Getting a new PC, wondering about the graphics card.

[Damien Evergarden]

Hi, I hope someone could lend me a helping hand.
I am getting a new Gateway desktop PC around the third of May
and I'm positive the amount of available memory will be enough
to handle Second Life but I'm not sure about the graphics card. 
The graphics card that is installed on the Gateway is: AMD Radeon HD 6550D graphics
and I was just wondering if anyone else out there has that card and how SL runs with that card.

Please feel free to contact me in-world @ Shane Lavender or by e-mail BBearX2012@aol.com 

[Jean Horten]

Hi.

The AMD Radeon HD 6550D ( which is a renamed AMD Mobility Radeon HD 5650) is a low end integrated graphics card with no own physical memory. You will be able to run SL with low to mid graphics setttings with it. If you have some money left, have a separate  non integrated gpu  with own physical memory installed in your new computer to get  a bettter SL immersion. As AMD/ATI graphics usuallytend to have problems with poor drivers and with displaying OpenGL ( the graphics 'language' SL uses) I'd strongly go for a nVidia card, something like GTX 560 TI, GTX 570 or better will perform wonderfully in SL. Prices for these cards are considerably dropping these days, as a new generation of nVdia gpus is on it's way to the market.

Jeannie

[Nalates Urriah]

Second Life viewers use OpenGL. AMD/ATI is not so good at supporting OpenGL. You'll have problems with Sun/Moon shadows.

The nVidia 600 series cards are hitting the market. You may be able to pick up a good 400 or 500 series card cheap on eBay.

The i5 and i7 CPU's seem to be providing the best performance.

The best performance upgrade is a 64-bit operating system.

Laptops need a separate video card to work well on SL.

More memory is better. 2gb is squeaking. 4 to 8 is good. 16 is better.

Posting your email address is not a good thing to do.

[VRprofessor]

Make sure to check and see if the power supply will support a graphics cards.  Many off-the-shelf PCs have a power supply with very limited capacity to support upgrades.  

The other factor is how well do you want SL to run?  If you are going in world for meetings or classes where you'll be largely stationary while listening/chatting you don't need very good performance.  If you are going to be role playing or clubbing or other stuff that actually uses graphics you really will want a solid graphics card.