AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Released: What It Fixes and Improves

[JMcEntegart]

Drivers are now available for public download.

AMD Catalyst 14.1 Beta Released: What It Fixes and Improves : Read more

 

[expl0itfinder]

Right now the performance increases are (realistically) spotty at best. However, they did say they are aware of the issues, and I can't wait for further optimization.

 

[Mousemonkey]

From the threads and post I've seen it seems to break more than it fixes.

 

[Mousemonkey]

From the threads and post I've seen it seems to break more than it fixes.

Hence the reason it is a beta...

A beta that got held back because it had issues and yet gets released with issues, good job Mantle didn't get released back in December isn't it?

 

[10hellfire01]

I'm sure the kinks will be worked out with time, give or take a few years. Reminds me of the good ol' Glide days. Although I still can't make my mind on if Nvidia will respond in some manner or if they don't see the need to (many seem to be going with the latter). Still don't think Mantle will make as much a dent in the market as many have hoped.

Resolved issues in this release include ground texture flickering in Total War: Rome 3 and flickering texture corruption in Call of Duty: Ghosts when playing multiplayer in the space station.

Typo there: Rome 3 doesn't exist.

 

[Morbus]

This is the reason I left ATI and went for a GTX760... I don't regret it in the slightest.

 

[thor220]

This is the reason I left ATI and went for a GTX760... I don't regret it in the slightest.

You left because you hate getting performance boosts for free? Well I guess you're better off with Nvidia then. I'm sure they love to take your money for things that should be free.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This is the reason I left ATI and went for a GTX760... I don't regret it in the slightest.

You left because you hate getting performance boosts for free? Well I guess you're better off with Nvidia then. I'm sure they love to take your money for things that should be free.

I think he's referring to the crappy drivers which have always been a feature of ATi drivers and now seem to be an AMD thing since they bought the company.

 

[Sourdoughx]

Don't understand the AMD disdain. If you don't like the company and like Nvidia - great. But if you can't see the benfit in a company releasing an API still in it's infancy, first utilized by a medicore developer (my personal opinion of DICE), which offers FREE performance improvement that increases longevity of your GPU/CPU...you're looking at the glass half empty. Me, I'd rather use my AMD card (which surprisingly still plays games w/o Mantle!), and wait to see if other developers are smart enough to dedicate some time to optimize their game for an API that obviously offers users increased performance. If they don't - oh well. We're stuck with DirectX and buying video cards every two years for that little bit of Clock speed until the World burns up and we're all scavenging for a can O' beans.

 

[childofthekorn]

Don't understand the AMD disdain. If you don't like the company and like Nvidia - great. But if you can't see the benfit in a company releasing an API still in it's infancy, first utilized by a medicore developer (my personal opinion of DICE), which offers FREE performance improvement that increases longevity of your GPU/CPU...you're looking at the glass half empty. Me, I'd rather use my AMD card (which surprisingly still plays games w/o Mantle!), and wait to see if other developers are smart enough to dedicate some time to optimize their game for an API that obviously offers users increased performance. If they don't - oh well. We're stuck with DirectX and buying video cards every two years for that little bit of Clock speed until the World burns up and we're all scavenging for a can O' beans.

Yeah just bash-to-bash in the name of fanboism. I especially love the fact they're bashing something in BETA. Same type of facepalm that comes from people complaining about performance issues in a game thats in beta, and how the game shouldn't be released, when they bought-in to a game just to play BETA.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Don't understand the AMD disdain. If you don't like the company and like Nvidia - great. But if you can't see the benfit in a company releasing an API still in it's infancy, first utilized by a medicore developer (my personal opinion of DICE), which offers FREE performance improvement that increases longevity of your GPU/CPU...you're looking at the glass half empty. Me, I'd rather use my AMD card (which surprisingly still plays games w/o Mantle!), and wait to see if other developers are smart enough to dedicate some time to optimize their game for an API that obviously offers users increased performance. If they don't - oh well. We're stuck with DirectX and buying video cards every two years for that little bit of Clock speed until the World burns up and we're all scavenging for a can O' beans.

The problem is that AMD's PR hyped the crap out of this API and claimed that it has been in the works for a couple of years and before the release of BF4 they said it would be ready in December of last year, so when it turns up late and buggy why shouldn't people question it?

 

[yannigr]

Don't lose your time with Mousemonkey.We are talking about a pure Nvidia fanboy who also is a forum moderator with the habit to ban users who don't worship Nvidia.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Don't understand the AMD disdain. If you don't like the company and like Nvidia - great. But if you can't see the benfit in a company releasing an API still in it's infancy, first utilized by a medicore developer (my personal opinion of DICE), which offers FREE performance improvement that increases longevity of your GPU/CPU...you're looking at the glass half empty. Me, I'd rather use my AMD card (which surprisingly still plays games w/o Mantle!), and wait to see if other developers are smart enough to dedicate some time to optimize their game for an API that obviously offers users increased performance. If they don't - oh well. We're stuck with DirectX and buying video cards every two years for that little bit of Clock speed until the World burns up and we're all scavenging for a can O' beans.

You need to think of it from a money perspective. Do you think that DICE just up and decided to take Mantle? I am willing to bet AMD threw in some incentive in it as they needed a show case, that's how the world works.But the rest of the devs have to justify why they should code for a API that is currently only supported by 2 GPU series that does not have that much of a market share. Once they add the HD 7970/7950 it will help or once all of AMDs GPUs offer GCN based archs it will help but for now I don't see devs putting time and money into an API that only a small amount of people can utilize.To top it off as well, the 290 series is currently being price gouged thanks to the crypto currency miners. A Asus R9 290X DCUII is supposed to be $579 but instead it is $699 and the R9 290 DCUII is $579. It really sucks as no one who wants one can get one at a decent price compared to the NVidia equivalent and it adds even less incentive to devs to program for Mantle since the majority of people cannot afford a GCN based card. Even a 7970/280X is $400-$500 depending on the model and was supposed to be $300 now.That said, they also have to see what DX 12 does. It would be easier to wait and reprogram for DX12 as it will utilize a lot of the same features they are familiar with.

 

[Mousemonkey]

Don't understand the AMD disdain. If you don't like the company and like Nvidia - great. But if you can't see the benfit in a company releasing an API still in it's infancy, first utilized by a medicore developer (my personal opinion of DICE), which offers FREE performance improvement that increases longevity of your GPU/CPU...you're looking at the glass half empty. Me, I'd rather use my AMD card (which surprisingly still plays games w/o Mantle!), and wait to see if other developers are smart enough to dedicate some time to optimize their game for an API that obviously offers users increased performance. If they don't - oh well. We're stuck with DirectX and buying video cards every two years for that little bit of Clock speed until the World burns up and we're all scavenging for a can O' beans.

You need to think of it from a money perspective. Do you think that DICE just up and decided to take Mantle? I am willing to bet AMD threw in some incentive in it as they needed a show case, that's how the world works.But the rest of the devs have to justify why they should code for a API that is currently only supported by 2 GPU series that does not have that much of a market share. Once they add the HD 7970/7950 it will help or once all of AMDs GPUs offer GCN based archs it will help but for now I don't see devs putting time and money into an API that only a small amount of people can utilize.To top it off as well, the 290 series is currently being price gouged thanks to the crypto currency miners. A Asus R9 290X DCUII is supposed to be $579 but instead it is $699 and the R9 290 DCUII is $579. It really sucks as no one who wants one can get one at a decent price compared to the NVidia equivalent and it adds even less incentive to devs to program for Mantle since the majority of people cannot afford a GCN based card. Even a 7970/280X is $400-$500 depending on the model and was supposed to be $300 now.That said, they also have to see what DX 12 does. It would be easier to wait and reprogram for DX12 as it will utilize a lot of the same features they are familiar with.

I've seen the figure of 8 million dollars being bandied about.

 

[yannigr]

You really expect Nvidia fanboys to do anything more than bashing AMD? And of course if they have the "power" to delete posts and ban users they will do that with a smile. It is their job I guess.

 

[tomc100]

Still no fix for Need for Speed Rivals which is unplayable in fullscreen. I thought this was one of the games which would use mantle.

 

[jimmysmitty]

yannigr, regardless of MMs preference in hardware there is no need to call him out or be off topic. Even as a mod, he is entitled to his opinion and while I may not share everything I am also not a fan of Mantle yet as it is nothing major for everyone but only a handful.

BTW, I am a mod and I prefer ATI GPUs and am running a HD 7970 so your generalization is a pretty big failure.

 

[jimmysmitty]

Still no fix for Need for Speed Rivals which is unplayable in fullscreen. I thought this was one of the games which would use mantle.

Mantle requires the developer to program the game engine for the API, much like DX or OGL. It isn't just something AMD turns on in the driver package.

 

[Sourdoughx]

So AMD gave DICE some cash to showcase their API. How is that reason to say Mantle is a waste of time and a P.O.S? It's something that you dont have to use. It's something that takes nothing away from the performance of a GPU that is just as strong as its competitors. And it doesn't cost anything to you - yes prices are high..blame the retailers. They proved the API can offer better performance - I doubt it will get worse from here.

 

[Sourdoughx]

So AMD gave DICE some cash to showcase their API. How is that reason to say Mantle is a waste of time and a P.O.S? It's something that you dont have to use. It's something that takes nothing away from the performance of a GPU that is just as strong as its competitors. And it doesn't cost anything to you - yes prices are high..blame the retailers. They proved the API can offer better performance - I doubt it will get worse from here.

 

[Sourdoughx]

So AMD gave DICE some cash to showcase their API. How is that reason to say Mantle is a waste of time and a P.O.S? It's something that you dont have to use. It's something that takes nothing away from the performance of a GPU that is just as strong as its competitors. And it doesn't cost anything to you - yes prices are high..blame the retailers. They proved the API can offer better performance - I doubt it will get worse from here.

 

[Mousemonkey]

So AMD gave DICE some cash to showcase their API. How is that reason to say Mantle is a waste of time and a P.O.S? It's something that you dont have to use. It's something that takes nothing away from the performance of a GPU that is just as strong as its competitors. And it doesn't cost anything to you - yes prices are high..blame the retailers. They proved the API can offer better performance - I doubt it will get worse from here.

Well it is when Nvidia give money to a company to use PhysX so why can't AMD be held to the same rules?

 

[jimmysmitty]

So AMD gave DICE some cash to showcase their API. How is that reason to say Mantle is a waste of time and a P.O.S? It's something that you dont have to use. It's something that takes nothing away from the performance of a GPU that is just as strong as its competitors. And it doesn't cost anything to you - yes prices are high..blame the retailers. They proved the API can offer better performance - I doubt it will get worse from here.

No one is saying it is a POS. I never did but rather there is no incentive for other devs to program for it. If a new game dev came out during the 360 vs PS3 and were new with little funds do you think they would opt to code for the 360, which was a much more simple build on PC them port to 360, or the PS3, which had to be coded for specifically?

My point is that while Mantle does show performance improvements, it only does so for people with a very weak CPU backing up a very strong GPU and only for a very small market share currently. If Microsoft adds in the same feature to DX12 do you think devs will stick with something they are familiar with or will they spend more time and money developing for a new API?

Companies do not think in terms of performance for the masses but rather what it will cost to develop, support and patch said title and how much they will make. If they add another API to its list of support that means more people to pay to support said title and thus less revenue.

I am all for more performance but so far the previews are showing Mantle as almost pointless for enthusiasts who will have higher end CPUs and only good for those who have lower end CPUs and for some reason decided to buy a really high end GPU.

My point about the cost of the 290/280 series is not to say Mantle sucks more but rather that the GPUs that support, or will support Mantle, are out of reach for the common person as most people will not spend $700 on a single GPU let alone $400-$500 for a GPU that is 2 years old (7970/280X) thus the market share for those that can actually utilize Mantle is still very small.

And I doubt that a person who is going to pay the $700 for a 290X (no I don't count the stock ones as no one wants those compared to the Tri-X or DCUII) is going to only spend $100-$150 on a mid range at best CPU. Rather they are going to buy a i5/i7 or FX CPU to fit their enthusiast mind set, much like I have always gone with higher end CPUs with higher end GPUs. Thus again the market share where Mantle will benefit people is again smaller.

Again I am all for better performance and utilizing the power of a GPU, which a 7970 still has some to give but Mantle right now is nothing to go crazy about and if Microsoft adds in the same abilities into DX12 then I doubt it will go anywhere as devs will stick with what they know rather then spend money on something new.

 

[Silviu]

AMD SUCKS from every point of view!http://www.geforce.com/ stay tuned

 

[warezme]

I like free performance just as much anyone else but wasn't the whole reason for the PC gaming world DirectX** driver support was for maintaining uniformity and stability across the PC platform and all games. Maybe many don't remember but there was a time when it seemed every hardware vendor had it's own unique wrapper that allowed for accessing of a game directly to boost performance. This lead to a disarray of competing hardware to software wrappers and drivers tuned for this or that game that split the industry up and gamers got tired of broken games or crashing windows because your hardware setup wasn't always compatible with this card driver or that game wasn't optimized for that hardware. A game will always be faster if it is written to access hardware directly but then it becomes the responsibility of the hardware vendor to offer drivers or wrapper updates for each and every game they want to improve upon. I don't know about you but ATI/AMD has never had the best track record for driver support. Good luck with that guys but you just put yourselves back to like 1995 or something.