Yeah I have the 2nd fastest, newest, AMD gfx chipset cards, and I can say that 12.4 did not fix the flickering issues (from 12.3), and I agree the 12.1 drivers were better for most ppl. However, ppl need to be reminded that a lot of issues are fixed by turning off Xfire ("Crossfire") if you have more than one card installed, or if you have a 6900 series 6990 model (they have two GPUs on each card, and run in Xfire by default). However I have seen Skyrim run GREAT (fast and few glitches on "high" settings, as fast as my single 7970) on twin 5850s in Xfire W/CCC 12.3, but W/my 7870s they make too much graphical glitches/flickering when on Xfire. Also, for ppl W/older (>3yo) technology ATI cards (3000 and 4000 series), I suggest 11.8 or 12.1. Unfortunately I see AMD has taken down the links to it's older versions (but I have them on HDD). For anybody wanting them, I might be persuaded to give you a link if you PM me.

For those upgrading/downgrading drivers, http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_3.html has a good in-depth description on how you can best install new AMD drivers, and how to ensure that nothing is left behind after uninstalling the old one.

So it seems like 12.1 is the most stable driver now?

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/previous/Pages/radeonaiw_vista64.aspx

The 6990 is the only dual GPU card of the Northern Islands (HD 6xxx) family.

69xx series simply switched to VLIW4 architecture, the rest of the HD 6xxx is VLIW5.


Possibly, unless you have a newly released graphics card (basically if the driver predates the card).

I had a ton of issues with both 12.3 and 12.4. Went back to 12.1 and it's been the most stable. I still get a couple CTD here and there but sometimes I'll go many hours with no crash. I'll stick to 12.1 for the foreseeable future.

Have been using the 12.5 beta drivers and have noticed no issues other than sometimes having to ctrl-alt-del and then canceling during loading of save to speed up load time.

Load times? My load time is <5sec. Not even enough time to read (1/2) the text on screen. I've never had enough time to read all that text, except for the few very short ones. Even the game engine launch is only about as long as the first four thumps of sound, less than 10 seconds, limited by the game graphic time only. No wonder you have framerate probs that I don't. It really looks like your Phenom is the bottleneck. BTW, my games are all on the mechanical HDD, not my SSD.

I dont see his processor as a bottleneck. I have the 970 be, oc'ed to 4.2 and my runs great! loads fine, on par with yours. I get 50-60 fps in most places, (trees....)dips to 38fps.

the 12.4 drivers have been giving me some troubles though. frames are fine. the audio cuts out when i pause a movie or game. I then have to unplug the re plug in my tv...comon 12.5!

@USA: When is the last time you rebuilt your OS? Is it Win7-64?

It sounds like something has really mucked up your system.

Hey, you don't have "Morphological filtering" (AA) on do you? I noticed it causes the load to be very choppy, take forever, and affects the sound as well.

May I use a 12.1 WHQL for Skyrim, or 12.1 Preview is better?

12.1 seems the most stable for me at the moment. I have an ASUS 5870 Matrix 2GB. 12.3 was not causing any issues (except for pretty bad stuttering sometimes in 1st person when looking at grass) but was making the fan run like hell. It's not that it was only spinning fast, but it was inconsistent...like going medium, then fast for a fraction of a sec, then medium again, then really fast for a sec...it was making me think there's something wrong...
With 12.1 I get less stuttering and my fan runs ok and steady.

I never tried the 12.4...I'm getting a new PC, maybe I'll test that since it will be all "clean" but I have my doubts...

right guys, just built my new pc and 12.3 came bundled with my card, is this the recommended version to use? now i havent yet installed steam or skyrim so i cant yet try, but any advice would be appreciated

12.3 works well. Just make sure you have everything set up correctly.

Use the in game AA
Force the AF at 16x
Use high quality texture filtering
check the "Enable Surface Format Optimization"
Force your vertical refresh (Although this is optional. if you have stuttering issues use a frame rate limiter and turn off the v-sync)
Set AA mode to Multi-Sample AA
If using a crossfire configuration make sure to "AMD pre defined profile" and then select the "TESV - Skyrim" option in the drop down menu. Click apply it and you should be all set.

thanks i'll be sure to set this when i install it. Just got the one 7850 for now so i'll leave those profiles.

I would never use a driver older than your card. The 7850 was released in March 19, 2012, so the oldest driver to use would be 12.3. 12.4 isn't any worse than 12.3 so I would recommend that. I believe 12.4 actually improves MLAA.


12.1 WHQL.

"Rebuilt my OS"?? Microsoft...

Unlikely a bottleneck with a 980. Slow game load time is at game launch and is most likely driver related. Will test the morph feature.

Getting 60fps consistently in most scenes. See specs (2560x1440 monitor). The AMD drivers are still not mature for the 7000 series, particularly DX9 games where Crossfire does not help significantly with better than most XFX 7970's ( 1000/1425Hz). Same thing with RAGE or Dystopia (60fps). TESV pre-defined app does not help my framerate. However, Crysis 2 maxxed=90fps...COD 3=150fps...old Episode One=290fps. USING 12.5 beta which initially was VERY slow 10-18 fps outside on Skyrim but, now has picked up to 60fps (?)!

The "Morphological filtering" is a checkbox in CCC under Gaming --> 3D applications settings. It should be unchecked.

I often game without a monitor so I must have missed it!!!