Graphics Adapters and Drivers

You can identify your graphics adapters, and suggestions for solving video display or performance issues.

Task Details
Identify your graphics adapter.

If you have video display issues, first identify your graphics adapter to determine if the problem is with adapters or drivers.

If you know that your graphics adapter and driver are not the cause, see display issues.

To identify your video card:

  1. On your desktop, right-click and select Display settings.
  2. Under Multiple displays, click Advanced display settings.
  3. Choose a display, then under Display information, click Display adapter properties for Display #.
  4. On the Adapter tab, click Properties.
    • On the General tab, your video card is listed.
    • On the Driver tab, the driver version is listed.
Some graphics cards, such as NVIDIA, may also have their own control panel, which you can access by right-clicking on the desktop.

The quality and performance of the SOLIDWORKS software can depend on your choice of graphics adapter and driver. Several commonly used graphics adapters and drivers are tested with the SOLIDWORKS software.

To view graphics adapter test results:

http://www.solidworks.com/pages/services/VideoCardTesting.html

Some graphics adapters support RealView. If your graphics adapter supports this display function, RealView Graphics displays on your View toolbar when you have a model open.
Open SOLIDWORKS using Software OpenGL.

If you suspect problems with the graphics adapter, you can start the SOLIDWORKS software by using Software OpenGL. This disables the graphics adapter hardware accelerator, and enables graphics rendering using only software.

To enable Software OpenGL:

  1. Start the SOLIDWORKS software normally.
  2. Before you open a document:
    1. Click Options (Standard toolbar) or Tools > Options.
    2. Select Performance.
    3. Clear Enhanced graphics performance (requires SOLIDWORKS restart).
  3. Click OK.
  4. Close and restart SOLIDWORKS.
  5. Repeat steps 2.a and 2.b.
  6. Select Use software OpenGL and click OK.
  7. Open a document and examine the display.
    • If the display improves, your graphics adapter is potentially the cause.
    • If there is no improvement, your graphics adapter is likely not the cause.