SciChart WPF SDK User Manual > SciChart WPF System Requirements
SciChart WPF System Requirements

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System Requirements

Q: What hardware is required to run SciChart WPF?

SciChart WPF is designed to run on any Windows PC which is capable of running WPF with .NET Framework v4.6.2 or above.

SciChart WPF v8 now targets .NET 6.0, .NET Core 3.1,  and .NET Framework 4.6.2. Microsoft has ended support for .NET Frameworks earlier than 4.5.2 in 2022. As a result, we have had to raise the minimum supported .NET Framework Version to v4.6.2 starting from SciChart WPF v7.

Windows versions supported are the same that WPF and .NET Framework v4.6.2 supports, e.g. Windows Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, and Windows 11.

Q: What Visual Studio Version(s) are recommended?

At SciChart we recommend Visual Studio 2022 or later, as it is faster, leaner and has better features than previous editions. However, SciChart can be compiled and developed on Visual Studio 2015 and above.

Always ensure you have the latest service packs for Visual Studio as this can affect stability in the XAML designer and prevent many common IDE issues that SciChart users run in to sometimes.

Q: Minimum Video Hardware Requirements

The SciChart software renderers (the default renderers) will work on any video adapter, including virtual / emulated adapter, integrated graphics, virtual machines etc...

The SciChart Visual Xccelerator Engine requires a DirectX 9c capable (DirectX 11 preferred) Video Card (GPU) with at least 256MB of Video RAM. Less Video RAM than this can cause problems and automatic downgrade to software rendering which is slower. See Troubleshooting Visual Xccelerator Issues on low-end Graphics Adapters for more information.

The Visual Xccelerator Engine published as part of SciChart WPF SDK v6 and newer will perform better with a more modern and fast GPU. We would recommend nVidia GeForce GTX 1050 or later or equivalent AMD Radeon GPU with at least 2GB of VRAM for optimum operation.

Q: But what hardware is recommended for Fastest Operation?

Recommended hardware for best performance would be an Intel i7 processor with 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a medium-to-high-spec nVidia graphics card such as GeForce GTX 1070/GTX 1080 or newer.

As parts of SciChart become more dependent on video hardware, a good GPU is becoming more important, however you can still get very decent performance numbers on average enterprise laptops/desktops – you don’t need a super computer to get great results out of SciChart!

Q: How much RAM do I need to run SciChart?

SciChart is actually very memory efficient. SciChart 2D WPF uses not much more memory than required to hold the raw data, for instance, if you wish to display 100,000,000 points of XY data where X and Y types are double, you can expect to use just over 100M * 8 * 2 bytes = 1.6GBytes. SciChart can be run on machines with very low RAM and only 200MB is required for the scichart engine itself, plus the approximate amount of memory to hold your data.

Minimum RAM requirement for optimal performance is 4GB (assuming the Windows will take it's part). Preferred is 16GB or more.

Q: Will SciChart run over Remote Desktop?

Yes! Of course. SciChart is simply a WPF UserControl, it does not require any special hardware to run and it can be viewed (and it is still fast!) over Remote Desktop connections. Even our Visual Xccelerator Engine and hardware accelerated 3D Charts will run over remote desktop.

If you want to limit framerate you can use a SciChartSurface.MaxFrameRate property to limit the amount of data sent over remote desktop.

Q: Can I run SciChart in a WinForms Application?

Yes, you can. By using the Microsoft ElementHost WinForms Control, which can host any WPF UserControl inside a Winforms application.

Q: What Touch-Screens does SciChart Support?

Any multi-touch screen, which is compatible with the WPF MultiTouch APIs.

Q: I have an 11" Intel Atom Netbook. Can SciChart display 1,000,000,000 points on that?

Well, it is going to be a lot slower than that gaming-desktop you have, but SciChart is still capable of displaying large data-point counts on slower PCs. We suggest you follow our Performance Tips & Tricks to get the best out of SciChart. 

 

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