On Wednesday 02 January 2008 3:21:14 pm Hal V. Engel wrote: > On Wednesday 02 January 2008 11:44:57 Fred Larson wrote: > > On Wednesday 02 January 2008 12:46:24 pm Curtis Olson wrote: > > > On Jan 2, 2008 12:32 PM, Fred Larson <> wrote: > > > > I put this question to the "General Help" forum, and they suggested > > > > that I ask > > > > the users list. > > > > > > > > I'm getting frame rates of around 5-8 when flying the default C172P > > > > in the default 800x600 window. I've done some experimenting with > > > > rendering options, > > > > color depth, etc. without much effect. I tried full-screen game > > > > mode, which > > > > decreased my frame rate. > > > > > > > > Machine: Dell GX270 > > > > CPU: P4 2.8 GHz > > > > Memory: 512 Mb > > > > Video: Intel 82865G integrated > > > > Monitor: Acer 1680x1050 LCD > > > > OS: Kubuntu 7.10 (Gutsy) > > > > > > > > Do you think this hardware is inadequate to get a better frame rate, > > > > or do I > > > > have a config problem somewhere? Any suggestions? > > > > > > Let me start out by saying that I am biased towards nvidia graphics > > > hardware becuase it generally works very well and is very trouble free > > > under linux (your mileage may vary a bit and I'm sure there are counter > > > stories, but generally I feel that nvidia is the best performing and > > > best supported option right now for linux users.) > > > > > > I can say fairly confidently that if you installed a $100 nvidia card > > > or better, and installed the nvidia linux drivers, you will see about a > > > 10x frame rate increase. > > > > > > Regards, > > > > > > Curt. > > > > Thanks, Curt. I'm considering that. There may be a few hurdles to > > getting a new card in this box, such as: > > 1. getting the budget allocation from the finance committee (i.e., my > > wife) 2. if there's enough space in the box (I haven't opened the case on > > this thing -- I understand they can be tight) > > 3. if the case has enough cooling for a new video card > > 4. if the PSU can handle it. > > > > I can probably finagle #1 if the rest aren't a problem. But I thought > > I'd see if someone might be able to help me determine if the i865 is > > actually doing all it can, and if not, how I might be able to fix my > > config. > > It looks to me like you are getting about what would be expected from the > Intel chip set you are using. The Intel video chip sets are well supported > in Linux but are comparable performance wise to the very low end of the > Nvidia and AMD/ATI GPU lines (IE. the chips that are designed for > motherboard integration). Even a modest Nvidia card like a 6600LE will > outperform the Intel and other motherboard video chips by a significant > margin (3 to 5 times as fast) and these can be had for significantly under > $100. Pricewatch.com has a 6600LE board listed for $29.99 and a 7600GS > for $78.99 or an 8600gt for $99.75 including shipping. In addition these > GPUs have relatively modest power/heat requirements on the order of 20 to > 35 watts peak (5 to 10 watts idle) and should not have power/heat issues > even in a system with a low end power supply and cooling. The 6600LE class > of GPUs is about as low as I would consider for use with FG and I would be > inclined to get the most powerful GPU that would fit my budget and the PSU > and cooling limits of my PC. > > You will probably be very happy with how FG performs with the 7600/8600 > classes of cards. I run a 7950GTX with a 3200x1200 display area (two > 1600x1200 displays) and with everything set for max display quality I get > 35 to 75 FPS (I have Sync to Vblank on so it will never go higher than > 75). This card replaced a 6600LE which would do about 10 to 20 FPS at this > same resolution IF I used lower quality settings in the driver and in FG. > This frame rate is the bare minimum for a usable sim. But at more normal > resolutions like 1024x768 or 1280x1024 you would get much higher frame > rates. The 6600LE was an upgrade from a 6150 based card which is comparable > to or perhaps slightly faster than your video chip set and the best it > could do at this resolution was 1 to 5 FPS which is not useable at all. > > I more or less agree with Curt about the quality of the Nvidia linux > drivers. They are currently the best and the quality of the OpenGL support > is very good even if there are still some issues in other areas with these > drivers. However AMD/ATI have stepped up the quality of their Linux support > since AMD acquired ATI. Their drivers have been improving at a significant > rate lately and it looks like they are close to closing the gap. In > addition AMD is actively supporting, both with previously unavailable > documentation and financially, an effort to create open source 3D drivers > for their GPUs. So far those who are working on this effort are saying > that AMD is exceeding their expectations by a large margin. Nvidia has so > far refused to work with any open source effort to create 3D drivers. > Perhaps in 6 months to a year the momentum will have shifted to AMD/ATI. > But we will have to wait to find out and in the mean time nvidia is > probably the best option. > > Hal >
Hal, That's some good info. Thanks a lot! I'll start budget negotiations. -- Fred 8v) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- This SF.net email is sponsored by: Microsoft Defy all challenges. Microsoft(R) Visual Studio 2005. http://clk.atdmt.com/MRT/go/vse0120000070mrt/direct/01/ _______________________________________________ Flightgear-users mailing list Flightgear-users@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/flightgear-users
