Using the ATI Catalyst Control Center

The ATI Catalyst Control Center is a complete graphical configuration utility provided by GPU manufacturing giant, ATI. There are a lot of configuration settings that you can work with in the CCC if you are an advanced user, that give you a high level of control over your GPU, Bus speeds, Fan speed, and more. For novice users, however, it provides a simple yet effective wizard which can be used to customize display settings quickly and easily.

If you use an ATI GPU in your computer, then the ATI Catalyst Control Center software likely came on a drivers disk. If you don't have it, you can download the CCC here. In this article we'll discuss how to install the ATI Catalyst Control Center and how to use the wizard to setup your custom graphical display settings.

If you don't already have the ATI Catalyst Control Center disk for your video card, then you're going to need to download it. At the bottom of the page linked above will be a Download link. This will lead you to a page to select which version you need. You are going to need to know your Operating System and version, ie: Windows XP 32-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, etc. You are also going to need to know which series your ATI graphics card is in, like 3800, 4800, etc. You can find out our your operating system version by right-clicking My Computer and selecting Properties. To find out your graphics card series, go to "Run.." (Window Key + R is the shortcut) and type in "dxdiag". Go to the Display tab and your graphics card series will be displayed in the first line, ie: Radeon HD 4800 Series.

Once you have selected the right operating system and graphics card series, you will be led to a page to download the ATI CCC. Click "Download" next to Catalyst Software Suite. It should take less than one minute to download over a high speed connection. Once it has finished downloading, run the installer.

On the first screen, Catalyst: Installation Options, click Next. Select the installation location and click Install. When the ATI Software dialog box pops up, click Next. Click Yes on the License Agreement. Select the Express: Recommended installation option. Reboot your computer when prompted to do so.

Once your computer is back up, it is time to configure your graphics settings!

1. Launch the ATI Catalyst Control Center

2. Select Basic [Easy Setup Wizards and Quick Settings]

3. Click "Go"

4. Select your desktop resolution preference then click "Finish"

5. You'll be returned to the Basic settings page. This time, click the "Quick Settings" tab. You'll have options here: 3D Quality, Video Playback, and Display Setup. Choose one and click "Go". Upon finishing settings for each, you'll be returned to this same menu. Once you are finished, click Exit.

If you do not see a setting you're looking for, or if you want to try your hand at ATI Catalyst Control Center advanced settings, read on to the next article.