Video Card

[Laika Ravikumar]

I need to get a new Video Card can I get some advice as to which is the best one for Second Life.

Thanks

 

[Innula Zenovka]

I don't know about the best, but I would recommend Nvidia gpus in general, since they seem to work very well with SL.

Nvidia have a potentially rather confusing numbering system for their gpus.   Those made in recent years have three numerals in their name.   The first one indicates the year that model was released (higher is more recent -- we're currently on 9nn), and the second two indicate the type of gpu (higher is better -- n60 is better than n40, and n90 is top of the range).

The potential for confusion arises because people sometimes think that a 920 gpu must be better than a 680, for example because 920 is a higher number than 680.   It's not -- it's more recent, but the 920 would struggle to run SL at all, while the 680 will happily run on ultra graphics.

Assuming we're talking about a desktop, I would say the gpu I have at the moment, a 660, is perfectly adequate, in that I can run on the setting midway between high and ultra graphics quite happily even in crowded areas at an acceptable frame rate. Higher/more recent would be better, but the 660 was recommended to me by someone who knows a lot about gpus as the most "bang for your buck."   That's a couple of years old, and if I was buying a new one today, I'd go for a GTX970.  There are certainly better (in the sense of higher powered) cards available but -- to my mind -- they'd be expensive overkill for SL, at least for the way I use it.   

If you want a laptop, the rule of thumb I'm told works is that you look for the next model up from the one you would use in a desktop for the same performance.

Do please be aware that it's not always simply a matter of buying a card and slotting it it.   I don't really understand this aspect of the hardware well enough to advise, but I do know that some of your computer's other specifications will be very relevant -- and might even determine whether the gpu will work in your machine.   So I would certainly give someone who knows the details of your machine and ask how well the gpu you are considering will work in it.

 

 

 

[MishkaKatyusha]

ah,im good with hardware (to the extent that occasionally i get payed to repair computers)

 

a good card ,that isnt too hard on teh wallet and will meet most of your SL needs in the nvidia gtx 750 ti.also another good thing about it,is that by comparison to similarly rated AMD cards it consumes less power and has a much smaller profile,very good if your relying on your starting PSU (the powerbox the comp came with)

[ChameleonBlue]

I have an ATI 6850HD how does that card match up with the one I have?

[KarenMichelle Lane]

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ChameleonBlue wrote:

I have anATI6850HD how does that card match up with the one I have?

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That's not a bad card and it is reasonable current technology at 3 years on the market...

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+6850

You will probably have to edit the Preferences / Graphics / Hardware Options and turn off the OpenGL VBO option.

AMD has  had a horrible time supporting this.

[Bree Giffen]

I always suggest to anyone thinking of upgrading their PCs to think about futureproofing their upgrades for the possibility of supporting a virtual reality headset. You're not planning on using virtual reality you say? You should know that several key VR headsets and games (and Sansar) are being released in the near future and if you were to buy a video card below the VR requirements you might find yourself buying another video card soon after.

If you can't wait for news on VR, those Nvidia TI cards are really good.

 

 

[lucagrabacr]

I wouldn't recommend anyone using any kind of built-in case PSUs lol, I just let the store that sold me the case take the PSU and give me a little cut in the case's price, those PSUs have a tendency to fail.

[Laika Ravikumar]

Thanks to everyone who replied. The reason I was asking was that I quite often get a message when I am on SL saying Display driver has stopped working and has recovered. This only happens when I am on SL. I emailed the shop where I originally got the pc and they say it may not even be a video card issue, would be several other things so am going to put it back to them to have a look at it. 

[KarenMichelle Lane]

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Laika Ravikumar wrote:

Thanks to everyone who replied. The reason I was asking was that I quite often get a message when I am on SL saying Display driver has stopped working and has recovered. This only happens when I am on SL. I emailed the shop where I originally got the pc and they say it may not even be a video card issue, would be several other things so am going to put it back to them to have a look at it. 

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I used to get this on my PC with Windows 10 Professional / nVidia Geforce GTX 960 card. My fix was to:

1) Make sure my primary monitor is the Digital one [i have 2 monitors 1 Digital & 1 Analog]

2) Using the most current Driver from nVidia

3) Make sure that the IE Browser uses the Graphics GPUs for rendering in preferences. [i frequently use IE at the same time I'm using SL]