# Paraview compatibility with different graphic cards
**URL:** https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272
**Category:** ParaView Support
**Created:** [October 27, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272 "2021-10-27T18:13:46Z")
**Posts on this page:** 6
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Bushra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Bushra)
#### Post date: [October 27, 2021, 6:13pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272/1 "2021-10-27T18:13:46Z")
Hi!
I wanted to know if Paraview can utilize GPUs like AMD radeon or IRIS for photorealistic rendering? or is Paraview only compatible with nvidia GPUs? I want to buy a laptop so wanna know which GPU will be useful and compatible. Please guide.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2021, 7:04am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272/2 "2021-10-28T07:04:22Z")
> [@Bushra](#):
>
> I wanted to know if Paraview can utilize GPUs like AMD radeon or IRIS for photorealistic rendering?
If you mean RayTracing, no, the only GPU based raytracing paraview is compatible with is NVidia Optix.
However, ParaView can render in PBR using any GPU, and can render RayTracing using OSPRay.
> Is Paraview only compatible with nvidia GPUs ?
In the context of standard rendering, absolutely not, ParaView is compatible with any modern GPUs providing a recent enough OpenGL implementation in their drivers.
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### Author:  [@Bushra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Bushra)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2021, 6:47pm UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272/3 "2021-10-29T18:47:14Z")
Okay so to be able to use ray tracing, I will have to go with a laptop with nvida RTX GPU
Also do I need to look for opengl driver/version compatibility in GPUs like nvidia 3050
/3060 ? Sometimes paraview gives error of opengl driver support inadequate with some GPUs
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### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2021, 8:20am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272/4 "2021-11-02T08:20:03Z")
> [@Bushra](#):
>
> Okay so to be able to use ray tracing, I will have to go with a laptop with nvida RTX GPU
To be able to use VixRTX. OSPRay do not require a nvidia GPU.
> Also do I need to look for opengl driver/version compatibility in GPUs like nvidia 3050
> /3060 ? Sometimes paraview gives error of opengl driver support inadequate with some GPUs
Only with very old or non standard GPU.
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### Author:  [@Bushra](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/Bushra)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2021, 8:57am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272/5 "2021-11-02T08:57:08Z")
> Only with very old or non standard GPU.
Can you elaborate non-standard GPUs?
> To be able to use VixRTX. OSPRay do not require a nvidia GPU.
okay I don’t know if I should open a new thread for this but can you guide which will be better for photo-realistic rendering: OSPRay for ray tracing (with 8 processors-does it depend on number of processors though? or does it depend on RAM?) or Optix with 4GB nvidia 30 series card. I have used nvdia tesla v100 for optix and used a server with 64 cores for OSPRay but optix took more time in rendering/lagged and made paraview crash more than OSPRay. Does OSPRay use some of the GPU at the backend? Because I have also tried using OSPRay on a desktop PC with no GPU on it and the colors were completely distorted for a photorealistic pvsm file.
Thanks!
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### Author:  [@mwestphal](https://discourse.paraview.org/u/mwestphal)
#### Post date: [November 2, 2021, 9:07am UTC](https://discourse.paraview.org/t/paraview-compatibility-with-different-graphic-cards/8272/6 "2021-11-02T09:07:00Z")
> which will be better for photo-realistic rendering: OSPRay for ray tracing (with 8 processors-does it depend on number of processors though? or does it depend on RAM?) or Optix with 4GB nvidia 30 series card.
In terms of features, the two backends are quite close. In terms of speed, it depends on the hardware, on a laptop with a nvidia RTX on it, Optix will be faster.
> Does OSPRay use some of the GPU at the backend?
No
> Because I have also tried using OSPRay on a desktop PC with no GPU on it and the colors were completely distorted for a photorealistic pvsm file.
No idea, please open an issue.