ATI Catalyst Benchmarks

Posts: 3258 · Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 11:02 am Post subject: ATI Catalyst Benchmarks

Intro:
With the introduction of ATI's newest driver, the Catalyst 4.4, on April 7th, we were prompted to take it for a test drive. When new graphics drivers are released companies like to brag about increases in performance. We tested the latest three versions of the Catalyst (4.2, 4.3, and 4.4) on a 128MB Radeon9800 graphics card to get some solid results from trusted 3dMark01SE (build 330) and 3dMark03 (build 340) benchmark programs. The results turned out to be quite the surprise (but probably not what ATI would have liked to show off).

Test Machine Specs:

Processor: AMD XP2700+ cooled with Thermaltake Volcano 11+
Memory: 512M DDR PC2700
Motherboard: MSI KT4V with onboard 10/100LAN + AC '97 Audio
Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS
Power Supply: Antec 400 Watts "SL400"
Primary Monitor: Dell UltraSharp 1800FP 18" LCD
Secondary Monitor: Mag Innovision 986FS 19" CRT (disabled for these tests)
Speakers: Logitech 400Watt 4.1
Video Card: 128MB ATI Radeon 9800 AGP 8x by Sapphire Tech
(Directx9.0b)
Hard Drive 1: Maxtor 60 GB w/2MB Cache (for Windows only)
Hard Drive 2: Seagate 160 GB w/8MB Cache (for everything else)
DVD-ROM: 16x
CD-RW: 52x24x52x
Operating System: Windows XP Professional w/SP1

The Tests:
3DMark01SE (build 330)

7 of 7 Game Tests
6 of 6 Theoretical Tests
4 of 4 Directx 8 Feature Tests
Demo Looping Disabled
Demo Sounds Disabled
Game Sound Effects Disabled
Game Music Disabled
Detail Level High
Resolution 1024x768x32 bit color, compressed textures
D3D Pure Hardware T&L (Textures and Lighting)
No Antialiasing

3DMark03 (build 340)

All 4 Game Tests
2 of 2 CPU Tests
5 of 5 Feature Tests
3 of 3 Sound Tests
1024x768x32 bit color
No Pixel Processing
Optimal Texture Filtering
4 Max Anisotropy
Optimal Vertex Shaders
No Repeated Tests
No Fixed Framerates

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CATALYST 4.2:
Reported Performance Improvements
This release of CATALYST provides performance gains to the ATI DX8 product family. These products include the RADEON 9200, 9000, and 8500 series.

Framerates in Unreal Tournament 2003 is up by 15%

A performance gain of between 5 and 10% is noticed in Aquamark3

A performance gain of between 2-3% is noticed in ShaderMark scores

Framerates in Halo is up between 3-4%

A performance improvement of 2% is noticed in Tomb Raider

Resolved CATALYST Driver Issues

Logging on as an Administrator under Windows XP and doing a fast user switch to limited user no longer results in display corruption when playing a DVD using WinDVD version 4 or 5

User defined colour setting are now retained when exiting a 3D game or application

The ATI Control Panel no longer fails to launch when attempting to enter the Advanced options of the primary display adapter after disabling extended desktop support

The Cancel button found in the ATI 3D tab is now working properly when switching between a user defined profile and the default setting

Enabling the CRT as the primary display and turning the TV off in the Display page no longer results in a general protection fault under Windows ME

The Anisotropic Filtering custom setting is now retained under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON 7200 installed

The D3D panel now retains the user defined AA/AF setting under Windows XP when a RADEON 8500 series is installed and the main setting is set to High Quality

Resolved Game Issues

Launching the game Tron 2.0 under Windows XP no longer results in the game failing to respond after the game introduction is loaded

Launching the game Line of Sight: Vietnam and setting the graphics option to 800x600 16bpp no longer results in the game failing to respond when selecting a new game

Running the game Armed and Dangerous under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON 9200 series installed no longer results in the display image appearing corrupted when selecting Storm the Base mission in the game

The game Half-Life is now displayed properly under Windows XP when the game resolution is set to either 320x240 or 400x300

Playing the game Serious Sam 2 under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON; 9500/9800 series installed no longer results in the game failing to run when the game option is set to OpenGL

Playing the game Unreal Tournament 2003 under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON 9600 series installed no longer results in texture corruption being displayed on the flag surfaces in the DM-Tokara Forest

Selecting the Optimum Quality setting in D3D control panel no longer results in a frozen frame when launching the game HALO

Setting the resolution in the game SpyHunter to 1280x1024 along with having the Use Recommended Settings slider set to balanced in the ATI 3D tab no longer results in some background images being missing while the game is loading

Setting the display option to 640x480 or 800x600 in the game Splinter Cell no longer results in the game menu flickering

Returning to the main menu in the game Counter-Strike no longer results in the game's refresh rate reverting back to 60Hz when resuming game play

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CATALYST 4.3:
Resolved CATALYST Driver Issues

Connecting an HDTV as the primary display with the display resolution set to 1920x1080 followed by playing a Macrovision protected DVD with the ATI DVD Player no longer results in the HDTV not providing a display image when exiting the ATI DVD player

A fullscreen DOS session now appears properly on the Primary display

Playing an MPEG2 file with the MediaPlayer and Overlay Theater Mode enabled no longer results in the display refresh rate not being correct

Enabling large Desktop mode no longer results in the overlay not properly switching from one display to another

Resolved Game Issues

This section provides information on game issues that have been resolved in the latest release of CATALYST. These include the following:

Setting the video resolution to 1280x1024 in the game Medal of Honor: Spearhead, along with Anti-Aliasing set to 2x no longer results in the main menu of the game not displaying properly

Display corruption is no longer noticed when playing the game Aquanox under Windows XP with an ATI Radeon 9100 IGP series installed. This issue is was known to occur when specific video options have been customized

Running the game Hegemonia under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON 8500 series installed no longer results in all of the main menu options and the 3D textures in the background not being available

The operating system no longer fails to respond when launching the game TrackMania with a RADEON 7000 series installed

Background colour corruption is no longer seen when playing the game Armed and Dangerous

Poor performance is no longer noticed when playing the game Homeworld 2 with extended desktop enabled or when Anti-Aliasing is set to 4x

Visual corruption is no longer seen when playing the game Spy Hunter

Setting the resolution in the game Enclave to 1024x768 or higher no longer results in display corruption

The Windows operating system no longer intermittently fails to respond when playing the game Jedi Knight 2 with the display set to 1024x768 32bpp and the game option set to High Quality

Windows problems are no longer noticed when playing the game Homeworld 2 in single player mode

Texture corruption is no longer seen when playing the game Battlefield 1942

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CATALYST 4.4:
Resolved CATALYST Driver Issues

Connecting a secondary CRT and enabling VPU Recover no longer results in the operating system failing to restore itself

The new rotation implementation no longer fails to update the desktop when doing a mode set on exit

Setting the display resolution to 1024x768 32bpp and switching the DVI connector for HDTV to 480i no longer results in the HDTV device not working within the ATI Control Panel

Setting the display resolution to 1152x864 32bpp under Windows XP and playing an MPEG or AVI file using the Windows Media Player no longer results in display corruption on the TV output

Setting the display resolution to 1920x1080 on an ATI RADEON 9700 PRO when connected to a specific monitor no longer results in the image not being display

The file version and the product version information is now correct

Resolved Game Issues

Worms 3D no longer fails to properly play. Launching in game movies no longer results in only the sound being heard with the display being corrupted or black

Intermittent texture corruption and flashing is no longer seen when playing the game Battlefield 1942

The shadow of the characters in the game Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow are now being displayed properly

Display corruption is no longer noticed when switching between 2D and 3D modes in the game Microsoft Flight Simulator 2004

The performance of the game Tomb Raider AOD is no longer compromised when running the game at the display resolution of 1600x1200

The brightness option found in certain games is now working properly when extended desktop is enabled and both monitors are set to 1280x1024 32bpp

Configuring the game RACER version 0.50 to run at full screen, 1600x1200 32bpp, no longer results in the game failing to respond

Setting the display resolution to 1600x1200 and running the game Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy no longer results in display corruption being noticed at a specific point in the game

Display corruption is no longer seen when playing the demo version of the game Far Cry

Known Issues

Playing the game Nascar 2003 with the display resolution set to 1280x1024 32bpp results in display corruption being seen. This issue will be resolved in an upcoming CATALYST release. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4388.html

Setting the graphics quality to anything higher than Fastest in the game Virtual Skipper 3 results in the operating system failing to respond when the game menu loads. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4466.html

Playing the game Desert Rats vs. Afirka Korps with the game resolution set to 1600x1200 and the desktop display set to 1024x768 32bpp along with Anti-Aliasing set to 4x results in flashing and or corrupt shadows. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4468.html

Missing polygons on the satellite within the main menu is noticed in the game Hegemonia. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4467.html

Enabling multi-monitors at different display resolutions results in Direct3D or OpenGL game images appearing off center on the secondary display. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4406.html

Textures are not applied correctly in the game Silent Storm when setting the resolution to 1024x768 32bpp and the quality option set to high. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4522.html

Adobe Gamma and other colour calibration software no longer function. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4501.html

Enabling AF to 8x and running the game Battlefield Vietnam with the graphics set to high and the display set to 1280x1024 32bpp results in display corruption being seen at a certain point of the game. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4500.html

A performance decrease is noticed when setting the game option to Perfect in the game IL-2 Sturmovik: Forgotten Battles. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4524.html

While playing the game Halo, images that should be hidden behind solid foreground objects are showing through. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4502.html

The game Prince of Persia: Sands of Time fails to play under Windows XP with an ATI RADEON 9100 or 8500 series product installed. Further information on this issue can be found at: www.ati.com/support/infobase/4503.html

Disclaimer:
For further information and general help on driver or software installation, game issues, and more, visit the ATI FAQ website. Information about the Catalyst drivers was found at www.ati.com.

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Data:
3dMark01SE (build 330) (higher is better)

Catalyst 4.2 = 12405

Catalyst 4.3 = 12340

Catalyst 4.4 = 12265

3dMark03 (build 340) (higher is better)

Catalyst 4.2 = 4558

Catalyst 4.3 = 4572

Catalyst 4.4 = 4573

Graphs:

This comparison actually shows a very slight decrease in performance during the 3dMark01SE tests. Perhaps ATI is willing to sacrifice some Directx 8 performance for the slight increase we see in the 3dMark03 tests.

As previously mentioned, we see a very slight increase in 3dMark03 performance as the driver developed from version 4.2 to 4.4. However, the increase is so miniscule that it is insignificant for practical purposes.

Conclusions:
If ATI was unable to significantly increase performance, then what did they accomplish? Try taking a look at the numerous bug fixes for starters. While new drivers may not live up to their hyped standards, they do give gamers a boost in game compatibility. It shows that there is only so much a driver can do for a graphics card. If you're really looking to boost performance you will probably have to buy a new card. In the future we will investigate graphics card over-clocking as another potential solution. Be sure to check back soon!