Amd radeon settings won't start. AMD Catalyst Control Center: installation and configuration

Any video card, even the most powerful and modern, requires a suitable driver or special utility For additional settings. Radeon video adapters, discrete or integrated, perform much better and provide higher frame rates once installed on the computer control center AMD Catalyst Control Center(CCC), first released in 2007. This product is intended for fine tuning characteristics graphic cards American brand Advanced Micro Devices.

The CCC utility, which has been included with drivers for more than 10 years Radeon video cards, may in the future replace the Software Crimson software package from the same manufacturer. However, today it still needs to be installed on a desktop PC or laptop with AMD graphics.

Every year, the functionality of the utility is improved, increasing the ability to properly allocate resources and the performance of graphics cards, which continue to successfully compete with Nvidia models.

Catalyst Control Center features include:

• 3D graphics optimization to improve image quality in most games;
• integration with social networks, improving the performance of widgets and gaming applications built into these resources;
• frame smoothing necessary for use in games;
• Laptop power management to reduce power consumption mobile computers when operating on battery power;
• setting the optimal level of contrast and picture detail is a function that is useful not only for games, but also when working with graphic editors and watching movies in high definition;
• simultaneous setup several screens connected to the video card (computer displays or TVs);
• update software for video adapters, in most cases automatic.

The advantages of using AMD CCC include low requirements for computer resources, a built-in game manager and the possibility of hardware acceleration of video cards.

Control Center works on both modern high-end PCs and legacy devices, allowing you to speed up graphics and add a few frames per second to your gameplay. Using the same utility, you can adjust the frame rate manually.

AMD Catalyst Control Center: Setup for Gaming

Playing using the CCC control center is more convenient and easier, and the process of setting up games takes no more than a few minutes. And the only problem typical for laptops with both integrated and discrete graphics installed occurs when there are no video card settings in the utility menu and there is no option to optimize the image.

The issue is resolved by switching from one graphics adapter to another - through the BIOS, using the Catalyst Control Center, or by selecting the appropriate GPU, which is offered to the laptop user when changing the power source.

When deciding on the video card settings for a game, you should decide whether changes need to be made. If the frame rate during gameplay is high enough and there are no graphical problems, it is recommended to leave the control center set to default. If you need to increase the fps level, you should do the following:

1. Open AMD Catalyst Control Center.
2. Select the game tab in the left column.
3. Click on the “Add” button located in the application settings section.
4. Find in the list executable file games (has the extension .exe and is designated as “Application” in Windows) and click “OK”.

The utility automatically analyzes game settings and optimizes the built-in or discrete graphics. Thanks to this, the video card not only works faster, but also wears out less during operation.

When manually setting graphics, the user has the opportunity to independently select the maximum image quality, high speed game performance or standard settings that suggest a compromise between fps and resolution.

How to Launch AMD Catalyst Control Center

Special attention The control center requires the first time you start it. Before opening the AMD Catalyst Control Center, the user selects a configuration mode:

• basic, which sets the default video card parameters and allows you to further configure the resolution, quality and number of connected image output devices;
• extended, providing manual setting most graphics characteristics.

If there is no need to change the video card parameters, it is recommended to select normal mode. An experienced user who is planning to optimize the performance of games should give preference to the second option.

If a problem arises that AMD Catalyst Control Center does not open, just update the drivers by first removing the old ones.

How to Update AMD Catalyst Control Center

To update the control center, the user will need to do almost the same steps as when installing new drivers for any other computer component. You can get the new version of the utility along with control programs for the graphics adapter on the company’s official website.

Where to download AMD Catalyst Control Center

The only one the right option When downloading the CCC control center, go to the official website of the video card manufacturer AMD. After switching to home page The computer owner must open the “Download AMD Drivers & Software” software tab.

After that, on the right half of the page you can see a menu for manually selecting an AMD video card and find the appropriate series and model. The last item “Select the supported operating system that you have” allows you to select one of the operating systems supported by the card:

• for older video adapters this will be Windows XP and Unix platforms;
• for video cards of later years of release - Windows 7 and 8;
• for the latest desktop models - only Windows 10.

Having chosen the appropriate option, you should download this version and run the installation on your computer. It is not advisable to use third-party sites for downloading. The result may not only be the installation of outdated software, but also an increased risk of infection of the system with viruses.

How to Install AMD Catalyst Control Center

Installation of the control center is carried out in three ways:

1. Go to the official website of the manufacturer and select suitable model video cards. After downloading the installation file, it is installed on your computer.
2. By choice automatic detection video adapter models on the same site.
3. Using utilities for automatic update Drivers Pack Solution type drivers.

AMD Catalyst does not start: what to do?

Problems encountered during installation and startup software package, are often associated with incorrectly selected system bit depth. Correct operation of the program is only possible if the version downloaded from the manufacturer’s resource matches the Windows bitmap. For example, for 32-bit Windows, an installation error for the AMD Catalyst package occurs when trying to install the control center for a 64-bit platform.

The utility does not start even if there are problems with version compatibility. Therefore, if you cannot start AMD Catalyst Control Center, you should remove the already installed software for the video adapter.

How to completely remove AMD Catalyst Control Center

One way to solve the problem with the control center starting is to completely remove AMD CCC from the computer. To do this, the user must do the following:

1. Open the control panel.
2. Select Programs and Features (or Add or Remove Programs for Windows XP).
3. Find the utility to be removed in the list that opens and select its removal.

When the program is completely removed from the computer, you should restart the system. Now the PC (or laptop) is ready for installation new version control center.

Best Setting for Gaming: Video

In contact with

Catalyst Control Center is software released by AMD that is designed to manage and configure video cards (AMD brand only). This software is a single control center that does not require additional programs work, and includes everything necessary tools.
The Catalyst Control Center program allows you to fine-tune the video card's operating parameters and monitors driver updates, which it downloads and installs automatically from the official AMD website. If you own an AMD video card, then you just need to download this program to properly configure and increase the performance of your video card for comfortable work.

Unfortunately, this software is no longer released and supported. In December 2014, AMD released major update Catalyst Omega drivers, and after almost a year decided to permanently abandon the previous brand, which it had used for thirteen years. Thus, the Catalyst Control Center program is no longer supported as of 2015, and was replaced by new Radeon Software Crimson Edition, which is relevant to this day and has a set of the most latest drivers with more advanced functionality.

Many people continue to use Catalyst Control Center to configure their video cards, as this program is very simple and clear interface with all the necessary tools.

Main functionality:

• Performance tuning.
• Desktop management.
• Performance settings for working and watching videos.
• Configuring switching between two GPUs.
• Gaming performance tuning.
• Video card power management.
• Driver update.
• Notification about innovations in updated drivers.
• General information about the video card.
• CPU frequency control.
• Control and configuration of more than one monitor.

Because of constant update drivers for their video cards, AMD needed to adjust the parameters of their video card for optimal and maximum performance with different programs and games, this is exactly what you need the Catalyst Control Center program for.

This software can help you even if you have a fairly old video card, the program will help you properly configure the video card and achieve optimal performance with programs and slightly increase FPS in games.

This application independently monitors all changes in updated video card drivers and notifies the user about this.

Catalyst Control Center will also help you connect and configure 2 or more monitors to one or more video cards.

You may have encountered that the monitor is dim and does not convey colors and contrast very well, with the help of this program you can adjust these parameters yourself bypassing standard settings monitor.

Having understood the full meaning and functionality of the Catalyst Control Center program, you can clearly understand that if you own a computer or laptop built on the basis AMD platforms, you just need to install this application to use it to configure and control your computer or video card.

Installation

First, we need to download this software from the official website, for this follow the link:

https://support.amd.com/en-us/kb-articles/Pages/latest-catalyst-windows-beta.aspx#

In the window that opens, click on the link that corresponds to the version and bitness of your operating system, after which the download will occur installation package. This software is suitable for operating rooms Windows systems 7/8/8.1/10 with bit depth X64 and x32.

After you have downloaded Catalyst Control Center, launch the installer and go through all the installation steps; when selecting the installation type, select “ Quick installation", with this option, the installer will check whether the drivers for your video card are installed and install the Catalyst Control Center software itself.

After the installation is complete, restart the computer and launch the program.

When you first launch the program, it can take quite a long time to launch, so we must be patient and wait.

This completes the installation of the Catalyst Control Center software.

Checking for video card driver updates

Catalyst Control Center independently monitors driver updates for your video card. In order to check the update and driver version, go to the “Information” menu and select “Software Update”.

In the tab that opens, click “Check for updates.” If updated drivers are detected, a window will appear asking you to download from, click the “Download Now” button and the program will automatically download and install them.

Tune performance to your requirements

The first thing you need to do when you first start it is change the standard window view to an expanded one. This can be done in the "Options" menu, which is located on the right top corner. In the drop-down menu, select the “Advanced View” option.

This way, all the configuration tools in this program will become available to us.

It is worth remembering that if you are using a computer that is completely built on the AMD platform, then you must have 2 graphics cores, built-in (built-in video core in the processor) and discrete (video card). In this case, when configuring the system through the Catalyst Control Center program, parameters marked “Energy Saving” will apply to the video core built into the processor, and all parameters marked “High Performance” will apply to the discrete video card that is connected to PCI connector express.

Settings for viewing videos and photos

In order to configure the operation and color rendering of your video card when watching movies, you need to open the “Video” section and go to the “Color (energy-saving graphics adapters)” tab, check the settings in the “Custom” section.

After that, use the tools to adjust the picture to the parameters that you like best.

Next, in the “Video” menu, select the next tab “Quality (energy-saving graphics adapters).” In this window, we remove all checkboxes from all items except “Deinterlacing”, so as not to overload the GPU and increase the number of FPS when watching high-quality 2K and 4K video.

The next step in setting up video and photo viewing options is the “AMD Steady Video” section in the “Video” menu. This function allows you to stabilize shaky video that was filmed while moving. This option will reduce the degree of video jitter for comfortable viewing, but it will also put an extra load on the graphics adapter, so I advise you to deactivate this option if your video card is low-power.

As for the “Color (High-Performance Graphics Adapters)” and “Quality (High-Performance Graphics Adapters)” sections, we set the parameters in the same way.
And at the end of setting the parameters for viewing videos and photos, in the “Accelerated video conversion” section, check the box “Enable hardware acceleration" This option will allow you to relieve the graphics processor when playing high-format videos, or when editing and creating videos using special programs.

Setting up for games

In order to adjust the performance of your video card in games, you need to go to the “Games” menu and adjust the 3D graphics settings in applications one by one. To do this, we need to open the sections “3D Application Settings (Energy-Saving Graphics Adapters)” and “3D Application Settings (High-Performance Graphics Adapters)”, in fact, in these sections we configure the graphics in games for different models video cards

It is worth noting the section “ AMD Radeon Dual Graphics", this option was developed by AMD specialists and, provided that your computer is based on the AMD platform, allows you to enable multiple graphics processors for collaboration to improve graphics quality and performance. I advise you to enable this function, as it significantly increases the performance of the video card in games and applications that require accelerated graphic processing.

System Performance Tuning

In order to adjust the performance of the entire system, we need to open the “Performance” menu and select “CPU Power”. If you are using a computer, then set the processor frequency to the maximum value. If you are the owner of an AMD-based laptop, then you should approach this setting more subtly, since we will have 2 options for adjusting the processor frequency.

• From battery. This parameter should be configured taking into account that when setting the maximum parameter, the battery discharge rate will increase, since the processor will consume more electricity. Therefore, if you want to extend the battery life of your laptop, do not set it to the maximum value.
• Connected. This parameter can be set to its maximum value to increase performance central processor, if your laptop is connected to the network and does not use battery resources.

Switching between these modes occurs automatically. Please note that the processor temperature may increase with these settings.

As for the “AMD OverDrive” item, this parameter allows the Catalyst Control Center program to independently examine all overclocking options for your central processor and accept the most suitable ones to increase performance. Also, in some versions of AMD OverDrive drivers, you can control the rotation speed of video card or laptop coolers. I advise you to disable this option and manually configure these parameters in the “CPU Power” section described above.

Power Settings

In this section, you can fine-tune the power settings for laptops, namely power consumption when using the laptop from the network or from the battery. If you are the owner of a computer, then I advise you to set such parameters as “PowerPlay”, “Global parameters of switchable graphics” to “ Maximum performance" When choosing such parameters, the system will not save energy.

If you have discrete and integrated graphics from the same AMD brand, then when you use the “Maximum Performance” setting, the system will always play graphics from the discrete video card. If you select another option, then the system will switch between two video cards to save power, which can have a bad effect on gaming performance, but will increase battery life.

Let’s take a closer look at the “Switchable graphics settings” item. In this section, you can configure specific performance and usage settings for the desired graphics core separately for each installed application on your computer. Thus for games or applications that play videos high resolution, you can set “high-performance” parameters, and for applications that do not require good graphics processing, and in order not to unnecessarily load the system, you can set the “Energy Saving” parameter, which will tell the system to use the built-in video chip for these applications.

When using the Application Monitor function, which is located in the Switchable Application Monitor graphics adapters", you can install automatic switching graphics adapters between applications.

We looked at the parameters in which it is possible to adjust the performance of your video card to maximum value. As for the remaining sections, this will be briefly described below, since their settings will not affect system performance.

Reasons and solution for Catalyst Control Center not starting

There may be several reasons why Catalyst Control Center stopped starting. Let's look at common causes and methods for solving them.

Outdated drivers. One of the reasons that the program stopped starting may be outdated drivers, as a result of which a conflict occurs between the Catalyst Control Center and the video card drivers and startup cannot be carried out. The solution to this problem may be to update the drivers; to do this, go to the official AMD website and install latest version drivers for your video card.

Incompatibility. The same reason that startup does not occur may be incorrect installed version Catalyst Control Center software.
The solution to this problem is to remove and install the correct software that is suitable for your operating system. To do this, check the bitness and version of your Windows OS, then go to the official website and download the version that suits you.

Antivirus programs. The reason could also be that Catalyst Control Center is blocked by antivirus programs.
The solution to this problem may be to temporarily disable your antivirus program or add Catalyst Control Center to the exclusion list.

Damage to program files. Perhaps you mistakenly deleted some files in the Catalyst Control Center program directory, or perhaps it did it for you antivirus program. Also, do not reject the option that hard sector disks were damaged.

The solution for this reason could be complete removal and reinstalling software.

If the startup problem could not be resolved and the error “Cannot start AMD Catalyst Control Center in currently" remains, then you should update all drivers in your Windows OS.

How to remove this software

For uninstall AMD Catalyst Control Center is worth using standard means Windows.
To do this, open the control panel. To open the control panel, press the Win+R key combination and in the “Run” line that opens, enter the “control” command.

In the control panel window that opens, click on “Uninstall a program.”

Find the Catalyst Control Center program and click on it right click mouse and select “Change” from the drop-down menu.

In the installation wizard that opens, select “ Quick removal ALL AMD software components" and click next.

We wait for the removal to complete, after which we restart the computer.

Conclusion

After reading this article, you have become familiar with AMD software, the AMD Catalyst Control Center. With this program, you can make the most effective settings for your video card to improve performance in games or when watching high-format videos and movies. A big plus this program is the ability to configure the system using more than one GPU.

As of today, AMD Catalyst Control Center is no longer supported by AMD since it was released new program Radeon Software Crimson Edition, which includes new features and customization tools. But even after this, many continue to use it, since it has a very convenient and intuitive interface with a set of all the necessary tools.

If you are the owner of an old AMD video card and want to run applications that require high graphics processing, then you should resort to adjusting the video card parameters through the AMD Catalyst Control Center to improve performance.

Instructions

This program is included with the video card. But quite often there are older versions of it on the disk. Therefore, it is better to download the latest version from the Internet. There are two download options - from the developer’s website, that is, from the AMD/ATI website, or from the website of the manufacturer of your video card. It is better to download from the manufacturer’s website, since there the Control Center is adapted specifically for your video card model, and the driver from the AMD/ATI website is more universal.

Also, to install Control Center you will need additional software, without which the application will not work correctly, namely Microsoft application. NET Framework 4.0. Download it and install it on your computer.

After you install Microsoft. NET Framework, you can install Catalyst Control Center itself directly. As a rule, the program is downloaded in an archive. Unzip it to any folder. After unzipping, in the Control Center root folder, open the bin folder. Next, double-click on the InstallManagerApp file with the left mouse button, and the installation process will take place automatically. All you need to do is check “Full” at the time of installation. Then restart your computer, after which the program will be ready to work.

To launch the program, right-click on an empty area of ​​the desktop. In the appeared context menu select Catalyst Control Center. After the first launch, the basic program window will appear. Check "Advanced" and proceed further. A new window will open in which you can select the section with the parameters you need and configure them.

If, when you right-click on the desktop, the Control Center line does not appear in the context menu, then most likely the program has not been integrated into this menu. In this case, you can run it in the usual way. To do this, click “Start”, then “All Programs”. Find Control Center in the list of programs and launch it.

Each computer device, for example, sound card, keyboard, printer, etc. have your own driver. If it is disabled, the device will not work. Launch driver can be done from the Task Manager.

Instructions

In the window that opens, right-click on empty space, in the menu that appears, select “Properties”. The “System” window will open in front of you.

The operating system will display a window asking whether to open the Task Manager, click “Ok”. At this point, you may be required to enter an administrator password.

Video on the topic

The most convenient and quick way To access an application is to launch the program from the desktop. There is no need to open drives or folders. All you need is just double click left mouse button, and the program you selected will be launched.

Instructions

First, you need to open the system disk of your hard drive. System disk- this is the one on which the operating system is installed (drive C by default). If you open it for the first time and are using Windows XP, a notification will appear that the disk contains files necessary for the operation of the operating system, the contents of which cannot be changed. In fact, it’s okay, because no one will experiment with system files. On Windows 7 and Vista, the notification will not appear.

On this drive you need to find the Program Files folder. It is in this directory that all programs are installed by default. Open it and you will see the program root folders. In this list, find the folder with the name of the application you want to launch from your desktop.

News has appeared on the AMD website about the release of Radeon Software Crimson Edition 15.11.1 Update. Many users have replaced work program Catalyst Control Center for a new product, in the hope of getting a more effective graphics card control panel. However, most users encountered the error: “The program has stopped working Radeon Setting: Host Application".

What to do in this case and how to fix the problem?

Solving the problem

In order for the program to work correctly, before installing Radeon Software Crimson Edition, you should completely remove the drivers for the video card and the Catalyst Control Center software. To do this, you can use the utility Display Driver Uninstaller and clean up using Revo Installer. We also recommend installing Microsoft.NET Framework versions 4.5.1.

After removing and updating the frameworks, we launch Radeon installation Software Crimson Edition. Selecting the components needed for correct operation video cards.

If the installation is successful, the system will ask you to restart the PC. Select "Restart now".

After the reboot, launch the program and look at the menu. Instead of three sections, there are now five: Games, Video, System, Display and Eyefinity.

If you go to the “Games” tab, you can see the already installed entertainment. You can also add a new game.

To adjust game playback, graphics, frame rate, etc., click on the game icon. A simple and intuitive interface will appear.

We select settings in accordance with the power of our video card and the capabilities of the game.

If you switch from the “Global settings” mode to “ Setting One Drive", then you can customize overclocking for a specific game.

Thus, if you want the “Working has stopped” error to go away, Radeon programs Setting: Host Application", you should install the program correctly. However, in some testing, some users this method did not help. The AMD website reported that in the next update all program defects will be eliminated.

Whatever technical characteristics and the video card installed in the PC or laptop did not have the power, its performance and demonstrated performance indicators directly depend on one of the most important software components of any system -. For graphics adapters manufactured by Advanced Micro Devices Inc, the most correct and effective method To solve all issues with drivers is to use .

Download and update AMD drivers via Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition

Actually, keeping video adapter drivers up to date is the primary task assigned to software package AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition by developers.

Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition— the name of the software that replaced it Radeon Software Crimson. This is the same application, but different generations. The Crimson driver is no longer relevant!

Automatic installation

The simplest and the right way get fresh driver for an AMD video card is to install the manufacturer's proprietary software into the system. AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition contains the necessary components of the latest version at the time of download from the official website, so in order for the current graphics adapter driver to be installed, just follow a few simple steps.

1. Download from the site technical support Advanced Micro Devices installer Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition by selecting the type and model line of the GPU on which the video card is based in the drop-down lists.

   

   Find your version and bitness of the operating system and expand the tab to the plus sign.

   In the list of suggested software, find Radeon Software, click "Download". In some cases, there are 2 such files - based on the application revision number and release date. More new driver may be unstable on some PCs, for this reason the service offers a previous version that you can roll back to if problems arise.



2. Let's launch the installer. It will immediately begin automatically scanning your system hardware components for the presence of an AMD GPU-based video card.



3. After identifying the video card, if there are no necessary normal operation components

   

   or the possibility of updating them, a corresponding message will be displayed.



4. Press the button "Express installation" and watch the installation process of all necessary components.



During the installation of Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition, the screen may go dark several times. Don't worry - this is how the graphics adapter is initialized with the new driver.

5. The final stage of installing AMD Radeon Adrenalin Edition, and therefore all the necessary components for the graphics adapter to work, is to reboot the system. Press the button "Reboot Now".



6. After the reboot we get a video card with installed driver newest version.

Driver Update

Over time, any software becomes outdated and requires updating. With AMD Radeon Software Crimson, updating the system components necessary for the proper functioning of the graphics adapter is very simple, because the developers have provided all the options.

Reinstalling the AMD driver, rolling back the version

If there is a need to reinstall AMD video card drivers and remove all previously installed components and cleaning the system from data accumulated during the operation of Radeon Software Adrenalin Edition, you will need the application installer. Alternatively, by following the steps below, you can return to previous version drivers, if the updated one does not work correctly. There is no need to remove already installed software and drivers before reinstalling! The installer will do this automatically.

Thus, we can state that all issues with drivers of modern AMD video cards are quite easily resolved using the manufacturer’s proprietary software. The processes of installing, updating and reinstalling Advanced Micro Devices graphics adapter drivers are almost completely automated, which gives the user the opportunity not to waste time and effort searching for the right solution.