has become slower.



how is that possible?
12.8 enabled me to use tessalation very high
what setings are you using?
i play @ 1600x900 all settings very high, shadows at high and tessalation at high with 40-50 fps(yes i now a huge margin) with a hd 6770 (see my siggy for details)


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## koolent (Aug 28, 2012)

Really !! AMD has this amazing Driver out. I used to get 52 FPS with my MSi HD 6770 MD1GD5 (No OC) and now I get around 67 FPS ! Huge difference !


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## topgear (Aug 29, 2012)

here's some benchmark for you guys :
AMD Catalyst 12.8 WHQL Benchmark – BenchmarK3D


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## panwala95 (Aug 29, 2012)

koolent said:


> Really !! AMD has this amazing Driver out. I used to get 52 FPS with my MSi HD 6770 MD1GD5 (No OC) and now I get around 67 FPS ! Huge difference !



which game did you use to benchmark?


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## swiftshashi (Sep 9, 2012)

Guys I'm facing BSOD issues after updating to 12.8....It shows BSOD after Welcome screen


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## topgear (Sep 10, 2012)

what gfx card do you have ?? try removing the dirver from safe mode/ run driver sweeper in safe mode as well and re-install only the driver using custom install mode.


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## swiftshashi (Sep 10, 2012)

I have 6770m 2GB DDR5 in hp dv6 6121tx..Actually I've heard that 12.8 doesnt support switchable graphics.


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## topgear (Sep 11, 2012)

looks true but why ??

AMD Catalyst


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