ArcGIS Explorer Graphic Card Recommendation?

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07-30-2010 06:44 PM
JerryGarcia
Occasional Contributor II
ArcGIS Explorer requires a good graphics card.  You can test to see if your graphics card is good enough using the ArcGIS Explorer tool, "test graphics card".

I have a client who needs a recommended graphics card. 

Does ESRI post a minimum or recommended graphics card requirement on the web?

If not, what is the recommended graphics card specs to use ArcGIS Explorer efficiently?

Thanks!
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4 Replies
MichaelBranscomb
Esri Frequent Contributor
Jerry,

ESRI don't recommend any specific graphics cards. The recommended spec is to have a 24-bit capable graphics accelerator with at least 256MB dedicated video card memory (rather than shared system memory) which supports OpenGL 2.0 or higher. The system requirements checked mentions Pixel & Vertex Shader 4.0 if you can get that level of detail from a graphics card fact sheet. If you're planning a lot of 3D work in Explorer then you'll want as high a spec as possible on the above recommendations. I've always had NVidia cards in my office laptops and enjoyed a good experience in ArcGIS Explorer but we do have staff using other brands.

Regards

Mike
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JerryGarcia
Occasional Contributor II
Thanks for the reply and the info!

Where did you get this info?  Is there a web site?
The recommended spec is to have a 24-bit capable graphics accelerator with at least 256MB dedicated video card memory (rather than shared system memory) which supports OpenGL 2.0 or higher.

Maybe a better question is: What are the specifications that AGX tests when using the graphics card tester?  What minimum specs does it use to determine good or bad?
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MichaelBranscomb
Esri Frequent Contributor
Jerry,

The graphics card spec info came from the system requirements website for ArcGIS Explorer: http://wikis.esri.com/wiki/display/agxpsr/ArcGIS+Explorer+System+Requirements.

Regarding the graphics card test - this test runs in the 3D display mode and animates the globe for approx 30 seconds to determine the frame rate, in frames per second. I advise running it several times to determine an average for your machine.

>30 frames = Excellent
>15 frames = Good
<15 frames = Poor
(http://webhelp.esri.com/arcgisexplorer/1200/en/test_graphics_speed.htm)

If your client would like to do a lot of work in 3D within ArcGIS Explorer then I would certainly advise looking at the recommended spec rather than the minimum:

- CPU = >2.4 GHz (although that's based on a baseline Intel P4 / Xeon whereas the newer, multi-core processors have lower clock speeds but are usually rated higher e.g. my Intel 2.4 GHz Core2Duo seems to be rated at 4GHz)

- RAM = >2GB

- VIDEO = >256MB with Pixel & Vertex Shader 4.0

- DISK = >1GB free

Regards

Mike
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JerryGarcia
Occasional Contributor II
Mike:              Thanks!
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