AMDs (OpenCL-less) Catalyst 10.9 [+ Hotfix for X2 and Plants vs. Zombies] ready for download

• Akamai-Link Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows XP, 32 Bit)
• Akamai-Link Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows XP, 64 Bit)
• Akamai-Link Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows 7/Vista, 32 Bit)
• Akamai-Link Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows 7/Vista, 64 Bit)

Also, new are the Catalyst Application Profiles for use with AMDs Catalyst AI, overriding some game-specific quirks, improving framerate (sometimes at the expense of image quality) or adding welcome features like anti aliasing to blockbuster games like Starcraft 2.

• Akamai-Link Catalyst 10.9 Application Profiles

If you don't want to go throught the hasske and can wait just a little longer, here's the official download-site over at AMDs.

Here are direct links without having to go through Akamai - they might work only a little later though:

• Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows XP, 32 Bit)
• Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows XP, 64 Bit)
• Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows 7/Vista, 32 Bit)
• Catalyst 10.9 WHQL (Windows 7/Vista, 64 Bit)

No word from the release notes yet, because either I have the wrong link or they haven't been posted yet. I'll keep you updated.
Apparently, some new options for Crossfire X users have been integrated into the CCC, as a forum post over at my friends at Beyond3D.com shows.

Update - Changelog Catalyst 10.9
The changelog has been posted - it does not list support for OpenCL, you'll have to install the Stream SDK as outlined below to access that open standard. The Application Profile Updates mention updates for Alien vs. Predator, Battlefield Bad Company 2, F1 2010 and a new profile for Kane and Lynch 2. It also notes performance increases of up to 20 and 12 percent respectively for Stalker Call of Pripyat Benchmark for both HD 5800 and 5700 in single and Crossfire configurations - why only the non-playable benchmark is improved and not in-game performance remains a mystery. Maybe it's only a by-product of cleaning up the code. Anyway, also improved is The Chronicle of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena - but only in the 5%-range.

More importantly, some bugs have been fixed and Crossfire now works in Starcraft II in conjunction with antialiasing - the release notes mention, in-game antialiasing could be enabled, even though Starcraft II does not feature that as of patch 1.03 to the best of my knowledge.
I have attached the full Changelog for you - go grab it!

Update 21.09.2010: Hotfix released a few days ago
In order to cater for their X2 cosumers, AMD has released another hotfix driver via their knowledge base. Fixes include being able to use two GPUs on X2 products *doh*, some over/underscan settings not being restored after a reboot and intermittent hangs in Popcap games like Plants vs. Zombies. So go check it out!



Background and useful links regarding AMD Catalyst driver
If you are into open standards as AMD is, you won't mind installing the Ati Stream SDK 2.1 (tested good with Catalysts 10.2 - 10.4 as of Aug. 1st 2010) to get support for OpenCL 1.1 on the following Radeon HD models:
5970 (single gpu only), 5870, 5850, 5830, 5770, 5750, 5670, 5570, 5450. But there's a small catch. In order to get OpenCL 1.1 working, you need as of now a special driver called Ati Catalyst 10.7 Update Driver for OpenCL 1.1 Support, which you can download here:Beta support for OpenCL 1.0 is available for Radeon HD 4890, 4870 X2, 4870, 4850 X2, 4850, 4830, 4770, 4670, 4650, 4550, 4350. The general support in the Stream SDK 2.2 is true as well for the corresponding FirePro and Radeon Mobility variants.For all you part-time historians and archivars, AMD keeps their old drivers for quite a while at their site.AGP owners get a hotfix
Also, there's the special page for the now inofficial AGP-versions of the drivers. God knows why they're not worthy of a WHQL-sign any more (my guess it's cost-related…). Anyway, here they are:Legacy Driver for Radeon 9500/9700 series to X1950 series
For all you brave souls hanging onto your trusty Radeon 9x00, X300, X550, X600, X700, X8x0, X1K, X2100 and Radeon Xpress Integrated Graphics, there's hope. Sometimes, when the stars' constellations are aligned just right, a new driver for the officially no longer supported graphics chipsets is spawning at the following sites:Overview about supported standards and functionality
And now for the "GPU-Tech.org added value", I am promising to deliver. Here's the supported standards and tech for most of the recent desktop Radeon cards (with Catalyst 10.7 drivers) - something that's not very well documented on the web, not to speak of being crammed into one single place.

Radeon HD 5970 (Cypress based):Radeon HD 5870/5850/5830 (Cypress based):Radeon HD 5770/5750 (Juniper based): Radeon HD 5670/5650/5570 (Redwood based):Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar based): Radeon HD 4890/4870/4850/4830/4730 (RV770/790 based):Radeon HD 4770 (RV740 based):Radeon HD 4670/4650 (RV730 based):Radeon HD 4550/4350 (RV710 based):Radeon HD 3870/3850 (RV670 based):Radeon HD 3650 (RV635 based):Radeon HD 3470/3450 (RV615 based):Radeon HD 2900 XT/Pro/GT/OEM (R600 based):Radeon HD 2600 XT/Pro (RV630 based):Radeon HD 2400 XT/Pro (RV610 based):