Monthly Catalyst Driver - really better?

[sophie]

Each new catalyst release appears to resolve issues with newer games.

But does resolving issues and improving performance with newer games, cause issues and decrease performance in older games?

 

[Add 'em]

Well, the 5.2 is definitely no good.

 

[sophie]

Yea, well the reason I ask is that it seems inevitable (intiitively, though I know nothing about programming) that once the driver is tweaked for some new games, other games must suffer as a result.

 

[Scali]

Yea, well the reason I ask is that it seems inevitable (intiitively, though I know nothing about programming) that once the driver is tweaked for some new games, other games must suffer as a result.

Actually, it's easy to avoid that. Generally tweaks, optimizations and bugfixes are done on a per-application basis. So the driver will simply check which application is running, and then execute the proper code for that application.
So unless someone screws up, generally drivers will only get better with every update.

 

[sophie]

"So the driver will simply check which application is running, and then execute the proper code for that application."

Does that mean that a driver has separate code for each game out there?
Wouldn't the size of the driver expand infinitely - to keep up with new games and applications?

 

[BullseyeBob]

I think the new cards have the power to chew up old games so theres no need for optimizations for them anymore. So with each driver release they probably shuffle out a few old optimizations and incorporate new ones for recently released games.

 

[Scali]

"So the driver will simply check which application is running, and then execute the proper code for that application."

Does that mean that a driver has separate code for each game out there?
Wouldn't the size of the driver expand infinitely - to keep up with new games and applications?

No, it only needs specific code for games that require it (either bugfixes or performance optimizations for popular games). Most games should run fine without any kind of specific code. Drivers do grow a bit yes, but nothing dramatic. The Catalyst package has been more or less the same size for ages... except for the Control Center addition ofcourse.

 

[sophie]

Thanks for the insight.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

The 5.2's are horrible. ATi owes us an apology!

 

[Met-AL]

The 5.2's are horrible. ATi owes us an apology!

Why are they horibble? I've been using them with CS:S and BFV with no problems at all on my 9700-pro.

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Why are they horibble? I've been using them with CS:S and BFV with no problems at all on my 9700-pro.

Check the official 5.2 thread, lots of people reporting problems. In CS:S I've gone from 110fps to 52fps in the stress tests. And yes, I used driver cleaner.

 

[Met-AL]

It seems the 5.2's take a extra reboot.

http://www.rage3d.com/board/showpost.php?p=1333508492&postcount=48

One poster mentioned that after the reboot, another driver was quickly loaded or something. His CS:S FPS suffered, but after he rebooted again it went back up. According to the thread over at Rage3d, this seems to be common. I wonder if it may be from the cards with the RageTheater chip on them.....

 

[EngineChauffer]

Isn't it just common sense to reboot the computer after installing drivers?

 

[BullseyeBob]

I reboot a couple times after killing the 2nd'ary display and stuff. Always good to reboot at least twice after driver changes.

 

[GregP24]

I've had no touble with them in KOTOR II or BFME. I picked up a few points in my benchies, too.

 

[LoStMaTt]

The 5.2's are horrible. ATi owes us an apology!

Fact is, this is why its a good reason that ATI's drivers come out monthly. This means that new drivers will be out in a month to hopefully resolve the problem!

 

[SPARTAN VI]

Fact is, this is why its a good reason that ATI's drivers come out monthly. This means that new drivers will be out in a month to hopefully resolve the problem!

Hope so. I always look forward to updating my drivers.