The full release notes are available here or take a look at the highlights below.

The latest version of the AMD Catalyst Software Suite, AMD Catalyst 14.9 is designed to support the following Microsoft Windows platforms:

Highlights of AMD Catalyst 14.9 Windows Driver

  • Support for the AMD Radeon R9 280
  • Performance improvements (comparing AMD Catalyst 14.9 vs. AMD Catalyst 14.4)
    • 3DMark Sky Diver improvements
      • AMD A4 6300 – improves up to 4%
      • Enables AMD Dual Graphics / AMD CrossFire support
    • 3DMark Fire Strike
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series – improves up to 5% in Performance Preset
    • 3DMark11
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series / R9 270 Series – improves up to 4% in Entry and Performance Preset
    • BioShock Infinite
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series – 1920×1080 – improves up to 5%
    • Company of Heroes 2
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series – improves up to 8%
    • Crysis 3
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series / R9 270 Series – improves up to 10%
    • Grid Auto Sport
      • AMD CrossFire profile
    • Murdered Soul Suspect
      • AMD Radeon R9 290X (2560×1440, 4x MSAA, 16x AF) – improves up to 50%
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series / R9 270 Series – improves up to 6%
      • CrossFire configurations improve scaling up to 75%
    • Plants vs. Zombies (Direct3D performance improvements)
      • AMD Radeon R9 290X – 1920×1080 Ultra – improves up to 11%
      • AMD Radeon R9290X – 2560×1600 Ultra – improves up to 15%
      • AMD Radeon R9290X CrossFire configuration (3840×2160 Ultra) – 92% scaling
    • Batman Arkham Origins:
      • AMD Radeon R9 290X (4x MSAA) – improves up to 20%
      • CrossFire configurations see up to a 70% gain in scaling
    • Wildstar
      • Power Xpress profile Performance improvements to improve smoothness of application
      • Performance improves up to 30% on the AMD Radeon R9 and R7 Series of products for both single GPU and Multi-GPU configurations
    • Tomb Raider
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series – improves up to 5%
    • Watch Dogs
      • AMD Radeon R9 290 Series / R9 270 Series – improves up to 9%
      • AMD CrossFire – Frame pacing improvement
      • Improved CrossFire performance – up to 20%
    • Assassin's Creed IV
      • Improves CrossFire scaling (3840×2160 High Settings) up to 93% (CrossFire scaling improvement of 25% compared to AMD Catalyst 14.4)
    • Lichdom
      • Improves performance for single GPU and Multi-GPU configurations
    • Star Craft II
      • AMD Radeon R9 290X (2560×1440, AA, 16x AF) – improves up to 20%

AMD Eyefinity enhancements

  • Mixed Resolution Support
    • A new architecture providing brand new capabilities
    • Display groups can be created with monitors of different resolution (including difference sizes and shapes)
    • Users have a choice of how surface is created over the display group
      • Fill – legacy mode, best for identical monitors
      • Fit – create the Eyefinity surface using best available rectangular area with attached displays
      • Expand – create a virtual Eyefinity surface using desktops as viewports onto the surface
    • Eyefinity Display Alignment
      • Enables control over alignment between adjacent monitors
      • One-Click Setup Driver detects layout of extended desktop
      • Can create Eyefinity display group using this layout in one click!
      • New user controls for video color and display settings
      • Greater control over Video Color Management:
        • Controls have been expanded from a single slider for controlling Boost and Hue to per color axis
        • Color depth control for Digital Flat Panels (available on supported HDMI and DP displays)
        • Allows users to select different color depths per resolution and display

AMD Mantle enhancements

  • Mantle now supports AMD Mobile products with Enduro technology
    • Battlefield 4: AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1366×768; high settings) – 21% gain
    • Thief: AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1920×1080; high settings) – 14% gain
    • Star Swarm: AMD Radeon HD 8970M (1920×1080; medium settings) – 274% gain
  • Enables support for Multi-GPU configurations with Thief (requires the latest Thief update)
  • AMD AM1 JPEG decoding acceleration
    • JPEG decoding acceleration was first enabled on the A10 APU Series in AMD Catalyst 14.1 beta, and has now been extended to the AMD AM1 Platform
    • Provides fast JPEG decompression Provides Power Efficiency for JPEG decompression

Resolved Issues

  • 60Hz SST flickering has been identified as an issue with non-standard display timings exhibited by the AOC U2868PQU panel on certain AMD Radeon graphics cards. A software workaround has been implemented in the AMD Catalyst 14.9 driver to resolve the display timing issues with this display
  • Users seeing flickering issues in 60Hz SST mode are further encouraged to obtain newer display firmware from their monitor vendor that will resolve flickering at its origin.
  • Users are additionally advised to utilize DisplayPort-certified cables to ensure the integrity of the DisplayPort data connection.
  • 4K panel flickering issues found on the AMD Radeon R9 290 Series and AMD Radeon HD 7800
  • Series Screen tearing observed on AMD CrossFire systems with Eyefinity portrait display configurations
  • Instability issues for Grid Autosport when running in 2×1 or 1×2 Eyefinity configurations
  • Geometry corruption in State of Decay