Only 1 and a bit days to go till the installer unlocks then another day till playtime.

So who else has it preloaded reayd to go.

Who else got into the beta and has their 5 Sigils ready and waiting.

Who are the rich bastards with the CE pack

Review to follow.

Take Our Poll

AMD Catalyst™ 12.2 Pre-Certified Driver
The AMD Catalyst™ 12.2 Certified driver (It is the same driver as the Catalyst 12.2 Pre-Certified, but will be officially Microsoft® certified) will be posted in late February or very early March 2012.
Release Notes

Feature highlights of the AMD Catalyst 12.2 pre-certified driver:
Windows 7 and Windows® Vista® support for the AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 Series and AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series • Enables support for Windows 7 64-bit/32-bit and Windows Vista 64-bit/32-bit
• Windows XP support will be made available in AMD Catalyst 12.4
Super Sampling Anti-Aliasing is now available for DirectX® 10 and DirectX 11 applications • Supported on the AMD Radeon HD 7900 and 7700 Series
• Users can now enable Super Sample Anti-Aliasing and Adaptive Anti-Aliasing through the AMD Catalyst Control Center for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications
• Applications must support in game Anti-Aliasing for the feature to work (Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center is not supported for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 applications)
AMD Eyefinity 2.1 technology enhancements • Custom resolutions – users can now choose from a much larger set of display resolutions for their AMD Eyefinity configurations
• Dynamic Configuration Changes: Switching between different display configurations (when physically plugging/un-plugging displays) will occur automatically by loading the appropriate profile
• HydraVision enhancements: The Windows Task bar can now be moved and resized based on users preference
• Profile Manager improvements: Users can now create multiple Display profiles, enabling users to seamlessly switch between various AMD Eyefinity and Display Configurations

Driver link
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles…ieddriver.aspx

12.1 v3 Cap drivers for xfire profiles

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

Shamelessly stole the links from DM at OCAU

AMD Radeon HD 7970-series Review Dump:
AnandTech http://www.anandtech.com/show/5261/a…hd-7970-review

BitTech http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/gra…0-3gb-review/1

Expert Reviews http://www.expertreviews.co.uk/graph…radeon-hd-7970

Guru3D http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-ra…d-7970-review/

HardOCP http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/…eo_card_review

Hardware Heaven http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review…roduction.html

Hardware Secrets http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic…rd-Review/1458

HardwareCanucks http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum…gb-review.html

Hexus http://www.hexus.net/tech/reviews/gr…n-hd-7970-3gb/

Hot Hardware http://www.hothardware.com/Reviews/A…ti-GPU-Review/

KitGuru http://www.kitguru.net/components/gr…s-card-review/

Legit Reviews http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1805/1/

MadShrimps http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/ar…#axzz1hFbx8NO2

MaximumPC http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fea…re_performance

NeoSeeker http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha…s/AMD_HD_7970/

Overclockers http://www.overclockers.com/amd-rade…s-card-review/

PC Perspective http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Graphic…ew-Tahiti-28nm

Techpowerup http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7970/

Tom’s Hardware http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/…-gcn,3104.html

Vortez http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages…_review,1.html

Vr-Zone http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/amd-…ion/14308.html

Wide Screen Gaming http://widescreengamingforum.com/art…w-benchmarking

Needless to say if ATI can bring this card out a tthe same or even better lower than the NVIDIA 580 series then it has a winner (drivers permitting).

Now i know intel has the faster setup at the moment but you would think at least one review site would throw one of these at a Bulldozer for testing.

Hell give me one i,ll test the crap out of it

Anandtech are using an overclocked I7 3960x so that makes them pretty much the newest of the review setups that i can see.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5261/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/15

compare these two like results for example.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/5261/amd-radeon-hd-7970-review/22

B3 at full with 4x aa and 2560 for both reviews the only difference really is the cpu and the canucks one is overclocked to 4gig.

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/49646-amd-radeon-hd-7970-3gb-review-13.html

11 fps difference for the 7970

and about the same for the 580 so that shows very roughly you get 11fps boost with the newer cpu.

now show me an overclocked bulldozer galdangit

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/Catalyst121Previewdriver.aspx

System

CPU: Fx8120

motherboard: gigabyte 990fx ud5 bios rev:7G

Speed 4.43 Ghz

BUS:200 x22

Memory : 2x4gig Corsair 2000 9 10 9 27

HDD: 2x WD black 1 Tb Raid 0

Video:5870 ati 875/1225

monitor 30 inch dell

cooling: corsair H60 dual 120ml fans intake

case:corsiar 500r carbide with large side fan drawing out

TESTS

GAMES

• catalyst 11.11.3
• res:2560 1600
• 2xaa
• 16xaf
• all settings for all games set to as high as possibble including physx.
• vysnc off

Half life lost coast

144 FPS

counterstrike source

239 FPS

hawx dx10(ambient occlussion on full)

avg:68 FPS

high:247 FPS

farcry 2

ranch long

avg:68.83 FPS

min:36 FPS

max:108 FPS

UT3

12 minute cutom demo

69 FPS

devil may cry

scene 1 144 FPS

Maxmem2 1.96

maxmem2 196

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
sunspider .091

Cinebench 11.5 x64

cinebench 11.5

X264

Results for

x264.exe r1913

==========================

Pass 1

——

encoded 1442 frames, 134.59 fps, 3911.61 kb/s

encoded 1442 frames, 136.70 fps, 3911.61 kb/s

encoded 1442 frames, 133.21 fps, 3911.61 kb/s

encoded 1442 frames, 137.19 fps, 3911.61 kb/s

Pass 2

——

encoded 1442 frames, 43.96 fps, 3958.68 kb/s

encoded 1442 frames, 43.93 fps, 3958.36 kb/s

encoded 1442 frames, 43.95 fps, 3960.22 kb/s

encoded 1442 frames, 43.71 fps, 3960.21 kb/s

7zip

7 Zip

Aida64

photoworx result

aida64 photoworx

&
HASH results 

aida64 hash

 AES results (finally a win )

aida 64 aes

ZLib results (definately a reasonable result)

aida 64 zlib

V8 results (again a  reasonable showing)

aida 64 v8

Super pi 1.5

Summary

This shows the scaling of the Bulldozer is not bad but still well behind the 8 ball.
These tests were done using the windows 8 cpu drivers and i believe they have improved in a few places.
I do believe with some better bios updates (especially if they can add LLC to the UD5) and driver updates and code updates to apps and games these things could stretch thier legs a little.
but right now….not really
In saying that i have found everything i do on the computer smooth as butter and that is including multitasking such as encoding recorded tv shows while i write this and listen to music and a few other things….this chip isn’t even breaking a sweat.

Shamelessly stole the list from digital monkey at OCAU.

In a nutshell, dissapointing.

REVIEWS:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/21813
http://www.hitechlegion.com/reviews/processors/13752
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1741/1/
http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1376.html
http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.ph…=831&Itemid=63
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/cpu/32…dozer-fx-8150/
http://hothardware.com/Reviews/AMD-F…er-Has-Landed/
http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-fx-8…-/13694-1.html
http://vr-zone.com/articles/amd-fx-8…zer/13704.html
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4955/t…-fx8150-tested
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpu…-8150-review/1
http://www.bjorn3d.com/articles/AMD_…ozer/2125.html
http://www.computerbase.de/artikel/p…amd-bulldozer/
http://www.guru3d.com/article/amd-fx…cessor-review/
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/…ormance_review
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2011/…rmance_review/
http://www.hardware.fr/articles/842-…arque-am3.html
http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum…or-review.html
http://www.hardwareheaven.com/review…roduction.html
http://www.kitguru.net/components/cp…te-990fxa-ud7/
http://www.legionhardware.com/articl…fx_4170,1.html
http://www.lostcircuits.com/mambo//i…d=102&Itemid=1
http://www.madshrimps.be/articles/ar…#axzz1aKr1ZQF4
http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Ha…s/amd_fx-8150/
http://www.overclockers.com/amd-fx-8…ocessor-review
http://www.ozeros.com/2011/10/review…dozer-fx-8150/
http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Process…th-AMD-Victory
http://www.techspot.com/review/452-a…dozer-fx-cpus/
http://www.techstation.it/hardware/a…e/introduzione
http://www.techwarelabs.com/amd-fx-8…er-8-core-cpu/
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/…90fx,3043.html
http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/43…iew/index.html
http://www.vortez.net/articles_pages…_review,1.html
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu…d-fx-8150.html

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/GPU122AMDCat1110PreDriverV2.aspx

not tested yet but if it as good as the 26 September one it will be good.

Taken straight from the gigabyte site today

970 d3 board

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3908

990fx ud5 board

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3891

890fx ud5 rev 3.1

http://www.gigabyte.com.au/support-downloads/cpu-support-popup.aspx?pid=3781

970/950 bulldozer support

Link

Avivo

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/avivo/Pages/avivovista-download.aspx

Drivers

http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/downloads.aspx

Release notes

Highlights of the AMD Catalyst™ 11.8 Windows release include:

New Features

• AMD Overdrive has been enhanced to include both CPU and GPU over-clocking controls within the AMD Vision Control Center
• CPU over-clocking is only supported on AMD Black edition CPUs

Performance Highlights

• Improves performance up to 10% in Crysis 2 DirectX 11 version for both non-Anti-Aliasing, and application enabled Anti-Aliasing cases on the AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 and AMD Radeon™ HD 5000 Series
• Improves performance up to 8% in Fear 3 DirectX 11 version with application enabled Anti-Aliasing on the
  AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 and AMD Radeon™ HD 5000 Series
• Improves performance up to 30% when AMD’s Morphological Anti-Aliasing (MLAA) is enabled through the
  Catalyst™ Control Center on the AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 and AMD Radeon™ HD 5000 Series
• Improves performance up to 20% in Call of Duty Black Operations for single GPU and Multi-GPU configurations on the AMD Radeon™ HD 6000 and AMD Radeon™ HD 5000 Series

Resolved Issues for the Windows 7 Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst™ 11.8 software suite for Windows 7. These include:

• The option to “Apply current video quality settings to internet video” is no longer randomly missing from the AMD Catalyst™ Control Center / AMD Vision™ Engine Control Center.
• 3DMark 11 no longer intermittently generates a BSOD error when run using a standard user account.
• Playing HD video content overnight using Windows Media Center no longer causes the system to hang or generates a BSOD error.
• Random graphical corruption is no longer experienced when playing Crysis 2 in a Crossfire environment.
• Image stabilization is now correctly applied to DivX clips when using Windows Media Player.
• Enabling AntiAliasing when playing Starcraft 2 no longer causes random screen blackouts.
• Video corruption is no longer seen when scrolling through DivX 5 video files using Windows Media Center and Windows Media Player.
• Menu corruption is no longer seen when running F.E.A.R 3 in DirectX 11 mode.
• Video playback now functions correctly after enabling hardware acceleration in VLC version 1.1.10.

Resolved Issues for the Windows Vista Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst™ 11.8 software suite for Windows Vista. These include:

• PowerDVD no longer randomly displays a blank screen when playing back BluRay content with Crossfire enabled.
• BSOD errors are no longer intermittently experienced after installing the driver with Crossfire enabled.

Resolved Issues for the Windows XP Operating System
This section provides information on resolved known issues in this release of the AMD Catalyst™ 11.8 software suite for Windows XP. These include:

• PowerDVD no longer randomly displays a blank screen during video playback when switching from extended display mode to cloned display mode.

Known issues under the Windows 7 operating system
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows 7 operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst™. These include:

• STALKER – Call of Pripyat may randomly hang when entering a new or saved game.
• Random corruption may be observed when running the Unigine Heaven benchmark in Fixed High Performance mode.
• F1 2010 may randomly hang on application launch.
• Battlefield – Bad Company 2 may randomly hang after a period of game play.
• Dungeon Siege 3 may randomly hang on application launch.
• Dead Rising 2 may randomly hang on application launch.
• Random flashing may be observed while playing F1 2010 and Dirt 2.
• OpenGL acceleration may not function within Photoshop CS5.

Known Issues under the Windows Vista Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows Vista operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst™. These include:

• Windows Aero options may not be available after installing the driver.
• Doom 3 and Quake 4 may experience graphical corruption.
• Performing Bezel compensation in certain Eyefinity configurations may cause some bezel groups to not appear.

Known Issues under the Windows XP Operating System
The following section provides a summary of open issues that may be experienced under the Windows XP operating system in the latest version of AMD Catalyst™. These include

• Enemy Territory – Quake Wars may experience random graphics corruption.
• Quake 4 may experience random graphics corruption.

AMD have released the 11.7 driver here:

http://sites.amd.com/US/GAME/DOWNLOA…downloads.aspx

Release notes:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles…easeNotes.aspx

The 11.8 preview was released today too. Guys with the new Samsung 3D monitor or
other 3D hardware should use the 11.8 preview. This preview driver is for
Windows 7 x64 only:

http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles…erPreview.aspx