Performance comparison of graphics cards
Video cards are a critical hardware element that can have a large impact on both the performance and stability of systems. These benchmarks help you choose the right 3D PCB graphics engine for your needs and budget. Choose the right hardware requirements necessary to achieve stunning results, make the whole system more responsive and 'feel' better, and remove distractions to design caused by lags in the GUI.
The following tables list cards tested by Altium and their performance rating in both the summer 08 and winter 09 releases.
The following graphics cards have been tested with the latest release of Altium Designer and their performances rated in both the summer 08 and winter 09 releases. The higher the performance index, the better the performance.
Additional Information when looking into Graphic Cards.
● Users have reported having better results and less display driver issues using “Direct3D” based cards over the "OpenGL" based cards.
● Prior to purchase check that the power supply can handle a Direct3D/DirectX based card, these require much higher power consumption and usually require an additional power connection.
● Ensure your system has Microsoft Direct X 9.0c or higher installed and the card can support this.
● The video card needs to support "Shader Level 3 or higher".
● None of the Intel integrated graphics chipsets (ie: Intel Mobiles) are recommended because of incompatibilities with the display drivers.
Winter 09 release of Altium Designer
| Card | Memory | 2D | 2D Transparent | Insight Modes | 3D | Overall | Improvement Over Summer 08 SP1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 512MB GDDR5 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 5.0 | 6.08X | |
| 1GB GDDR3 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 5.66X | |
| 896MB GDDR3 | 4.8 | 4.7 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 4.3 | 5.13X | |
| 512MB GDDR3 | 4.3 | 4.3 | 4.4 | 3.5 | 4.2 | 6.16X | |
| 512MB DDR3 | 4.3 | 4.1 | 4.3 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 5.92X | |
| 256MB DDR3 | 3.7 | 3.3 | 4.3 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 5.67X | |
| 256MB GDDR3 | 2.7 | 2.4 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 2.4 | 3.92X | |
| 256MB DDR3 | 2.8 | 2.3 | 3.6 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 4.66X | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 3.9 | 0.7 | 1.8 | 5.37X | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 4.0 | 0.6 | 1.8 | 4.94X | |
| 256MB DDR | 1.8 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.03X | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 2.0 | 0.6 | 1.2 | 3.28X | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 2.46X | |
| 128MB DDR2 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.8 | 0.1 | 0.3 | 3.02X |
Summer 08 Service Pack 1 release of Altium Designer
| Card | Memory | 2D | 2D Transparent | Insight Modes | 3D | Overall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 896MB GDDR3 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 2.0 | 0.8 | |
| 512MB GDDR5 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 2.2 | 0.8 | |
| 1GB GDDR3 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.8 | |
| 512MB GDDR3 | 2.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.7 | |
| 512MB DDR3 | 2.3 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 0.7 | |
| 256MB DDR3 | 1.9 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 0.7 | 0.6 | |
| 256MB GDDR3 | 1.7 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | |
| 256MB DDR3 | 1.2 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.4 | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.4 | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 0.7 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.4 | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 0.4 | |
| 256MB DDR2 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | |
| 256MB DDR | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | |
| 128MB DDR2 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 0.4 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Test Board | NanoBoard Daugher Board (DB37) - 10 layers, 254 components, 2432 pads, 12 polygons |
| Test System | Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.4GHz - 4GB DDR2 800Mhz PCIe x16 - 2560x1600 no panels |
| Build Number | 8.0.0.15895 |
* The GeForce 6800 and 7200GS tests ran at 2048x1536, as 2560x1600 was not available on those cards. Their scores are slightly improved as a result.