Laptops known to run FlightGear

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Revision as of 09:50, 6 October 2011 by Gijs (talk | contribs)
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This page is intended to provide a reference for those looking to buy a notebook for running FlightGear. Unlike a desktop system, where you can just plug in a NVidia card and expect things to work, laptops often don't have good OpenGL support.

The frame-rate quoted below is for the C172P at KSFO with the default options. E.g. no command-line arguments, options selected in the launcher or .fgfsrc file. However, as most people don't run at 800x600, there is also an entry to record the typical frame-rates you see and your typical graphics settings.

If not on the list

If you went ahead and bought a notebook or laptop without consulting this, or did not have a chance, you might find that airplanes are missing texture shapes. This is due to the graphics card, GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) or driver/software not supporting and drawing certain faces/textures/sides of the model. You can try adjusting notebook and FlightGear settings to maximize performance even with notebook/slower graphics cards (see Settings for slower graphics cards).

FlightGear 2.4.0 systems

Manufacturer Model CPU RAM GPU OS fps Comments
Acer Aspire 5750G Intel Core i5-2410M 4 GB Geforce GT 540M Windows 7 (64-bit) 60
Dell Studio 1555 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 4 GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 512MB Ubuntu 11.04 (Natty) 10 FlightGear 2.2 from git [commit 65607d4a7b8576905bb08f68a506aa87db258368] @1440x900: 10fps (driver xorg-radeon from git [commit 903e90c31cf0319be9297529aa7b8daa1756cf63] with "mid" profile) with maximum details.
Lenovo Y550 Intel Core 2 Duo T6400 4 GB GeForce GT 240M Freebsd 8 ,ubuntu 90
Lenovo T400 Intel Core 2 Duo 4 GB ATI Radeon Ubuntu 11.10 (Dev) 40

FlightGear 2.0.0 systems

Manufacturer Model CPU RAM GPU OS fps Comments
Dell Alienware M15x Intel Core i7 Q720 (8 core) 4 GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) 56 Fullscreen (1920x1080) : 60fps, 30fps @KSFO with lots of traffic.
Sony VPCCW13FX Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 (2 core) 4 GB nVidia GeForce G210M Windows 7 Home Premium 50+ Default settings.
HP Pavilion dv6500 Intel Core 2 Duo T7250 2GHz 2 GB nVIDIA GeForce 8400M GS Vista Home Premium 32-bit SP2 30fps+ @ KSFO 28R with shaders on, in the rain.
Dell Precision M4400 Intel Core2 Extreme X9100 3.1Ghz 4 GB NVIDIA Quatro FX 770M Vista Business 64-bit SP2 20+fps @ KSFO 28R (frame rate throttled to 20).
Toshiba Satellite A500-18T Intel Core2 Duo P7450 2.13Ghz 4 GB NVIDIA Geforce GT 230M GNU/Linux Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 64 bits 30+fps @ KSFO 28R, shaders on.
Acer Aspire 9420 Intel Core 2 Duo Processor T5500 (1,66Ghz/2M) 1 GB NVIDIA Geforce Go 7300 Vista Ultimate 32-bit SP2 25+fps @ KSFO 28R (shaders on).
Acer Aspire 4530-6823 AMD Athlon 64 X2 QL-62 2.0 GHz 3 GB NVIDIA GeForce 9100M G Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit, Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 64-bit 10-15+fps (Win), 20-25+ (Ubuntu) Frame rate is significantly better at high altitudes, sometimes breaking 40+ FPS
System76 Pangolin Performance PanP7 Intel Core i5 520M 2.4 GHz 2GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD4570 Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) 64-bit 40+fps Tested only at native resolution(1366x768). Flightgear was self-compiled (build-script). Bonobo Performance Laptop has identical hardware. Similar Performance Expected.
ASUS U30X-A5 Intel Core 2 Duo U7300 1.3 GHz 4GB Intel Graphics 4500MHD (integrated) Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 10+fps Frame rate best at high altitudes over unpopulated areas.
APPLE MacBook Pro 15 Intel Core i5 2.4 GHz 4GB NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M 256 MB Mac OS X 10.6.6 33 fps Windowed 1440x900

System for FlightGear 1.9.1

system 1d

  • same system as below, updated FlightGear 1.9.1 from [1]
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): 17 in 800x600x32 window, but once the plane starts moving (applied some throttle), even slightly, rises to 19-20 as before. Stays there even after applying break and throttle down; 16-17 in 1280x800x32 full screen, also raises to stable 18 after moving/stopping
  • other relevant comments:
    • It seems that the FPS measure is unstable again, and needs some "warming up"

System for FlightGear 1.9.0

system 1d

  • Type: Laptop
    • manufacturer: Apple
    • make/model: MacBook 3.1
  • specs
    • cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz (T7300)
    • ram: 2GiB
    • opengl: 1.2 APPLE-1.5.36 on Intel GMA X3100
    • sound: on, build-in
  • required drivers, updates/upgrades (firmware/BIOS): stock configuration, plus rolling updates to OSX 10.5.6
  • supported OS (Win32, Linux, MacOS) & version: OSX 10.5.6
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): 19-20 in 800x600x32 window, 18-19 in 1280x800x32 full screen
  • possible optimization settings:
  • other relevant comments:
    • Same configuration as below, but with the updated OSX. It seems that driver revision 1.5.36 has some optimizations.
    • Using FlightGear 1.9.0 pre-compiled binaries from FlightGear for Mac OS X
    • Rendering options:
      • Show frame rate On
      • Show chat messages On
      • Sun/Moon horizon effect off
      • Use Point Sptites for Runway Light On
      • Enhanced runway lighting off
      • Runway light distance attenuation off
      • Specular reflections on objects off
      • Particles On
      • Precipitation off
      • Lightning off
      • Bump mapped clouds off
      • Random vegetation On
      • Enable 3d clouds off
      • Shadows/transparency: all off

system 1c

  • Type: Laptop
    • manufacturer: Apple
    • make/model: MacBook 3.1
  • specs
    • cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz (T7300)
    • ram: 2GiB
    • opengl: 1.2 APPLE-1.5.30 on Intel GMA X3100
    • sound: on, build-in
  • required drivers, updates/upgrades (firmware/BIOS): stock configuration, plus rolling updates to OSX 10.5.5
  • supported OS (Win32, Linux, MacOS) & version: OSX 10.5.5
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): 16-17 in 800x600x32 window, 15-16 in 1280x800x32 full screen
  • possible optimization settings:
  • other relevant comments:
    • In windowed mode the measure seems unstable, as it will rise to 19-20 after a 2-3 minutes wait, and stay there
    • Using FlightGear 1.9.0 pre-compiled binaries from FlightGear for Mac OS X
    • Rendering options:
      • Show frame rate On
      • Show chat messages On
      • Sun/Moon horizon effect off
      • Use Point Sptites for Runway Light On
      • Enhanced runway lighting off
      • Runway light distance attenuation off
      • Specular reflections on objects off
      • Particles On
      • Precipitation off
      • Lightning off
      • Bump mapped clouds off
      • Random vegetation On
      • Enable 3d clouds off
      • Shadows/transparency: all off

system 1b

  • Type: Laptop
    • manufacturer: Apple
    • make/model: MacBook 3.1
  • specs
    • cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz (x86 family 6 Model 15 Stepping 10) T7300
    • ram: 2GiB
    • opengl: 1.2 on Intel GMA X3100
    • sound: on, build-in
  • required drivers, updates/upgrades (firmware/BIOS): Apple Software Update for Windows 2.1.1.116 (intel driver v6.14.10.4897)
  • supported OS (Win32, Linux, MacOS) & version: Windows XP* Professional, Service Pack 3 Boot Camp
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): 5-6 in both windowed 800x600x32 or full screen 1280x800x32
  • possible optimization settings:
  • other relevant comments:
    • Using FlightGear 1.9.0 pre-compiled binaries from FlightGear home
    • Command-line parameters used: --timeofday=noon --disable-save-on-exit
    • Rendering options:
      • Show frame rate On
      • Show chat messages On
      • Sun/Moon horizon effect off
      • Use Point Sptites for Runway Light On
      • Enhanced runway lighting off
      • Runway light distance attenuation off
      • Specular reflections on objects off
      • Particles On
      • Precipitation off
      • Lightning off
      • Bump mapped clouds off
      • Random vegetation On
      • Enable 3d clouds off
      • Shadows/transparency: all off

Systems for FlightGear 1.0

system 1

  • Type: Laptop
    • manufacturer: Apple
    • make/model: MacBook 3.1
  • specs
    • cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz (T7300)
    • ram: 2GiB
    • opengl: 1.2 APPLE-1.5.28 on Intel GMA X3100
    • sound: on, build-in
  • required drivers, updates/upgrades (firmware/BIOS): stock configuration, plus update to OSX 10.5.4 via dmg package from Apple
  • supported OS (Win32, Linux, MacOS) & version: OSX 10.5.4
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): Starts at 25, then slowly drops to 18-19, probably due to AI traffic/chatter
  • possible optimization settings:
  • other relevant comments:
    • Using FlightGear 1.0.0-r154 pre-compiled binaries from FlightGear for Mac OS X
    • Command-line parameters used: --timeofday=noon --disable-save-on-exit

system 1a

  • Type: Laptop
    • manufacturer: Apple
    • make/model: MacBook 3.1
  • specs
    • cpu: Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz (x86 family 6 Model 15 Stepping 10) T7300
    • ram: 2GiB
    • opengl: 1.2 on Intel GMA X3100
    • sound: on, build-in
  • required drivers, updates/upgrades (firmware/BIOS): Apple Software Update for Windows 2.1 (intel driver v6.14.10.4897)
  • supported OS (Win32, Linux, MacOS) & version: Windows XP* Professional, Service Pack 2 (5.1.2600) Boot Camp
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): Starts at 12-13, then drops to 9-10, probably due to AI traffic/chatter
  • possible optimization settings:
  • other relevant comments:
    • Using FlightGear 1.0.0 pre-compiled binaries from FlightGear home
    • Command-line parameters used: --timeofday=noon --disable-save-on-exit


system 2

  • Type: Laptop
    • manufacturer: HP
    • make/model: Pavillion dv9000 (dv9660eg)
  • specs
    • cpu: AMD Turion(tm) 64 X2 Mobile Technology TL-58
    • ram: 4GiB
    • opengl: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 177.13
    • sound: on, build-in
  • required drivers, updates/upgrades (firmware/BIOS): nvidia driver
  • supported OS (Win32, Linux, MacOS) & version: Ubuntu 8.04 (2.6.26.2-sigsiu #2 SMP x86_64 GNU/Linux)
  • average framerate for default startup situation (c172-3d @ KSFO,28R): Between 20 and 35 (resolution 1440x900)
  • possible optimization settings:
  • other relevant comments: