The AMD/ATI graphics drivers, version 11.8 came out around the 17th of August -- I usually wait about a week to install new versions in case there are reports of catastrophe, but I just got around to it at the end of the month, & thought I'd pass on some info I've accumulated over the years in case it was helpful to anyone. Note that this is just stuff I've found over the past 10 years or so that I've been running ATI graphics hardware, so mileage will likely vary. I take several added steps when I update ATI's driver sets, usually once a month as new versions are released -- that doesn't mean that everyone should update that frequently, nor that you have to do any of the extra stuff I talk about... this is all presented in case anyone's interested, in case it helps. I've never found a great, covers everything source of info when it comes to AMD or ATI, but you should be able to find a lot of individual tweaks &/or fixes using Google/Bing, as long as your search terms are fairly specific, particularly when it comes to gaming. That said, I do suggest that you be somewhat critical [skeptical?] of what you read -- I try to be upfront & say this is what I've seen, what I've had happen, rather than imagining that because something worked once for me, then everyone *Must* do things the same way. To me that sort of rule making sounds almost superstitious.
1st off I always do a disk/partition backup with Paragon because the ATI driver setup uses .NET, & if there are any really serious problems you may not be able to go back to an earlier version without removing/reinstalling .NET -- it's very rare [AFAIK] but it has happened, & restoring a backup is cleaner & quicker. The way I look at it, I'm going to backup anyway, so I just wait until afterwards to update the drivers. The drivers used to be available at game.amd.com, but that site now says to use auto-update -- the drivers are here http://support.amd.com/us/Pages/AMDSupportHub.aspx . For quite some time now the portion ATI used to call Avivo is available as a separate download requiring you to fill out a short survey form, probably for ATI's video format licensing agreements -- this separate setup package is now called "AMD Media Codec Package". In the past Avivo-related files were often included in the regular driver setup package, & if/when AMD/ATI offers hot fix drivers those often do include them, but for the past year or so the exact content of their graphics driver packages has been inconsistent. Other components that may or may not be included are drivers for AMD motherboard chipsets, & the Realtek driver for the audio chip included with most ATI graphics for HDCP [DRM for audio passthrough using DVI/HDMI]. While the actual graphics drivers are updated with every version, these other components may not be, though it can be a bit hard to tell -- more on that later. AMD/ATI also makes a separate CAP download available along with their drivers -- it basically sets the graphics card/chipset up, dynamically changing its settings for different games.
ATI's Avivo usually ties into the drivers for hardware video processing &/or acceleration during playback & encoding, & that stuff does get used with many apps that do not explicitly support ATI's Stream or OpenCL standards/tech. In a nutshell you may see a difference in playback &/or encoding speed &/or quality from one version to the next. Avivo-related files may or may not work if they're not the same version as the drivers, but if/when mismatched they'll work more often than not. Generally the higher end the card or graphics chipset, the more it'll help out with video, but I think since the 2400 series most ATI products do get involved at least when playing most video.
Once you've got the setup files downloaded, running them unpacks the actual setup files into a folder: C:\ATI\ [Hotfixes & Betas may use C:\AMD\] -- once you're done that folder & another called C:\Config.Msi [hidden] can be manually deleted, along with sometimes cleaning out the 2 temp folders. Once the files are unpacked setup starts & runs the ATI installer -- think of it as a launcher for the various .msi setup files -- going through the actual installations. Occasionally the Catalyst Control Center will not start afterwards -- it usually works for me to drill down into that ATI folder using Windows Explorer until you find the top level setup.exe, run it to start the ATI Installer, choose uninstall, remove only the Catalyst Control Center, then delete it's program folder, C:\Program Files (x86)\ATI Technologies\ATI.ACE\ in win7 64. Now run that same setup.exe only install the Catalyst Control Center & it should work.
Another problem that I've found a bit common in Vista/7, but have also seen in XP, some parts of the setup package [other than the graphics drivers] don't install. This may but usually does not trigger an error message of any sort. While I prefer to make things right, I'm not at all sure things won't still work just fine if you don't go any further -- whether you want to or not is of course entirely up to you. What I generally do is use Universal Extractor to unpack the individual .msi setup files in that C:\ATI folder, then using Windows Explorer I check to see if the included files have actually been installed, & if they're in fact newer. With the v. 11.8 driver pack for win7 64, drilling down in the Drivers\ WDM\ sub-folder I found the HDMI audio driver [AtihdW76.sys] was dated 6/6/11, so it would be the same as July's package -- if I wanted to double check I'd compare that file with the copy found in Windows\ System32\ Drivers\ . The Apps sub-folder has 3 folders I'm interested in: DnDTranscoding64, OpenCL64, & WMVDecoder64 -- each has a single .msi file I expand with Universal Extractor.
After expanding that .msi file, DnDTranscoding64 has 2 folders, Common & Common64 -- drilling down in Common64 with Windows Explorer, I find the file that *should* be in Program Files\ Common Files\ ATI Technologies\ Multimedia\ ... the Common folder has the version that goes in Program Files (x86)\ Common Files\... The folder OpenCL64 is more complicated, with a folder & contents that should show up in C:\Program Files (x86)\ AMD APP\ , plus files for both Windows\ System32\ & Windows\ SysWOW64 -- System32 holds 64 bit files, SysWOW64 has the 32 bit versions, while the expanded ATI setup files will list 64 bit files as 64, e.g. has those files in ATI\ ... \OpenCL64\ OpenCL\ System64\ . Expanding WMVDecoder64 I find 2 files that should be in Program Files\ Common Files\ ATI Technologies\ Multimedia\ , & 2 32 bit versions for Program Files (x86)\ Common Files\... At this point there's still some new files missing so I go through the same process with the AMD Media Codec Package download, finding 4 files that should be in Program Files\ Common Files\ ATI Technologies\ Multimedia\ too.
If you find files that were not updated, in a pinch you can often just copy/paste the new files where they should be, but I think it's generally better to just run that msi file you expanded, e.g. AVIVO64.msi, then verify it worked. Note 1: you may have to use Task Mgr. to stop CCC.exe & MOM.exe [& sometimes anything else ATI] before some of the msi file installations will work, though you'll normally be presented with an error message with a Retry button you can use after stopping those processes, so you can take a wait & see approach. Note 2: I've sometimes had error messages that one of the new files did not register -- assuming a previous version was already installed you can try just ignoring the error, or you can register the file manually... Google/Bing for exact directions, pictures, tools etc. Note 3: I *think* because I ran one of the beta versions, in the past I had a problem with OpenCL not installing -- ATI apps said to uninstall the old version 1st, while Windows said there was no version installed. I used Windows Install Cleanup app from Microsoft to delete just those install records, & then it would install... you can use the separate OpenCL.msi but I think it may be better to use the regular ATI driver Installer again, choosing custom install so you can select just OpenCL.
There's an issue with the ATI graphics control app, Catalyst Control Center... Depending on the driver package version, the hardware you have etc. many controls may not be visible when you run CCC. This may be because your hardware doesn't support a particular function, ATI chose to not give you the option to turn something on/off, or perhaps something was disabled in error. In the registry under HKLM\ System\ CurrentControlSet\ there are several values or entries that end in "_NA" -- when/if those values = 1, setting them to 0 usually makes them available in CCC. Personally I just go to CurrentControlSet in Regedit, then go to the Edit menu -> Find, searching for "_NA" -- I come across a few keys/values that very obviously have nothing to do with ATI graphics, but because they're so obviously wrong they're easy to ignore, so press F3 to find the next match. Two things to note: 1, depending on your hardware some controls may still not be visible, or if visible they may be grayed or simply not work, & 2, you have to re-start Windows for changes to take effect. If grayed or inoperative controls in CCC bother you then you'll have to go back into the registry & set just those values back to 1 -- *most* of the Value names are pretty much self-explanatory, so this is more a matter of time/effort rather than difficulty. The next question is "Why Bother"?... This is why I do it, but you may or may not feel it's worth the hassle...
When it comes to 3D, video playback filtering, & color, ATI IMHO makes some choices for you based partly on what they suppose the average person wants, & partly to help ATI look better as a brand. When there's a trade-off with quality vs. speed for example, ATI might opt for speed so they can put better ratings on the box. In other cases, particularly with video, I *think* ATI may be concerned they'll get a bad rep if/when stuff looks bad because the user turned something off. At any rate you're not changing any of the settings themselves when you set xxx_NA values from 1 to 0, but just making controls visible in CCC so you can make adjustments &/or turn it on/off. One of the things many have found [myself included], is that ATI likes to add a lot of filtering to make video playback look better, but in many cases the filtering is just too strong, & may make video look [sometimes a lot] different than what's stored in the file, or broadcast if you're watching TV.
Mileage can vary... I've read all sorts of things for example that turning .wmv acceleration on/off has zero effects, even that it's impossible for it to matter, but on my own PC I have found that it can effect how other software behaves, to the point that turning it off was the only way to get playback working with some kinds of video files in one player or another. Being able to turn the .wmv acceleration on/off has in the past been critical. Working with video & related apps I've actually found quite a few controls & switches that a) ATI default setup had made unavailable, & b) were essential to getting some video apps working with/displaying video properly. I've never bothered trying to figure out why, nor have I worried that one app or another might be doing something it shouldn't, or in a way it maybe shouldn't -- if I flip a switch & it works, fine, if not, oh well, & when I'm trying to finish a project that's all I want/need to know.
