Intel Updates Sandy Bridge Graphics Drivers

by Andrew Cunningham on 2/7/2012 6:15:00 PM
Posted in GPUs , Intel , Sandy Bridge

Intel has posted versions 15.22.54.2622 (32-bit) and 15.22.54.64.2622 (64-bit) of its drivers for the Intel HD-series lineup of integrated graphics processors, which includes both Sandy Bridge and older Nehalem-based chips in both desktop and laptop computers. The drivers are available for all editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7.

Of the Big Three players in the graphics market, Intel is the most erratic about its driver releases - their last generic driver was posted way back in September, and while that driver brought a good number of performance improvements and bug fixes, Intel's latest and greatest fixes just three documented issues: a crashing issue with a program called Interstage Studio Standard J-edition, an issue where the driver would change the refresh rate while on battery power, and an issue where content would appear strangely when rewound. Not terribly exciting, given the wait, but I'm sure that the people experiencing those problems are grateful for the fixes.

As always, Intel notes that these are generic drivers which may or may not be missing features present in the drivers provided by OEMs. I've never had issues using generic Intel drivers on any of my machines, from homemade desktops to OEM laptops to Macs running Windows, but your mileage may vary.

Source: Intel

Print This Article 4 Comments View All Comments Post a Comment I might be pleased! by Aikouka on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 "an issue where the driver would change the refresh rate while on battery power"

I think this might actually fix something odd that I noticed. I turned my AVR to my HTPC the other day, and I noticed that XBMC didn't look right at all (looked like the resolution got messed up). I realized after reading that fix that my power went out for a brief moment prior to that event, and it would have gone on battery backup. I don't know how much XBMC likes having the resolution (including refresh rate) adjusted while it's running. Aikouka Reply Same ol' Intel by MonkeyPaw on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 Didn't Intel say they were going to put more effort into graphics drivers? 5 months later and we have 3 updates. I guess they have better places to go with their record profits.

This is why Intel graphics are met with so much skepticism. Sure, more performance is found in each new version of the hardware, but the support is outright pathetic. AMD and nVidia spend lots of time, money, and effort on drivers, because it is a very big deal. MonkeyPaw Reply Who'd a thunk it? by fic2 on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 "Intel's latest and greatest fixes just three documented issues"

Must be because Intel's graphic driver is so close to perfect that nobody can find any bugs in it!

(Or maybe the one guy at intel that does the graphic driver took a holiday in December and three bugs is all he had time to fix) fic2 Reply Also, interestingly by KaarlisK on Tuesday, February 07, 2012 You can find their Ivy Bridge graphics driver at station-drivers.
And guess what... it only supports Ivy and Sandy bridge.
Which basically means that they're probably continuing to only support the two latest GPU generations in their latest branch. Which basically means if you want features and performance improvements in the long term, do not go for an Intel GPU, even though the hardware may support everything you need. KaarlisK Reply Subject Comment Post Comment Please login or register to post a comment.
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AMD Posts Catalyst 12.1 Drivers, Catalyst 12.2 Preview

by Andrew Cunningham on 1/27/2012 5:00:00 PM
Posted in AMD , GPUs

AMD has posted its first Catalyst driver package of the new year, Catalyst version 12.1, the feature set of which hasn't changed much since the preview release - the banner feature is still custom application profiles, which allow users to create custom 3D and CrossFire setting for individual games. This has long been a feature offered by NVIDIA's driver packages, and it's nice to see AMD implementing it. AMD notes that users of the Catalyst 12.1 preview package should restore the Catalyst Control Center's default settings after upgrading to prevent compatibility issues.

The 12.1 drivers also enable 3D display support for CrossFireX setups, and a "Stereo 3D mode" over HDMI 1.4a connections which supports 1080p at 30Hz on displays that can take advantage of it. New video color and quality adjustment panels offer no new features but aim to simplify adjustment of those settings. A handful of game and bug fixes for Windows 7 and Vista users round out the release notes.

The Catalyst 12.2 preview, available here, focuses primarily on Eyefinity 2.1 improvements. These include a "larger" selection of resolutions are available, the drivers will automatically switch between different display configurations as monitors are plugged in and unplugged, the HydraVision software now allows the Windows taskbar to be moved and resized, and the driver also offers "increased support" for Display Groups, including groups of up to five monitors. Additionally, the 12.2 driver addresses many of the "known issues" with games present in the 12.1 drivers.

Interestingly, neither driver offers support for the newly-released Radeon HD 7970 cards—AMD says that 7970 users need to stick with the separate 8.921.2 RC11 driver, posted here. Given that the preview driver packages tend to be pretty representative of the final WHQL-certified versions, we may not see 7000-series support in the Catalyst packes until 12.3 (but hopefully not much later).

As usual, these drivers are available for desktops running 32- and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, Vista, and XP, and laptops running Windows 7 and Windows Vista. Most DirectX 10 and 11 capable cards, IGPs, and APUs in the 2000, 3000, 4000, 5000, and 6000 series are supported.

Source: AMD (12.1, 12.2)

Print This Article 11 Comments View All Comments Post a Comment sgsdfdf by landerf on Friday, January 27, 2012 Can you force application settings yet? Would be nice if AMD users could force AO or get AF & AA in Minecraft. landerf Reply RE: sgsdfdf by arthur449 on Saturday, January 28, 2012 Catalyst 12.1 has application-specific 'forced' settings.

Minecraft's OpenGL renderer makes use of some unnecessary effects which break AMD's forced MSAA, AAA, and SSAA since the HD 4000 series. Take that up with the Minecraft devs.

However, as to why Morphological AA hasn't been implemented in OpenCL for OpenGL applications (such as Minecraft) despite promising that OpenGL support for MLAA was coming soon back in 2010 with the release of the HD 6800 series.. arthur449 Reply HD 7970 best non-whql driver is by Bama11 on Saturday, January 28, 2012 Listed on station drivers, it is the latest Jan 17 version. 8.95. I have been able to overclock my Sapphire HD 7970 to 1243/1675. I have the fan set at 100% and Trixx 4.1 has enabled 1.22v. Bama11 Reply Linux versions? by Shining Arcanine on Saturday, January 28, 2012 Why is there no mention of Linux drivers? Shining Arcanine Reply RE: Linux versions? by B3an on Saturday, January 28, 2012 Because nobody cares about Linux. B3an Reply RE: Linux versions? by lar34 on Saturday, January 28, 2012 AMD doesn't post release notes for their Linux driver. This 12.1 adds production ready support for Ubuntu 11.10. I would wait until it gets pushed to the updater though. lar34 Reply position windows taskbar by james.jwb on Saturday, January 28, 2012 Nice to finally see "position windows taskbar", but it's now a choice of it being extended over all monitors, or one. My ideal setting would have been to span it over two of the three screens I have. james.jwb Reply BF3 by Araemo on Sunday, January 29, 2012 I can't seem to play BF3 with these drivers.

I can play other games (Tribes: Ascend and Fallout 3 being the ones I tried since I updated), but BF3 would either crash the driver on launch (Leaving BF3.exe itself hung), or it would load but give me really bad corruption.. (Only got that far once), or it would crash on startup with one of a couple different Direct3D errors (Such as out of memory, or unexpected video device removal.. wtf?).

I tried fully uninstalling the drivers and then reinstalling.. and got the same BS.

Fully uninstalled and went back to the 11.12s, no more issues. Araemo Reply RE: BF3 by Araemo on Sunday, January 29, 2012 http://i39.tinypic.com/ddcrdg.png
The corruption was capturable in a screenshot.. that isn't always the case..

Note that the sky, the water, and the UI elements weren't effected. Araemo Reply RE: BF3 by poohbear on Monday, January 30, 2012 it says in the release notes that in win7 there's a issue with BF3 crashing. Totally absurd ofcourse, its one of the most popular games out now, and they release drivers that crash it on WIn7?!?!?!? ridiculous! poohbear Reply Subject Comment Post Comment Please login or register to post a comment.
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NVIDIA Posts 290.36 GeForce Beta Drivers

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NVIDIA today released beta version 290.36 of its GeForce driver package for desktops running Windows XP, Vista, and 7 and laptops running Windows Vista and 7. Like previous releases, the desktop drivers support all GeForce 6-series cards and newer, while the laptop drivers support Geforce 8-series and newer cards as well as most DirectX 10/11-capable Quadro NVS and FX-series cards.

The new drivers' primary feature is the addition of the Ambient Occlusion lighting feature for Skyrim and Modern Warfare 3 in the NVIDIA Control Panel. The drivers also add NVIDIA Surround multi-monitor support for SLI-certified motherboards using Intel's X79 chipset, and is additionally "recommended for gamers diving into Batman: Arkham City," though the release notes don't say exactly why.

Other additions and fixes include: support for 3D Vision over a DisplayPort 1.1 connection (available for BenQ XL2420T and XL2420TX monitors), updated 3D Vision profiles for a number of games including Modern Warfare 3 and Diablo 3, PhysX System Software and HD Audio driver version updates, and a smattering of bug fixes.

You can read the full release notes below, and download the beta drivers from NVIDIA's web site. Based on past releases, expect to see a final, WHQL-certified version of these drivers at some point in December or January.

Source: NVIDIA

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