Autodesk Inventor® Hardware Web Site

Print this page

Last Updated
08/18/2008
Autodesk Inventor® Hardware Web Site

Welcome to the Autodesk Inventor® Hardware Web Site. Please click on the appropriate option.

Autodesk Digital Prototyping information

Important Inventor Information (9-2009):

  1. ALERT: Known driver conflicts:
    1. Defect Number 964180 [MS Intillipoint mouse driver 6.10.155.0 is not compatible with Inventor 2008 SP1 ] Please use the older 5.5 driver or no driver at all.
    2. A Logitech SetPoint software package (4.60.122) has also been found to cause Inventor to quick exit on startup. Uninstalling the Logitech software and rebooting resolved the Inventor issue. The SetPoint software was then re-installed and it now works fine.

  2. Breaking News: Inventor 11 through 2009, 3GB Mode on XP-32: D3D appears to have a memory resource issue when used with high definition monitors or dual monitors. OpenGL appears to not have this problem. 2009 OpenGL certifications will be added for XP around Sept 1st. 2008.Vista-32 was tested with Inventor 2009 and the same D3D9 graphics card. (Click here for Vista 3GB information) It worked great.in the 3GB mode. Vista 64 is strongly recommended as a greatly improved alternative to the 3GB mode.

  3. Nvidia Drivers run out of resources. (Windows 2000 & XP 32-64)
  4. DirectX 10 issue:When using DX10 (Vista), lines that should be solid may appear dashed. If the object is rotated, the lines will change from dashed to solid, to dashed. Workaround: Switch to DX9. The graphics vendors are working on this.
    1. Nvidia does NOT have this issue.
    2. ATI has fixed their newest drivers as of June 2008.
  5. OpenGL support
    1. New OpenGL Certifications are only available by request from webmaster because OpenGL is now a Legacy functionality with limited support.
    2. A certification in a newer version of Inventor also applies to all older versions of Inventor.
    3. A certification for a released product always applies to all following service packs.
    4. OpenGL also requires the latest graphics database update.
    5. If you are forced to use OpenGL because of D3D problems, please report your problems, so they can be fixed. See Reporting Requirements for the information needed by the Inventor team.
  6. New 2009:
    1. Vista 32 & 64 has DX 9 & 10 support. Inventor will automatically detect the level of hardware acceleration on your card.
    2. XP-32 can use OpenGL or DX 9 (Default). XP-64 only uses DX9.
  7. NEW 2008 & 2009:
    1. Direct3D :
      1. When using Inventor 2008 or newer, with Direct3D 9 or newer, any Microsoft Windows Hardware Quality Lab (WHQL) certified graphics driver is certified for use with Inventor; no additional Autodesk Inventor certification is necessary. Most drivers will still be posted here for your convenience.
      2. If the D3D driver is WHQL certified, but reported as Uncertified or Unknown in the graphics diagnostic, Click OK and paste into notepad. Search for the word "Gold" in English.If it is found, everything is OK. We are working on this cosmetic defect. Fixed in Inventor 2008, SP3 & 2009 SP1.
    2. OpenGL:
      1. OpenGL is supported only on Windows XP when using a Certified OpenGL Workstation card (such as a Quadro or FireGL card) with a driver from this web site.
        1. The card vendors design Workstation cards and drivers for applications such as CAD. They also test Inventor with every new driver. They do not support cards designed for the game market (such as Radeon and GeForce) for use with Inventor. As a result, Autodesk can not support game cards for OpenGL.
        2. All configurations have OpenGL software emulation as a backup.
        3. Click for more information
  8. Notebook users: If you do not find a driver on our site, please obtain the latest WHQL certified driver from your notebook vendor. When used with DirectX 9 Graphics, this is certified. Do not attempt to use drivers from any other source. Drivers designed for desktop display may damage a notebook display.
  9. Inventor LT users: Please use Inventor 2008 settings, database & graphics drivers.
  10. When changing to a different graphics card, it is highly recommended that you un-install your current drivers before installing the new card.
  11. 3GB switch on XP or Vista32: The graphics vendors have re-structured their drivers to use more Operating System address space and less application address space. You may have to use the USERVA switch (i.e.. /USERVA=2400) to move the 3GB boundary down. When running up against this boundary, please limit Inventor to 1 graphics window. Do not run any other applications that are not required, as each application takes OS resources that may not be available.See FAQ page for more information

Card Certification
Autodesk, Inc. has tested many workstation graphic cards and driver configurations.
Search for a card to find information and downloads for Autodesk Inventor® certified drivers.

Certification and Workstation Comparison
The comparison page shows system test results for Autodesk Inventor® running on various Workstations.

Graphics Database Files
This enables Inventor to properly use the driver.The update is required for OpenGL. For Direct3D it contains only workarounds for the few card/driver combinations that have a problem. As soon as these are identified, they are usually fixed.

Frequently Asked Questions
The FAQ page deals with number of common problems and provides troubleshooting tips.
New: Best Practices for stable graphics and performance