ATI's Catalyst 3.8 Drivers: ATI Sanctioned Overclocking
by Derek Wilson on October 8, 2003 3:02 PM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
Eager to get started with testing, the next stop on the list was the 3D tab.
Rather than having separate tabs for DirectX and OpenGL, ATI has combined them into one panel with a radio button selecting which API we are working on at the moment.
Since the selection of AA, AF, and quality options has been removed to a separate dialog box (activated by clicking on the "Custom" button), it seems like ATI is pushing the use of the Quality/Performance slider, which I don't personally like but is used to simplify things for the masses who don’t know what AA/AF are. Of course, they have made up for this by adding a feature to save a settings profile. Since people tend to tweak their settings for each game they play, there is much less hassle involved in the settings process.
What we would really like to see in the future is the ability to associate settings with an actual game executable file, so we can set all our games the way we want them and never have to touch the control panel.
The properties dialog opened by the customize buttons on the D3D and OGL panel brings us to a rather familiar looking list of selections. Nothing has really changed here other than the separation from the rest of the controls.
Of course, when we look at the top, we see the smartshader tab. We didn't expect this feature to be any good at all, but honestly we were strangely fascinated with it. Still definitely only an oddity, but its interesting for a few minutes.
That’s it for UI and functionality enhancements, lets check out the performance.
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Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
#31 was a reply to # 28.Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
are you telling me that your going to play HL2 , in DX8 at 640x800 on your Fx ? to get decent framerates ?Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
Nice of you to warn us ahead of time #8.It does take one to know one.
So in your esteemed opinion, what are all the current GF FX card owners to do?
Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
i am a little disappointed with the overdrive feature as well...i was all exicted too about the possibilities...and certainly expecting more than just a 1.5fps difference :(Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
#26 said: ""TombRaider AOD , the only DX9 game benchmarked is 3 1/2 times faster than Nvidia.ATI 42 fps , Nvidia 12 fps.
WoooW.
Imagine HL2.""
Do0d, TRAOD has nothing to do with HL2. Also, NV is playable at lower resolutions than 16x12. And any card will fly with PS2.0 off...
Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
...I'm honestly struggling to work out why CM hyped these up as the best Catalysts ever. We knew these weren't going to be performance drivers, but the new features are gimmicky (overdrive/smartshader) or not as good as they should be (game profiles, but you have to manually switch them, bah!). Oh well, some bug fixes are at least nice.A somewhat disappointed 9800 Pro'er.
Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
TombRaider AOD , the only DX9 game benchmarked is 3 1/2 times faster than Nvidia.ATI 42 fps , Nvidia 12 fps.
WoooW.
Imagine HL2.
I'm impressed, If Cat 3.8 bring more stability, that should be good enough for ATI owners.
a Gforce2 mx owner.
AgaBooga - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
#24, ATI would have had to implement special temperature measuring devices. I wonder how the bios flashing will respond to this...Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
sucks like 0.1% of gamers or market have the 9800TX why not do it with 9700pro or 9800projust a though ...............
Anonymous User - Wednesday, October 8, 2003 - link
#20,You got your roman numerals backwards.
VIII is 8
IX is 9
X is 10
XI is 11
XII is 12
XIII is 13
XIV is 14 and so on