This article provides information on the latest posting of AMD’s software suite, AMD Catalyst 11.3. This particular software suite updates both the AMD display driver, and the AMD Catalyst Control Center. This unified driver has been updated to provide enhanced level of power, performance, and reliability.

Package Content
The AMD Catalyst software suite 11.3 contains the following:

• AMD display driver version 8.831
• HydraVision for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Southbridge/IXP Driver
• AMD Catalyst Control Center version 8.831

Important ! Caution !

• The AMD display driver and the AMD Catalyst Control Center can be downloaded independently of each other. However, for better stability and performance AMD recommends that both components be updated from the same AMD Catalyst release.
• The AMD Catalyst Control Center requires that the Microsoft .NET Framework SP1 be installed for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Without .NET SP1 installed, the AMD Catalyst Control Center will not launch properly and the user will see an error message.

Notes

• When installing the AMD Catalyst driver for Windows operating system, the user must be logged on as Administrator or have Administrator rights to complete the installation of the AMD Catalyst driver.
• These release notes provide information on the AMD display driver only. For information on the ATI Multimedia Center, HydraVision, HydraVision Basic Edition, Remote Wonder, or the Southbridge/IXP driver, please refer to their respective release notes found at: http://support.amd.com/.
• ATI Eyefinity technology gives gamers access to high display resolutions. As pixel count grows, the graphics horsepower required to drive the displays at a reasonable frame rate can increase dramatically. Depending on the game and system configuration, users may notice texture corruption and reduced frame rates when running games in multi-monitor Eyefinity modes.
• Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers are no longer bundled in the AMD Catalyst software suite. The WDM drivers install bundle can be downloaded independently through the AMD website
• The Drag and Drop Transcoding feature is a beta level feature provided only for evaluation purposes. The Drag and Drop Transcoding feature is only supported on single and dual core CPUs, and supported on devices that support Media Transfer Protocol (MTP).

AMD Product Compatibility
The AMD Catalyst driver is compatible with the following AMD products.

AMD Mobility Product Family Compatibility
AMD Catalyst Mobility is a notebook reference graphics driver with limited support for system vendor specific features. When used with Windows Vista or Windows 7, users may have unwanted experiences.

The Installation Verification Software will prevent driver download on certain notebook products. This is to protect against the installing of drivers that may disable features or functionality provided by the system manufacturer. If unwanted experiences occur using Catalyst Mobility, it is recommended to revert back to the driver provided by your system vendor for your specific platform. Please contact your system vendor for the most recent drivers for your notebook.

Compatible Operating Systems
The latest version of the AMD Catalyst software suite is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:

• Windows 7 32-bit version
• Windows 7 64-bit version
• Windows Vista 32-bit version
• Windows Vista 64-bit version
• Windows XP Professional
• Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows XP Media Center Edition
• Windows XP Professional x64 Edition

Highlights of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 Windows release includes:

New Features:

Seamless GPU Compute support

• The AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) OpenCL runtime is now enabled by default within AMD Catalyst.  Applications that leverage OpenCL for GPU based compute tasks will automatically benefit from the significant performance boost that this provides.

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 software suite for Windows 7. These include:

• 3D BluRay playback no longer displays random frame loss.
• The 8x Anti-Aliasing is now correctly listed in some OpenGL applications.
• System no longer shows laggy performance when playing 720P WMV video files.
• Tearing is no longer randomly observed when playing Bioshock with Vsync and MLAA enabled.

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.3 software suite for Windows Vista. These include:           

• 3DMark 2011 no longer hangs on a quad crossfire HD6990 system.
• World of Warcraft no longer fails to respond when alt-tabbing out and into the game when running on the AMD HD6990.
• Mpeg2 Video playback now correctly uses hardware acceleration when played with Windows Media Player or Windows Media Center.
• Youtube HD Flash video now renders correctly.
• Enabling Anti-Aliasing no longer causes figure to have a bright outline in Medal Of Honor Single Player mode.

Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System

• Need for Speed Shift no longer randomly crashes during gameplay.

Known issues under the Windows 7 operating system
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows 7 operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• OpenGL acceleration may not get enabled even if selected in Photoshop CS5.
• Bulletstorm may display random corruption when DirectX 9 mode is selected.
• PowerDVD 10 player may crash randomly if Crossfire is enabled/disabled during BluRay playback.
• Playing Dirt 2 in DirectX 11 mode may display random corruption while driving through water.
• Star Wars Jedi Knight II / Jedi Academy may crash randomly during launching.

Known Issues under the Windows Vista Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows Vista operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• Performing Bezel compensation on a 3x2 Eyefinity group may cause the bezel group to disappear.
• Doom and Quake 4 may display corruption with a HD 4770 product.

Known Issues Under the Windows XP Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows XP operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• Civilization V may stop responding during launch when Crossfire is enabled.
• System may hang while playing Dead Rising 2.

Known Issues under all Windows Operating Systems
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under all supported Windows operating systems in the latest version of AMD Catalyst. These include:

• LCD Overdrive settings may not be retained after enabling/disabling Crossfire.