ATI Users: New ATI Catalyst 10.3a preview drivers

[DrGoon]

*Update*
10.3b drivers in this post below:

http://www.warishellgaming.com/forums/showpost.php?p=325104&postcount=10


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These drivers came out a day or two ago and after installing them I noticed a very significant increase in my FPS for BFBC2. I upgraded to 10.3a from the original 10.3 drivers. When running in DX11 I still get the long map load times but my framerates are 20+fps better than they were before and much more stable.

A lot of other users are posting similar increases so I definitely recommend them.

http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=279&threadid=129939&enterthread=y

My specs:
AMD Phenom II Quad
8GB DDR3
ATI HD5770

Please post back if you test them and let everyone know if your experience was the same or not.

Using Xfire I grabbed a screenshot with my FPS on the top left (In DX9 mode because of long map loading times). Unfortunately I don't have a 'before' screenshot to compare it with, but I was getting fluctuation from 40s to 60s.

http://screenshot.xfire.com/s/94109895-4.jpg

[[W33T] Joker]

i have ATI card also I need to know before I update..My game is crashing at least once per day...will this help improve game performances and CTD issue?

[Ruci]

do you still have bloom on?

[DrGoon]

Joker;324162']i have ATI card also I need to know before I update..My game is crashing at least once per day...will this help improve game performances and CTD issue?

I don't know if it will help with any issue that is causing CTD. I had that during the beta though. What fixed that CTD for me and some others was (if you run the steam version):

Right click on Battlefield BC:2 in your games list > Properties > Local Files > Verify Integrity of game cache...

That takes about 5 minutes or so to run. For me I never got a CTD since doing that. As for helping game performance, this driver was a huge boost in performance for me. YMMV, but the reports I read on other forums seemed to be similar.

I also started playing with the bloom effect turned off, referenced above by Ruci. This is a good suggestion. set your Bloom=false in the C:\Users\name\Documents\BFBC2\settings.ini file (open with wordpad/notepad)

I Hope this helps

-Goon

[Gruthar]

Some CTDs are caused by a server-side error, it seems. I was playing with a few friends last night and we all got booted to the desktop at the same time.

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

I'll check out these drivers, thanks dude.

As for Bloom, I did 4 fraps tests in single player, two with bloom on and two with it off and saw practically no difference in framerates.

[SnaKe]

Good info DrGoon. My new pc will have ATI. Looks to me like ATI has the edge at the moment.

@Filthy -also good to know. I may test that myself.

CTD's can def be caused from server side. Make sure you've uninstalled the Beta has one solution though. As info I've never had a CTD and I'm running a single core processor. But I also have a virgin drive bc I had to re-install windows just prior to installing BC2. Installed XP. Did a long style full format. This may not be an issue though bc Joker has a new PC and he still has CTD's.

[[W33T] Joker]

I don't know if it will help with any issue that is causing CTD. I had that during the beta though. What fixed that CTD for me and some others was (if you run the steam version):

Right click on Battlefield BC:2 in your games list > Properties > Local Files > Verify Integrity of game cache...

That takes about 5 minutes or so to run. For me I never got a CTD since doing that. As for helping game performance, this driver was a huge boost in performance for me. YMMV, but the reports I read on other forums seemed to be similar.

I also started playing with the bloom effect turned off, referenced above by Ruci. This is a good suggestion. set your Bloom=false in the C:\Users\name\Documents\BFBC2\settings.ini file (open with wordpad/notepad)

I Hope this helps

-Goon

I have my bloom = false and directx=10...but still CTD happens.

I don't have game install thru Steam so can't do game cache check.

[FiLTHY_SNiPER]

These preview drivers drastically improved my framerates in BC2. I suggest everyone with an ATi card at least try them

I have an HD 4870 512mb

Thanks for the post

[DrGoon]

ATI Preview Drivers 10.3b are now out. I am about to test them out - here are the update notes:

Latest updates available in the ATI Catalyst 10.3b preview driver

* ATI Catalyst(TM) support for ATI Radeon(TM) HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition
o This release of ATI Catalyst(TM) introduces support for the production version of Windows 7 and Windows Vista for the ATI Radeon(TM) HD 5870 Eyefinity 6 Edition.
o Supports up to 6 displays (driven from a single GPU) operating together as an Eyefinity Display Group in both Windows 7 and Windows Vista
* The desktop mouse cursor issue (becoming enlarged at random when using Windows 7) has been fixed
* Fix for Severe flickering / flashing in Battlefield 2 bad Company


Download here:
http://sites.amd.com/US/UNDERGROUND/TIPS/Pages/catalyst-10-3-preview.aspx