Celestia Forums

Just a quickie here: What are the general thoughts of either a G-Force or G-Force Pro video card and Celestia? I, unfortunately, don't have any more information on the card (I have yet to receive it from a friend), but I can tell you it will be going in a computer with a 466mhz processor, and 256mb or RAM.

...John...

As far as I know there is no GeForce Pro in any of the GeForce line of cards. The Pro designation is usually used on the Quadro line of cards. If it is an early version of the GeForce series of cards I would be weary of that Pro designation. They usually used GT, GTS, Ultra, etc..
I have an old Elsa GeForce card that has 64mb of VRAM and it is actually flashed to be a Quadro first generation card.
The main difference between the regular GeForce and the Quadro is that the Quadro?€™s were tuned for the Professional OpenGL 3D market such as CAD and 3D design. They tend to run just slightly slower than there equivalent GeForce cards and they have a few more features. But still fast enough to work Celestia on that 466MHz CPU. Just make sure if it is an early Quadro that it has the standard AGP interface and not the AGP Pro interface. If it is an AGP Pro the portion of the card that plugs into the AGP slot on the motherboard is longer than a standard AGP card. This will make using the card impossible on a standard motherboard.
My motherboard has an AGP Pro slot so it can use both types of cards. The afore mentioned Elsa Quadro card has an AGP Pro interface and I had to use my system to test this card. I was very nervous doing this as I had to replace a missing mini capacitor on the card to get it to work. But it works fine. Now I just have to find another motherboard with an AGP Pro slot for it. Make sure you find out if it has a standard AGP or the AGP Pro interface. If you get the wrong card you are not going to be very happy about not using it.
If you need further info on the difference between AGP and AGP Pro I will see what I can dig up for you.

Don. Edwards

Thanks, Don! The Pro portion may have been a mistake on Dale's part (the friend who is giving it to me). he hasn't used it for some time, and when I tried to get him to quantify the MB amount, he responded with 60-something...

Anyway, my current Celestia computer is also a 466 with 256mb or ram, so this will probably be an improvement very much. I'm hoping that it will be enough to render planetary ring shadows, etc.!

Thanks again...

...John...