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Supported Video Cards: Difference between revisions
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Added some structure, improved paragraph on Unix-like systems, proprietary blobs vs. free drivers, Nvidia vs. AMD/ATI.
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(Added some structure, improved paragraph on Unix-like systems, proprietary blobs vs. free drivers, Nvidia vs. AMD/ATI.) |
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= Video cards for flight simulation = | |||
== General considerations == | |||
!!! Note: Legacy '''integrated 3D GPUs or video cards using less than 512MB of dedicated video memory for 3D graphics should be avoided''' for any high-end 3D simulations or hardcore gaming !!! | !!! Note: Legacy '''integrated 3D GPUs or video cards using less than 512MB of dedicated video memory for 3D graphics should be avoided''' for any high-end 3D simulations or hardcore gaming !!! | ||
This is meant to | This page is meant to provide a list of those '''video cards''' that are known to have good [[OpenGL]] support to run the latest versions of [[FlightGear]], based on contents taken from [[Hardware Recommendations]]. Please help maintain this list so that fellow FlightGear users can more easily make hardware decisions. | ||
When buying or updating a graphics card for a computer system, over 512MB of dedicated video memory (i.e. VRAM) is preferred for advanced 3D gaming, with at least 1024MB being recommended as of 08/2012. | When buying or updating a graphics card for a computer system, over 512MB of dedicated video memory (i.e. VRAM) is preferred for advanced 3D gaming, with at least 1024MB being recommended as of 08/2012. | ||
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Basically, you should be fine with any Nvidia or AMD/ATI products having 512-1024MB of *dedicated* video memory for 3D graphics. However, you need to take into account that some of the newer features in FlightGear may not work as expected or may not even work altogether with older hardware, especially Intel-based graphics card (GMA). | Basically, you should be fine with any Nvidia or AMD/ATI products having 512-1024MB of *dedicated* video memory for 3D graphics. However, you need to take into account that some of the newer features in FlightGear may not work as expected or may not even work altogether with older hardware, especially Intel-based graphics card (GMA). | ||
If you are using FlightGear with a Unix- | == Support for Unik-like operating systems == | ||
If you are using FlightGear with a Unix-like operating system (i.e. Linux, BSD, Solaris, SGI, etc.), check for the latest video driver that fully supports your graphics card or integrated GPU. In general, Nvidia video driver support used to be considered better than ATI and Intel support. However, this refers to the proprietary binary "blobs", which entail a few (potentially serious) issues regarding freedom and long term driver maintenance (and, therefore, card support). | |||
For instance, Nvidia is known to refuse to disclose the hardware specifications needed to write a graphics driver, providing a closed binary only. Therefore, the free nouveau driver cannot support 3D acceleration, which is not good if you want to run FlightGear. | |||
On the other hand, AMD now publishes hardware specifications (though not complete) and the resulting free radeon driver for ATI/AMD chipsets provides a good 3D support for many cards, even recent ones (obviously not for the newest), so it is worth to try. An excellent source to see which card families and features are supported by the free radeon driver, can be found on the Xorg Foundation website. [http://www.x.org/wiki/RadeonFeature] | |||
For example, FlightGear 2.10 runs smoothly with an ATI Radeon X1950 card using the '''free radeon driver''', version 6.14.4 (the only issue being a locally strange rendering behavior if landscape rendering is enabled). | |||
'''If you experienced good results using FlightGear with a free graphics driver, please add them here with a few details.''' | |||
== Graphic Cards recommended for FlightGear 2.10+ == | == Graphic Cards recommended for FlightGear 2.10+ == | ||
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* GeForce 9800 GTX | * GeForce 9800 GTX | ||
* GeForce 8800 GTX | * GeForce 8800 GTX | ||
* GeForce 7600 GS | |||
=== AMD/ATI === | === AMD/ATI === | ||
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* Radeon HD 4770 | * Radeon HD 4770 | ||
* Radeon HD 4730 | * Radeon HD 4730 | ||
* Radeon X1950 (works well with free radeon driver, version 6.14.4) | |||
== Troubleshooting Rendering Issues == | == Troubleshooting Rendering Issues == | ||