In need of Computer advice

[XuuXuu]

Ok Just want to say thanks for those who answered my questions but it seems you guys know more stuff than i do so I am looking to get a few insights about what specific kind of graphic cards will work best to run sl in ultra settings and have no lag. I am deciding on brands like asus, lenovo, alienware, hp with intel processor. Please be specific if you can if u cant than dont bother to answer this.

[VRprofessor]

In general the Nvidia based cards work better than the AMD/ATI.

the 600 series cards are the most recent technology.  I have an Nvidia 660ti and I can run in ultra mode, but I don't--personal preference.  The 670 series will definitely run in ultra mode.

Check pricing on the 570/580 cards, but a month ago the 670/680 cards were competatively priced with superior specs. 

Lag comes from lots of places, not just your video card.  Network problems and server side issues are common. 

If you purchase a commercially made desktop you will almost certainly need a new, larger power supply to support the graphics cards that I mentioned.

In a laptop---well, for regular use in ultra settings get a desktop. 

[Lindal Kidd]

Lots of computers will run SL well.  Here are some things to look for.

Don't accept "integrated graphics", such as the Intel 3000 and 4000 solutions.  Get a discrete graphics card.  Tom's Hardware has up to date charts on graphics card performance.  Either AMD/ATI Radeon or Nvidia GeForce will work well; my personal preference is for the Nvidia cards.

Get at least 4 GB of system RAM, and more is better.

If you can, get a 64 bit operating system.  You don't NEED it for SL, but it gives you more options in the future.

Your computer will start up and run faster overall if you have the operating system on a solid state drive (SSD), and a separate big hard drive for your data.  Again, this is not strictly necessary for Second Life.

Be sure to connect your computer to your router/internet modem with a cable.  Don't rely on WiFi.

Your internet service should be by DSL, FIOS, or cable internet.  Don't use a wireless internet provider.

Computers advertised as "gaming computers" and costing $1,000 or more will almost always be plenty powerful enough to run SL well.

 

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Ok Just want to say thanks for those who answered my questions but it seems you guys know more stuff than i do so I am looking to get a few insights about what specific kind of graphic cards will work best to run sl in ultra settings and have no lag. I am deciding on brands like asus, lenovo, alienware, hp with intel processor. Please be specific if you can if u cant than dont bother to answer this.

------------------------------------------------------

I'm going to be as specific as I can (but for SL, it's almost impossible to be specific).  There are quite a few graphics cards that are technically capable of running SL at Ultra with little or no lag.  But that's in a perfect world and the whole design of SL is far from perfect.  To run any heavily graphics program at the highest settings possible everything has to be near perfect....like the graphics textures, the graphics data being acessed as fast as your graphics card and CPU can process that data, and the settings one has for the computer doing all that graphics processing. 

Let's take the graphics textures first.  Almost none of the graphics in SL are anywhere near perfect.  The whole idea surrounding SL (and it's main draw for users) is that the content in SL is user created.  There are but a handful of expert graphics artists the provide textures and content to SL........the vast majority of the content is created by amateurs who do excellent work but the content is not optimized for performance (your graphics processing has to deal with textures that are many time larger than need be and/or textures that are uploaded at the improper color bit depth.....that slows things down considerably).

Access to the data needed to present the scene on your monitor is something that, in SL, is completely different than any other online game or any other graphics program you might run on your computer.  All the content (textures, objects, other avatars, scripts, chat, IM's, and anything else that makes up the SL world) is housed on remote servers.  That means your viewer has to request the data to be sent to it depending on what you are looking at, where you are in the world, and where you want to go in the world.  It's not housed on your hard drive where that access is almost instantaneous........it takes times to get to the servers, for the servers to find the content, and then send it back to your viewer (that's before your computer even has a chance to process that data).  Your Internet connection is extremely important in that area......slow or glitchy connections will raise hell with SL.

Your computer settings are just as important as anything else for performance in SL.  SL, being as graphically intensive as just about any program you can run on a computer, requires that you have your computer set up to run using the best performance possible.....turn off all that glitzy stuff like Aero Glass on Vista and Windows 7 (that pretty, eye popping cheesecake takes resources that SL needs for best performance).  That email checker takes more resources than you might expect.  Having YouTube running in the background, your MSN or Yahoo messaging program, playing music from your iPhone..........all that takes resources from SL and will slow you down.  Run your computer "lean and mean" when using SL (turn off as much as possible.....but leave critical things like anti-virus/malware and firwalls running.

Here's where I'm not going to be very specific.  You asked what is the best graphics for SL to run Ultra.  Then you mentioned some computer brands (along wtih Intel...........a CPU chipset manufacturer) as what your considering for your purchase.  That says to me that you really don't know what a graphics processer is.  There's shame in not knowing that but you asked for specific.........and I can't be specific if you don't know what you really want to know.  It's been mentioned that nVidia graphics cards (nVidia is one ot the two top graphics chipset manufacturers in the world......AMD'/ATI is the other) are best for SL.  I'm not going to agree with that..........AMD/ATI cards are every bit as good as nVidia for graphics processing.  I happen to use nVidia but not because it's really better than AMD/ATI.............I just use nVidia (I also drive a Ford....but there is nothing wrong with Chevorette).  You want a high performance card no matter which manufacturer you use.  I'm not going to recommend any card that is more than about mid-level gaming card.......that refusall to recommend be because you can spend $500 or more on a video card that is the highest gaming card available and , because of the design for SL, it won't run any better than that mid-level card.  If you got money to throw at a rig that has bragging rights then go for it............but you'll need to get away fro off the shelf computers and go with a custome built or home built machine.  And I don't think you are quite ready for that.

 

[XuuXuu]

like i mentioned you guy know more than i do but i do apoligize if i happen to read what u wrote in a wrong way but you saying, "That says to me that you really don't know what a graphics processer is. There's shame in not knowing that but you asked for specific.........and I can't be specific if you don't know what you really want to know." didnt think was really necessary. All i want to know is give me what types of amd or nvdia graphic cards will run sl with little or no lag on ultra settings because there are many types of amd/nvidia cards. I am not asking for the best or expensive ones just the ones that will run well on ultra settings with not much problems. Thanks for your advices really appreciate it.

[Peggy Paperdoll]

Okay..........go for an nVidia GTX 680 card. That's just about as high performing nVidia card money can buy........and the price reflects that. The problem is you also need a system and a connection that will support that card. And I'm not going to try to explain to you the what else is involved in order to realize the card's potential. You can get by with much less of a card (such as a GTX550 Ti.......about $100 USD) but that card will lag at ultra settings. There are very few video cards on the market that can run SL at ultra settings without noticable lag. If you want to build a system that can come close to do that, it probably can be done..........but you are going to absolutely have to abandon off the shelf systems and you are going to absolutely have to learn more about what you are asking for.

 

You didn't ask what video card would run SL well without much lag. You asked what video card would run SL at ultra settings with no lag.....then you proceeded to list some computer manufacturers plus one CPU chipset manufacturer (Intel). That shows you do not know what you are asking for. You can go out and buy some $3000 desktop gaming rig and still won't be able to run SL at ultra settings unless you also know what is required in order to get that performance out of any machine. Take a step back and do some research.........or go out and spend a lot of money in the hopes of getting what you want (good luck on that).

[XuuXuu]

ok I did say that I dont know much but what i am questioning is why did you feel u need to mention it again? I apoligize if im reading it wrong but just feels like ur degrading me because i dont know much? Also i am not looking to build a system dont know even how to begin starting one. if my question was not good enough to ask then maybe you should tell me what i need to ask to make it more suitable to your liking? in addition, I am learning that there are more ways to elarn then just go by just reasearching it yourself asking questions is also a way to learn.