With two weeks to go before the release of Far Cry 3, AMD has posted a fresh batch of Catalyst graphics drivers with claimed performance enhancements for the game. The Catalyst 12.11 beta 8 driver is available here from AMD’s knowledge base site. Windows 8, 7, and Vista are all supported.
Here’s the full list of changes, in AMD’s words:
- Improves performance up to 5% in Max Payne 3
- Includes single GPU performance updates for Far Cry 3
- Improves CrossFire scaling for Planetside 2 (Crossfire scaling is still limited to ~30% at 2560×1600)
- Resolves the Skyrim lighting issue (missing a lighting pass) for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
- Resolves the hang encountered playing Dishonored on the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
The beta 8 driver includes improvements from the beta 7 driver, as well. That update beefed up Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 performance for CrossFire setups.
In addition to the Windows driver, AMD has posted a Linux version of the Catalyst 12.11 beta 8 release. It’s available on the same page, and according to AMD, it "significantly" boosts performance in Left 4 Dead 2 on Linux. That should come in handy for folks trying out the Steam for Linux beta. Nvidia users were treated to a driver with similar claimed improvements for L4D2 last week.