Building a new computer for Second Life.

[o0Tasha0o]

1.) I am looking to build a new computer for Second Life, I built a computer  about 5 years ago and its fairly old, while the computer generally runs great when I play games which demand graphics I generally have no problems except for newer games like "Fire Fall" or " Ever Quest Next" even then I think for this type of computer build it does good being 5 years old, and given the fact my old board went out and I replaced it which maybe the reason I am having a problem with Second Life.

Anyways my problem with Second Life, is Textures which load into memory then go blurry randomly, this occurs mostly in a closed space in my house, the wall textures fully load and go blurry  until I move my camera around and then reload and then later if I cam in on myself textures around me all go blurry again, and this happens in random shops, and sims or other objects around the grid.

. I have tried every step I can find on the forums, google search, adjusting graphics settings, network cache, Network Bandwith, Advanced settings "TextureFetechConcurrency" "meshmaxConcurrentRequests" doesn't fix the problem.

. I have also triped wiping the Settings, Linden Lab Viewer, and Fire Storm.

2.) The Secondary Issue I have with Second Life is FPS lag, no matter running on the lowest settings I get around 15-30 FPS usually no more than 25 max,  however if I start running around shooting a gun or doing Combat, my FPS drop quite abit its hard to play just isn't smooth, its worse now that mesh is around.

Now playing other games I get a solid 40-60 FPS sometimes 80 FPS without a problem, however I have a "750 TI 2GB GDDR5 Graphics card, and  8 Gigs DDR2 800 memory, with a 3.0 Phenom Quad Core.

However in Second Life for example I have run my Utility which only tells me that I am using 20% or less of my GPU Clock speed, and SL only uses a maximum of  512MB Graphics Memory doesn't fully use my GPU on AMD, or Nvidia Cards.

Which leads me to believe that the problems I have in SL Could be specifically related to lower end hardware and newer mesh especially since Second Life uses the CPU, and Memory more than the GPU itself, along with the fact I sometimes get a popping sound in games when running under heavy load through my speakers which leads me to believe my lower end AM2+ board I replaced just might not be up for the job compared to the board I was using.

3.) In specifics if there is nothing that I can try to fix Second Life to work better, I am upgrading my system.

 

 

1.) The first question is if a AMD Processor would work great with Second Life, I hear from other people to go (Intel Because Intels are Better.) but what I would really like to know is if the latest AMD will work just as good.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113347&cm_re=9590-_-19-113-347-_-Product

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131876

I would prefer using AMD simply because it will be less expensive for me to build cost like $2000 with Dual Graphics Cards and should in theory last me a few years or more, but how would such a system perform in Second Life?

2.) The Intel Build, If I go the Intel Route which is the most expensive, I will likey be buying a 5930k and a X99 motherboard as well as Quad Channel DDR4 Memory  which is the more expensive route to take how would this perform in Second Life?

^ The reason I would really be going for the X99 Route rather than just buying a 4790k is because I can't find any Dual 16X16 SLI motherboards for a Socket 1150 a 4790k actually has a faster single core performance than a 5930k

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-5930K-vs-AMD-FX-9590/2578vs1812

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-5930K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-4790K/2578vs2384

http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-5930K-vs-Intel-Core-i7-5960X/2578vs2580

3.) Over-All any suggestions on a fix for my Current Computer with Second Life, or Should I Upgrade, and if so Should I go with AMD, or Intel, will AMD CPU work just as good as far as doing combat in SL, Loading a single full simulator of items and playing with no lag?

Could windows vista be the problem?

[Qie Niangao]

I don't know what Utility is telling you that SL doesn't use all your GPU's bandwidth, but just be aware that a 750 is in the "kind of okay" category of performance for SL. For most folks, and most purposes, it'll be fine, but you seem to expect a much (much) higher framerate than most folks expect -- which is understandable if you're playing a lot of in-world shooter games -- so that being the case:

You'll want to be sure to crank down Draw Distance as tight as you possibly can while playing those real-time games. Same with other graphics features. For example, with normal SL use, your graphics card should be fine for just leaving Shadows on all the time, but for in-world gaming, that would be hopeless for that card. But maybe you're already making those adjustments and still need more performance.

The CPU manufacturer does not matter. Not even a little. Now, you may have legitimate concerns about AMD's continued viability as a business. (I do.) But their CPUs are going to keep performing just fine. (On the other hand, although you didn't ask this: just don't buy AMD's ATi graphics cards for use with OpenGL applications like SL. They have screwed up their OpenGL drivers so many times now, and so badly, that one must conclude that product line has deep, institutional problems.)

The thing is, though, you seem to be worried about SLI capabilities on the motherboard. That is never going to do you any good with SL, so unless you have some other application that needs it, you're wasting time thinking about it. (Same with Crossfire.) Those ganged-graphics-card architectures are absurdly cost-inefficient for any application, but gamers being gamers, a good little niche profit-maker for manufacturers.

Vista shouldn't be your problem. It's kind of junk, really, but it's not inherently limited for SL use. On the other hand, if you haven't ever reloaded your OS from scratch in the five years since you built your current computer, just doing that can make a big difference in overall system performance.

EDIT TO ADD: Re-reading your post, you're investing a lot of time and effort in finding the "best" CPU for this new build. It's good to have a capable CPU, but unless you're doing a lot of other stuff on your machine, it's pretty unnecessary to spend so much on the CPU if you're going to use such a lower mid-range graphics card. If it were me, I'd just get a nice i5-4690 and call it a day. At the moment, newegg has the -K model on sale for like US$219. (The non-K is $224 today. Otherwise, unless you're overclocking, no point in burning the extra 4 watts for the -K model.) Anyway, you can buy a lot of graphics card for that savings in CPU cost.

[o0Tasha0o]

Thanks, but to try to answer a few things that might help.

. The GPU Program I am running detects GPU Usage, or Core Clock Speed, as well as Temperature, and FB Usage.

When I am just using Second Life it shows no more than around 17-30 % Usage but always usually below 20% compared to if I were playing another game such as Star Craft, or Fire Fall, this is when my GPU will go up to full usage and the performance is a lot better than in Second Life.

. In Second Life I have tried to lower my draw distance to as little as 48 meters which my FPS doesn't go above 25 FPS usually unless like in a completely empty sim, or with no one else or very few objects around in world, let alone using at least 100 - 150 draw distance in a combat based simulator.

. About SLI, I know SLI isn't really a thing for Second Life, but in General if I had a X99 Motherboard which supported 16 x 16 bandwidth on a SLI card would it be worthit in a an area where games actually use SLI performance wise.

. No I have not format this pc for like 5 years at least, Could there be some type of Operating System issue causing low FPS. ( Next time I plan to do a format I am upgrading to a (SSD) and putting on Windows 7. (All my friends say not to get Windows 8.

. I am looking at like a 4790k, or a 5930, Generally other than talking about money I am liking the 5930k build because of the new DDR4 system memory in Quad Channel, as well as the 16 X 16 SLI, now in Second Life for example SLI might not work, but in newer games like Star Citizen which should be supporting SLI I think it would make a big difference would it not? Also do keep in mind that when I build this again I plan to put at least 32 Gigs of memory, with what I like doing I tend to use a lot of memory DDR3 is rather cheap, DDR4 a bit more expensive. (My Problem however is the Socket 1150) Not offering 16 x 16 SLI Bandwidth.

. The other option would go the latest AMD CPU Route and Board which supports 16x16 bandwidth but only DDR3

. In general I do a lot of games as well besides play Second Life, often running Multi-Boxed games, sometimes render a video or two which I don't find so bad at the wait times which is another reason I am looking for a faster PC in General.

I asked Linden Lab about my Specs on my computer and they meet the requirements, even without shadows on, even when running in low graphics settings I get problems with low FPS, and the bigger problem is textures randomly going blurry and reloading at random.

After looking over somethings I am thinking that the problem could be the current system board I am using, the DPC Latency is spiking at times, and I am unable to run the Unganged RAM option in Bios which is basically 1 ram stick per core without getting problems like Repeated Letters being pressed when running intensive games, or keyboard stops working completely, when I run my ram Ganged mode which means all Memory can be used by all cores the computer works better still gets a little input lag from keyboard, and DPC still spikes a bit.

 

[Nagachief Darkstone]

From my experience with using Second Life:

-CPU is the main component you should focus on; it appears the bulk of rendering is software rendering. Second Life will only use 2 cores, despite having 10+ threads. So, look for a CPU with high single core performance.

-RAM is a massive factor in performance, up until you get to around 10 GB

-HDD speed is a factor for loading assets, and moving your cache off the system drive will increase system stability. (Either put it on a SSD or create a RAMDisk)

-GPU mostly handles textures and post-processing (FXAA, Bloom, Deferred Rendering).

[Crim Mip]

Your current graphic card ought to be ok for SL. I'm thinking the issue may be the speed of your drive or maybe even the IO speed your motherboard can provide. When was the last time you did a wipe and clean re-install of the OS. As big a pain as that may be, it will take the registry back to a fresh state. If you're going to do that, you might as well invest in an SSD. Even a 128gig will hold the OS and a few of your more used software and a 256gig should be ample for anything you'd actually need on the fast drive. It's easy enough to re-direct saves and all the standard directories to a standard drive on the same system. Hopefully that would bring the performance to the point where you could get some more use out of the current rig. Obviously the longer you can put off a new system, the more you'll get for your money when you do get one.

That said, five years is a pretty good run for a computer. If you can afford a new system, you'll almost certainly see better IO speeds. Make sure you get whatever memory you install in paired modules. Two four gig modles is better than one 8 for instance. And don't even consider building a new system without an SSD. The boot speed and OS performance increase just from that is amazing. Software like Second Life that depends on disk cache majorly benefit from one as well.