Computer Resources and 3rd Party Viewers

[Nitewater]

Hi,

I'm pretty new to SL. I am using Viewer 3 on a laptop with integrated graphics and a home DSL connection which is not amazing. The setup is usable. It takes a few moments for sims to to rez. Busy clubs with lots of avatars take the longest, and I can never really see the avatars in great detail.  I generally go to lectures and readings which are pretty static so rez time is not too bad.

Are any of the 3rd party viewers that I have heard mentioned better for lower end systems? Or are they all pretty much all the same?

(And by the way, if you could upgrade either your internet connection or your graphics card to have a better SL experience, which would it be?)

Thanks!

[Theresa Tennyson]

Older non-"mesh" supporting viewers tend to perform better on lower-end hardware, but as more "mesh" items are used there will be more and more things you wont' be able to see properly over time.

 Upgrading your graphics system is FAR more important than your internet connection, especially if you already have DSL. Second Life doesnt' really need extreme internet connection SPEED, but it needs the highest possible RELIABILITY and CONSISTENCY. That's why it tends to work better on a wired connection than on wireless.

[Jenni Darkwatch]

SL won't use terribly much bandwidth, meaning the rez time always sucks (unless you've got the textures cached). I'd second the opinion that a better GPU might be the best option. In busy venues it also helps to reduce the number of non-impostor avis (in Graphics settings).

[Randall Ahren]

Singularity works best for me and it renders mesh.

[CronoCloud Creeggan]

Simply put SL is GPU intensive, integrated graphics aren't really enough, though that depens on your hardware.  Some integrated solutions are probably better than my GT220.

For my sake, On Linux  most viewers seem about the same on my hardware.  LL's own viewers tend to look a touch nicer, and Firestorm has a slightly  higher frame rate but it's not a big difference:  I personally either recommend LL's own viewers (I use Snowstorm development releases myself) or Firestorm.

CPU: AMD Athlon II X2 240 Processor (2800 MHz)
Memory: 3011 MB
OS Version: Linux 3.2.3-2.fc16.x86_64 #1 SMP Fri Feb 3 20:08:08 UTC 2012 x86_64
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce GT 220/PCI/SSE2

OpenGL Version: 3.3.0 NVIDIA 290.10

 

 

 

[Luschious Nightfire]

I would have to agree with Randal, for me it also seems as if Singularity is best when it comes to limited resources..  The only downside to Singularity I know of is it does not support multiple clothing layers   (Unless there has been an update I dont know off)

[Rene Erlanger]

CoolViewer...has 1.23 UI with V3 Library files....so you can view Mesh, shadows and all the other bells & whistles .(in 1.26.2 or 1.26.3 CV versions)

The CV Developer plugged some memory leaks that LL & other TPV left out. Out of all the SL Viewers i have tried including LL official ones...this uses the least RAM and leaks less memory over time than any other viewer. In the "Advance Menu" you can tick "Allow Swapping" which helps too!

If the memory bar graph is yellow or red while the bias increases (and the textures blur as a result), this is because of a low main memory condition. If you use "Allow swapping" is like lowering the "Draw distance" as it lowers the number of textures in the camera field of view and thus allocate more memory to the textures of the closer objects. This is Cool VL Viewer specific feature (the other Viewers would simply crash in such conditions).

I've left my Avatar unattended for hours in a static position doing nothing and the CPU Memory usage would be somewhere between 50 -80k using Coolviewer....any other Viewer would be in the low 100's under similar conditions, (100k to 300k)

The CoolViewer Developer stated that  "One thing is certain: mesh viewers use 20% more memory than non-mesh viewers, and 1Gb of RAM is not really comfortable an amount for them..."

[Nitewater]

Thank you!  These are exactly the sort of explanations I was hoping for. Time for me to explore. Much appreciation to all!

[Chris Mammoth]

Here is a very good and up to date chart showing GPU ratings on Nvidia and AMD/ATI Cards. It even shows integrated chipsets, mobile chipsets and older cards.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/gaming-graphics-card-review,review-32374-7.html

I find Singularity uses the least system resources while still providing the shiney functions (mesh etc). I think V3.0 may have some issues as i have a GTX 580 card and still notice a significant slowdown in rendering using V3.0. GPU-Z also shows my cards GPU load at a much higher % when using V3.0.

Another thing to remember is using a laptop things heat up. Alot of hardware will slow itself down if the heat gets too high. Laptops aren't really the best thing for SL due to this heat and the relativley poor performance of most mobile chipsets. Also your not going to be able to upgrade said chipset or improve the cooling as you can easily with a desktop.

 

[Nitewater]

Mildly off-topic: In these sorts of graphics chip discussions, most SL folks suggest using a desktop rather than a laptop because we will get better performance. 

I really can't imagine having a great SL experience sitting at my desk. I want to be cozy when I am in my other worlds. Doesn't this bother other people?

[Seven Overdrive]

My laptop has a  GeForce GT 555M graphics card in it and I can turn on all the bells and whistles without a problem.  Even in busy places and that card is only considered mid-ranged.  Laptops with capable graphics cards do cost more than desktops for sure, but it is nice not having to be tethered to one spot in the house.