Help! What do I need to run today's SL?

[Tira Moonwing]

I have been using SL on the same old laptop since I joined. With the major updates LL has been doing I have been unable to view mesh (I am sure some of you have experienced this) and when I downloaded and tried all the mesh-compatable viewers no luck in starting; all I get is a black screen where the log-in screen should be. So I have been stuck using an old viewer with mesh mess all over the place. I have been just staying local and trying to avoid mesh wherever I go. And the lag has gotten worse but I know computers cannot last forever and technology must keep moving forward.

Now I have decided it is time for a new system but I am totally lost as to where to begin. I thought if i drop by here someone might have some advice to give. My friend told me I will need a 3k (USD) system but that is a bit out of my price range. I appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks

 

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Tira Moonwing wrote:

I have been using SL on the same old laptop since I joined. With the major updates LL has been doing I have been unable to view mesh (I am sure some of you have experienced this) and when I downloaded and tried all the mesh-compatable viewers no luck in starting; all I get is a black screen where the log-in screen should be. So I have been stuck using an old viewer with mesh mess all over the place. I have been just staying local and trying to avoid mesh wherever I go. And the lag has gotten worse but I know computers cannot last forever and technology must keep moving forward.

Now I have decided it is time for a new system but I am totally lost as to where to begin. I thought if i drop by here someone might have some advice to give. My friend told me I will need a 3k (USD) system but that is a bit out of my price range. I appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks

 

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Hi Tira,

Hopefully others will chime in here as well, but it seems that the best SL experience comes from having a computer with a speedy graphics chip, and that nVIDIA chips run better than others. The nVIDIA website lists laptop computers that use their various chipsets. Their most recent high end chip family, which gets good reviews from SL users, ranges from the GeForce 660M through the GeForce 680MX. One step down from that starts with the GeForce 620M and goes through the GeForce 750M.

There is a table of devices on this page...

http://www.nvidia.in/object/geforce_family_in.html

If you click on a chip in that family under "Notebooks", you'll be taken to a page that lists, near the bottom of the page, laptop computers containing it. Some of the chips are too new to be in a laptop yet, so you'll not see anything listed.

Good luck!

[Kelli May]

Does it have to be a laptop? I'm running a system that runs SL pretty well and would probably cost under $600 today. In quiet areas I get around 30fps with graphics more or less maxed out. In busy areas (30+ avs visible) I can still get useable performance if I switch off shadows & lighting. $3000 seems like overkill to me, although I accept that you will pay more for laptops than tower-based systems.

[Celestiall Nightfire]

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Tira Moonwing wrote:

I have been using SL on the same old laptop since I joined. ...... My friend told me I will need a 3k (USD) system but that is a bit out of my price range. I appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks

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Hi Tira, I saw a feed post by Torley many months ago, where he posted a link to the computer that his wife built for SL.  When I read it, I thought it would be good infomation, so bookmarked Torley's feed post.

 Also, look at the discussion thread there, as there's more good information.

https://my.secondlife.com/torley.linden/posts/503f81a5b619e50002001872

 

Also, here is the LL recommended system requirement:

http://secondlife.com/support/system-requirements/

 

SL Wiki:    http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Choosing_a_computer

A detailed blog post -SL computer guide:  http://blog.spressie.com/2011/10/10/second-life-computer-guide/

 

Hope some of this helps. 

[Orca Flotta]

@ Tira: maybe you should try the Singularity viewer. It's based on the old 1.23 codebase but renders mesh without problems. It's also fairly lightweight and runs nicely on older, weaker systems. I noticed quite a boost in the framerate and no crashes yet.

Apart from that a fairly ok gaming laptop starts at like 700 €. A nice desktop will cost roundabout the same but without monitor and keyboard.

 

[VRprofessor]

I run SL on a bunch of different computers with varying degrees of success.  

While you can run on a less capable machine I like something with an i3 processor and a GTX 550ti NVidia graphics card as my low end desktop.   Depending on where you go you should be able to get something like this for under $600--the biggest expense being the videocard itself and an upgraded power supply to run it.   (A basic i3/i5 desktop with a GT630 video card should be less than $500--it will work at low and probably medium settings.)

The big advantage of a desktop is that you can save up for upgrades.  My i5 desktop was capable at low and medium with short draw settings using the on board graphics.  I started with a large enough power supply so I didn't need to upgrade that.   About 3-4 months later I was able to buy a 550ti class graphics card.  

Laptops will run you more money.  I am happy with my gt550m graphics card and the gt650m should be better.  I'd want an i5 in a laptop and I would expect to pay about $700 - $1200 for such a system.   Shop around as prices on laptops seems to be wildly variable.  

[Lindal Kidd]

If you buy any "stock" computer, be sure that it has a "discrete graphics card"...don't buy anything that has only integrated graphics (Intel HD4000).

Any entry level gaming computer that has an NVIDIA GeForce 550 or better graphics card, or the equivalent AMD Radeon card, should run SL fine.

Don't get an ultrabook, a chromebook, a tablet, or any laptop less than a "gaming" laptop.  In fact, stay away from laptops, you'll get more for your money with a desktop.  No, no, not the "all in one" computer, a DESKTOP computer with a box and a separate monitor!

[Suspiria Finucane]

Hi

 

I bought my current base desktop from iBUYPOWER ($1200)

They sell customizable gaming comps for every budget. What's nice is you can select different options and they build it for you. Upgrades are a cinch after that.

 

[jwenting]

I'm running SL (latest Firestorm) just fine on a 4 year old laptop (coming on 5) that was about $600 back then.

You don't need a multi thousand dollar megapowerful computer.

[Czari Zenovka]

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Tira Moonwing wrote:

I have been using SL on the same old laptop since I joined. With the major updates LL has been doing

I have been unable to view mesh

(I am sure some of you have experienced this) and

when I downloaded and tried all the mesh-compatable viewers no luck in starting; all I get is a black screen where the log-in screen should be.

So I have been stuck using an old viewer with mesh mess all over the place. I have been just staying local and trying to avoid mesh wherever I go. And the lag has gotten worse but I know computers cannot last forever and technology must keep moving forward.

Now I have decided it is time for a new system but I am totally lost as to where to begin. I thought if i drop by here someone might have some advice to give. My friend told me I will need a

3k (USD) system

but that is a bit out of my price range. I appreciate any suggestions you might have. Thanks

 

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(Bolding mine)

Hi Tira   I'm in the same situation except my PC is a desktop; in fact, I had it built for me to my specs as a high-end gaming laptop....ummmmm years ago.  I LOVE, LOVE desktops for the ability to upgrade components.  I kept mine upgraded until my financial situation changed drastically.  The last update (new motherboard & graphics card) are about 10 years old.  :matte-motes-agape:

I'm seeing the same "mesh mess" as you, although I find some of it amusing actually.  Regardless, I'll be purchasing a new PC soon (yes, really to those who have heard this song from me for ummmmm....anyway....).  I have a very limited budget (3K!!! YIKES) and some very kind and helpful people have suggested PCs off the shelf for me that cost approximately $500.00.  The caveat is that I will need to also purchase a separate graphics card as the ones built into "store bought" PCs are usually not powerful enough for SL graphics.  I asked one of my geek friends if adding a graphics card could be done if a PC has integrated graphics.  I was told that graphics cards need a PCI express slot and that there are usually several of these available in the type of PCs he recommended...again...very mid-range PCs but that will work well with a different graphics card.

Depending on how old your laptop is, the reason you may not be able to use any of the viewers that see mesh is a little thing called SEE2.  Yeah, I didn't know what that was either until I had the same experience as you with mesh viewers.  It is something that was added to processors apparently just after I last upgraded my PC.  If interested you can read about it here.  I had several people suggest I try a lighter viewer that sees mesh, such as Cool Viewer, but my issue is not a lighter viewer, but that my PC won't run *any* program that is not SEE2-compatible.  That might be reason you are getting the black screen when trying to run a mesh viewer.  Definitely try one of the lighter viewers, but again, if your laptop does not have SEE2, it won't run them either.

Hope a bit of this helps. 

[Suki Hirano]

Golden rule: you cannot run SL efficiently with any laptop with integrated graphics "card". Some of the later intel cards like 3000 or 4000 might be able to run it at bare minimum settings but then your SL will look about as good as super mario 64. Any graphics chip made after 2007-ish should work.

[jwenting]

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Suki Hirano wrote:

Golden rule: you cannot run SL efficiently with any laptop with integrated graphics "card". Some of the later intel cards like 3000 or 4000 might be able to run it at bare minimum settings but then your SL will look about as good as super mario 64. Any graphics chip made after 2007-ish should work.

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and any CPU after around the same time should be enough to get acceptable performance as well running the latest mesh enabled viewers.

You might not be able to run at maximum settings, but something in between medium and high is possible with maybe some tweaking like turning off shadows and reducing particles and draw distance.

[Keriwena]

Oh, fiddle faddle. My i5-3570K runs in 'ultra' quite well with no graphics card. It certainly doesn't look like Mario. It only takes an FPS hit with shadows or anti-aliasing turned on, but I don't think there's a machine out there that wouldn't.

Truth is, what you need is processing power to handle the clusterfoo that SL downloads - any medium level graphics card can handle the rendering once that mess is sorted. That's why the 3570's HD4000 works so well for SL, the 3570 itself does very well in of all the benchmark lists. Do however, get a CPU cooler. SL raises the CPU's temp by almost 50%. :smileysurprised:

 

PS: A budget chip that might be suitable is AMD's newly released Trinity A10 5800K. I can't find any SL users who have tried them, though.

 

PPS: Note that I'm not suggesting a dedicated GPU isn't a good idea, just that you can get by with a high-end integrated solution these days. And if you add a card later on, it won't need to be top of the line, as the CPU won't be a bottle-neck.