Will this custom PC spec give good SL performance?

[Faaria Kalil]

I've only ever had laptops before but I got in touch with a custom build pc shop that suggested the following specs to me for a gaming desktop. My question is - will this set-up give high performance on SL or is there anything I should be looking to change or improve here? The price they quoted is below my budget so I can add some bells and whistles if necessary. I was thinking of changing the motherboard to an ASUS Sabertooth but beyond that I don't know what to change. Thanks for your help!

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600k Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics

Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-M: Micro-ATX, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI CrossFireX

RAM: 8GB Samsung Dual-DDR3 1333MHz (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card: 1.25GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Hard Disk: 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6Gb/s HDD 7200RPM 32Mb Cache

Power Supply: 600W Quiet 80 PLUS Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Processor Cooling: COOLIT ECO II A.L.C Advanced Liquid Cooler

Sound Card: Onboard 6 channel (5.1) High Def Audio 

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit

Monitor: 18.5" AOC Widescreen LED TFT - 1366 x 768, 5MS, D-Sub, DVI-D

[KarenMichelle Lane]

I wouldn't throw that PC out of my Bed....room office

My daughter looking over my shoulder said to up the PS to 750 watts or better.

But the question we always want to make sure of is this:

Do you have a really fast and reliable internet connection? The best PC for SL can be made begging with a poor internet connection or inferior router.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

In addition to Karen's advice to get a larger pwoer supply (which is good enough but with the liquid cooling it's pretty much done for any future upgrades that require a bigger PS.....I'd go with 800 watts minimum myself), get faster system RAM.  1333 Mhz is medium speed....go with 1600 Mhz.  I'd also go ahead and max out the motherboards capacity for RAM (probably 16 GB).

As the system stands right now, it should run SL very well at ultra settings.  But to "future proof" as much as possible a bigger PS and faster RAM would go a long way to that end.

[Synge Takacs]

After years and several rounds of upgrades, I run a high end system and am pretty obsessive about SL performance.   I thought I'd spec out an ultimate SL system based on my experience.   What you list is overkill on the CPU side, but underpowered graphically.  This goes for most games - SL especially needs the fastest video card you can give it to max out its settings.  Even then it won't be quite enough to completely max out everything smoothly at 1080p and up resolution.  SLI and Crossfire in Second Life are pretty useless, so you want the fastest single GPU card available.  You also want a SSD for fast zoning, and faster memory would probably also help.  Based on my experience, here's what I would recommend for a price-optimized high-end build that's built specifically for Second Life, with everything you need and nothing you don't for the very best possible experience.  Of course it will also be great for any other game, too!  Prices are current on Newegg as of this writing.

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470k Quad Core (3.4GHz / 3.8Ghz Turbo)             $229

Cooler: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Evo                                                     $35

Case: Antec 302 Black                                                                            $68

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77MX-D3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77                $129

Memory: G-SKILL Ripjaws X 16GB (2 x 8gb) DDR3 1600 9-9-9            $95

SSD: Samsung 830 Series 128GB                                                          $119

Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB                                                  $85

Video Card: Galaxy Geforce GTX680 SOC White Edition                      $555

Power Supply: Seasonic M12II Bronze 620W                                         $89

Monitor: ASUS VW246H Glossy Black 24" 2ms GTG 1920x1080          $179

Keyboard and mouse: Microsoft Comfort Desktop 5000                         $59

Speakers: Logitech Z523                                                                         $79

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit                                                    $99

Total:                                                                                                        $1820

 

Obviously corners can be cut if need be to meet a price point, but this is a no-compromises SL system with no extra 'fluff'.  I've been through several rounds of upgrades and learned a lot about SL performance.  Currently I'm running a overclocked Core i5-760 with 12gb RAM, 128gb SSD, and a GTX670.

Hope this helps.