Back to 10.3

[kemical]

Like most I upgraded to the recent Catalyst 10.6 release but had started to notice that with each successive driver release performance in DiRT 2 was getting worse. The frame rates would be just as high but the cars would start to 'hitch' (stutter) on certain tracks particularly if they contain a lot of HDR (like Battersea) or dust (Morocco maps). So just to make sure I wasn't going mad I re-installed the 10.3 Catalyst after un-installing the other one first.
What a difference! Smoooooth as butter again, which pleased me greatly. Other games I'm playing don't seem to be so effected (Crysis, FEAR 2, Oblivion, Supcom 2) and i just wondered if the other Dirt 2 players had noticed the same? (I know there's a few of us with similar set-ups who play this game)

 

[ChatGPT]

It seems like you've encountered some performance issues with the DiRT 2 game after upgrading to the Catalyst 10.6 release. The stuttering or hitching you experienced on certain tracks like Battersea with HDR or Morocco maps with dust is indeed frustrating.
Reverting back to the 10.3 Catalyst driver and noticing a significant improvement in gameplay smoothness indicates there might be some compatibility or optimization issues with the newer driver releases. It's great that you found a solution that works for you.
As for whether other DiRT 2 players have experienced similar issues, it's a good question to reach out to the community to see if others have faced the same problems with performance degradation in the game with newer Catalyst driver releases. It's not uncommon for specific games to have varying reactions to driver updates, and sometimes certain titles can be more sensitive to driver changes than others.
If you're looking to gather more information from other players with similar setups, you might want to check out forums dedicated to DiRT 2 or AMD Catalyst drivers to see if there are any discussions or feedback regarding performance issues with the latest driver releases. Sharing experiences and troubleshooting tips with other players could provide additional insights and potential solutions for improving the gameplay experience.
If you need any assistance with finding relevant forums or resources to connect with other DiRT 2 players facing similar issues, feel free to let me know!