ATI Releases Catalyst Drivers Version 3.1

ATI releases another update to their CATALYST driver package, which was released as version 3.1. Once again the unified driver for the Radeon series products, gets updated with even more features, performance and stability. Currently, the CATALYST driver package is still the only DirectX 9 fully compatible and certified 3D acceleration drivers available.

The new drivers are available for download at www.ati.com or more specifically at www.ati.com/support/driver.html

New Highlights & Fixes For The 3.1 Release include:

Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2 no longer hangs when running in maximum detail levels

Mafia no longer flickers or suffers from display corruptions

The RADEON 9500/9700 series cards now support Anti-Aliasing in 16 bit applications

Performance Improvements Include:

RADEON 9700 -

A performance improvement of up to 35% at high resolutions is noticed in ChameleonMark

A performance improvement between 6 and 24% is noticed in Comanche 4

A performance improvement of 10% is noticed in Max Payne

A performance improvement between 20 and 40% is noticed in UT2003 Flyby

A performance improvement between 30 and 40% is noticed in IL-2 Sturmovik when Aniso or Aniso and Anti-Aliasing is enabled at the display resolution of 1600x1200

A performance improvement between 17 and 24% is noticed in Jedi Knight II when Aniso or Aniso and Anti-Aliasing is enabled at the display resolution of 1600x1200

RADEON 8500 -

Anti-Aliasing scores rise 15-35% across various benchmarks

A performance improvement between 10 and 50% is noticed in NHL2002

RADEON 7500 -

A performance improvement of 5% is noticed in the 3DMark2001 SE Vertex Shader test

ATI continues to ask for your feedback using the CATALYST CREW feedback program at: apps.ati.com/driverfeedback /