Help Me out with ATI Software

[abarth_1200]

Hi guys, so im finally getting my HD7950 tomorrow and I was looking through a few posts and guides but was hoping for some good solid advice on what not and what software to use when overclocking, general using of my new card.

Coming from Nvidia for a long time im used to just downloading the latest driver and away we go. But it looks like I need something called caps and drivers, also Catalyst Control Centre.

What software do I need, what does each software do and do I need CCC if I intend on using MSI or is there something better?

I hope this makes sense, just seems like a lot of hassle for getting up and running.

 

[OvEr_KiLL]

http://www.amd.com/uk/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx
12.11 Latest Beta Driver with .NET 4.0 Support
and 12.11 cap 2

if you had nvidia before make sure you uninstall EVERYTHING to do with nvidia in the control panel and then boot into safe mode and run driver cleaner http://www.guru3d.com/files_get/guru3d_driver_sweeper_(no_installer),7.html and delete everything to do with nvidia then reboot and enter safemode again and run it and see if theres anything else it didnt delete the 1st time then turn off the pc and install the new gfx card and new amd drivers

 

[abarth_1200]

OK thanks but what does all this software do, 12.11 cap 2 is there a cap 1 and why is cap 2 prefered and what is it???

Are Beta drivers stable?? arent I better off sticking to official drivers until beta has been tested properly.

Yes I know the consequences of installing over old remains of drivers, my OS is cleaned

 

[OvEr_KiLL]

yes the beta drivers are stable...a lot of people on here are using them including me
Description:
This release of AMD Catalyst™ delivers support for the latest AMD CrossFireX™ and AMD Enduro™ profiles in a separate executable file ensuring users have access to the absolute latest set of profiles installed on their PC.

New profiles added to this release:
- Improves Far Cry 3 performance for single GPU configurations with AA enabled

 

[Orcvader]

The Betas are very stable, they give up to 20% boost compared to the current official drivers.

CAP 2 is the 2nd profile they released in that month, so it's a more updated version of CAP 1.

 

[BS Dave]

relax abarth

Just use the driver over_kill recommends, the 12.11 drivers offer amazing performance and are really stable.

CCC is just part of the drivers, it's where you change the settings for your GFX card.

The caps are just little game specific tweeks that tune the drivers, they help if you have a crossfire set-up or not, and aim to make each game look and perform the best. The newest one contains all the info from all the previous ones that's why you only need the latest one.

Google AMD catalyst CAPs and always to be able to find the newest ones.

Overclocking - i would just use the CCC Overdrive and see what you can get at stock volts before you start playing around with Afterburner or one of the other utilties.

Now enjoy your card.

 

[abarth_1200]

OK guys thanks for all your input, I feel a little better now. I will uninstall MSI afterburner for now and see how I get one with CCC, im hoping for a few FPS increase by hitting 1100 core and 1500 mem as I have seen other manage this.

So 12.11 Beta and 12.11 Cap 2 Yep got it, I will probable let you all know how I get on come tomorrow once Im finished work

 

[OvEr_KiLL]

relax abarth

Just use the driver over_kill recommends, the 12.11 drivers offer amazing performance and are really stable.

CCC is just part of the drivers, it's where you change the settings for your GFX card.

The caps are just little game specific tweeks that tune the drivers, they help if you have a crossfire set-up or not, and aim to make each game look and perform the best. The newest one contains all the info from all the previous ones that's why you only need the latest one.

Google AMD catalyst CAPs and always to be able to find the newest ones.

Overclocking - i would just use the CCC Overdrive and see what you can get at stock volts before you start playing around with Afterburner or one of the other utilties.

Now enjoy your card.

well said!
and i was talking about uninstalling nvidia with driver cleaner etc as i just had problems a few days ago when i switched my cards over

 

[abarth_1200]

Well here she is, pretty cramped in my old Antec 300 but its in.

This thing is super quiet fans are spinning at 20 percent under full load and can only just make them out over my other case fans.

Anyway installed the latest 12.11 beta and cap 2 and bumped the core up to 1000mhz and memory up to 1500mhz, FPS in Unigine went up by 10 which is good for a mild half hour overclock

Anything higher would crash Unigine so ill stick with this for now, unless there is something else im missing.