Unveiling the Catalyst to ATI advanced mobility features

New notebooks will support the launch of ATI's Catalyst Mobility software suite

Leading specialist PC builders Alienware, Eurocom, Mitac, Rock Direct and Voodoo PC are among the first to announce that their new notebooks will support the launch of ATI’s Catalyst Mobility software suite.

Catalyst Mobility has been introduced by the graphics card vendor to give notebook users the same performance enhancements and driver updates currently only available to PC users. Drivers and added features for desktop PC graphics cards are updated regularly and can result in improvements in performance and reliability.

The company admitted that power notebook users have been unable to upgrade their mobile graphics drivers at the same pace. The initial release of Catalyst Mobility will support notebooks using the Radeon X700 and Mobility Radeon X800 graphics chips, but ATI has promised support for more products in the coming months.

“The market for gaming notebooks enjoys strong growth with users demanding performance and features that rival today’s high-end desktop PCs,” said Patrick Cooper, director of product management at Alienware.

“Catalyst Mobility provides Alienware notebooks with an important tool to ensure that gamers can enjoy the latest games and applications with optimal performance,” he added.

Catalyst Mobility will be based around the latest Catalyst 5.6 software suite, which now supports real-time video preview with on-the-fly adjustments, monthly software upgrades for notebooks and plug-and-play High Definition TV support. “With the launch of Catalyst 5.6, we take software innovation to the next level, broadening our footprint to support notebook PCs and defining a new standard for video control and usability,” said Ben Bar-Haim, vice president of software at ATI.

Catalyst 5.6 includes All-in-Wonder support for the Windows Media Center Edition 2005 operating system and a new Linux installer to make installation and updating easier.