AMD is rolling out Catalyst 12.6 WHQL and 12.7 Beta

With the rollout of Catalyst 12.6 Beta, AMD announced that the company is changing the launch model for the driver packages. Instead of investing in new software every month, the updates will be presented as needed, and not just for the sake of it.

First out according to the new model is Catalyst 12.6 WHQL, a Microsoft-approved variant of a previous beta. The change log is largely identical to the test version, and includes stability fixes for various games, improved Crossfire scaling and long-awaited blue screen fixes.

AMD Catalyst 12.6 WHQL is available for Windows 7, Vista and XP in 32-bit and 64-bit versions respectively. The software is downloaded from the company’s website, where there is also a complete change log.

More interesting is Catalyst 12.7 Beta, which mainly contains optimizations for several games. Titles like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Total War: Shogun 2 and Batman: Arkham City are loved by AMD, which will provide performance improvements of up to 25 percent. Catalyst 12.7 Beta is also the driver SweClockers used in the review of the Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition.

Performance improvements, AMD Catalyst 12.7 Beta

• Up to 25 percent in Skyrim

• Up to 6 percent in Crysis 2

• Up to 20 percent in Total War: Shogun 2

• Up to 3.3 percent in Battlefield 3

• Up to 6.9 percent in 3DMark 11

• Up to 4.8 percent in Aliens vs. Predator

• Up to 6.5 percent in Batman: Arkham City

• Up to 8 percent in Crysis Warhead

• Up to 7.2 percent in F1 2010

• Up to 8 percent in Just Cause 2

• Up to 12 percent in Wolfenstein MP

Catalyst 12.7 Beta works with graphics cards in the Radeon HD 5000 and newer families. The software and more information can be found on AMD’s website and on the company’s blog.