AMD releases Catalyst 14.1 Beta 1.6 with Mantle to the public

The slightly chaotic introduction of the Mantle interface began with an update for Battlefield 4 and was followed by the Star Swarm Benchmark performance test. Now the last piece of the puzzle is put in place when AMD releases the associated driver Catalyst 14.1 to the public, with the proviso that the software is a beta version.

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1 Known issues list for AMD Catalyst™ 14.1

2 Related posts:

The new driver works with all modern graphics parts from the Radeon series, but using Mantle requires a model with GCN architecture (Radeon HD 7000 and later). Compared to DirectX, the new interface will provide up to 45 percent higher performance in Battlefield 4. The performance gain varies depending on the system configuration and CPU-limited systems are said to have the most to gain.

In addition to Mantle support, Catalyst 14.1 Beta 1.6 delivers a host of fixes and improvements. First of all, visible frame pacing for older Radeon Series graphics cards, including 4K resolution and Crossfire or Dual Graphics configuration. AMD also takes care of fixing bugs in games like Total War: Rome 2, Call of Duty: Ghosts and Crysis 2.

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Catalyst 14.1 Beta 1.6 is intended for 32- and 64-bit Windows 7, 8 and 8.1. The software and the associated change log are available on AMD’s website.

Click here for known issues with AMD Mantle

Known issues list for AMD Catalyst™ 14.1

Last update: 31 January, 2013

Below are the known issues AMD has found in the first Mantle-enabled Beta driver. We are providing this driver as is to highlight the potential of Mantle and are hard at work to further enhance the user experience.

Press evaluation build: Installing AMD Catalyst™ 14.1 Beta atop an existing AMD Catalyst™ revision may cause a system hang. Ensure the provided installation instructions are utilized to avoid this issue.
Intermittent stuttering or stability issues may occur when utilizing Mantle with AMD CrossFire™ technology in BattleField 4™
Mantle performance for the AMD Radeon™ HD 7000/HD 8000 Series GPUs and AMD Radeon™ R9 280X and R9 270X GPUs will be optimized for BattleField 4™ in future AMD Catalyst™ releases. These products will see limited gains in BattleField 4™ and AMD is currently investigating optimizations for them.
Multi-GPU support under DirectX® and Mantle will be added to StarSwarm in a future application patch
Notebooks based on AMD Enduro or PowerXpress™ technologies are currently not supported by the Mantle codepath in Battlefield 4™
AMD Eyefinity configurations utilizing portrait display orientations are currently not supported by the Mantle codepath in Battlefield 4™
Graphics hardware in the AMD A10-7850K and A10-7700K may override the presence of a discrete GPU under the Mantle codepath in Battlefield 4™
AMD testing for the AMD Catalyst™ 14.1 Beta has been concentrated on the following products: AMD Radeon™ R9 290X, R9 290, R9 280, R9 270, R7 260X, R7 260, HD 7000 Series, HD 8000 Series, A10-7850K and A10-7700K. Future AMD Catalyst™ releases will include full test coverage for all AMD products supported by Mantle.

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