Tag Archives: Notebook

12.10, AMD, ATI, Catalyst, Catalyst

ATI / AMD have recently released Catalyst 12.10 Driver Suite

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ATI / AMD have recently released Catalyst 12.10 Driver Suite

You can download it here: http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/downloads.aspx

FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS OF THE AMD CATALYST 12.10 DRIVER:

AMD Catalyst 12.10 – Ready for Windows 8

For AMD Radeon™ HD 5000, HD 6000 and HD 7000 Series users, Microsoft® has certified today’s AMD Catalyst™ 12.10 release as “compatible with Windows 8.” With this driver, these products offer support for WDDM 1.2, which is an updated model for graphics drivers that Microsoft has designed to provide smooth performance and wide compatibility in their new operating system.

• Target-Independent Rasterization (TIR): TIR is a new rendering path for superior anti-aliasing in Direct3D driver applications

• Native Stereo 3D Support: Windows 8 natively supports stereoscopic 3D gaming and videos via compatible applications

• Unified Video API: Video playback has been integrated into the DirectX® 11 API, for simultaneous video and gaming content. Transcoding performance may also be improved for supported applications

• Optimized screen rotation for rotation aware devices

• Enhanced sleep/resume performance

• Optimized GPU power consumption

• Major technologies / features also supported under Windows 8:

◦ AMD Eyefinity technology

◦ OpenCL™

◦ OpenGL

◦ Unified Video Decoder (UVD)

◦ AMD Dual Graphics

◦ AMD CrossFire technology

◦ AMD Overdrive

◦ AMD Catalyst Control Center/ AMD Vision Engine Control Center

AMD Catalyst Mobility support for AMD Enduro™ Technology

AMD Catalyst Mobility now includes support for AMD Enduro™ technology. AMD Enduro technology is currently supported on all notebook Intel IvyBridge platforms and AMD “Comal” platforms that support the AMD Radeon HD 7900M, 7800M, 7700M. AMD plans for additional products to be supported in future AMD Catalyst releases.

AMD Enduro™ Technology for Notebooks delivers:

• Unbeatable battery life

• GPU accelerated performance for gaming, video, and compute apps

• A Seamless and automatic experience

New Enduro™ Technology features found in Catalyst 12.10:

• Re-designed AMD Catalyst Control Center user interface

◦ View all profiled applications

◦ View recently run applications

◦ Profile applications based on power source

• Expert mode control and customization

◦ Performance centric AC

◦ Battery centric DC

RESOLVED ISSUES

This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst 12.10 software suite.

Resolved Issues for the Windows 8 Operating System

• Enemy Territory Quake Wars – performance affected when run at high resolutions

• Wolfenstien – performance affected when run at high resolutions

• System hangs when disabling Eyefinity

• World of Warcraft – Mists of Pandaria experiences graphical corruption when anti-aliasing is forced to 2X or higher

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System

• F1 2011 – Vehicle textures flicker when game is run at low settings

• Dirt Showdown – Flickering seen when benchmark is run in DirectX 11 mode

• Battlefield – Bad Company 2 : Flickering textures seen in AMD CrossFire mode

• Alan Wake – Freezes when run in DirectX 9 mode with AMD CrossFire and Eyefinity enabled

• Portal 2 – Freezes when run in DirectX 9 mode with AMD CrossFire and Eyefinity enabled

KNOWN ISSUES

The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced with the AMD Catalyst 12.10 software suite.

Known issues under the Windows 8 operating system

• AMD Eyefinity portrait resolutions may not apply correctly when AMD CrossFire is enabled

Known issues under the Windows 7operating system

• Serious Sam 3 – crashes when AMD CrossFire and Eyefinity are enabled

• May Payne 3 – flickering and ghosting when in DirectX 9 mode with Anti Aliasing enabled

11.6.0.1030, 11.7.0.1013, 12.5.0.1066, Intel, Microsoft, Rapid Storage Technology, SBS 2008, Service Pack 1, Service Pack 1, Service Pack 1, Service Pack 1, Service Pack 1, Service Pack 2, Service Pack 2, Service Pack 2, Service Pack 2, Service Pack 3, Small Business Server 2008, Windows, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows XP

Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver Revision History (AHCI and RAID)

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Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver Revision History (AHCI and RAID)

19.5.2.1049.5
19.5.2.1049.4
19.5.1.1040.3
19.5.1.1040
19.2.1.1006
18.7.6.1010.3
18.6.1.1016.1
18.30.1.1138
18.1.0.1028.2
18.0.1.1138.1
17.11.3.1010.2
17.11.0.1000
17.9.1.1009
17.5.2.1024
17.5.1.1021
16.8.5.1014.5
16.8.0.1000
15.9.8.1050
15.9.0.1015
15.8.1.1007
15.7.0.1014
15.5.0.1051
14.8.16.1063
14.8.14.1063
14.8.14.1061
14.5.0.1081
12.9.0.1001
12.5.0.1066 – 05/03/2013 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=22271

11.7.0.1013 – 12/06/2012 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=22270

11.6.0.1030 – 09/13/2012 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=21852

11.5.0.1207 – 07/24/2012 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=21592

11.2.0.1006 – 06/11/2012 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=21407

11.0.0.1032 – 02/10/2012 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20868

10.8.0.1003 – 11/11/2011 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20624

10.6.0.1022 – 11/29/2011 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20707

10.1.0.1008 – 11/29/2010 – http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?DwnldID=20104

Please feel free to comment on your results with the latest Intel Rapid Storage Driver

6570b, 8570p, A11-1F4, A11-1FP, A11-1FR, A11-1HP, EliteBook, HP, ProBook, Tecra, Toshiba

2012 Model Laptops and Notebooks that Feature a Serial Port (RS-232)

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I was recently asked to source laptops with an integrated serial port which is becoming harder and harder in this day and age.

Thankfully a few vendors still fit the trusty RS-232 port to some models and I have outlined these models below.

2012 Models

HP ProBook 6570b Series

P/N: B6P78EA – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5270277

P/N: B6P79EA – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5270278

P/N: B6P81EA – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5270280

P/N: B6P78ET – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5281632

HP EliteBook 8570p Series

P/N: B6P98EA – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5270297

P/N: B6P99EA – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5270298

P/N: B6Q00EA – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5270299

P/N: B5V88AW – http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/products/laptops/product-detail.html?oid=5268988

Toshiba Tecra A11 Series

P/N: PTSE0E-0M9052EN (TECRA A11-1FR) – http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Tecra-A11-1FR/1118527/toshibaShop/false/

P/N: PTSE0E-0M6052EN (TECRA A11-1F4) – http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Tecra-A11-1F4/1117375/toshibaShop/false/

P/N: PTSE0E-0MJ052EN (TECRA A11-1HP) – http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Tecra-A11-1HP/1119159/toshibaShop/false/

P/N: PTSE0E-0MC052EN (TECRA A11-1FP) – http://uk.computers.toshiba-europe.com/innovation/product/Tecra-A11-1FP/1118524/toshibaShop/false/

I will try and update this Post as new models become available, please feel free to add your comments if you are aware of an other currently available laptop brands/models that feature a seial port.