1,746
edits
Hardware recommendations: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
m
1) add note linking to a benchmark site and info about GPUs under NVIDIA section. Cleanup
m (Cleanup profile) |
m (1) add note linking to a benchmark site and info about GPUs under NVIDIA section. Cleanup) |
||
| Line 24: | Line 24: | ||
== Recommended hardware for FlightGear 2018.3 LTS == | == Recommended hardware for FlightGear 2018.3 LTS == | ||
Only one target performance and settings profile has been written below. Other settings profiles are to-do. FlightGear can scale the quality to run on a huge range of hardware at different quality settings. | Only one target performance and settings profile has been written below. Other settings profiles are to-do. FlightGear can scale the quality to run on a huge range of hardware at different quality settings. | ||
Before selecting GPU and CPU have a look at the benchmark lists in the [[Hardware recommendations#FlightGear settings tips:|tips section]] below for an approximate idea of performance. If you are choosing a laptop see the manufacturers website for that model to find out your GPU and CPU, and check the list. Remember the slowest component will be the limiting component. For example: if you want high graphics but your GPU is slow, having a very fast CPU will not help. If you run out of RAM then you cannot have really high visibility ranges or object densities even if your GPU and CPU is fast. The tips in the sections below about avoiding Intel integrated GPUs, mobile laptop GPUs, and low range NVIDIA GPUs (xx10, xx20, xx30, xx40) apply. | |||
''Note on hardware requirements'' | ''Note on hardware requirements'' | ||
| Line 61: | Line 63: | ||
* '''GPU''' (Graphics Processing Unit, or Graphics Card): A GTX 960 or 1050 Ti - or equivalent performance. More than 3000 ratings in this list: as of [http://web.archive.org/web/20210412095421/https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus April 2021]. [https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus Direct link] (Note: ratings numbers and list may have changed by the time you see it). Note: a GPU with this performance is capable of much more than 30 FPS. | * '''GPU''' (Graphics Processing Unit, or Graphics Card): A GTX 960 or 1050 Ti - or equivalent performance. More than 3000 ratings in this list: as of [http://web.archive.org/web/20210412095421/https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus April 2021]. [https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus Direct link] (Note: ratings numbers and list may have changed by the time you see it). Note: a GPU with this performance is capable of much more than 30 FPS. | ||
* '''CPU''': 4 core Intel Sandybridge [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Desktop_platform i5 2500] (released 2012) or faster. This build will be '''limited by the CPU''' . Try to get a newer generation [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core Intel CPU], or equivalent AMD Ryzen CPU, if possible - e.g. a 4th generation Intel [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture)#Desktop_processors Haswell] (4xxx) i5 CPU, or faster. For a fairly approximate idea of CPU performance needed (Sandybridge i5 2500 has a rating of ~1700) see this archived copy of a single-core benchmark list: [http://web.archive.org/web/20210412100323/https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html April 2021] . [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Direct link] (Note: this direct list may have changed ratings numbers by the time you see it). This list only gives single-core performance - and it is approximate - for example, when an application uses more than one core processor the frequency will drop slightly lowering performance. The only reason a 2012 Sandybridge 2500 can manage 20-30FPS is because core performance hasn't gone up that much - it has increased by about 2x. FlightGear uses multiple cores. Some people may be able to get FG to run fine with a fast high clock 2 core CPU from a newer generation of CPU. But a 4 core is recommended as future | * '''CPU''': 4 core Intel Sandybridge [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge#Desktop_platform i5 2500] (released 2012) or faster. This build will be '''limited by the CPU''' . Try to get a newer generation [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core Intel CPU], or equivalent AMD Ryzen CPU, if possible - e.g. a 4th generation Intel [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haswell_(microarchitecture)#Desktop_processors Haswell] (4xxx) i5 CPU, or faster. For a fairly approximate idea of CPU performance needed (Sandybridge i5 2500 has a rating of ~1700) see this archived copy of a single-core benchmark list: [http://web.archive.org/web/20210412100323/https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html April 2021] . [https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html Direct link] (Note: this direct list may have changed ratings numbers by the time you see it). This list only gives single-core performance - and it is approximate - for example, when an application uses more than one core processor the frequency will drop slightly lowering performance. The only reason a 2012 Sandybridge 2500 can manage 20-30FPS is because core performance hasn't gone up that much - it has increased by about 2x. FlightGear uses multiple cores. Some people may be able to get FG to run fine with a fast high clock 2 core CPU from a newer generation of CPU. But a 4 core is recommended as future FlightGear will use cores even more. | ||
*'''Memory''' (RAM): 8GB (12-16 GB preferred). If you lack RAM you need to reduce the level of detail ranges so less scenery is displayed. | *'''Memory''' (RAM): 8GB (12-16 GB preferred). If you lack RAM you need to reduce the level of detail ranges so less scenery is displayed. | ||
| Line 68: | Line 70: | ||
=== FlightGear settings tips: === | === FlightGear settings tips: === | ||
* This build is '''limited by CPU'''. If your CPU is not faster (newer generation), at least you can try turning up graphics more to give the GPU something to do (try increasing Anti-aliasing, turning up transparency anti-aliasing by selecting | * This build is '''limited by CPU'''. If your CPU is not faster (newer generation), at least you can try turning up graphics more to give the GPU something to do (try increasing Anti-aliasing, turning up transparency anti-aliasing by selecting super-sampling variety, increasing tree density). | ||
* GPU limited: Try turning down the resolution and [[anti-aliasing]] if you are GPU limited. The higher the resolution the more work the GPU must do. A 4k (UHD) resolution is like the pixel shader load of rendering on four 1080p screens at once! See [[Anti-aliasing#The%20trade%20off%20between%20graphics%20content.2C%20FPS.2C%20and%20graphics%20settings%20like%20anti-aliasing|The trade off between graphics content, FPS, and graphics settings like anti-aliasing]] | * GPU limited: Try turning down the resolution and [[anti-aliasing]] if you are GPU limited. The higher the resolution the more work the GPU must do. A 4k (UHD) resolution is like the pixel shader load of rendering on four 1080p screens at once! See [[Anti-aliasing#The%20trade%20off%20between%20graphics%20content.2C%20FPS.2C%20and%20graphics%20settings%20like%20anti-aliasing|The trade off between graphics content, FPS, and graphics settings like anti-aliasing]] | ||
* GPU: For '''4k monitors''': Try reducing resolution to 1080p. A lot of laptops come with slow GPUs but have 4k screens. You should try the equivalent of a GTX 1080/2070 or a rating of about 7800 in this archived list, but you may have to tweak settings a bit: [http://web.archive.org/web/20210412095421/https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus April 2021]. [https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus Direct link] (Note: ratings numbers and list may have changed by the time you see it). See the advice on the [[Anti-aliasing#Tips on using anti-aliasing settings|anti-aliasing]] page. | * GPU: For '''4k monitors''': Try reducing resolution to 1080p. A lot of laptops come with slow GPUs but have 4k screens. You should try the equivalent of a GTX 1080/2070 or a rating of about 7800 in this archived list, but you may have to tweak settings a bit: [http://web.archive.org/web/20210412095421/https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus April 2021]. [https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus Direct link] (Note: ratings numbers and list may have changed by the time you see it). See the advice on the [[Anti-aliasing#Tips on using anti-aliasing settings|anti-aliasing]] page. | ||
| Line 79: | Line 81: | ||
* GPU: ALS shaders sliders can be maxed in a lot dedicated GPUs, even quite old ones provided they are dedicated GPUs (and not integrated/mobile GPUs). It's mostly the scenery layer settings including tree density and LoD ranges that can be intensive. | * GPU: ALS shaders sliders can be maxed in a lot dedicated GPUs, even quite old ones provided they are dedicated GPUs (and not integrated/mobile GPUs). It's mostly the scenery layer settings including tree density and LoD ranges that can be intensive. | ||
* GPU / Disk space: turn on the <code>View > rendering > texture cache</code> for smoother FPS frame spacing and faster loading. This will take up extra space. | * GPU / Disk space: turn on the <code>View > rendering > texture cache</code> for smoother FPS frame spacing and faster loading. This will take up extra space. | ||
* ...what does this look like? Only the screenshots that have been uploaded to the wiki by volunteers are available right now. There is a wiki category with '''roughly''' [[:Category:Screenshots at high settings|high settings screenshots]]. Note: a lot of these screenshots use settings that are below this profile, the overlays screenshots typically have transparency | * ...what does this look like? Only the screenshots that have been uploaded to the wiki by volunteers are available right now. There is a wiki category with '''roughly''' [[:Category:Screenshots at high settings|high settings screenshots]]. Note: a lot of these screenshots use settings that are below this profile, the overlays screenshots typically have transparency anti-aliasing higher than multisampling, some screenshots are with a much older FlightGear, a substantial amount of screenshots laptops with weaker GPUs or computers with less than 16 GB of RAM, some screenshots are at slightly higher settings than this profile or at 4k resolution.To get to the highest settings in the category at 1080p and trees at ultra, you would need a GTX 1060 or higher (about [http://web.archive.org/web/20210314111800/https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus 4100] in ratings), 12-16 GB of RAM - lowering LoD ranges will help (low ranges are fine for low altitude flights especially in mountain areas). Not turning up transparency AA will help. The CPU would be maybe a bit faster than i5 2500 to populate trees quickly at ultra e.g. a fast Haswell i5, or an overclocked Sandybridge i5 2500k @ close to 5GhZ. | ||
== Recommended hardware for FlightGear 3.20+ == | == Recommended hardware for FlightGear 3.20+ == | ||
| Line 103: | Line 105: | ||
== NVIDIA == | == NVIDIA == | ||
''April 2021 note:'' Check this a GPU benchmark list like this for a '''rough''' idea of performance: [https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus Direct link] ([http://web.archive.org/web/20210412095421/https://benchmarks.ul.com/compare/best-gpus April 2021 archive]). If you are selecting a laptop find out what your GPU is - ask or check the manufacturers website page for the model of the laptop. Laptop GPUs: Laptops with NVIDIA 9xx series GPUs often have the mobile "M" variant. This is a lot slower than the normal version e.g. a GTX 960M is slower than a GTX 960. NVIDIA10xx series and later use desktop equivalents in all laptops or close to it. There are also Q-MAX variants that are only slightly slower than normal versions - e.g. a GTX 1060 Q-MAX is only slightly slower than a GTX 1060 - see benchmarks. | |||
Stay away from nVidia GPUs with a low second digit (x20, x40). Higher 2nd digit means more CUDA cores. | Stay away from nVidia GPUs with a low second digit (x20, x40). Higher 2nd digit means more CUDA cores. | ||