AMD Catalyst 13.12 WHQL Tested
Category : ATI/AMD
Published by Christian Ney on 14.01.14
Once more AMD has updated their Catalyst drivers and like always performance should be higher with the latest set. We've had a closer look at this driver version and ran a set of benchmarks and games on no less than 10 different AMD graphics cards, where there are models from the R9, HD 7000 and HD 6000 Series. Last but not least there are some rather surprising findings. 


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Test Setup


Motherboard
  • ASUS Maximus V Gene (BIOS 1802)
CPU
  • Intel Core i7-3770K @ 4.0 GHz (Turbo On / HT On)
Memory
  • G.Skill Ares Dual Channel 2x8GB @ CL11-13-13-31-1T-Auto DDR3-2400 MHz
Graphics Cards
  • AMD Radeon R9 280X (1'000/1'500)
  • AMD Radeon R9 270X (1'050/1'400)
  • AMD Radeon R9 270 (925/1'400)
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition
  • AMD Radeon HD 7970
  • AMD Radeon HD 7870
  • AMD Radeon HD 7850
  • AMD Radeon HD 7790 (1'000/1'500)
  • AMD Radeon HD 6990
  • AMD Radeon HD 6970
Drivers
  • Windows 7 x64 (up to date)
  • AMD Catalyst 13.11 BetaV1
    AMD Catalyst 13.12 WHQL
  • Intel Chipset Driver 9.4.0.1026
Games and OS
  • Windows 7 x64 (Up to date on the 01/10/2013)
  • All games were up to date on the 01/10/2013
System Drive
  • OCZ Technology Octane 512 GB SSD
PSU
  • Seasonic Platinum SS-1000XP / 1000 Watts



Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

3DMark - Fire Strike Performance





Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 7'276 8'123
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 7'093 7'837
     
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 5'437 5'948
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 5'318 5'784
     
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 5'063 5'490
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 5'059 5'483
More is better


Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 7'281 8'201
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 7'091 7'922
     
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 6'743 7'459
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 6'578 7'215
     
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 5'114 5'577
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 5'009 5'436
     
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 4'260 4'566
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 4'176 4'460
     
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 3'592 3'879
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 3'546 3'823
More is better


Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 6'350 7'207
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 6'320 7'149
     
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 3'852 4'014
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 3'742 3'880
More is better





3DMark - Fire Strike Extreme





Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 3'626 3'743
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 3'564 3'668
     
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 2'699 2'787
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 2'657 2'739
     
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 2'503 2'562
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 2'500 2'559
More is better


Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 3'641 3'798
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 3'568 3'720
     
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 3'346 3'446
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 3'291 3'383
     
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 2'520 2'601
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 2'484 2'560
     
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 2'072 2'103
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 2'044 2'073
     
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 1'456 1'437
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 1'453 1'419
More is better


Graphics Cards Score Graphics Score
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 3'185 3'275
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 3'185 3'274
     
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 1'829 1'810
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 1'784 1'760
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Unigine Heaven 4.0 Extreme Preset





Graphics Cards Score fps
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 1'138 45.2
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 1'113 44.2
     
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 900 35.7
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 886 35.2
     
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 832 33.0
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 832 33.0
More is better


Graphics Cards Score fps
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 1'159 46.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 1'137 45.1
     
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 1'051 41.7
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 1'034 41.1
     
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 839 33.3
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 826 32.8
     
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 694 27.6
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 684 27.2
     
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 574 22.8
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 568 22.5
More is better


Graphics Cards Score fps
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 1'178 46.8
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 1'156 45.9
     
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 622 24.7
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 620 24.6
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

BattleField 3





High Preset, 1920x1080, 4xMSAA, Ultra, SSAO Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 77.2
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 76.6
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 58.4
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 58.2
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 55.0
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 54.0
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 4xMSAA, Ultra, SSAO Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 79.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 78.4
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 72.8
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 71.2
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 56.2
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 54.2
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 45.0
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 44.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 37.4
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 36.6
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 4xMSAA, Ultra, SSAO Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 65.6
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 65.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 36.2
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 35.8
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Borderlands 2





High Preset, 1920x1080, FXAA, no PhsyX, High Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 113.2
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 112.8
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 82.8
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 82.8
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 76.8
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 76.6
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, FXAA, no PhsyX, High Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 115.6
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 115.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 105.2
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 105.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 76.6
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 76.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 66.8
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 66.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 54.8
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 54.6
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, FXAA, no PhsyX, High Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 128.6
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 125.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 75.2
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 75.2
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Bioshock Infinite - Benchmark





Ultra Preset, 1920x1080, AA, no DDOF Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 75.56
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 75.44
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 54.91
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 54.79
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 51.11
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 51.11
More is better


Ultra Preset, 1920x1080, AA, no DDOF Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 77.07
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 76.80
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 70.25
AMD Radeon HD 7970 70.13
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 50.75
AMD Radeon HD 7870 50.55
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 43.24
AMD Radeon HD 7850 43.13
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 34.77
AMD Radeon HD 7790 34.65
More is better


Ultra Preset, 1920x1080, AA, no DDOF Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 78.72
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 78.01
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 43.20
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 43.11
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Crysis 3





High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Very High Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 19.6
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 19.4
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 15.0
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 15.0
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 14.0
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 14.0
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Very High Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 19.8
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 19.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 18.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 18.2
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 14.2
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 14.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 11.8
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 11.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 8.4
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 8.0
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Very High Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 26.8
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 26.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 14.6
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 14.6
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Call of Duty Black Ops 2





High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, High Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 102.8
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 100.6
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 84.6
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 84.4
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 79.0
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 78.8
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, High Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 104.6
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 103.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 95.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 93.2
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 79.2
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 78.4
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 69.6
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 69.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 46.4
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 46.4
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, High Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 127.0
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 126.2
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 68.6
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 68.0
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

DIRT Showdown - Benchmark





High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 80.38
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 76.46
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 67.89
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 64.63
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 62.99
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 62.46
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 83.51
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 79.22
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 75.46
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 71.63
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 65.44
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 62.53
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 52.48
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 50.61
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 45.03
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 43.28
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 80.30
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 79.26
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 44.19
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 44.05
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Far Cry 3





High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 30.2
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 30.0
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 23.8
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 23.8
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 22.0
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 22.0
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 31.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 31.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 28.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 27.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 22.6
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 22.4
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 17.8
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 17.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 13.8
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 10.6
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xMSAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 39.8
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 39.4
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 20.6
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 20.2
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Sleeping Dogs - Benchmark





High Preset, 1920x1080, Extreme, High-Res Textures Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 52.0
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 50.7
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 37.1
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 36.4
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 34.2
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 34.2
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, Extreme, High-Res Textures Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 53.0
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 51.7
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 48.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 47.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 34.4
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 33.8
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 28.1
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 27.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 22.5
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 22.2
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, Extreme, High-Res Textures Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 56.6
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 56.1
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 30.0
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 29.9
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim





High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 106.2
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 106.0
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 90.6
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 90.4
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 83.0
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 82.8
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 110.4
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 110.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 98.6
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 98.6
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 85.4
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 85.2
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 71.2
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 71.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 56.4
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 56.2
More is better


High Preset, 1920x1080, 8xAA, Ultra Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 109.2
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 109.0
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 64.0
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 64.0
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Metro: Last Light - Benchmark





Very High, 1920x1080, SSAA, DX11 Average FPS
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 33.78
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 33.59
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 23.46
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 23.39
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 23.78
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 21.93
More is better


Very High, 1920x1080, SSAA, DX11 Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 33.56
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 33.41
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 30.98
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 30.98
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 21.58
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 21.55
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 18.11
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 18.09
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 14.94
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 14.90
More is better


Very High, 1920x1080, SSAA, DX11 Average FPS
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 27.65
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 27.56
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 17.05
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 16.60
More is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Grand Theft Auto V






Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Power Consumption





Power Consumption Idle* Watts
AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) 13.12 WHQL 49
AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) 13.11 Beta1 48
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) 13.11 Beta1 48
AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) 13.12 WHQL 47
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) 13.11 Beta1 53
AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) 13.12 WHQL 50
*Entire system Less is better


Power Consumption Idle* Watts
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS Matrix P.) 13.11 Beta1 60
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS Matrix P.) 13.12 WHQL 59
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) 13.12 WHQL 48
AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) 13.11 Beta1 47
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) 13.12 WHQL 49
AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) 13.11 Beta1 48
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) 13.12 WHQL 46
AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) 13.11 Beta1 45
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) 13.11 Beta1 45
AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) 13.12 WHQL 42
*Entire system Less is better


Power Consumption Idle* Watts
AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) 13.11 Beta1 80
AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) 13.12 WHQL 72
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) 13.11 Beta1 57
AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) 13.12 WHQL 55
*Entire system Less is better



Power Consumption Load (FurMark)* Watts
AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) 13.12 WHQL 321
AMD Radeon R9 280X (ASUS DC2T) 13.11 Beta1 320
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) 13.12 WHQL 230
AMD Radeon R9 270X (ASUS DC2T) 13.11 Beta1 223
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) 13.12 WHQL 195
AMD Radeon R9 270 (ASUS DC2OC) 13.11 Beta1 194
*Entire system Less is better


Power Consumption Load (FurMark)* Watts
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS Matrix P.) 13.11 Beta1 360
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition (ASUS Matrix P.) 13.12 WHQL 325
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) 13.12 WHQL 329
AMD Radeon HD 7970 (XFX DD - Ref PCB) 13.11 Beta1 323
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) 13.11 Beta1 220
AMD Radeon HD 7870 (ASUS DC2T V2) 13.12 WHQL 219
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) 13.11 Beta1 195
AMD Radeon HD 7850 (ASUS DC2T) 13.12 WHQL 190
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) 13.11 Beta1 152
AMD Radeon HD 7790 (ASUS DC2OC - Ref PCB) 13.12 WHQL 151
*Entire system Less is better


Power Consumption Load (FurMark)* Watts
AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) 13.12 WHQL 500
AMD Radeon HD 6990 (Ref) 13.11 Beta1 481
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) 13.12 WHQL 252
AMD Radeon HD 6970 (Ref) 13.11 Beta1 244
*Entire system Less is better





Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion
[pagebreak]

Conclusion


   
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.12 WHQL 100.82 %
AMD Radeon R9 280X 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
   
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.12 WHQL 100.77 %
AMD Radeon R9 270X 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
   
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.12 WHQL 100.55 %
AMD Radeon R9 270 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
 


   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.12 WHQL 101.06 %
AMD Radeon HD 7970 GHz Edition 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
   
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.12 WHQL 101.21 %
AMD Radeon HD 7970 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
   
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.12 WHQL 100.91 %
AMD Radeon HD 7870 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
   
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.12 WHQL 100.76 %
AMD Radeon HD 7850 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
   
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.12 WHQL 104.36 %
AMD Radeon HD 7790 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
 


   
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
AMD Radeon HD 6990 13.12 WHQL 99.44 %
   
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.11 Beta1 100.00 %
AMD Radeon HD 6970 13.12 WHQL 99.48 %
 


With AMDs latest driver update it is rather interesting to see that theoretical benchmarks benefit by far more from the changes made. To be precise, Catalyst 13.12 WHQL brings an advantage of 4 percent over Catalyst 13.11 Beta1 in the latest 3DMark. In case of games, the performance advantage is roughly 1 percent on average, in case of the cards we've tested.
Performance benefits mainly address AMD Radeon R9 200 as well as HD 7000 Series graphics cards. In case of the HD 6000/5000 cards, performance is going down on average by a tiny little bit. Taking a closer look reveals that there are especially DIRT Showdown and Sleeping Dogs that profit the most from the latest driver. Regarding DIRT the performance goes up by 5 percent and when running Sleeping Dogs we see framerates, that are 2.5 percent higher than with the previous driver, when looking at GCN based cards.
On another note, we were also looking for changes regarding power consumption. With most of the cards the values stayed basically the same and only the HD 6990 as well as the HD 7970 GHz showed significant changes. When looking at the values produced by the HD 6990, power consumption went up 8 Watt in idle and 19 Watts under load conditions. Last but not least things get even more interesting, when we look at the Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition. With 13.11 driver power consumption was at 360 Watts under load. Once we had 13.12 installed this number dropped to 325 Watts. We find this to be rather strange, since there were no changes regarding power consumption at all since quite a long time and now there is a 35 Watts drop and the card still performs like before. This almost seems too good to be true.


Page 1 - Test Setup Page 9 - DIRT Showdown
Page 2 - 3DMark Fire Strike Page 10 - Far Cry 3
Page 3 - Unigine Heaven 4.0 Page 11 - Sleeping Dogs
Page 4 - BattleField 3 Page 12 - The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Page 5 - Borderlands 2 Page 13 - Metro: Last Light
Page 6 - Bioshock Infinite Page 14 - GTA V
Page 7 - Crysis 3 Page 15 - Power Consumption
Page 8 - Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Page 16 - Conclusion