Far Cry 2 Hotfix
According to AMD the Far Cry 2 Hotfix increases the performance of single and multi GPU systems - our driver review conformed that. In addition to Crossfire support in DX9 the Catalyst update also delivers an increased performance on DX10. The performance of the HD4870 on the other hand is drastically reduced and the problems seem to be complex. We are currently checking back with AMD about that.

The internal serial number (8.541.2-081009a) of the Hotfix indicates that it is based on the Catalyst 8.10 with identical Open-GL and Direct3D parts. The Far Cry 2 Hotfix has been released at the weekend.

Catalyst 8.10 Hotfix for HD 4650, HD 4550 and HD 4350
The "Catalyst 8.10 Hotfix for HD 4650, HD 4550 and HD 4350" has been more or less ignored by the public up to now. Officially the Hotfix is adding support for the named Radeons and AMD doesn't specify any other changes. According to the internal serial number this Hotfix is newer than the Catalyst 8.11 RC1 that recently showed up on the web, but according to the CCC only the Open GL version changes.

Both drivers were running stable during our tests, but the fan control that has been added with the Catalyst 8.10 wasn't working. The option is available and can be activated but the fan keeps running at the same speed as before. We are currently investigating this, too.

Conclusion
Both drivers are about as fast as the Catalyst 8.10 WHQL, only in Assassin's Creed the performance is a little lower. The fan control isn't working with the Far Cry 2 Hotfix or the "Catalyst 8.10 Hotfix for HD 4650, HD 4550 and HD 4350", although the option is available. The Far Cry 2 Hotfix also causes problems between Far Cry 2 and the Radeon HD 4870 on Vista x64.

So if you don't plan to run the Africa shooter on a Crossfire system in DX9, you should stay with the 8.9 WHQL. During our tests Far Cry 2 was running faster with this driver than with the Catalyst 8.10 or the two Hotfixes.

You can find the benchmark results on the next page.