BTW Omega comes so far with a copy of DC Pro also and as any freeware they both ask for donation and do not offer tech support other than some simple tips.

Also not knocking Stock or CCC drivers just as I said I am a lazy sort. ;)

Here is also some very good tips from a place I learned alot about vid cards:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread....93#post1380693

Entire site is excellent (Guru3D) for learning and a great place to start - they also have a lot of bandwidth and have lots of drivers like DNA for example and many many others including Nvidia help too...

:arrgh!:

I got the 5.8 the day they came out and they work like crap on my system. I have a P4 3.2 Extreme Edition, 2Gb PC4000 RAM, and a new X800XL 256MB (which blew away my GF FX 5950 Ultra). I first installed the 5.7 Catalyst with CCC, and got great fps, but with a few problems with games like KotOR 2 and UT2K4 and texture glitches on most of the other ames I have. I then got the 5.8 Catalyst with CCC and had the bottom half of my screen constantly flickering until I booted up a game no matter what settings I put it to.

I later went out and got the Omega 5.7 Catalyst drivers and got much better fps and image quality (no texture glitches, etc on any of my games except for UT2K4). With those drivers, my gpu also runs cooler when I play games: my OC'ed X800XL no longer hits 65 C anymore, no matter how long I play.

Hola

Seems as though we each have systems that are very similar. :hmm: based on that I not install the 5.8 stock or CCC. Agree also that temp range from idle to load is reduced using Omega - I have not tried DNAs....

Thank you for your experience big_feef here with the 5.8 it helps me decide to wait then for Omega version. :up:

:arrgh!:

I'm a relatively new ATI user, and I've found it a bit annoying that the control panel for the graphics card takes almost as long to load as a normal game (not SH3 ;) ). So this is not too bad news for me.

What does the catalyst control panel do that a normal control panel (like for NVidia cards) can't do?

Nothing. It´s really just a bloated POS.

I have to agree that one also - I do not really know why they insist on the CCC. Seems to be just a lot of bells and whistles (extra stuff). Maybe to a more advanced user there is something it does but I have not explored its options.

:arrgh!:

Marketing when it came out, now it simply makes no sense to maintain two different Catalyst version. I can understand that from a developers viewpoint.

When ATI "invented" Catalyst AI (some driver optimization stuff) a while ago they had decided to also make a new control panel, the CCC. The "AI low/high" option is only available in the CCC version. It also certainly looks more flashy than the normal panel. "More flashy" equals "more advanced" to some people. Some magazines/reviewers liked it. Fools!!!

Not really. If you want to see some advanced options try the Omegadriver (www.omegadrivers.net). It also includes Catalyst AI and the memory footprint is much smaller. I also like the Tray Tool that comes with it.

All the "bells and whistles" of CCC can be attained by using ATT (ATI Tray Tools), which comes with the 5.7 Omega drivers (optimized) or as a separate download (original). With ATT, I have my X800XL OC'ed to 450/570 and with all the other stuff that CCC can provide turned on and saved to a profile that doesn't take forever to load up like my CCC profile (boots up at startup and standby recovery). Also, ATT has a couple plug-ins that display my GPU temp, enviro temp, HD temp, and processor usage % on the taskbar; very handy for when you're in the testing phase with an OC'ed card like I am right now.

Since this is my first ATI card (ex-NVidia fanboy here), I'm very pleased with the results of the 5.7 catalyst drivers; but displeased with the CCC. Oh well, ATT makes up for it by giving me much better control of my card than I had with any of my other NVidia cards.

The Catalyst Control Center (Is that what is meant by CCC?) is the version of the drivers that require .NET Framework isn't it? I've been using the drivers with the control panel so I shouldn't even notice any difference should I if they get rid of the CCC?

Ah the OC of the card :know:

Yes can be fun indeed. :D

Yes the Catalyst requires NET framework and I have that installed and have tried up to 5.8 the drivers with and without. Yet as big_feef said ATi Tool works very well for tweaking. I am hooked on the Omega set because I am impatient :roll: and always in a rush.

The Omega set gives me what I want yet advanced users like big_feef can take advantage and even pass the performance of the Omega by just using stock drivers - Many at the Guru3D site in fact have done exactly that and even profile by each game the settings the Tool can adjust.

I am wondering now if anyone here has tried the DNA drivers? with SH3?

Have Fun All!

:arrgh!:

:hmm: wonder how many posts I need to graduate from "medic" avataar?

i have an ATI 9800 Pro and i tried to DL catalyst 5.8 today but apparently my windows wont allow it to pass a test or wut not. My computer is really screwy i need it reformated

heellpp.

What´s the exact problem? What was the error message? Try the driver without the "Catalyst Control Center". The CCC version needs Microsoft .NET, maybe you don´t have it installed.

This is the "normal" 2000/WinXP driver:
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/5-8_xp-2..._wdm_25203.exe

Sounds like he just got the warning message upon install "driver not WHQL certified", got scared and cancelled the install.

If that's what happened, just click proceed anyway, it will be fine.

I think Salvadoreno, just went down with his ship. :rotfl:
Sorry Salvadoreno, couldn't help myself. :dead: