SciChart WPF - System Requirement FAQs

The following article covers system requirements FAQs for SciChart WPF, our Windows Presentation Foundation chart library. 

For a documentation article please see SciChart System Requirements

Q: What hardware is required to run SciChart WPF? 

As a minimum for deployed applications using SciChart WPF it is recommended to have Intel x64 32-bit processor, 4GB of RAM and a DirectX 9c compatible GPU. However, due to software emulation no GPU is required for SciChart to work. 

Recommended hardware for development machines would be 16GB of RAM, a Quad-core or better CPU and a DirectX 11 capable GPU (video card or graphics card). 

SciChart WPF is designed to run on any Windows PC which is capable of running WPF with .NET4.5.2 or above.

Windows versions supported are the same that .NET4.5.2+ supports, e.g. Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 10, Windows 11. 

Q: Which .NET Framework, and .NET versions does SciChart WPF Support?

SciChart WPF is compiled to support multiple targets, including:

• .NET Framework from .NET Framework v4.5.2 and later (including .NET4.7, .NET4.8 or later)
• SciChart WPF also supports .NET 6, .NET 7, .NET 8 and .NET 9 in version 8+ of SciChart WPF.
• .NETCore 3.1 support is included in version 8 of SciChart however this is deprecated.

Q: What Visual Studio Version(s) are recommended to develop with SciChart WPF?

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 developed on Visual Studio 2017 or earlier.

Compilation of SciChart from source code (if you are a source-code customer) requires Visual Studio 2022, as we depend on the VC++ Runtime that ships with VS2022. 

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 users of SciChart sometimes run in to.

Q: Do I need a GPU (Graphics Processor, Video Card or Graphics Card) to run SciChart WPF?

No, you do not need a GPU to run SciChart WPF, as we have software rendering fall-backs for all 2D charts. The software renderers perform very quickly and fast and can be configured in Quality (High Quality) or Performance (High Speed) mode. 

SciChart WPF 3D Charts do require a DirectX9c capable video card or later. 

DirectX 11 or later GPU is recommended for optimal performance but is not necessary. 

Q: Do I need a Fast GPU / Graphics Card to run SciChart? 

Not necessarily! You only need a graphics card capable of running WPF, which is any DirectX 9c or later card. So long as you have a PC made after 2005, you should be able to run SciChart.

If you are using the DirectX accelerated renderers then you will need a DirectX 9c capable video card. DirectX10/11 is recommended for optimal performacne. SciChart 2D is able to fall back to software rendering when the appropriate hardware is not available.

SciChart 3D does require a DirectX9c (or later) capable video card, and is not available for computers without a DirectX9c / DirectX10 / DirectX11 GPU.  

NOTE: Microsoft officially ended support for Windows XP and since v5.0 of SciChart WPF, we no longer support this operating system

Q: But what hardware is recommended for Fastest Operation?

SciChart 2D favours high-speed CPU over high-speed GPU, as many of our algorithms are performed on the CPU side. If you have a Quad-Core i7 running at 3.4GHz and Intel Integrated Graphics, it’s going to beat a 1.6 GHz CPU and fast ATI or nVidia graphics.

SciChart 3D favours both CPU and GPU, with faster GPUs and larger GPU memory offering considerable performance improvements, especially in real-time 3D WPF charts.

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 10,000,000 points of XY data where X and Y types are double, you can expect to use just over 10M * 8 * 2 bytes = 160Mbytes. So for standard 2D charts without hardware acceleration, SciChart can be run on machines with very low RAM.

SciChart 2D DirectX and SciChart 3D will both use a larger amount of memory, including unmanaged memory as Textures are created in video driver memory. So for DirectX Hardware-accelerated charts, 128-256Mbytes of Video memory is recommended, and the more the better.

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 DirectX Renderer Plugin and DirectX powered 3D Charts will run over remote desktop.

If you want to limit framerate you can use a property, SciChartSurface.MaxFrameRate, 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 10,000,000 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.