Good performance SL PC for $200

[dd Temin]

Buy a $200 Accer C720 with Intel 4th generation 2955U cpu with Haswell integrated 4600 HD graphics.

Go to this youtube page and watch how to install  Linux ubuntu into the Chromebook

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_MuVwJq_XQ

I suggest you use the 13.10 version of ubuntu called "saucy". I chose the "unity" desktop

I suggest you download "software-center"  (This is done in terminal mode "sudo apt-get install software-center")

Ubuntu is 64 bit  so....you will need to download a 64 bit LINUX viewer for SL.

I used Singularity 64 bit linux viewer....it will be in TAR/compressed  format  so  download "ArchiveManager" from the software-center that you installed. Use to extract "all files" in singularity folder.

After extracting Singularity viewer files.........go to terminal mode  and  "cd ~/Downloads/ name-of- singularity -folder"

Then launch singularity viewer in terminal mode "./singularity"

Thats it !    (after first launch  you will be able to launch singularity   from   unity desktop.)

Performance:   I am getting 25 to 38 FPS in High graphics mode  with draw distance of 128meters.

BUGS: ALT + left or right arrow key not working to rotate cam around focus.

I have done this with 2 chromebooks.......takes about 1 hour   to get all installed.  

Enjoy !

dd

 

[Jean Horten]

Ubuntu 13.10 will be dead next month. Unity is no  user interface for  noobs and quite ressource intensive. Intel HD integrated graphics are not know for their supreme  performance in SL and 200 US$ will not  buy you a *performance PC' for SL

J.

 

[dd Temin]

I can see  you are not up to date on 4th generation intel integrated graphics  (haswell) If you look up performance marks of intel Hd 4600....you will find it  about same as Nvidia 650.

as to noob...level.....yes ...it takes the ability to follow simple instructions........but most SL residents are capable of this.

[Perrie Juran]

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dd Temin wrote:

<snip>

as to noob...level.....yes ...it takes the ability to follow simple instructions........but most SL residents are capable of this.

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For how long have you been having these hallucinations?  

[Amethyst Jetaime]

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dd Temin wrote:

as to noob...level.....yes ...it takes the ability to follow simple instructions........but most SL residents are capable of this.

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Many SL residents can't read a simple notecard with instructions on it, in my experience.  Even if the instructions are written assuming they know nothing.

[Perrie Juran]

I do want to add I think is great you can get this kind of performance.

But for any of us who have never used Linux, first we will need to get through that learning curve.  And that could easily be 95% of us who read this Forum.

 

[dd Temin]

Thank you for that last post Perrie   I was getting worried with so much initial negative response.

First ,I would like to tell you that  this last week  is my very first experience with linux or Umbutu. But between a few YouTube videos and a bit of googling I managed to convert both my Chromebooks to dual boot mode,(chrome os and ubuntu).

You mentioned that 95 % of us would need to go thru a steep learning curve.   I agree  BUT......  

What do you think the percentage is ......of us who would secretely like to know how to use Linux?                                             

I have looked at this experience as a simple cheap way to learn something about  Linux enviorment and as a bouus i have 2 cool little laptops that can do SL quite well.

As far as what Miss Horten said about ubuntu 13.10 being dead one month from now.........it really means ver 13.10 wont be supported after that....it does not mean it wont keep working.....it just wont have update support.  But anyone using ubuntu knows that you can simply do the same install procedure again with the next version/release.  (ie win 95 does not stop working because Microsoft stopped suporting it.)

As to my motives for posting this in our forums....I was simply delighted with how well the new Intel Haswell integrated graphics performed in those  cheap little chromebooks...and i wanted to share this  with all in this forum. it might give a few more adventuresome residents the incentive to try linux for the first time.

dd

 

[Perrie Juran]

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dd Temin wrote:

Thank you for that last post Perrie

  I was getting worried with so much initial negative response.

First ,I would like to tell you that  this last week  is my very

first

experience with linux or Umbutu. But between a few YouTube videos and a bit of googling I managed to convert both my Chromebooks to dual boot mode,(chrome os and ubuntu).

You mentioned that 95 % of us would need to go thru a steep learning curve.  

I agree

  BUT......  

What do you think the percentage is ......of us who would secretely like to know how to use Linux?    

                                        

I have looked at this experience as a simple cheap way to learn something about  Linux enviorment and as a bouus i have 2 cool little laptops that can do SL quite well.

As far as what Miss Horten said about ubuntu 13.10 being dead one month from now.........it really means ver 13.10 wont be supported after that....it does not mean it wont keep working.....it just wont have update support.  But anyone using ubuntu knows that you can simply do the same install procedure again with the next version/release.  (ie win 95 does not stop working because Microsoft stopped suporting it.)

As to my motives for posting this in our forums....I was simply delighted with how well the new Intel Haswell integrated graphics performed in those  cheap little chromebooks...and i wanted to share this  with all in this forum. it might give a few more adventuresome residents the incentive to try linux for the first time.

dd

 

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I've read quite a few times people saying the great performnace they get with SL running Linux.

But sometimes I think the Linux crowd puts off many folks with constant talk about distros and other things.  Most of us just want to turn on our computers and go.  I didn't use the word "steep" to describe the learning curve but they make it sound that way.  And I've already got 101 other things to do so it becomes one more on my list. 

And maybe I was snarky with my first comment but that seriously comes from experience with helping people in SL.  Sometimes I really shake my head.

[Orca Flotta]

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dd Temin wrote:

I can see  you are not up to date

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Oh LOL, dd  I can assure you that Jeanie is one of the very few absolute Linux experts in SL. But that's not the only point in which you err:

- Chromebooks aren't very capable computers

- Intel onboard graphics are still far behind AMD APUs and won't give you much joy in the long run

- Nvidia 650 isn't anything what I'd call good ... or even acceptable. SL isn't a chatroom, we want and need eyecandy and high framerate

- for absolute n00bs on Linux there is a whole bunch of better suited distributions available than Ubuntu. For a computing lightweight such as the Acer C-720 (even if it's the best chromebook on the market right now) you can even find something better in the *buntu family. Lubuntu for example. And when going the *buntu way, why don't you use the deLuxe version and switch to Mint? Also available in all kinds of desktop flavours ... except that terrible Unity

 

[Orca Flotta]

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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But sometimes I think the Linux crowd puts off many folks with constant talk about distros and other things.  Most of us just want to turn on our computers and go.  I didn't use the word "steep" to describe the learning curve but they make it sound that way.  And I've already got 101 other things to do so it becomes one more on my list. 

Perrie, I can understand the need "to turn on our computers and go", but in what computing world did you ever had that experience? In Windows? Nooo! The fact that we're all so cool in Windows and Mac OS environments is based on 25 years of muscle memory integrated into our physical bodies. Newsflash: Linux ain't Windoze, even if you can make it look and act like Win or Apple. The whole architecture of the software is completely different *cough better *cough. So of course there is a however shaped learning curve involved when you're a n00b to Linux.

Of course you can just download a distro, install it, switch on your machine and go, that's how I and basically every Linux n00bie did it. And the experience can even be good to perfect, depending on some personal factors such as frustration tolerance level, IQ, ability to laugh about oneself, general geekyness, interest and so on.

That we talk so much about distributons is simply based on the fact that there are sooo fuxxing many of 'em available. You know the quasi religious wars fought between Windoze and Apple fanbois; now imagine how that would end with 100 Windowses versus 100 Apples

See, we have 200 Linux distros but Linux users are far more tolerant than  the other 2 varieties. If it's about helping a new Linux user we all work together instead of against each other.

 

[SaraCarena]

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Orca Flotta wrote:

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- Nvidia 650 isn't anything what I'd call good ... or even acceptable.

 

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/me chokes on her cornflakes

Normaly, Orca, I find what you write informative and helpful (same goes for Temin  too) but come on now, the 650 is perfectly usable for sl. I can run ultra on mine, ok it`s very laggy in most situations so only really use that option for taking pics, but runs high settings pretty well in most situations and sl looks pretty good to me.

Anyways, not wishing to start an argument and this thread is about low budget pc that`s usable for sl, just saying :smileyhappy:

[Perrie Juran]

 

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Orca Flotta wrote:

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Perrie Juran wrote:

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But sometimes I think the Linux crowd puts off many folks with constant talk about distros and other things.  Most of us just want to turn on our computers and go.  I didn't use the word "steep" to describe the learning curve but they make it sound that way.  And I've already got 101 other things to do so it becomes one more on my list. 

Perrie, I can understand the need "to turn on our computers and go", but in what computing world did you ever had that experience? In Windows? Nooo! The fact that we're all so cool in Windows and Mac OS environments is based on 25 years of muscle memory integrated into our physical bodies. Newsflash: Linux ain't Windoze, even if you can make it look and act like Win or Apple. The whole architecture of the software is completely different *cough better *cough. So of course there is a however shaped learning curve involved when you're a n00b to Linux.

Of course you can just download a distro, install it, switch on your machine and go, that's how I and basically every Linux n00bie did it. And the experience can even be good to perfect, depending on some personal factors such as frustration tolerance level, IQ, ability to laugh about oneself, general geekyness, interest and so on.

That we talk so much about distributons is simply based on the fact that there are sooo fuxxing many of 'em available. You know the quasi religious wars fought between Windoze and Apple fanbois; now imagine how that would end with 100 Windowses versus 100 Apples

See, we have 200 Linux distros but Linux users are far more tolerant than  the other 2 varieties. If it's about helping a new Linux user we all work together instead of against each other.

 

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GTX650ti on Ultra.  I picked a scene with a lot of object updates.  Carousel is moving, etc, etc. ~40FPS. Though if I got around a bunch of other Ava's it would be a big impact.

As far as not having tolerance for Linux users...I have lot's of tolerance.  But sometimes it get's worn thin.  Because rather than getting down to the business of helping the Newb it becomes a debate between them.

Consider what Jean said.  What help did this actually add to the convo.

"Ubuntu 13.10 will be dead next month. Unity is no  user interface for  noobs and quite ressource intensive. Intel HD integrated graphics are not know for their supreme  performance in SL and 200 US$ will not  buy you a *performance PC' for SL"

DD never claimed it was a "performance PC."  What DD, who later posts that she is a "noob" did was get good performance. 

Jean never recommended an alternative.  I would have had more respect if she had posted, "Unity is resource intensive.  Why don't you give A or B a try and see if it doesn't run even better."

And then you came in here and dumped on the GTX650.  I'm perfectly happy doing SL at Med High to High Graphics which I normally run at.  Not all the Ultra stuff like shadows necesarily interests me.

So it was not without reason that I said sometimes Linux users really put people off.

But on the other side of life, DD's post got my interested in Linux again.  Because it was helpful.  And I have a five year old lap top that I use when I travel and for back up. And while it cost me a pretty penny when I got it, with all the bells and whistles SL currently throws at us it struggles now with SL.

[Orca Flotta]

Yes, you're right. I never claimed Linux users are better people by definition, but all in all we still have some sense for community and co-operative action. And you can't deny it's easier to find help with Linux problems than with closed-source softwares.

Well, I'm everyhing but a Linux buff. I'm comfortable on my system but that doesn't  make me a Linux guru like Jean. So although I'd have a good starter pack in mind for you *cough cough Mint17 Cinnamon *cough I'd never recommend it since I could be totally wrong. :smileyindifferent: I don't wanna be responsible for losing you from the list of possible Linux convertees.

Maybe just browse thru my bloggy thingy, I'm known for throwing in one or the other Linux story from time to time. :matte-motes-sunglasses-3: