VMD-L Mailing List

From: John Stone (johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu)
Date: Thu Sep 21 2006 - 05:51:23 CDT

Hi,
  I can't give you a definitive answer on many of these questions as
the answers depend on how much budget you have and what other constraints
you have to work with. I don't have any specific suggestion for versions
of Linux, they all have their advantages and disadvantages. VMD should
work with all of the recent distributions. As far as graphics accelerators
go, people continue to report the best results with the nVidia drivers
on Linux, but I haven't tried any of the current ATI drivers so
this is just based on what I've heard. Since you're building a new machine
that you presumably intend to use for a while, I'd get a fast graphics card
such as an NVidia GeForce 7800 or better. I'd recommend getting a
card with 512MB of memory as this will ease performance issues with
high resolution displays, coloring surfaces by potential maps,
etc. VMD supports all of the older generation spaceball devices
on Linux, but some of the new ones aren't supported by the built-in
driver yet. I hope to incorporate support for the new versions of the
3DConnexion drivers and Spaceball devices in the near future.
I don't have a strong opinion about screens, but if you're planning to do
stereo, that will significantly complicate your decisions. If you want
stereo, you'll be forced to spend more money and buy a Quadro class card,
and either use a CRT or an autosterescopic display. These items by themselves
could add up to more than the computer system you're attaching them to...
If you have specific questions about stereo let me know, there's far
too much to write here...

  John Stone
  vmd_at_ks.uiuc.edu

On Wed, Sep 20, 2006 at 11:45:58AM +0200, Berit Hinnemann wrote:
> Dear VMD developers and users,
> I am planning to buy a new computer, which I will use primarily for
> data analysis and visualization and much of it with VMD. Therefore, I
> would like to ask for some recommendations and experiences with what
> Hardware, Graphics Card etc. VMD works smoothly.
> * Which OS? I prefer Linux, but which flavor does vmd usually work
> smoothly with? What about Redhat/Centos?
> * Which graphics card and how much RAM? I would also like to do 3D
> visualization.
> * Which processor, minimum requirements etc.?
> * Does a spaceball work with VMD in Linux?
> * 3D visualization: Which glasses etc. are good and work in Linux?
> * What kind of screen, are there some which do not work so great? 

-- 
NIH Resource for Macromolecular Modeling and Bioinformatics
Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology
University of Illinois, 405 N. Mathews Ave, Urbana, IL 61801
Email: johns_at_ks.uiuc.edu                 Phone: 217-244-3349
  WWW: http://www.ks.uiuc.edu/~johns/      Fax: 217-244-6078