10 tips to improve your personal computer · 10 tips to improve your personal computer tip 1....

10 TIPS TO IMPROVE YOUR PERSONAL COMPUTER

6747 Catalyst TipSheetv9 2/1/05 6:04 PM


‘‘ATI impressed everyone, when they developed theCatalyst drivers.’’– Explosive Reviews

‘‘This is quite possibly the first time that we have beenable to sit down and say we are 100% satisfied with a driver's user-interface - everything is where it should be.’’– Bit Tech.com

‘‘So there you have it. Catalyst Control Centre isprobably the most important driver update releasedby any company to date.’’– driverheaven.net



DO YOU HAVE AN ATI GRAPHICSCARD IN YOUR SYSTEM? Great, that’s a good start. Did you know you can improveyour computer’s overall functionality simply by using thesoftware that came bundled with your ATI graphicscard? ATI’s software suite is called CATALYST™ and thisaward winning software is required to get the mostperformance out of your graphics card. Every update ofCATALYST will make your system run faster and giveyou new features that were not on your system before.

Best of all CATALYST comes free withthe purchase of an ATI graphic card.


Don’t forget to install the CATALYST™ software CD that camebundled with your ATI graphics card.

CATALYST will help speed up your PC and increase overallsystem stability

Checklist:

a. Insert CD in CD ROM tray

b. Follow on screen instructions

CHECKLIST

STEPS

C

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ACTIONBENEFIT

GET STARTED


Visit www.ati.com and ensure you have downloaded and installed the latest version of CATALYST™ for your ATI product.

Your system will always run smoother and faster with the latest version.

Check List Steps:

a. Go TO www.ati.com

b. Check bottom left corner to find the latest version of CATALYST

CHECKLIST

STEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

GO TO ati.com


ATI updates CATALYST™ every month. So come backregularly every month to download the latest version ofCATALYST.

Make sure you visit ati.com and download the latest availablesoftware in order to take advantage of new features likeSMOOTHVISION™, VPU RECOVER™, SMARTGART™,CATALYST AI and OVERDRIVE™.

To see what version of CATALYST you are using follow the steps below:

a. Right click anywhere on your desktop

b. Left click on the ATI CATALYST Control Center option

c. Click on the Help Menu Option

d. Click on Graphics Software Tab

e. Second line has CATALYST Version listed

f. If version listed is older than what is found on ATI.com then update

CHECKLIST

STEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

CHECK FREQUENTLY FOR NEW VERSIONS


CATALYST™ now ships with the brand new CATALYSTControl Center application (available on ati.com) which allowsyou to customize the look and feel of the control center.

This allows you to select your own skin to personalize the wayyou view CATALYST Control Center in order to make yourexperience visually enjoyable.

You can customize the way CATALYST Control Center skin looks by doing the following:



c. Click the Preferences Menu Option

d. Select one of the many available skins in the selection box

e. Click Apply

CHECKLIST

STEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

GET CREATIVE


CATALYST™ permits you to adjust your monitors refresh rate(i.e. the number of times per second the image on yourmonitor gets updated).

Higher refresh rates will cause your eyes less strain so it isrecommended you turn up your refresh rate as high as yourmonitor can handle.

Check List Steps:



c. Click on the View Menu Option

d. Select the Advanced View Option (notice the list of itemsunder Graphics Settings)

e. Select the Displays Manager option under Graphic Settings

f. In the Refresh Rate selection box, pick the highest refreshrate in the list

g. Click Apply

(Note: The step listed above only makes a difference if you areusing a CRT monitor (i.e. the big older monitors))

CHECKLIST

STEPS

C

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ACTIONBENEFIT

MAXIMIZE YOURREFRESH RATES


For the best experience when using 3D applications ensureyou have selected the highest 3D refresh rate possible.

Reduces eye strain when playing 3D games so ensure youhave applied a high refresh rate.

This is how to do this:





e. Select the Display Options section under Graphic Settings

f. In the 3D Refresh Rate Override selection box, pick thehighest refresh rate in the list (or just to keep things simplepick the “same as desktop” option)

g. Click Apply

CHECKLIST

STEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

REFRESH RATEOVERRIDE


Improve your system performance by enabling OVERDRIVE™

and make your ATI graphics card work faster.

This feature monitors the heat of your graphics card and willautomatically increase the speed of your card if it is safe to doso. This allows you to obtain quick overall system response.

CHECKLIST – To enable Overdrive:




d. Select the Advanced View Option (notice the list ofitems under Graphics Settings)

e. Select the OVERDRIVE option under GraphicSettings

f. Ensure that turn on OVERDRIVE is selected

g. Click Apply

Please note: Overdrive is only available in certain models. Youcan tell if your graphic card supports it by seeing if overdrive islisted as an option in stem e below.

CHECKLIST

STEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

PUT YOUR PC INOVERDRIVE:


Another performance enhancing feature is ATI’s CATALYSTArtificial Intelligence (A.I.) feature. This option speeds upcertain games or applications with no user intervention.

Simply turn on CATALYST AI to enjoy even fasterperformance. CATALYST AI will intelligently analyze andoptimize your system performance.

CHECKLIST – Enable CATALYST A.I. by:

a. Right clicking anywhere on your desktop

b. Left clicking on the ATI CATALYST Control Center option



e. Select the 3D option (to expand it) under Graphic Settings

f. Select the CATALYST A.I. option under the 3D heading (all still under Graphic Settings)

g. Ensure that Disable CATALYST A.I. is NOT selected (i.e. doesnot have a checkmark). If it does have a checkmark click onit to activate CATALYST A.I.

h. Optional Step: With the slider below that option you havetwo choices (Standard and Advanced). Select the Advanced(farthest right) option to get highest performance on yourhigh end system

i. Click Apply

CHECKLIST

STEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

CATALYST™ A.I.


Choose your preferred setting on the performance slider. Didyou know that CATALYST™ provides users a simple choice tomake your games run faster or make them look better? There isa simple slider bar with 5 preset options that allows the user tochoose the right level of performance and image quality.

Users with older and slower systems will prefer to set theslider bar to the highest performance setting. On the otherhand users with newer and faster systems will prefer to setthe slider to the high quality setting.

CHECKLIST – Here is how to adjust the setting to your liking:



c. Click on the View Menu Option (the down arrow beside the wordView)

d. Select the Standard View Option (notice the list of items underGraphics Settings)

e. Select the 3D option under the Graphic Settings option

f. You are now presented with a 3D Preview window and a StandardSetting slider underneath it. Take the slider all the way to the leftfor best performance (or all the way to the right for best imagequality)

g. Click ApplyCHECK

LISTSTEPS

C

B

A

ACTIONBENEFIT

PERFORMANCE SLIDER


ATI has an advanced recovery tool called VPU Recover in thecase your system hangs due to a graphics problem. With VPURecover, CATALYST™ intelligently identifies a system that isno longer responding and attempts to recover the system.

Although VPU Recover is usually turned on at CATALYSTinstall time, it may be worthwhile to double check and ensure that this feature is turned on as it will improve yoursystem’s stability.

CHECKLIST – You can check this by going through thefollowing steps:





e. Select the VPU Recover option under Graphic Settings

f. Ensure that Enable VPU Recover is selected

g. Optional Step: If you want ATI to help determine the cause of system crashes also ensure that “Prepare an error report if VPU recover is activated, for submission toATI Technologies” is also checked on

h. Click ApplyCHECK

LISTSTEPS

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ACTIONBENEFIT

SYSTEM STABILITY



Tip

1. Install CATALYST™ from your CD

2. Update CATALYST from www.ati.com

3. Remind yourself to check for updated CATALYST software once a month

4. Change the look of CATALYST to suit your taste

5. Maximize your refresh rate

6. Ensure your refresh rate is being applied to games andapplications

7. Set your card to OVERDRIVE mode

8. Enable CATALYST A.I.

9. Choose your preferred setting on the performance slider

10. Turn on VPU RECOVER

Benefit

CustomizationImproved System StabilityFaster SystemReduced Eye StrainNew Features

Check


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