System Requirements and Recommended Video Cards (GPUs)

This page describes different series of video cards (which are also known as Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) or Graphics Cards), listing the series which meet at least the most basic technical requirements  for the Visual3D Game Engine, specifically that they support DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0) or later version (such as DirectX 10 or DirectX 11), as well as describing their relative performance and likelihood of their being usable for different graphics quality settings for different types of games/applications.

 

 

Note that DirectX 9.0  (as opposed to "9.0c") only provides Shader Model 2.0, and therefore won't support all engine features (such as newer terrain and particle effects), such those video cards aren't included here. 

 

Most Common Video Card Series with DirectX 9.0c Support

In short, video cards which support DirectX 9.0c include:

NVIDIA GeForce 6 (6xxx), GeForce 100 series, ATI Radeon X1300, Radeon HD, and above (also most NVIDIA Quadro and ATI FireGL, FireStream, and FireMVNVIDIA Ion), and, at the lowest-end, IGPs like Intel HD Graphics, AMD Fusion, and NVIDIA Ion

 

How To Figure Out If DirectX 9.0c Supporting Cards have Usable Performance

Though the cards described here provide the most basic technical support required for the engine to run, that does not guarantee they will provide acceptable performance (FPS) or visual quality, as that depends on how much and how complex the content (models, terrain, shaders, etc.) used in a game or simulation are, and depends on what the specific video card model and how much video memory it has, as well.

Keep in mind when selecting a video card or checking to see if it meets minimum requirements for your Visual3D-powered application, that acceptable performance for a video card (in terms of reaching a usable number of frames-per-second (FPS) such as at 15 to 30 fps) is a not guaranteed (even at the lowest graphics settings) just because a graphics card is new, as ever series of graphic cards includes a few low-end ones (such Each series of video cards usually has its few lowest numbered models as the "non-gaming" model, which often much less powerful than a mid-end model of previous series (for example, the low-end model would be, for NVIDIA, a GeForce 100 (vs. 180) or 9300 (vs. 9800) or, for ATI/AMD, a Radeon HD 2350 (vs. HD 2900)).   Also, this guide is based on general benchmark data that is available for graphics cards, summarized in order to provide some general guidelines and suggestions for what wight or might not work well with your game built on Visual3D (or any 3D application, in general), as well as links to tools you can use to compare graphics cards before buying one.

 

 

Video Cards with Required DirectX 9.0c Support

 At the time of writing, the ATI, NVIDIA and Intel graphics cards (and Integrated Graphics Processors / IGPs) which support at least DirectX 9.0c (Shader Model 3.0) are the series (and model number ranges and exception cases) described below.  Also, all new graphics cards and IGPs support DirectX 9.0c, so that can usually be assumed for any newer video card series not yet added to this list. 
 

NVIDIA Video Cards

1. NVS  (Low end, not designed for 3D use)
2. Low-End Integrated Graphics: ION 2 (ION 2 is just below the performance of Intel GMA HD (original HD Graphics, at around 7% of highest-end video cards, so this might support lowest graphics settings for some games with minimal media content, though original ION might not be usable)
3. GeForce 6 (6xxx), 7 (7xxx), 8 (8xxx), 9 (9xxx),
4. Newest DirectX 11 GeForce series: GeForce 500, 400
5. DirectX 10 series: GeForce 300, 200, 100
6. Older DirectX 10 series: GeForce 9 (9xxx), GeForce 8 (8xxx),
7. Older DirectX 9.0c series: GeForce 7 (7xxx), GeForce 6 (6xxx)
8. Quadro 400, Quadro FX (except 5/6/700, 1/2/3000), and Quadro NVS (except 50, 100, 200, 280, 285)
9. Mobile series: GeForce 500M, 400M, 300M, 200M, 100M, 9M (9xxxM), 8M (8xxxm), Go 7 (Go 7xxx), Go 6 (Go 6xxx)
10. Not supported: GeForce FX (5xxx) series and older, such as GeForce 4 (4xxx) back to the original GeForce and pre-GeForce (NVIDIA Riva, Vanta, and NV1 / STG) and Tesla

 

ATI / AMD Video Cards

1. Newest Series: Radeon HD, Mobility Radeon HD
2. Older Series: Radeon X1300  and Mobility Radeon X1300 (not supported for  Radeon X850, 9800, Xpress, Rage, or below)
3. Workstation graphics: FireGL V3300+ (excluding V5000, V5100), FirePro (excluding 2250)
4. Non-3D Graphics: FireStream, FireMV 2260+ (excluding 2400)
5. Medium-End Integrated Graphics: Radeon  6310, 6250 (low-end Integrated Graphics  for AMD Fusion APU / processors like E-240, C-30) - possibly usable at lowest graphics settings for some games, less powerful then new Intel Graphics HD 3000 or 2000, but slightly better than original Intel Graphics and much better than unusable Intel GMA - similar to original Intel HD Graphics or GMA HD., might support lowest graphics settings, but unlikely.
6. Low-End Integrated Graphics: Radeon HD 6xx0G, 6xx0D (integrated graphics / shared memory, but medium-low end)

Intel Integrated Graphics Processors (IGPs)

Intel HD Graphics 3000 or 2000  (included into the 2nd generation (Sandy Bridge) Core i3/5/7-2xxx processors) - might support lowest graphics settings for some games (as it provides about 14% the performance of highest-end cards)

Intel GMA HD (HD Graphics) (integrated into original Core i3/5/7-xxx  processors or the Sandy Bridge Pentium and Celeron processors) - unlikely, but might support lowest graphics for some games/simulations without much content, as it provides about half the performance of Intel HD Graphics 3000 (with about 7% of the highest end cards performance)

Intel GMA 4500 or X3000 (not supported for GMA 3150 or below, such as GMA 950 or GMA 900)

 

 

Links for Rankings of Specific Graphics Cards

For a better idea if a specific video card model is recommended or usable (likely to provide acceptable performance / FPS for at least medium quality settings, etc.) you can find its rating (eg. in percent relative to the current highest-end video card), such as are available at PassMark Video Card Benchmarks (or PassMark's charts for High vs. Mid vs. Low-end video cards),or, for notebook / mobile video cards and integrated graphics processors (IGPs), you can compare them (as a percentage of the current highest-end video card) at NotebookCheck's Comparison of Laptop Graphics Cards.