[Miken420]

J192011

Updated Installation Instructions: Make sure you do this entire process with an Administrator enabled account.

Van Dach has revised his instructions and changed a few things around. I am posting this guide to help make people's installations of these drivers as painless as possible.

If you are running MSI Afterburner and more than one Graphics Card in Crossfire X, your 2nd card may be disabled after installing the 11.1a driver. It happened to me, and after researching I found others who it happened to. If this happens to you repeat the uninstall process of your drivers, uninstall MSI Afterburner and follow the guide below to install the drivers and modify them. After that you can install MSI Afterburner again and everything will work fine.

Quote

It's now possible to mod yourself any driver you want (Win7, Vista) with those settings if you apply this method:

1. Uninstall AMD Catalyst Suite from Control Panel. Don't Express Uninstall if you have an AMD chipset motherboard.
(If you're running a fully AMD motherboard using a chipset such as 790GX, 780G, 890FX, 760G etc. DO NOT use Express Uninstall of all AMD Catalyst Software as it may be ninja uninstalling your chipset drivers. Instead choose Uninstall Manager --> Custom --> And choose all of the modules on the list *your chipset drivers won't be one of these selections*.)

After the driver uninstall is complete, REBOOT IN SAFE MODE http://www.computerh...sues/chsafe.htm

2. While in Safe Mode, Open Device Manager (Control Panel> System and Security> System> Device Manager). Uninstall all devices in "Display adapters" class.Tick "Delete the Driver Software for this Device" also if available. DON'T right-click "Scan for hardware changes" afterward (we will do it later, we want the Display adapters class to be empty for now). Minimize Device Manager window.

3. Run latest "AMD Catalyst TwL Cleaner 3.9.2.cmd". Say yes to all deletion asked. Delete the pinpointed registry GUIDs (important). Don't reboot yet.

4. Go back to Device Manager windows. Right-click "Scan for hardware changes".

Reboot into Normal Windows Mode
NOTE: If at any moment Windows stays stuck at "Starting Windows" boot screen while loading, don't panic, restart in Safe Mode, open Device Manager, uninstall all display adapters even if it's already "Standard VGA", tick "Delete the Driver Software for this Device" also if available. Then right-click "Scan for hardware changes". Reboot in Normal Mode, restart the procedure, that should fix it. -confirmed this works as this problem happened to me

If you still have issues, try the "deep clean" Safe Mode method in Complementary General Tweaks link below.

http://forums.guru3d...ad.php?t=327922

5. Install your new AMD Catalyst driver. Don't reboot yet, even when asked to.

6. Run "AMD Catalyst Application Profiles (CAP) Von Switcher.cmd". Install either the latest CAP or the 0kb dummy. Don't reboot yet.
(The 0kb Dummy is recommended for FFXIV, however in some games you will achieve better performance by using the normal CAP *ie. COD Black Ops*) *Users who aren't running Crossfire X and are just using a single Graphics Card can just install the latest CAP or skip this step entirely as these are Application Profiles for people running more than one Graphics Card*

7. Run "AMD Catalyst Von Tweaks.cmd". You can now Reboot.

Your driver is now installed and modified.

If a game doesn't run well, use the Catalyst Application Profiles (CAP) Switcher to switch your profiles and reboot.

At this point I usually go into device manager and disable the HDMI High Definition Audio controllers on both of my cards as they interfere with my soundcard and constantly try to take over as the default device. If you use the Realtek HDMI Audio on your graphics card(s) do not disable the audio controller(s).

If you are using Crossfire X in FFXIV you will experience stuttering and UI flickering and screen tearing unless you run with Triple Buffered Vertical Sync. The only way to do this is to download RadeonPRO and force it via a profile. RadeonPRO Guide

This post has been edited by Miken420: 02 February 2011 - 11:59 AM

[BoJwaise]

hi this is kaiser :D

thanks for the steps man and will do it tmr asap, but I have 3 questions:

1)The RadeonPro part u didn't include (not necessary) ? if yes, can you add it please ?

2) when I used 10.9 Catalyst @ fullscreen a black bar shows in movies which is annoying ... is it fixed with this tweaks ?

3) Von Dach tweaks doesn't still show the annoying ATI Mark on upper right of the screen when CF right ?


hope to all 3 questions positive to be happy

[Miken420]

RadeonPRO guide.

First thing make sure you get the latest RadeonPRO version from http://www.radeonpro.info/en-US/

Next install RadeonPRO and open it up. You're going to want to create a profile for FFXIV.

Click the Add New Profile button at the top of the RadeonPRO interface.

Browse to where FFXIV is installed. It's usually installed in C:\Program Files\SquareEnix\FINAL FANTASY XIV

find your ffxivgame.exe and click the Open button. You now have a profile in your RadeonPRO window.

Next select the profile on the left hand side of the RadeonPRO interface. On the right hand side you will see several tabs.

Click the Visual tab and where it says Vertical Sync Control put a checkmark in the box.

Now set the slider to On, unless application specifies.

Next click the Tweaks tab and where it says Vsync Control, set it to Force On.

Put a check in the box next to Triple Buffering

Put a check in the box next to Force Aggressive API Detection level

In the Display Refresh Rate box type in '60' so it says 60 Hz

All done, now close RadeonPRO into the toolbar tray by hitting the close button. It should minimize right into the tray and stay running.

Now all you have to do is launch FFXIV and you will now have vsync!

Quote

My current FFXIV Config settings using 2 HD 5770s are

Display Mode: Fullscreen Mode

Display Resolution: 1680x1050 (Set this to your monitor's resolution)

Multisampling: 4xMSAA (use 2xMSAA or even OFF if this slows you down when combined with Background Drawing Quality 9/10 *the game will still look good*)

General Drawing Quality: 9/10 (Makes the trees look way better!)

Background Drawing Quality: 5

Shadow Detail: High (switching to standard has no noticeable performance boost, at least on my setup)

Ambient Occlusion: OFF (horribly implemented feature ATM, I don't recommend enabling it)

Depth of Field: OFF (You will still get the cool Depth of Field in your cutscenes with this disabled)

Disable cutscene effects: OFF (leaving this set to OFF allows you to have Depth of Field in your cutscenes, setting it to ON disables the Depth of Field in cutscenes)

Enable Hardware Mouse Cursor: ON

Texture Quality: High (Set this to Standard if it slows you down, the image quality drop isn't huge, but the possible performance gains are *especially if you don't have FFXIV installed to a Solid State Drive SSD)

Texture Filtering Quality: High (Set this to standard if it slows you down, that's still equivalent to 4x Anisotropic Filtering)

This post has been edited by Miken420: 20 January 2011 - 04:13 AM

[BoJwaise]

i am going for it, just incase things didn't go well,

just uninstall the CCC & and I am done ?

[Miken420]

BoJwaise, on 31 December 2010 - 11:49 PM, said:

i am going for it, just incase things didn't go well,

just uninstall the CCC & and I am done ?

Yes, if for any reason you don't like the drivers. You can remove them from Control Panel -> Programs and Features -> Catalyst Control Center. Set it to Express Uninstall of all Catalyst Software and it will remove everything.

Then you reboot in safe mode and run the latest Driver Sweeper to get rid of the rest of it before you install another driver. (Von Dach's TwL cleaner essentially does the same thing as Driver Sweeper)

[Kaiser_Q8]

awesome

[BoJwaise]

when I uninstall the 5970 drivers, and scan for hardware it tills me

Video Controller (VGA Compatible) <== not Standard VGA

shall I proceed?

[Kaiser_Q8]

I tried it,

As for the black line and all is gone
But many the game performance went doing
The image is lagging and with CF max fps is 48 in camp never hits 50.
Went to windowed like i always do max 38 !!!
Used to play windowed easy 60 anywhere and 50 cities
The cpu utilization remains the same and not to mention i was using catalyst 10.8
Or 9 don't remember.
Any idea ?? I really want to get things working :(

[Miken420]

Kaiser_Q8, on 01 January 2011 - 03:41 AM, said:

I tried it,

As for the black line and all is gone
But many the game performance went doing
The image is lagging and with CF max fps is 48 in camp never hits 50.
Went to windowed like i always do max 38 !!!
Used to play windowed easy 60 anywhere and 50 cities
The cpu utilization remains the same and not to mention i was using catalyst 10.8
Or 9 don't remember.
Any idea ?? I really want to get things working :(

It's because of vsync. In order to keep the frames steady and prevent flickering and overall screwups in crossfire we have to enable vsync.

It's a large performance hit having vsync on, so don't expect 60 fps nonstop. The game engine just isn't optimized.

So for now you have 2 choices.

Windowed mode + no vsync
Fullscreen Crossfire + vsync

If you run Windowed mode with vsync, then you're vsynching the game while running it on just one card, hence the 38 fps. Turn off vsync when in windowed mode and you will perform better.

This game's engine has a long way to go. They need to fix the errors some people get and the performance problems and glitches. Hell, it doesn't even matter what resolution you play at (take a look at my benchmarks on page1)

After all of the tests I did. The conclusion that I came to was that the only way I was going to be able to pull off using Crossfire was to force vsync and take the performance hit. Therefore I get somewhere between 30-50 FPS normally with an occasional peak to 60. One of my cards by itself can't even handle antialiasing in the game on its own without lagging, so I have no choice but to use both. And I have to leave the general drawing quality on 5 at the maximum when I'm in windowed mode(and the trees look so bad on 5!)

One of your 5970's cores is essentially a downclocked 5870. So that gives you the choice of playing in windowed mode w/o vsync and still being able to use MSAA. Try running in windowed without the RadeonPRO forced vsync on and im sure you'll perform like you did before in windowed. Probably a bit better, due to these drivers being way newer than the 10.8's.

No driver, or configuration setup is going to fix the fact that the game is horribly optimized. So if the 10.8 or whatever old driver works better for you in Windowed then go ahead and use it until they fix Crossfire and SLi scaling in this game.

This post has been edited by Miken420: 01 January 2011 - 11:56 AM

[BoJwaise]

They say 10.10 is better No ?
I mean can I use my current Von Dach files with 10.10e ?

I will test more with what you told me and I will see.
FPS not the issue if motion is smooth, what is frustrating is the motion is lagging which is really annoying.

[Miken420]

I went looking for issues with 10.12 and HD 5970's and found a few people complaining about issues on Overclockers.net and NGOhq. They all went back to the 10.10e hotfix drivers.

AMD Catalyst 10.10e Hotfix Win7 Nov9 Von modded v2
http://www.filefront.com/17607614/AM...n_modded_v2.7z
http://www.multiupload.com/WEBKN1P8BH

These are the 10.10e Von Modded, they come pre-modified so you don't have to download the official 10.10e from AMD for this. Just uninstall the 10.12 VonModded that you have right now, and run the 10.10e TwL cleaner and installer from these (make sure it says Video Controller VGA Compatible or Standard VGA Display Adapter in the Device Manager before installing the new drivers *just like before*).

Then run the 10.10e CAP switcher and choose the 0kb Dummy File.

I Hope these help with your issue.

[BoJwaise]

hmmm I have to download Catalyst 10.10e right?

[Miken420]

BoJwaise, on 01 January 2011 - 01:22 PM, said:

hmmm I have to download Catalyst 10.10e right?

No.

When the 10.12 drivers came out, Von Dach changed his drivers so that you could modify the driver yourself. With the 10.10e it's all included into the ati_sh*t-cleaner and installation v3.7.0.cmd. (he renamed it to TwLcleaner when 10.12 came out)

This post has been edited by Miken420: 01 January 2011 - 02:11 PM

[BoJwaise]

ok so the same steps, just replace Von modded related to 10.12 I install the one u provided .... GOT IT

[Miken420]

Yeah, all you need to do is Uninstall the 10.12s.

And then run the ati****cleaner that is in the von modded 10.10e folder and it will clean out your old drivers, install the 10.10e's and vonmod them for you.

And then run the CAP Switcher and select the 0kb dummy.

So actually, it's easier to do with the 10.10e's than it was with the 10.12's because the ati****cleaner does it all for you.

[BoJwaise]

I tried all this.

well FPS full @ Full screen but the lagging remains although it is less than 10.12, tried to remove Vsync dam the game is awesome but stuttering all over the screen FPS @ camp 55-60 no less with little lag.

Windowed max FPS 30 !! why :((( ?? with RadeonPro Off :(.

any suggestions ?

[Miken420]

BoJwaise, on 02 January 2011 - 07:17 AM, said:

I tried all this.

well FPS full @ Full screen but the lagging remains although it is less than 10.12, tried to remove Vsync dam the game is awesome but stuttering all over the screen FPS @ camp 55-60 no less with little lag.

Windowed max FPS 30 !! why :((( ?? with RadeonPro Off :(.

any suggestions ?

Try lowering your settings to NO MSAA, High Shadows, General Drawing Quality 10 (Highest), Background Drawing Quality 5 (High), Texture Quality Standard, Texture Filtering High, Depth of Field OFF, Ambient Occlusion OFF.

And when you get in-game in the configuration submenu turn off Extended Drawing.

I know these settings sound stupid, but just run the game in crossfire fullscreen with these and tell me if the game still lags for you. I have been screwing around with lowering certain settings while still trying to maintain a high image quality and so far this setup runs incredibly smooth for me.

The General Drawing Quality on 10 gives a sort of pseudo-AA effect that I'm starting to like, and it runs good if MSAA is off.

Not having MSAA enabled lowers the performance hit of having General Drawing Quality set to 10, but on a fairly high res monitor it still looks great. (The trees especially)

The Standard quality textures barely look worse than the High textures and look way better than the Low textures. Having this on Standard reduces the hitching effect when moving/turning the camera around a ton of other players as the textures being loaded have less of a footprint on your video memory.

Turning off Extended Drawing in-game reduces the amount of far away objects that are loaded around you. This also lessens the hitching effect and makes the game run much smoother even when tons of people are around.

Again, I know these settings look dumb. And you would be right to think that your PC should be able to do better than that.

But due to the current state of the game engine ie. it's lack of optimization and utilization of modern hardware, some sacrifices must be made to ensure a solid gameplay experience. (Or at least as solid as it can get right now)

Give the settings a try and if it performs better for you just stick with them until Square streamlines the tech behind this game.

[JCrusnik]

Kaiser_Q8, on 31 December 2010 - 12:51 AM, said:

I really would like to use Von Dach tweaks, but man too much steps (windows tweaks, cleaners .... etc.).
I am trying to avoid BIOS as much as possible, since I am new to PC-BIOS stuff. Anyway can you possible summarize the steps please ?

Another thing I dunno if my setup will run nice with the Von Dach tweaking

Setup:

i7 Quad Core 2.8 GHz
ATI HD5970 2GB
6 GB RAM 1600 Triple Channel
80 GB SSD

you got any HD 5970 feedback using this tweaks ?

thanks for the help in advance :)

u should be fine with this Kai it mostly cleaning out the catalyst driver and installing the modded one in place shouldn't involve any bios playing.

http://www.ffxivcore...-catalyst-1012/

[JCrusnik]

BoJwaise, on 02 January 2011 - 07:17 AM, said:

I tried all this.

well FPS full @ Full screen but the lagging remains although it is less than 10.12, tried to remove Vsync dam the game is awesome but stuttering all over the screen FPS @ camp 55-60 no less with little lag.

Windowed max FPS 30 !! why :((( ?? with RadeonPro Off :(.

any suggestions ?

Windowed mode is always only going to run one GPU crossfire is not enabled on windowed mode that is why ur frames hits low only one GPU works in windowed mode. hope this helps

This post has been edited by JCrusnik: 04 January 2011 - 12:22 AM

[Miken420]

Updated for the v1.3 package.

11.1 leaked today, so expect a new update soon.