Catalyst 8.5 released (better GL_SELECT performance)

[matd]

Although the release log does not mention it the GL_SELECT performance has gotten better in the 8.5 version of the Catalyst driver.

Here is my output of the picksquare utility.
NOTE the render performance seems to have stayed the same in my case wherelse the select performance is about 10 times faster, with the drivers between 7.9 and 8.4 it was around ~4000ms.

[N] Using hardware acceleration
Reshaping to 800 x 600
[N] Calling SDL_SetVideoMode(800, 600, 32, 0x20000017)
120000 squares render in 150ms
120000 squares render in 145ms
120000 squares select in 473ms
120000 squares render in 144ms
120000 squares select in 752ms
120000 squares render in 201ms
120000 squares select in 440ms
120000 squares render in 204ms
120000 squares select in 667ms
120000 squares render in 147ms
120000 squares select in 770ms
120000 squares render in 217ms
120000 squares select in 426ms
120000 squares render in 148ms
120000 squares select in 437ms
120000 squares render in 146ms
120000 squares select in 440ms
120000 squares render in 146ms
120000 squares select in 434ms
120000 squares render in 149ms
120000 squares select in 438ms

Note for those with an by ATI unsupported AGP card (HD 2400/2600)
You can manually install the driver. Here is a how-to from the ATI Site on how-to install drivers manually.
I won't help you any further than this and not tell you things like,"make f***ing sure you uninstalled the old driver completely before you install a new one" or "Select "ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT" a.k.a. the appropriate architecture to your card when you are asked for it by the Wizard", because i want you to BREAK YOUR SYSTEM.

In this regard, best of luck.

[jesterKing]

Groovy, will definitely try this one when I get back home!

Thanks for the heads up!

Possibly-premature-w00t!

/Nathan

[PhilBo]

Great news. Thanks for the benchmark.

[Myvain]

Before : 6/9sec for selecting an object.
After : 1sec

ATI hd 2400 pro (PCIe)

[Felix_Kütt]

ahh, great to see that now-AMD-owned ATI really is becoming better in oss support, both with their released oss drivers&HW-specs and now this!

my next card might actually be an ATI.

[PhilBo]

I really want to support them, but I cannot sacrifice Blender performance for that. I purchased a 3870 but the select issue was so bad that I returned it for an 8800GT. Of course, now there is no issue, but I would have rather supported the underdog.

[sk2k]

OMG!!!! Looks like they really fixed the problem in 8.5.

Before:
120000 squares render in 104ms
120000 squares select in 6520ms
120000 squares render in 105ms

After:
120000 squares render in 111ms
120000 squares select in 432ms
120000 squares render in 100ms

Wings3D is also useable again for me. It was nearly impossible to select anything in Wings3D.

MfG
sk2k

[Gwenouille]

Hello

I run an ATI 1950pro card and was wondering what this new driver would bring.
What is this select time you are speaking about ?
Has it to do with the UI in blender ?
Can the sculpt mode or the textured view be more fluid ?

Is there a risk to upgrade ? and how to do it ?

Thanks !

[sk2k]

http://www.blendernation.com/2008/03...own-explained/

MfG
sk2k

[matd]

Originally Posted by Gwenouille Hello I run an ATI 1950pro card and was wondering what this new driver would bring. What is this select time you are speaking about ? Has it to do with the UI in blender ? Can the sculpt mode or the textured view be more fluid ? Is there a risk to upgrade ? and how to do it ? Thanks !

The driver brings a butt load of fixes see the relaselog for more info.

Just selecting an object that had 30000+ verts was very slow with the older drivers.
for example a mesh with 500000 took more than 5 seconds to select now its under 1.

No it has nothing to do with the UI of blender.

Yes the Sculpt mode and texture view may be more fluid, but that would be a side effect of the overall performance gain in this driver. See release log. Many games have been reported to run more smooth now.

Of course there is a risk to upgrade. There is always a risk that compatibility to applications is defunct because the driver developers can not test every application/game out there with their new driver. That said there is little risk you might run into such problems and you can always uninstall it and reinstall your old driver.

How you should do it i can not say certainly.
Generally its like this.
1)Download the driver from ATI
2)Uninstall your current driver. Usually you should be able to unsinstall it like you uninstall any other program in windows. Linux is another story because the you need to uninstall it the way you installed it. <--THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP.
3)Reboot.
4)After reboot the hardware setup wizard might jump on you. Tell him to go hide himself. (Cancel it)
5)Then run the setup file you downloaded.
6)Follow all the instructions of the setup.
7)Finally if the setup did not prompt you to reboot, do it manually.

Also note while un/in-stalling drivers it is advised to quit all other applications and to stop such programs like virus scanners or firewalls that block access to the file system for security reasons.

[Gwenouille]

Thanks for all the explanations !

So i was running catalysts 7.1 and i just upgraded following your instructions to 8.5.
I don't remark any differences.
I could select an icosphere level 8 multi-subdivided by2 (1,474,562 verts) in about 3 secs, it is now more 2.5 than 3 but i just counted "in my head"...
Well at least there is no regression...

Maybe games are now a bit more fluid?

[Felix_Kütt]

Originally Posted by Gwenouille Thanks for all the explanations ! So i was running catalysts 7.1 and i just upgraded following your instructions to 8.5. I don't remark any differences. I could select an icosphere level 8 multi-subdivided by2 (1,474,562 verts) in about 3 secs, it is now more 2.5 than 3 but i just counted "in my head"... Well at least there is no regression... Maybe games are now a bit more fluid?

actually selecting objects and verts etc. should be quicker now, is the point, i believe.

[AKIRA_B]

Yes it is, i just installed 8.5 drv and selecting is faster.

[RAY16]

On my Radeon HD380 512MB...

Before:

[N] Using hardware accelleration Reshaping to 800 x 600 [N] Calling SDL_SetVideoMode(800, 600, 32, 0x20000017) 120000 squares render in 154ms 120000 squares render in 120ms 120000 squares render in 119ms 120000 squares render in 118ms 120000 squares select in 4386ms 120000 squares render in 116ms 120000 squares select in 4378ms 120000 squares render in 116ms 120000 squares select in 4351ms 120000 squares render in 115ms 120000 squares select in 4360ms 120000 squares render in 118ms 120000 squares render in 117ms

After:

[N] Using hardware accelleration Reshaping to 800 x 600 [N] Calling SDL_SetVideoMode(800, 600, 32, 0x20000017) 120000 squares render in 152ms 120000 squares render in 137ms 120000 squares render in 129ms 120000 squares render in 175ms 120000 squares select in 483ms 120000 squares render in 122ms 120000 squares render in 177ms 120000 squares render in 197ms 120000 squares render in 129ms 120000 squares render in 146ms 120000 squares select in 451ms 120000 squares render in 117ms 120000 squares select in 459ms 120000 squares render in 121ms 120000 squares render in 173ms

So yes, there has definitely been a huge jump in select performance. Still not as fast as it was pre-7.11's, but far better than the 4000+ times in the 7.11-8.4 drivers. Hopefully they'll eventually be able to get it back down to the double digits like it was in pre-7.11 drivers, but this will do for now. Thank you ATi!

[jesterKing]

I can also confirm I have much better performance. This is really nice to begin with. Now for the final squeeze of performance... Let's hope they get it right in their next driver version!

/Nathan

[Gwenouille]

Still not as fast as it was pre-7.11's

I was using 7.1 before: that must be why there hasn't been a huge gap on my machine...

Or maybe it depends on the GPU itself ? I mean maybe some cards were affected and other not ?

[ropsta]

I'm pretty sure thats the case. I would have to wait up to ten seconds sometimes while select a high division subsurfed model. Now I raise the level to around 5 or 6 on a high density model and it stays under 3.

I upgraded my drivers two months ago. And this one is a huge improvement.

[blenderrenegade]

can somebody or anybody upload there ati oglx .dll please share with me i really need it my cards unsuppourted by ati but hey it still works and i,ll tray any newer updated atioglx.dll thanks in advance

[GeeN]

I have a very strange problem with this 8.5 that I never had before with any other driver.
I have LG L245WP (HDMI/Digital) on ATI RADEON X1600 PRO /512MB.
After installing 8.5 my Windows desktop shrank down and uses only about 80% of the total TFT monitor screen in the center, while desktop properties indicate the normal native 1920x1200 pixel resolution and my Win XP Pro does not seem to realize the problem.
I go back to 8.4, everithing is OK. I go forth to 8.5 it's the same problem again.
Any idea or experience with this?

[matd]

I guess you already tried to upgrade/reinstall your monitor driver after installing 8.5.
Any chance the monitor is running on a lower display frequency after you install 8.5?