Catalyst 11.2 Now Available - MLAA, Tessellation Control, AF Fixes & More

[caveman-jim]

The changes and updates included in Catalyst 11.1a hotfix are now included in the new Catalyst 11.2, for mobility and desktop card users. Also included are Southbridge & IXP drivers, expanding the Catalyst suite to encompass new Fusion APU users as well as AMD mainboards. Update- Despite the release note indications of included SB/IXP drivers, the main Catalyst driver package supports Fusion APU graphics but doesn't update the SouthBridge or Chipset drivers - those are still a seperate download.

Release Notes: - Link

The AMD Catalyst™ software suite 11.2 contains the following:

• AMD display driver version 8.821
• HydraVision™ for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Southbridge/IXP Driver
• AMD Catalyst™ Control Center version 8.821

Notes:
Windows Driver Model (WDM) drivers are no longer bundled in the AMD Catalyst™ software suite. The WDM drivers install bundle can be downloaded independently through the AMD website

Highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 11.2 Windows release includes:

New Features:

The new Catalyst Control Center features

• Catalyst AI Texture Filtering updates
  • The Quality setting has now been improved to match the High Quality setting in all respects but one; it enables an optimization that limits tri-linear anisotropic filtering to areas surrounding texture mipmap level transitions, while doing bilinear anisotropic filtering elsewhere. This optimization offers a way to improve filtering performance without visibly affecting image quality
  • The Performance setting has been updated to address the sharpness of the default Quality setting causing shimmering in certain cases. It now provides a smoother filtering option that eliminates most shimmering while preserving the improved detail provided by anisotropic filtering.
• Tessellation Controls
  • Supported on the ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series and the AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series
  • New settings give users full control over the Tessellation levels used in applications.
  • The default selection “AMD Optimized” setting is intended to set the best level of Tessellation on a per application basis. The “AMD Optimized” setting is designed to help users get the maximum visual benefit of Tessellation, while minimizing the performance impact associated with enabling Tessellation. Currently no applications have been profiled.
  • The “Use Application Settings” option gives applications full control over the Tessellation level.
  • Users can also manually set the maximum tessellation level used by applications with the slider control
• Morphological Anti-Aliasing support for the ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series
  • AMD Catalyst now includes official support for Morphological Anti-Aliasing for the ATI Radeon HD 5000 Series

Support Video Quality settings during Blu-ray 3D playback

Supported on the AMD Radeon HD 6000 Series

• Requires Blu-ray 3D player software, 3D supported display and 3D Stereoscopic glasses
• Users can now enable the Video Quality settings within the Catalyst Control Center when playing Blu-ray 3D content

Performance Improvements:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops: Performance increases up to 11% on ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 Series single card configurations with anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing enabled
• Batman Arkham Asylum: Performance increases up to 4% on ATI Radeon™ HD 5000 Series single configurations with anisotropic filtering and anti-aliasing disabled.

Thanks to forum member rflair for the heads up and download links!

Click here to go to our discussion thread and grab the downloads now.

[Qamly]

Also included are Southbridge & IXP drivers, expanding the Catalyst suite to encompass new Fusion APU users as well as AMD mainboards. Update- Despite the release note indications of included SB/IXP drivers, the main Catalyst driver package supports Fusion APU graphics but doesn't update the SouthBridge or Chipset drivers - those are still a seperate download.

The southbridge drivers are not new, nor are the AHCI drivers.
They are the same ones that were in 11.1.

[caveman-jim]

'included' doesn't mean 'new'

[BababooeyHTJ]

The changes and updates included in Catalyst 11.1a hotfix are now included in the new Catalyst 11.2 hotfix, for mobility and desktop card users.

[caveman-jim]

Sorry, typo.

[noko]

Thanks AMD! For the new features added to 5xxx owners. So far the driver looks good. Had an issue with my weird setup using two DVI connections to my IZ3D monitor and a single link DP to DVI adpator to my 24" monitor. Basically after loading the drivers it changed my primary (24") to my IZ3D back LCD, so I had to use my 3d glasses to reconfigure. Other then that working great.

Mafia II 1920x1200 Max

NoAA 71fps
MLAA 52fps (Better then in game AA option)
MLAA and in game AA 41 fps (best looking all together)