Catalyst 8.10 hotfix kidnapped stones in Far Cry 2
Far cry 2 was released on Oct 22nd, and AMD reacted quickly this time by releasing a hotfix driver, optimized for Far cry 2. You can check the release note for details. We compared Catalyst 8.10 and the hotfix, it does help the game to get higher FPS.
Benchmark platform:
Intel Core 2 Duo E5200
ASUS Striker II Extreme
PowerColor Radeon HD 4830
KingSton DDR3 1066 1GBX2
Yes the driver can boost FPS of Far cry 2, but do you still remember Furmark? Catalyst has “profiles”, which they can tweak different applications by monitoring name’s of executable, making them run slower or faster. And yes, you have to pay if it runs faster.
If we rename furmark, it runs hotter than keeping the name with ATI cards. It works the same with Far Cry 2. Under hotfix environment only rename it and the game runs as the same FPS as with Cat 8.10.
So, we take a better look at the environment, finally find out hotfix have chopped something off from the game. Read this pics:
Catalyst 8.10 hotfix, stones messing!
Catalyst 8.10
You can download the save file here if you have the game.
October 30th, 2008 at 8:26 am
I find it hard to believe a few stones missing is going to add 3fps. Isn’t that 4830 card one of the cards that had problems with consistent fps?
http://techreport.com/discussions.x/15773
October 30th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Am I the only one who can still see the stones in that screenshot?
October 30th, 2008 at 10:56 pm
No bro… it looks like they have somethin’ like mud on them… or they are differently colored. Anyway, take a look at the lowest rock, right under the arm… it looks different.
October 30th, 2008 at 10:59 pm
And, no Jeff.c… those cards are OK… they probably shipped a mislabeled test BIOS to some of the partner, while others did their own. The cards are fine and the shader count is the same on all of them… just not ENABLED as equally.
October 30th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
no, you’re not alone, me too i still see the stones but the color is different …..
si on fixe bien la prmeiére image on vois encore les pierres mais d’une autre color donc rien n’as disparu
October 31st, 2008 at 3:47 am
well I guess since rocks are in a mudd area that has some water on top of mudd they should also look like that so I guess these so called “mudded rocks” are in the watery mudd and the rest is outside the water
October 31st, 2008 at 8:42 am
who gives a fuck about a couple of rocks? that’s less significant than you losing 3 hairs from your head…
October 31st, 2008 at 10:35 am
The stones are still there and still being rendered, there is simply a semi-transparent output from the shader responsible for rendering said rocks. The processing is still running for said rocks (Both CPU and GPU) but it’s a minor bug, there is no saving of processing power by having transparent rocks, even if they were removed completely they would not account for any jump of FPS.
A truly foolish endeavour to be complaining about a few ethereal rocks, when you are playing a fantastic game. Not only that but it has been fixed by another hotfix after and engineer noticed the problem. Tis a sad day when people play and FPS and notice that the odd rock or two has gone astray.
October 31st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
I totally agree with you UDS.
April 26th, 2009 at 4:50 am
Great work! I also have my own blog I just find it hard to write quality content like this.
I guess I really don’t have the time.
May 4th, 2009 at 6:54 pm
A few rocks here, and a few hairs there, and suddenly you got a shimmering, and flickering empty scene. Maybe the rocks this time should look like that, being close to a muddy road and its tracks, but we shouldn’t allow them to cheat just to get a bit more performance. If I want more performance and less 3d quality, I choose to reduce anisotropic filtering, or AA, rather have the drivers “optmizie” for me by default.