GUI: Rendring is very slow

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I had a big issue with this as well that I was finally able to solve. Basically, if your OpenGL is out of date or from the wrong vendor, you will end up with a massive drop in framerate. For Intel cards, you want the Open Source version, I know the latest (Mesa 9.0+) works well on 12.04.

A simple command at the terminal ($/usr/lib/nux/unitysupporttest -p) will tell you your OpenGL version. A couple of examples (Note that I have an Intel card on this machine):

BAD:

$ /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p
OpenGL vendor string:   Tungsten Graphics, Inc
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Sandybridge Mobile
OpenGL version string:  3.0 Mesa 8.0.4

Not software rendered:  yes
Not blacklisted:        yes
GLX fbconfig:           yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:      yes
GL fragment program:    yes
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:  yes
GL version is 1.4+:     yes

Unity 3D supported:     yes

GOOD:

$ /usr/lib/nux/unity_support_test -p

OpenGL vendor string:   Intel Open Source Technology Center
OpenGL renderer string: Mesa DRI Intel(R) Sandybridge Mobile x86/MMX/SSE2
OpenGL version string:  3.0 Mesa 9.0.3

Not software rendered:    yes
Not blacklisted:          yes
GLX fbconfig:             yes
GLX texture from pixmap:  yes
GL npot or rect textures: yes
GL vertex program:        yes
GL fragment program:      yes
GL vertex buffer object:  yes
GL framebuffer object:    yes
GL version is 1.4+:       yes

Unity 3D supported:       yes

To solve read ‘Configuring your graphics card’ at the following link, the process is different depending on your graphics card vendor (AMD and Nvidia are discussed here as well):

http://steamcommunity.com/app/221410/discussions/1/882965118609963322/

For Intel cards, do the following (This is how I got my machine from the BAD to the GOOD state, the increase in rendering performance was pretty drastic):

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=5452-IOSM-1474