ATI 11.4 Preview Problem

[LavCat]

Check if it's CPU related, perhaps something in the new drivers causes a CPU hit at a specific point. A dip into the teens is a serious dip and is likely only one subsystem causing such a dip. If you can, underclock by a significant amount and see if it changes.

I don't have a before and after, so I have no frame of reference as to whether the CPU is causing any issues. A 6970 is over 2x faster than my 5770 though and shouldn't be slowing down, and the 720 should be slower than my CPU in WoW, so that's why I figure it must be CPU related. Could be related to the extra AA, but I doubt it.

I have not yet played with underclocking. The current situation is that Catalyst 11.4 preview and Catalyst 11.3 show the problem. In contrast Catalyst 11.1 and Catalyst 11.2 work fine for me.


Here is the problem report as I submitted it to ATI or AMD, or whatever they are called:

Unplayably low framerates in World of Warcraft, around 16-20 FPS outdoors (DX11), with Catalyst 11.3 or 11.4 preview.

Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
AMD Phenom II X3 720
ASUS M4A79T Deluxe
4GB OCZ3RPR16002G
PCP&C Turbo-Cool 860
VisionTek Radeon HD 6970
Samsung Syncmaster 275T 1920x1200 (just one monitor)

Catalyst 11.3 and 11.4 preview show the problem.
Catalyst 11.1 and 11.2 work OK.

CCC Settings:

Anti-Aliasing
Enhance application settings
Morphological filtering off
Filter Edge-detect

Anisotropic Filtering
Use application settings

Tessellation
AMD Optimized

Catalyst A.I.
Texture Filtering Quality High Quality
Enable Surface Format Optimization off

Wait for vertical refresh
Quality

Anti-Aliasing Mode
Quality

OpenGL Settings
Triple buffering on

Install Catalyst 11.3 or 11.4 preview
Launch World of Warcraft
Move character outdoors
Observe frame rates 16-20 FPS
Need to install Catalyst 11.1 or 11.2 to recover.
Catalyst 11.1 or 11.2 gives frame rates 35-60 under same conditions.