8.8 released: real deal or not?

[ImperialGuard]

*edit:

real Catalysts released: http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx

[AsusLover]

fixed link above

[ImperialGuard]

How do you conclude that?

[AsusLover]

fixed by OP

[Psychotron]

Just wait till they show up at ati.amd.com

[Gautam]

Is this "real" enough for you folks? :p

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=vista32/common-vista32

[ImperialGuard]

No fan fix? no powerplay? no crossfire optimizations? :( that sucks

[ObiWong]

Is this "real" enough for you folks? :p

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=vista32/common-vista32

sweet!
downloading now

[thescavenger]

DL'ing now too!

[AsusLover]

Wish they would have put in a better and higher way to overclock these things.....790/1100 isn't doing the card any justice.....

[vixro]

http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=vista64/common-vista64

64bit vista for real winners. :)

[Angry]

No Fan speed control?

[Blkout]

These drivers are slower in every benchmark I tested compared to the CD drivers that shipped with my 4870x2. I'm not a bench junkie, but the Crysis results are very disturbing. I don't know that I can live with these drivers.

1. My video card now runs about 15c hotter at idle than it did with the CD drivers. It used to idle around 60c, now idles at 75c with the exact same fan profile. Only one core appears to be downclocking to 500MHz, the other is staying at 750MHz. This was not the case with the CD drivers.

2. The 8.8 drivers seemed to fix a wierd texture issue I was getting using the CD drivers in Crysis using DX10 very high settings. While running the GPU benchmark, I would see the flashes of trees in the clouds. It didn't do it with high settings, only very high settings using the CD drivers. The 8.8's fixed that, but at a steep penalty in performance as you'll see.

Here are my benchmark results:

3DMARK03
CD Drivers - 71255
Cat 8.8's - 70807


3DMARK05
CD Drivers - 28031
Cat 8.8's - 27798


3DMARK06
CD Drivers - 20165
Cat 8.8's - 19191


3DMARK Vantage Performance Setting
CD Drivers - 11066
Cat 8.8's - 11040


Crysis 1900x1200 DX9 High Setting
CD Drivers - Min FPS: 38.79, Average FPS: 60.58, Max FPS: 74.76
Cat 8.8's - Min FPS: 36.31, Average FPS: 54.17, Max FPS: 66.91

Crysis 1900x1200 DX10 Very High Setting
CD Drivers - Min FPS: 16.73, Average FPS: 25.15, Max FPS: 50.79
Cat 8.8's - Min FPS: 13.25, Average FPS: 18.97, Max FPS: 33.41

[Neuromancer]

No Fan speed control?

Just use profiles and adjust it manually

[Hauzdaug]

im having the same problem with these drivers as i had with 8.7 drivers .... with crossfire enabled i get bad flickering in all 3d apps
ive tried different settings an stuff and nothing helps it
last time i tried to do a system restore back to old drivers and i still had the bad flickering problem... was weird. somehow i manage to get the hotfix drivers working again

[chrome-187]

im having the same problem with these drivers as i had with 8.7 drivers .... with crossfire enabled i get bad flickering in all 3d apps
ive tried different settings an stuff and nothing helps it
last time i tried to do a system restore back to old drivers and i still had the bad flickering problem... was weird. somehow i manage to get the hotfix drivers working again

are you sure the card isn't going bad on ya?

[FractalNZ]

I still have no temps and No overdrive with 8.8
I also have massive texture issues in COD4. I'll prob start a thread to see if anyone else is having the same issues.
The screen shots are still uploading but feel free to view on my xfire page
http://www.xfire.com/profile/nickmcgill/

[azu]

that might be the case of a bad card. do you have anything you can test with?

[REDTOP]

no crossfire optimizations?

[ImperialGuard]

This driver is even crappier than 8.7... im reverting back, GRID is running crap with crossfire.

[FractalNZ]

that might be the case of a bad card. do you have anything you can test with?

I've been wondering if its a dodge card for awhile. Just been doing odd things ever since i've got it.
I'm hoping someone that I know will get one soon so I can test mine against theirs.
Another mate of mine said that cod4 might just need a patch which is quite possible too.

We shall see :bang head

[chrome-187]

My 3870 i had started flickering when i'd barely o/c the memory even just 25mhz. so i sent it back for RMA. it ran fine at stock though, but who wants a stock card? :)

[FractalNZ]

Oh one more quick question for everyone, I'm still on stock cooling unfortunately cause its going to be over 2 months before they get the S1s back in NZ ( grr ).
Anyhow should the fan automatically increase in RPM when under more load ?
I know there has been allot of threads about manual fan control but I was assuming that everyones stayed at the stock 9% or what ever it is.

I do have manual CCC profiles of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100% etc for manual control, However they will only work when OD is available in CCC. 9/10 times its not there, Also if OD is missing then nothing will see temps either.

Think I have a defective card ?

[Standingcow]

Sadly the weak point with ATI seems to be the drivers.. :/

Not saying I don't love my 4850... but come on ATI, get with it!

[AsusLover]

I find it interesting that some of us are having problems and some of us are not and getting gains....i'm seeing gains with somethings....but other things don't seem right like lighting and stuff like that

[jason4207]

Oh one more quick question for everyone, I'm still on stock cooling unfortunately cause its going to be over 2 months before they get the S1s back in NZ ( grr ).
Anyhow should the fan automatically increase in RPM when under more load ?
I know there has been allot of threads about manual fan control but I was assuming that everyones stayed at the stock 9% or what ever it is.

I do have manual CCC profiles of 20, 40, 60, 80, 100% etc for manual control, However they will only work when OD is available in CCC. 9/10 times its not there, Also if OD is missing then nothing will see temps either.

Think I have a defective card ?

You can mod the BIOS to have the card increase fan speed automatically as temps increase.

http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=568166

[Gabkicks]

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=7897676
3dmark score went up a bit. Crysis gpu test is about .5 fps better average. Crysis GPU test is about 3fps slower average.

[Hauzdaug]

are you sure the card isn't going bad on ya?


i think i found out why the 8.7 and 8.8 drivers werent working for me. i did reinstall of windows today and installed 8.8 drivers and everything was fine.i was running 3dmark and playing one of my games with no problems at all ... until i changed the my contrast and brightness in the CCC color settings. after i did that i had severe flickering problem again . i changed the color settings back to default and now everything is fine again

/shrug

[DaPoets]

I have been using ASUS 8.52 drivers for my ASUS 3870x2 because they have some specific things in there for this card which is nice. How long does it take a partner like ASUS to update the drivers on their website? I did try 8.8 and didn't like what I was feeling so I went back to the ASUS 8.52 last night.

[biosboy4]

It's weird that so many of you are having problems. It seems like every driver update that roles around my 2600xt gets a little better....

Except of course in Linux.... I hate those drivers so much. Makes me want to eat AMD's soul....

[jason4207]

8.8's don't work for me w/ a modded BIOS. I keep getting black screens after Windows loads. It's as if my clocks are no longer stable at the same voltage. Going back to 8.7 until RBE can fix it or I find another acceptable solution.

[FractalNZ]

8.8's don't work for me w/ a modded BIOS. I keep getting black screens after Windows loads. It's as if my clocks are no longer stable at the same voltage. Going back to 8.7 until RBE can fix it or I find another acceptable solution.


I've been getting these black screens that you are talking about ever since I got my card, Stock settings stock bios etc.
Can take over a hour of reboots to get it to get past that point sometimes.
Still trying to find why.
Sapphire 4850

[jason4207]

I've been getting these black screens that you are talking about ever since I got my card, Stock settings stock bios etc.
Can take over a hour of reboots to get it to get past that point sometimes.
Still trying to find why.
Sapphire 4850

Have you tried Cat 8.7?

8.7 works fine for me, but 8.8 works fine at stock settings for me. You might have a bum card. Is your PCIe 6-pin power plug inserted? Does your card work in safe mode?

[FractalNZ]

Have you tried Cat 8.7?

8.7 works fine for me, but 8.8 works fine at stock settings for me. You might have a bum card. Is your PCIe 6-pin power plug inserted? Does your card work in safe mode?

Yeap it goes into safe mode with no issues, 6pin is correctly inserted. It's a 750w psu so i'm sure its not a lack of power issue.

It does however log these errors in event viewer.
GCO failed to execute AtomBios
MODE: GX0 Execute BIOS Table Error

[Opteron 1100]

Ever since I went to 8.8 I get a error on boot up wanting me to send to microsoft.

It does not do it every time , I don't remember what it says.

any one else had this ?

Lost about 500 points in 3d06 too.

[satansangel114]

I have ben running the 8.8s on xp64 since the day they come out amd no problems yet, actualy gained 150 points or so in 3dm06.

I've been getting these black screens that you are talking about ever since I got my card, Stock settings stock bios etc.
Can take over a hour of reboots to get it to get past that point sometimes.
Still trying to find why.
Sapphire 4850
If your useing vista it might be related to that.

I know it gave me problems with driver updates allot.

(dont like vista, its to much of a P.I.T.A.)

[Opteron 1100]

I have ben running the 8.8s on xp64 since the day they come out amd no problems yet, actualy gained 150 points or so in 3dm06.


If your useing vista it might be related to that.

I know it gave me problems with driver updates allot.

(dont like vista, its to much of a P.I.T.A.)
I am using xp home

[jamtart]

my problem is the ati overdrive dosnt swich off and stayes on the 3d drivers all the time nocking the temp up to 83 c sometimes when i untick the overdrive and apply it will turn off but not always and most times the catalyst has a prob on loading and crashes and i have to go to add and remove and fix it there ive found a fan controler but the only drawback is the fixed fan speed starts at 50% and the fan is noisy but when the overdrive is off the card will cool down to 35 c on idle and 54 c under load the fan controler is EXPER TOOL V4 by GAINWARD my card is a his 4870x2 and still works if you get it you must get v4 the other ones higher are betas and no fan controler

[Opteron 1100]

I am using xp home
OK I wrote it down CCC host application has encountered a problem

[The Watcher]

No problems here. Very smooth. Modded BIOS.

[Opteron 1100]

OK I think i fxed it , uninstalled every thing , installed CCC from disc then installed only the new driver 8.8
no problems now.

[jason4207]

No problems here. Very smooth. Modded BIOS.

Do you have the 4870 or 4850? And how is your BIOS modded? Just fan or speed, voltage, and fan? Can you take a SS of RBE settings?

OK I think i fxed it , uninstalled every thing , installed CCC from disc then installed only the new driver 8.8
no problems now.

Glad you got it working!

[hajalie24]

Awesome, installing now ;)

[vixro]

I like being a test pig, so I'm going to install them. I'm actually on 8.2 right now lol. :D That's how long its been since I've used a new version.


8.2 - 3870 @ 864mhz core, 1197mhz memory:

3dmark06 - 11,272 (2.0 = 4947, 3.0 = 5257, CPU = 2718)
Vantage P - 4540
Vantage H - 2671

8.8:

3dmark06 - 11,237 (2.0 = 4929, 3.0 = 5245, CPU = 2709)
Vantage P - 4893 (BSOD loop + restart after I received my score)
Vantage H - 2950


So I guess I got some Vantage optimizations, but the system is unstable now. Random BSODs and freezes.

[Hauzdaug]

Ever since I went to 8.8 I get a error on boot up wanting me to send to microsoft.

It does not do it every time , I don't remember what it says.

any one else had this ?

Lost about 500 points in 3d06 too.

actually it funny you mention this , i have rebooted many times since i reinstalled windows on thursday and there was 2 times i got an error on boot saying send info to MS blah blah ... it was an ATI somthin somthin error ... i havent seen it since the other day tho ....

if you are having any problems with the drivers , i would try changing settings around 1 at a time to see it it effects any of the problems your having ... and if it a fresh install of windows then just dont change anything at first when you start doing testing ect ... dont change anything at all at first ... then change 1 or 2 settings at a time to make sure that isnt the problem

[The Watcher]

Do you have the 4870 or 4850? And how is your BIOS modded? Just fan or speed, voltage, and fan? Can you take a SS of RBE settings?


4870. Unlocking clocks only. Not sure about voltage. I use this one-->http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=3236290&postcount=37

[Mathis]

my problem is the ati overdrive dosnt swich off and stayes on the 3d drivers all the time nocking the temp up to 83 c sometimes when i untick the overdrive and apply it will turn off but not always and most times the catalyst has a prob on loading and crashes and i have to go to add and remove and fix it there ive found a fan controler but the only drawback is the fixed fan speed starts at 50% and the fan is noisy but when the overdrive is off the card will cool down to 35 c on idle and 54 c under load the fan controler is EXPER TOOL V4 by GAINWARD my card is a his 4870x2 and still works if you get it you must get v4 the other ones higher are betas and no fan controler


Dude, got the same exact problem. My overdrive was sticking and overheating the card. I think I'm going to have to stick with the 8.5's that came on the CD until the next revision. Also, I had to reformat my entire OS due to an INF error coming up during catalyst install. Other websites said this is due to bios editing, but I just started using my card and hadn't modded anything. 4870 X2 by the way. Could graphics problems freeze the entire computer or could that be something else? Because I have been getting complete lockups on WOW even though stress testing shows my computer as good with my 4.050Ghz ES q9650.

[The Watcher]

What BIOS are u using? Did u just open the BIOS and put in random numbers like 10-20GHz?

[korruptedONE]

my problem is the ati overdrive dosnt swich off and stayes on the 3d drivers all the time nocking the temp up to 83 c sometimes when i untick the overdrive and apply it will turn off but not always and most times the catalyst has a prob on loading and crashes and i have to go to add and remove and fix it there ive found a fan controler but the only drawback is the fixed fan speed starts at 50% and the fan is noisy but when the overdrive is off the card will cool down to 35 c on idle and 54 c under load the fan controler is EXPER TOOL V4 by GAINWARD my card is a his 4870x2 and still works if you get it you must get v4 the other ones higher are betas and no fan controler

Periods and capital letters are your friend.

Download/install Driver Cleaner or some variant that will remove ATI drivers. There are a few options there. Do a complete uninstall of drivers, remove card from Device Manager, reboot into safe mode. Run Driver Cleaner and clean ATI drivers. Reboot and don't let it install generic VGA drivers. Install 8.8s and see if that fixes you. I've had tons of issues with changing my drivers from the hotfix to the 8.7 beta, from hotfix to 8.7, or from 8.7 beta to 8.7 final.

Of course if you have done this then the point is moot, but I know that's caused a lot of issues for people (not fully removing old drivers first).


Mathis: It could certainly be something else causing WoW to lock. Do you have any other games to test with, preferably ones that will stress your card more than WoW? Do you lock on stock settings? Ruling out graphics, it could be a memory or hard drive/drive controller problem.

[Mathis]

I'm pretty sure I fixed my problem by reformatting and reinstalling the OS. Haven't had a single problem since I did it. Hope it stays that way.

[FileAnt]

If strange stuff is happening (like slow graphics in windows, maybe crashes)... you need to uninstall 8.7 or 8.8 (or whatever), boot to safe mode and run a driver cleaner (for all NV and ATI stuff). Install 8.8. Also make sure your chipset drivers are uptodate (and MB BIOS as well).

Black screens on boot means not enough 12V power FAST enough during boot, so the card posts before it gets the 12V properly (or the PSU is weak). Use "Enable Pallette Snoop" or maybe get a new Video card BIOS or maybe get a new MB BIOS or maybe reset CMOS or maybe get a good PSU or maybe get a new MB... as you can see lots of things might fix it. In other words the MB has power to its PCIe slots asked "are you ready?" the Video card has gone "Ya".. but the PSU is still trying to pump AMPs to the extra 12V connector(s). Maybe it is being slowed down by hard disks spinning up during boot or Maybe the PSU (even a huge one) is staggering its powerup too slow. It is more likely to happen with cards with two 12V connectors as one of those connectors will be spinning up drives. You could also try swapping 12V connectors or swapping to a different connector or even removing 2 drives if you have 4. Resetting the CMOS reportedly works with some MB's, swapping to a different PCIe12V on a different PSU rail and turning on "Enable Pallette Snoop" worked for me.

[chawks2]

I'm pretty sure I fixed my problem by reformatting and reinstalling the OS. Haven't had a single problem since I did it. Hope it stays that way.

I read these types of posts and am dumbfounded. Solving the problem by re-installing an OS is not solving the problem, it's a workaround and it should be a last resort.

Glad it solved your issue, but it's just a matter of time before the problem comes back.

I've been getting these black screens that you are talking about ever since I got my card, Stock settings stock bios etc.
Can take over a hour of reboots to get it to get past that point sometimes.
Still trying to find why.
Sapphire 4850

Most of the black screen issues are due to temperature problems on the card. Especially with the VRM temps. You can troubleshoot your issue by checking the LEDs which light up near the power connector on the back side of the pcb. It may help you identify the REAL issue.

[FractalNZ]

[/QUOTE]Most of the black screen issues are due to temperature problems on the card. Especially with the VRM temps. You can troubleshoot your issue by checking the LEDs which light up near the power connector on the back side of the pcb. It may help you identify the REAL issue.[/QUOTE]

Funny you should say that, but I put a custom bios on just so that the fan would work correctly, keeping the card at about 50c idle more so than 75c.
It seems to work 90% of the time now, Had 2 black screen this morning but got going after that.
Did it on my 520w psu and my new 750w also.

[vixro]

I would like to update, that ever since my initial black screen loop that instigated a blue screen of death I haven't had any issues. Everything seems to run smooth and no more crashes. While the performance only increased in DX10 for me and DX9 dropped even a very small fraction, they seem stable now. No more issues have occured since the initial crash after the first boot on the new drivers.

[jason4207]

I read these types of posts and am dumbfounded. Solving the problem by re-installing an OS is not solving the problem, it's a workaround and it should be a last resort.

Glad it solved your issue, but it's just a matter of time before the problem comes back.



Most of the black screen issues are due to temperature problems on the card. Especially with the VRM temps. You can troubleshoot your issue by checking the LEDs which light up near the power connector on the back side of the pcb. It may help you identify the REAL issue.

VRM temps can cause issues, but alot of folks are having issues w/ a modded 4850 BIOS and Cat8.8. There is some kind of powerplay issue.

[ziggo0]

So 8.8 is pointless if your on XP32 w/ DX9 eh?

[DaPoets]

New drivers are pointless if everything is working great. 8.52 ftw! I always read the release notes to see if there is anything in newer drivers that warrents me upgrading based on my hardware/software usage.

[FileAnt]

At 105*C then the card will start to permanently fail quickly (at 120*C it will permanently fail almost instantly). Ideally you want 70*C under load at room temp to make sure this does not even get close to happening in summer.

I will just add to what I said above (in the other post)... a good PSU should wait about 100 milliseconds or something before telling the MB it can start posting the cards and disks etc. It will often be in the specs if it waits and how long it waits. The faster cards get and the more power they drain combined with certain PSU's and MB just makes the chance of a bad boot problem more likely. If you are building PC's you should look at the specs of everything first. Admittedly it is hard to find specs for ATI card temps, you really have to google hard and infer... it is a shame really that a company this big can't be bothered releasing change notifications and detailed specs. For PSU's there are inexpensive brands that are better than what people on the internet say is good, often the mass produced stuff that people rave about because "that is what they got" or that is what they are selling or because it can "load up past its rating" is really just junk. If I had a black screen still I would be looking for a PSU that
- signals ready to the MB
- has overload protection
- has 600W and three 18A rails (or 700W and four 18A rails for SLI)
- has an efficiency of 84+
- is of a brand that a good rep 5 years ago and still does
- is under $100
- looks plain and boring with no leds