Catalyst Control Center Benchmark

I’ve decided to “revisit” this “myth” that disabling the Catalyst Control Center improves performance by doing a few more tests with another driver. These tests are “recycled” from another article I’m trying to finish at the moment. I didn’t want all this work to go to waste and I decided to make a part 2 of the previous article: Catalyst Control Center – Should I Uninstall it?, article in which I showed you that disabling CCC will not improve performance.

The only differences between the original tests and these ones are:

1. The Driver: Original tests were done using 12.4 WHQL and these ones are done using 12.7 9.00 Beta.
2. CAPs: Original tests were done without installing any CAPs and these ones are done using 12.7 Beta CAP 1.

The 2nd point has absolutely no impact on the legitimacy of the tests because all Catalyst drivers have CAPs incorporated, basically this 12.7 9.00 Beta driver I’m using has all the Catalyst Application Profiles included up to 12.6 CAP 2, installing a newer CAP will only add a couple more profiles and in this case 12.7 Beta CAP 1 doesn’t add any profiles for any of the games tested here, hope this makes sense…

• 1. 3DMark06 1.02 Professional Edition - 1680×1050 – 2xAA – Anti Aliasing Quality = 0 – 4xAF – Shader Model 2.0 = Return to Proxycon + Firefly Forest – HDR/Shader Model 3.0 = Canyon Flight + Deep Freeze – 2 Runs.
• 2. 3DMark11 1.0.3 Professional Edition - 1680×1050 – 2xMSAA – 4xAF – Graphic Tests 1-4 – 2 Runs.
• 3. Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead 1.6 Highest Settings – 1680×1050 – Testing using Benchmark 1 Scenario – 3 runs
• 4. Battlefield 3 – Ultra Preset – 1680×1050 – 4xMSAA – 16xAF – Multiplayer @ Strike at Karkand (32p map, Large Conquest), main street: US Deployment -> B Flag – 3 Runs x 60s.
• 5. Cinebench x64 11.5 – 3 Runs.
• 6. Crysis 2 1.9 using Adrenaline Benchmark Tool – Extreme Preset – 1680×1050 – 4xAA – Hi-Res Textures – Central Park – 3 Runs.
• 7. DiRT 3 – Ultra Preset – 1680×1050 – 8xMSAA – 3 Runs
• 8. DiRT Showdown – Ultra Preset – 1680×1050 – 8xMSAA – 3 Runs.
• 9. F1 2011 – Ultra Preset – 1680×1050 – 8xMSAA – 3 Runs.
• 10. Mass Effect 3 – Maxed Out Settings – 1680×1050 – 3 runs.
• 11. Max Payne 3 – Maxed Out Settings (Texture Quality = High) – 4xMSAA (DirectX 11) – 0xAA (DirectX 9 & 10) – 3 runs x 60s.
• 12. Metro 2033 using Update 1.2 Benchmark Tool – Very High Settings – 1680×1050 – 16xAF – No AA for DirectX 9 and 4xMSAA for DirectX 10 and DirectX 11 – 3 Runs.
• 13. Red Orchestra 2 Heroes Of Stalingrad – Ultra Settings – 1680×1050 – Hardware Physics = OFF – FXAA High- 3 runs x 60s.
• 14. Risen 2: Dark Waters – Ultra Settings – 1680×1050 – 3 runs x 60s.
• 15. Saints Row 3 – Ultra Settings – 1680×1050 – 8xMSAA – 3 runs x 60s.
• 16. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim v1.5 – Ultra Preset – 1680×1050 – 8xAA – 16xAF – Tested in the area East of Rorikstead – 3 Runs x 60s.
• 17. Sniper Elite 2 – Ultra Settings – 1680×1050 – 3 runs x 60s.
• 18. Syndicate – Maxed Out Settings – 1680×1050 – 3 runs x 60s.
• 19. Unigine – Sanctuary 2.3 – 1680×1050 – 2xAA – 4xAF – High Shaders – Ambient Occlusion = OFF – 2 Runs.
• 20. Unigine – Tropics 1.3 – 1680×1050 – 2xAA – 4xAF – High Shaders – Ambient Occlusion = ON – Reflections = ON – 2 Runs.
• 21. Witcher Enhnaced Edition – Ultra Settings (UberSampling Disabled) – 1680×1050 – 3 runs x 60s.

Table of Contents:

Page 1 – Introduction
Page 2 – Performance / Image Quality Tests
Page 3 – Conclusion

Page 2 – Performance / Image Quality Tests