This article provides information on the latest posting of AMD’s software suite, AMD Catalyst 11.1. 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 11.1 contains the following:

• AMD display driver version 8.812
• HydraVision for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Southbridge/IXP Driver
• AMD Catalyst Control Center version 8.812

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).
• When upgrading from a non-Stream Edition driver suite to a Stream Edition driver suite with the ATI Stream SDK v2 installed, it is recommended that you uninstall the ATI Stream SDK v2 Developer component from the system prior to installing Stream Edition driver suite
• When installing the ATI Stream SDK v2 after a Stream Edition driver suite has been installed on a system, you may encounter a maintenance dialog for the developer component of the SDK. This is normal and can be ignored by canceling the dialog box.

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 AMD 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 11.1 Windows release includes:

Performance highlights of the AMD Catalyst 11.1 release includes:

• F1 2010:
• Performance increases up to 12% on AMD Radeon HD 6900 and AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series single card configurations with anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing disabled.
• Performance increases up to 10% on ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series single card configurations with anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing disabled.
• Left 4 Dead 2:
• Performance increases up to 17% on AMD Radeon HD 6800 Series single and Crossfire configurations with anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing disabled.
• Performance increases up to 8% on AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series single configurations with anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing disabled.

Resolved Known Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 11.1 software suite for Windows 7. These include:

• Aliens vs. Predator game no longer fails to load with quad Crossfire enabled..
• Text is no longer missing randomly in Nostradamus- The Last Prophecy demo.
• Graphical corruption is no longer seen occasionally in Nostradamus- The Last Prophecy demo.
• The Protoss Pylon Matrix is now rendered correctly in Starcraft 2.
• Task switching in Dirt2 with Vsync enabled no longer causes a dual link monitor to go black.
• System no longer crashes when enabling Crossfire with 2 monitors connected to the primary card and 2 monitors connected to the secondary card.
• List of supported TV resolutions now includes 1080p 24Hz (if supported by the TV display).
• Cyberlink PowerDVD no longer randomly exits when playing a blu-ray title with the “Aero-on” option enabled in the player.
• An error message is no longer intermittently displayed when viewing a slideshow using Windows Live Photo Gallery.
• Windows Media Player no longer displays a black screen when continuously playing several VC1 format files over a 4 hour period.
• “Host Application not responding” error message is no longer randomly displayed when launching the AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Resolved Known Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System

• Video corruption is no longer randomly seen during DVD playback using Windows Media Player.
• Progressive scan DVD content no longer causes Windows Media Center to hang.
• Interlaced DVD content no longer exhibits frame drops and jerky playback.
• “Host Application not responding” error message is no longer randomly displayed when launching the AMD Catalyst Control Center.

Resolved Known Issues for the Windows XP Operating System

• Frame drops are no longer observed when playing HD interlaced content in Windows Media Center.
• Call of Duty – Black Ops no longer randomly hangs on AMD Radeon HD 57xx series products.
• Crossfire using AMD Radeon HD 68xx series products no longer hangs intermittently when running 3dMark 2006.
• “Host Application not responding” error message is no longer randomly displayed when launching the AMD Catalyst Control Center.

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:

• Blocky video corruption may be displayed randomly when playing back SD DVD content using Windows Media Player.
• Video may flicker randomly when using PowerDVD to play the blu-ray edition of “Iron Man 2”.
• Screen may flicker and objects may be duplicated in Medal of Honor under DirectX 11 with Crossfire enabled on AMD Radeon HD 69xx series products.
• Objects may be duplicated in Dead Rising 2 when Super Anti Aliasing is enabled on AMD Radeon HD 69xx series products.

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:

• AVIVO options do not take effect on WinDVD 10 blu-ray playback.
• Doom 3 and Quake 4 may display corruption when running on a AMD Radeon HD 47xx series product.

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:

• An error message may be displayed if the power plan is changed several times (from Power Save to High Performance) when the AMD Catalyst Control Center is open.
• The AMD Catalyst Control Center may flicker when adjusting brightness using a hotkey.

Installing the AMD Catalyst Software Driver
For further information and general help on software driver installation, game issues, and more, visit AMD Customer Care.