M11xR1 - Browser GPU acceleration

These are my observations of FF 4.0 (Firefox 4.0) and IE 9.0 GPU Acceleration on an M11xR1 SU7300 and the driver versions required.



Using the Microsoft fish tank GPU acceleration as a test case.

All tests are done with 500 fish (Fish500) with the browser windows in full screen

Microsoft fish in a fish tank



OS:

BIOS:

RAM:

CPU:

GPU:



(latest release)





Intel GMA GPU acceleration: . Fish500:

Nvidia GPU acceleration: . Fish500:



In IE9.0 Intel GMA GPU acceleration is NOT available with only software acceleration activated.

Tools > Internet Options > Advanced > Accelerated graphics: "Use software rendering instead of GPU rendering"





Intel GMA GPU acceleration: . Fish500:



Adapter Description:

Vendor ID:

Device ID:

Adapter RAM:

Adapter Drivers:

Driver Version:

Driver Date:

Direct2D Enabled:

DirectWrite Enabled:

WebGL Renderer:

GPU Accelerated Windows:



Nvidia GPU acceleration: . Fish500:









Intel GMA GPU acceleration: . Fish500:

Nvidia GPU acceleration: . Fish500:





Intel GMA GPU acceleration: . Fish500:



Adapter Description:

Vendor ID:

Device ID:

Adapter RAM:

Adapter Drivers:

Driver Version:

Driver Date:

Direct2D Enabled:

DirectWrite Enabled:

WebGL Renderer:

GPU Accelerated Windows:



On FF 4.0 Intel GMA GPU acceleration is 'blocked' with the suggestion to upgrade to Intel GMA version 8.15.10.2202 or newer.

This implies that if one had an Intel GMA version greater than version 8.15.10.2202 you would have GPU acceleration in FF 4.0



Nvidia GPU acceleration: . Fish500:



Adapter Description:

Vendor ID:

Device ID:

Adapter RAM:

Adapter Drivers:

Driver Version:

Driver Date:

Direct2D Enabled:

DirectWrite Enabled:

WebGL Renderer:

GPU Accelerated Windows:



Make sure you have GPU acceleration enabled in FF 4.0

Tools > Options > Advanced > General > Browsing: "Use hardware acceleration when available"



I found that in FF 4.0 my GT 335M was blacklisted. After I removed the blacklist I had GPU acceleration.



Blacklisting/Blocked Graphics Drivers







To enable GPU acceleration in FF 4.0 and IE 9.0 you will need at least Intel GMA version 8.15.10.2202.



Nvidia GPU acceleration can be enabled in any Nvidia driver version 257.21 or newer.



IE 9.0 GPU acceleration can be enabled using Intel GMA version 2020 or newer



Make sure GPU acceleration is enabled in both FF 4.0 and IE 9.0 (Ticked in FF4.0 left blank in IE9.0)



Hopefully this should save a bit of head scratching for a few people.

Reply 1 : M11xR1 - Browser GPU acceleration

You could try: Force Enable GPU Hardware Acceleration Graphics Rendering on Old GPU in IE9 My Digital Life

for the Intel GPU with the old driver. (you'll have to lock the registry key or it will reset when you switch GPUs)



Is it possible to manually whitelist the Intel GPU in FF4?



In Chrome 10 (enable 'GPU Accelerated Canvas 2D' in about:flags):

Fish500

Disabled: 4fps

Enabled: 24fps (however, I think the fish got smaller LOL)





Also, I think a good test, if you can figure out how standardise it, would be to check how latency(or otherwise how snappy the browser feels) is affected for GPU(Intel and nVidia) vs CPU.

Reply 2 : M11xR1 - Browser GPU acceleration

I'm good to go with IE9.0 as I have the Intel GMA version 8.15.10.2020 which natively supports GPU acceleration in IE9.0



Pushing the boat out a bit further I forced direct2D rendering in Firefox 4.0



about:config

gfx.direct2d.force-enabled = true



This then allows GPU acceleration on the Intel GMA version 8.15.10.2020



F

Intel GMA GPU acceleration: . Fish500:



Adapter Description:

Vendor ID:

Device ID:

Adapter RAM:

Adapter Drivers:

Driver Version:

Driver Date:

Direct2D Enabled:

DirectWrite Enabled:

WebGL Renderer:

GPU Accelerated Windows:

May be a half baked solution, but guess 22FPS is better than 2FPS.



Yerp, I get the same FPS in Chrome too.





Intel GMA GPU acceleration: . Fish500:

Nvidia GPU acceleration: . Fish500:





True, the more fish on the screen, the smaller they get.