ATI Driver Comparison Cat 5.1/5.2/5.3/5/4 Omega

[mikeguava]

Here is a comparison between the current Catalyst drivers including the Catalyst Control Panel and the Omega 2612 driver, running benchmarks under 3DMark05:

The test were run on a fresh install of Windows XP Pro, the computer specs were the following:
Asus P5AD2-E Premium
1GB OCZ 5400
WD7400 2-drive Raid 0
Intel P4 660
ATI Radeon X850 XT PE

Everything on the computer was set to stock speeds ( 540mhz core / 587mhz memory) - all The Catalyst driver 3D options were set to max performance.

I ran each driver 3DMark05 benchmark 3 times ( installed driver 5.4 - uninstalled driver - installed next driver....started 2nd round of benchmarks...3rd round)

The below benchmarks are the average of all three runs:

Catalyst 5.4: Average Score: 6270

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787212

Catalyst 5.3: Average score: 6288

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787233

Catalyst 5.2: Average score: 6285

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787125

Catalyst 5.1: Average score: 6222

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787146

Catalyst 4.12: Average score: 6028

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787580

Omega Driver 2.6.12: Average Score: 6146

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787178

TechPowerUp 5.3 based driver: 6277

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787717

ATI Cat 5.3 without Control Center: 6276

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787825


I have to add that I am not familiar with the Omega driver and have not seen any performance settings off hand to match the optimized for performance settings I used in the Catalyst control panel.


Overall I can attest that for pure 3DMark05 benching purposes the Cat 5.3 with Control Center is the best pick.


Cheers

Mike

PS let me know if you want me to bench any other drivers in this comparison.

EDIT: I just added the Techpowerup Driver results ( ran it twice) as well as the 4.12 ( only ran it once since it's too far off) - Ran the Cat 5.3 to see if any changes happened and got again 6288 after running the other drives ( http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=787744 see the timestamp )

Edit: A big surprise to me was that the Catalyst without the Control center was actually a tiny bit slower - by about 10 points - the same with Techpowerups version of this driver. I assumed that this one would be faster, having less overhead. I had all settings also set to max performance.

 

[Gautam]

Thanks for the test. Think you could try 4.12 if you've got the time?

 

[mikeguava]

Will do right away since I haven't changed the system it should be right on - I 'll add to the above post

Mike

EDIT: It's on the list now

 

[hibner]

How about trying the new Omega's 2.6.12. I wouldn't expect much of a change,but you never know.

 

[mikeguava]

How about trying the new Omega's 2.6.12. I wouldn't expect much of a change,but you never know.

I actually only tested the 2.6.12 - it was a typo I just corrected

Mike

 

[Mr.Guvernment]

wow - awsome work - thanks for taking the time t do this, i dont have the patience to do this with 3 sets of drivers let alone this many!

nice to see for 3dmark @ least there is no major difference.

 

[hibner]

I actually only tested the 2.6.12 - it was a typo I just corrected

Mike

Gotcha.

I wonder why the drop from the 5.3 to the 5.4 cats?

 

[mikeguava]

i can only assume - maybe because of lots of excess code to include 64bit Xp?


Mike