Driver update: AMD Catalyst 14.6 rc

AMD has released a new beta Catalyst driver. There is only one download and it is only suitable for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1. Support for Windows 8.0 will expire with version 14.6 and AMD therefore recommends installing the free update to Windows 8.1. The new driver includes performance improvements for various games and also makes it possible to use Eyefinity on screens that do not all have the same resolution. The full release notes can be found below.

AMD Catalyst 14.6 RC Driver

• Starting with AMD Catalyst 14.6 Beta, AMD will no longer support Windows 8.0 (and the WDDM 1.2 driver)
• Windows 8.0 users should upgrade (for Free) to Windows 8.1 to take advantage of the new features found in the AMD Catalyst 14.6 Beta
• AMD Catalyst 14.4 will remain available for users who wish to remain on Windows 8
  • A future AMD Catalyst release will allow for the WDDM 1.1 (Windows 7 driver) to be installed under Windows 8.0 for those users unable to upgrade to Windows 8.1

Feature Highlights of The AMD Catalyst 14.6 RC Driver

• plants vs. Zombies (Direct3D performance improvements):
  • AMD Radeon R9 290X – 1920×1080 Ultra – improves up to 11%
  • AMD Radeon R9290X – 2560×1600 Ultra – improves up to 15%
  • AMD Radeon R9290X CrossFire configuration (3840×2160 Ultra) – 92% scaling
• 3DMark SkyDiver improvements:
  • AMD A4 6300 – improves up to 4%
  • Enables AMD Dual Graphics / AMD CrossFire support
• Grid Car Sports:
  • AMD CrossFire profile
• wild star:
  • Power Xpress profile
  • Performance improvements to improve smoothness of application
• Watchdogs:
  • AMD CrossFire – Frame Pacing Improvements
• Battlefield Hardline Beta:
  • AMD CrossFire profile

Known Issues

• Running Watch Dogs with a R9 280X CrossFire configuration may result in the application running in CrossFire software compositing mode
• Enabling Temporal SMAA in a CrossFire configuration when playing Watch Dogs will result in Flickering
• AMD CrossFire configurations with Eyefinity enabled will see application stability with BattleField 4 or Thief when running Mantle
• Catalyst Install Manager text is covered by Express/Custom radio button text
• Express Uninstall does not remove C:Program Files(AMD or ATI) folder