Realflight 7-9.5 and Lenovo X1 Carbon with Integrated Graphics

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nailzscott

New member
Sorry, but I've been reading for days about integrated graphics and incompatibility with Realflight, so I'll probably get hammered for posting. Some say it won't work and others say it is working.

I've been flying rc airplanes for a few years and have my sons and grandsons involved. I would like to buy and load any version of Realflight 7-9.5 onto my business grade laptop which has these specs:

Windows 7 Pro, Intel i7-6600u, 16GB ram, 64 bit, Intel HD Graphics 250, Total Graphics Memory 1824MB, Dedicated Video Mem 192MB, Shared Memory 1632MB

I do not expect perfect resolution and do expect reduction in FPS, but is it even possible to Realflight with these specs.

I don't know if Windows 7 is a limitation. I retired from IBM years ago and did not upgrade this windows version since it has been the most stable version of Windows I've ever used - even if it is unsupported. I have a desktop machine that has the Windows 10 and have had more Windows problems with it than any Lenovo laptop I've ever owned. I could probably load Realflight onto the desktop but that would eliminate the portability of taking my laptop to my grandkids and working with them on their skills.

I am sorry if I missed a post that answers these questions but it wasn't for the lack of trying.

Thanks
 
I doubt that you'll have any problems with those specs except that you might need to adjust graphics quality if you aren't happy with the frame rates. I'm running RF8 on an i7 4th gen Lenovo X240 laptop with similar specs. I'd also like to point out that you can install RF on both the laptop & desktop as long as they aren't used at the same time. You just need to register them both with the same email address, password, etc.
 
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The integrated graphics issue you've read about is specific to Intel 12th Gen and later processors. Intel chose to drop support for DirectX 9 in their graphics drivers for the newer chipsets.

As long as your laptop will support DirectX 9 (which it should, being WIndows 7), then RF should work fine.
 
Thanks for responding guys. I also sent a request out to RealFlight but they were slow in responding. They basically did not answer the question - just saying that it may not run on my system. And then they just gave the recommended specs - which was no help at all.

flightengr - Bill Stuntz (above responder) says RF 8 runs on his similar system as mine. Do you think RF 9.5 would run on it?

Thanks
 
As far as I know, very little changed behind the scenes since 7.5, and everything still uses DirectX 9, even the latest version, Evolution.

Sounds like you may want be wanting to get a version that was originally available on DVD and avoid Steam? If you do that and buy something used, know that if the person had 9 or 9.5 and turned in the key for that DVD in order to get 9.5S on Steam, then the CD key for 9 or 9.5 will no longer activate the program. If someone says they're selling their copy of 9 or 9.5 because they upgraded to 9.5S, that's a red flag!

I still have 9.5 on a 9th Gen Intel CPU (i7-9700) with integrated graphics and it's fine.
 
flightengr: I wasn't as concerned about getting something from Steam as just not spending a bunch on something that may not work. My i7 laptop with integrated graphics still has Windows 7 and plan on keeping, so my thought was that an older version of RF that was made in the same time frame as my computer may have a better chance of working. I'd also like to be able to use the spectrum dongle and I have read that RF version 8 and newer will work with that. So I've been looking at version 8 of RF for those reasons.

As yes, I understanding on the need for an older version to be deactivated from a prior owner.

I also had the thought of putting the latest version of RF on a robust gaming computer I have that has an AMD processor and a ATI Radeon dedicated graphics card - but that eliminates the portability that the laptop gives me. After considering that desktop computer direction, research shows that there can be a whole set of other difficulties with RF and AMD.

Nothing seems like a good option at this point to spend a couple hundred dollars and not know if it works before. I suppose Steam doesn't allow a purchase, an install, and a refund if it doesn't work - do they?

Thanks
 
Steam does have a process for requesting a refund if you made the purchase in the last 14 days and used the program for less than two hours.

help.steampowered.com

Steam Support :: How To Request A Refund

help.steampowered.com help.steampowered.com

That's how Steam came to mind in my other post. If you were willing to go that route, you could try it and return it if you found out it wouldn't run properly.

When you mention "spend a couple hundred dollars", were you thinking of buying the InterLink DX controller along with it? If you purchase a box with a controller and a Steam card in it, I don't know if or how the refund process would work in that situation. I think you have to buy the program through the Steam store in order for them to be able to give you a refund on it.
 
nailzscott said:
but that eliminates the portability that the laptop gives me.
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Not true. You can install RF on as many different computers as you want. But you can only actually run it on one at a time. You can EASILY have both the speed of a desktop & portability of a laptop - but not simultaneously. That's also true of the Steam versions. When you log into Steam on a PC, ALL your Steam games are available on ANY PC.
P.S. If your grandkids have a PC, install it there, too. You don't even need to carry the laptop.
 
flightengr - Thanks, I'll look into that refund process and purchasing from Steam. Since I have a Spectrum DX8G2, I was looking at buying the usb Dongle. I'll just need to check with Steam to see if they would refund that too.

Bill - Thanks for the info - that's good stuff.
 
@nailzscott, the refund process flightengr referenced does require direct purchase from Steam. You would then request the refund through them if needed.

RealFlight Evolution does not support Windows 7. You're right that a previous (9.5S or earlier) version would still run on it. But previous versions are no longer available for sale through the Steam store. (To be clear, anybody who purchased them retains them; they are not going to disappear. It's just that you can't buy them anymore.) So finding old stock on a store shelf or online is probably your best bet.

It is worth noting that if you purchase a 9.5S package you will automatically get Evolution. Hopefully at some point in the future you could make use of it.

As others have described above, RealFlight is not super demanding when it comes to hardware. I don't have direct experience with a machine like you described, but at a glance I bet it'd run okay, possibly requiring a reduction in graphics quality or resolution to get a framerate with which you are happy.

There have been AMD graphics driver compatibility issues in the past. At present they have fixed their drivers and they support RealFlight. There remains a possibility of that changing at some point in the future, though. That part is out of our control.
 
Ryan Douglas said:
@nailzscott, the refund process flightengr referenced does require direct purchase from Steam. You would then request the refund through them if needed.

RealFlight Evolution does not support Windows 7. You're right that a previous (9.5S or earlier) version would still run on it. But previous versions are no longer available for sale through the Steam store. (To be clear, anybody who purchased them retains them; they are not going to disappear. It's just that you can't buy them anymore.) So finding old stock on a store shelf or online is probably your best bet.

It is worth noting that if you purchase a 9.5S package you will automatically get Evolution. Hopefully at some point in the future you could make use of it.

As others have described above, RealFlight is not super demanding when it comes to hardware. I don't have direct experience with a machine like you described, but at a glance I bet it'd run okay, possibly requiring a reduction in graphics quality or resolution to get a framerate with which you are happy.

There have been AMD graphics driver compatibility issues in the past. At present they have fixed their drivers and they support RealFlight. There remains a possibility of that changing at some point in the future, though. That part is out of our control.
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Thank you for your input.
 
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