Unreadable dimensions

Unfortunately, we have seen the same thing here when we tried using Radeon cards. They work ok for a lot of the stuff, but then flake out here and there. You might try turning on Software OpenGL just to see if it helps. To do that, open SW with no documents open. Go to Tools/Options/Performance and check the box.

WT

Wooding

Lose the Radeon card. Even a cheap PNY FX500 would be a massive improvement.

Mark

Thanks Wayne, That did the trick - with no apparent performance hit, so far.

Once you start getting into more complex work, you should start to see a big performance hit. Running Software OpenGL means that your CPU is doing a bunch of work that your card normally does.

You might also check out performance in different modes, say in wireframe or with edges shown in shaded.

I think you will eventually find that changing the video card is not the worst of all possible options.

Jerry Steiger Tripod Data Systems "take the garbage out, dear"

Wayne Tiffany wrote:

The list of OpenGL features apparently supported by the card is shown below. Do you know which ones are missing or not working properly?

OpenGL Features: GL_ARB_multitexture Supported GL_ARB_texture_border_clamp Supported GL_ARB_texture_compression Supported GL_ARB_texture_cube_map Supported GL_ARB_texture_env_add Supported GL_ARB_texture_env_combine Supported GL_ARB_texture_env_crossbar Supported GL_ARB_texture_env_dot3 Supported GL_ARB_transpose_matrix Supported GL_ARB_vertex_blend Supported GL_ARB_window_pos Supported GL_S3_s3tc Supported GL_ATI_element_array Supported GL_ATI_envmap_bumpmap Supported GL_ATI_fragment_shader Supported GL_ATI_map_object_buffer Supported GL_ATI_pn_triangles Supported GL_ATI_texture_mirror_once Supported GL_ATI_vertex_array_object Supported GL_ATI_vertex_streams Supported GL_ATIX_texture_env_combine3 Supported GL_ATIX_texture_env_route Supported GL_ATIX_vertex_shader_output_point_size Supported GL_EXT_abgr Supported GL_EXT_bgra Supported GL_EXT_blend_color Supported GL_EXT_blend_func_separate Supported GL_EXT_blend_minmax Supported GL_EXT_blend_subtract Supported GL_EXT_clip_volume_hint Supported GL_EXT_compiled_vertex_array Supported GL_EXT_draw_range_elements Supported GL_EXT_fog_coord Supported GL_EXT_packed_pixels Supported GL_EXT_point_parameters Supported GL_ARB_point_parameters Supported GL_EXT_rescale_normal Supported GL_EXT_secondary_color Supported GL_EXT_separate_specular_color Supported GL_EXT_stencil_wrap Supported GL_EXT_texgen_reflection Supported GL_EXT_texture_env_add Supported GL_EXT_texture3D Supported GL_EXT_texture_compression_s3tc Supported GL_EXT_texture_cube_map Supported GL_EXT_texture_edge_clamp Supported GL_EXT_texture_env_combine Supported GL_EXT_texture_env_dot3 Supported GL_EXT_texture_lod_bias Supported GL_EXT_texture_filter_anisotropic Supported GL_EXT_texture_object Supported GL_EXT_vertex_array Supported GL_EXT_vertex_shader Supported GL_KTX_buffer_region Supported GL_NV_texgen_reflection Supported GL_NV_blend_square Supported GL_SGI_texture_edge_clamp Supported GL_SGIS_texture_border_clamp Supported GL_SGIS_texture_lod Supported GL_SGIS_generate_mipmap Supported GL_SGIS_multitexture Supported GL_WIN_swap_hint Supported WGL_EXT_extensions_string Supported WGL_EXT_swap_control Supported

Gary,

It's not so much "what" OpenGL features are supported. It's "how" they are implemented with repect to their intended purpose. OpenGL is a very feature rich environment, and is used in CAD and games, but very differently. Both the Radeon and Geforce are optimized for games. They use a segmented back buffer for fast texture fill rate, with a low polygon count. The requirments of CAD are exactly the opposite. Of the two, the Geforce is a better choice for SW. Both can be hacked into their CAD equivalents (Quadro, FireGL), but a real one is a better choice.

Regards

Mark