Catalyst 10.8 Brings SC2 AA; Hints at Future GPUs

By Marcus Yam
published

The ATI Catalyst 10.8 drivers have popped up on AMD's website, and those looking for a smoother StarCraft II experience will be pleased.

New in this release is anti-aliasing for StarCraft II, City of Heroes and City of Heroes Going Rogue, as well as the following new application profiles for Crossfire users:

  • Singularity
  • Mafia 2
  • Final Fantasy XIV Benchmark
  • Lord of the Rings Online
  • Aliens Vs. Predator

There are also game performance improvements:

  • Far Cry 2:
    - Performance increases 2-6% on Radeon HD 5800 Series single and CrossFire configurations.
    - Performance increases 2-4% on Radeon HD 5700 Series single and CrossFire configurations.
    - Performance increases 3-8% on Radeon HD 4800 Series single and CrossFire configurations.
  • Left 4 Dead 2:
    - Performance increases 3-5% on CrossFire configurations using the Radeon HD 5800 and HD 5700 series.
  • Stormrise:
    - Performance increases 5-10% on Radeon HD 5600 and Radeon HD 5500 series configurations.

HDMI default refresh rate now appears properly as 60 Hz under HDTV in Catalyst Control Center

Check out the complete release notes here (PDF), and find the download here.

Interestingly, these new drivers contain hints at possible new upcoming ATI GPUs. VR-Zone found the following GPU codenames buried in the Catalyst 10.8 software:

223,CAYMAN GL XT (6700),NI CAYMAN
224,CAYMAN GL XT (6701),NI CAYMAN
225,CAYMAN GL XT (6702),NI CAYMAN
226,CAYMAN GL XT (6703),NI CAYMAN
227,CAYMAN GL PRO (6704),NI CAYMAN
228,CAYMAN GL PRO (6705),NI CAYMAN
229,CAYMAN GL (6706),NI CAYMAN
230,CAYMAN GL LE (6707),NI CAYMAN
231,CAYMAN GL (6708),NI CAYMAN
232,CAYMAN GL (6709),NI CAYMAN
233,CAYMAN XT (6718),NI CAYMAN
234,CAYMAN PRO (6719),NI CAYMAN
235,ANTILLES PRO (671C),NI CAYMAN
236,ANTILLES XT (671D),NI CAYMAN
237,BLACKCOMB XT/PRO (6720),NI BLACKCOMB
238,BLACKCOMB LP (6721),NI BLACKCOMB
239,BLACKCOMB XT/PRO Gemini (6724),NI BLACKCOMB
240,BLACKCOMB LP Gemini (6725),NI BLACKCOMB
241,BARTS GL XT (6728),NI BARTS
242,BARTS GL PRO (6729),NI BARTS
243,BARTS XT (6738),NI BARTS
244,BARTS PRO (6739),NI BARTS
245,WHISTLER XT (6740),NI WHISTLER
246,WHISTLER PRO/LP (6741),NI WHISTLER
247,WHISTLER XT/PRO Gemini (6744),NI WHISTLER
248,WHISTLER LP Gemini (6745),NI WHISTLER
249,ONEGA (6750),NI TURKS
250,TURKS XT (6758),NI TURKS
251,TURKS PRO (6759),NI TURKS
252,SEYMOUR XT/PRO (6760),NI SEYMOUR
253,SEYMOUR LP (6761),NI SEYMOUR
254,SEYMOUR XT/PRO Gemini (6764),NI SEYMOUR
255,SEYMOUR LP Gemini (6765),NI SEYMOUR
256,CAICOS GL PRO (6768),NI CAICOS
257,CASPIAN PRO (6770),NI CAICOS
258,CAICOS PRO (6779),NI CAICOS

The interesting part is that they are prefixed with "NI", which could stand for Northern Islands, but the next generation of ATI devices are the Southern Islands-based technology.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
56 Comments Comment from the forums
  • pbrigido
    This will be a crushing blow to Nvidia unless they do something drastic with their line of GPUs.
    Reply
  • mister g
    Hopefully this means that new cards will come out and toss the 480 off its crown.
    Reply
  • Mottamort
    Quite impressed with the fact that they can still squeeze out performance gains on 4xxx series cards. Although i'm sure NVidia fan's will claim its cause the drivers are bad at first and they only get better in time. Oh well, an improvement is an improvement :)
    Reply
  • Poisoner
    Go ATI, the little GPU that could.
    Reply
  • hokkdawg
    I'm just waiting for a cheaper 5870 after the new series comes out. Picked up dual 4870s for $129 a pop after the 5870 was released :P
    Reply
  • daship
    pbrigidoThis will be a crushing blow to Nvidia unless they do something drastic with their line of GPUs.
    They will just rebrand like always, lol.
    Reply
  • ares1214
    Yeah, the 480 will turn into the 565 gtx, which will turn into the 650 GTS, and then maybe the 740 GT
    Reply
  • cappster
    Now maybe I can play the mafia 2 demo without it hanging my computer? And how many 5800 series crossfire configurations need improvement on the source engine?
    Reply
  • madass
    cappsterNow maybe I can play the mafia 2 demo without it hanging my computer? And how many 5800 series crossfire configurations need improvement on the source engine?Source engine? The old HL2 engine? You must have a weak GPU to actually want improvement.....even my useless HD3200 can max it out.....my 4870 doesnt even show an increase in temperature :P
    Reply
  • crazybaldhead
    http://vr-zone.com/articles/-rumour-ati-radeon-hd-6000-series-release-schedule-first-iteration-in-october/9688.html
    Reply