Jump to content
  • 0

Choosing PC specs to run on high


Bea Shamrock
 Share

You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 2095 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Question

Hi

I'm getting a new computer and I'd like one where I could finally run SL on high graphics but I'm not sure what specs it should have. I've been reading posts that say the system requirements page is a bit outdated, so I thought I'd better ask here.

It'll run on Windows and it'll be a desktop with an internet speed between 65-100 mbps. What would you recommend please? (My current pc is too old to upgrade properly) I'd really appreciate any help you can give, as SL is not widely known here so technicians usually don't have much experience with the requirements, and I don't know much about technical things to help them.

Bea

Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 answers to this question

Recommended Posts

  • 1

It's not so much that the specs page is "outdated" as it is that it provides information primarily about the minimum requirements for getting SL to work.  The "recommended" standards are still basically aimed at the average resident who is probably not going to buy a super-expensive gaming rig.  There's little merit for Linden Lab in scaring people away by implying that they can't enjoy SL without spending $2000 +.  So, if you want recommendations for the "best" computer, I suggest searching these forums for recent threads where your question has been asked.  Then, buy the most powerful machine that you can afford.  Pay closest attention to a good high-end dedicated graphics card (not a machine with only an Intel chip on the motherboard), at least 8Gb of memory, and a power supply and ventilation system that can handle heavy use without choking.  Whatever you buy will be "old technology" within a year or so, so i doesn't pay to get less quality than you can afford right now.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1
1 minute ago, Rolig Loon said:

Pay closest attention to a good high-end dedicated graphics card (not a machine with only an Intel chip on the motherboard), at least 8Gb of memory, and a power supply and ventilation system that can handle heavy use without choking.

THIS is particularly important  --- notice the three parts including POWER SUPPLY that will run the CARD (I lost a mothterboard because of a big company who was cutting corners).   

I will say though that I don't think you need 8 Gb for what you say you want. 

 

I have 4G on a two year old desktop and can still run three avatars, take photos with shadows and depth of field and have great framerates -- depending on the sim of course.  

Here is what I have. I run at high-ultra unless I am taking photos. 

Firestorm 5.0.11 (53634) Jan  9 2018 18:51:07 (Firestorm-Releasex64) with Havok support
Release Notes

Second Life Server 18.06.14.516450
Release Notes

CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-5820K CPU @ 3.30GHz (3298.09 MHz)
Memory: 16286 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 10 64-bit (Build 16299)
Graphics Card Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 980/PCIe/SSE2

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 23.21.13.8813
OpenGL Version: 4.6.0 NVIDIA 388.13

RestrainedLove API: (disabled)
libcurl Version: libcurl/7.47.0 OpenSSL/1.0.1i zlib/1.2.8
J2C Decoder Version: KDU v7.9.1
Audio Driver Version: FMOD Ex 4.44.61
LLCEFLib/CEF Version: 1.5.3-(CEF-WIN-3.2526.1347-32)
LibVLC Version: 2.2.4
Voice Server Version: Not Connected
Settings mode: Firestorm
Viewer Skin: Firestorm (Grey)
Window size: 2560x1377 px
Font Used: Deja Vu (96 dpi)
Font Size Adjustment: 0 pt
UI Scaling: 1.5
Draw distance: 192 m
Bandwidth: 1500 kbit/s
LOD factor: 2
Render quality: High-Ultra (6/7)
Advanced Lighting Model: Yes
Texture memory: 2048 MB (1)
VFS (cache) creation time (UTC): 2018-4-30T14:22:54 
Built with MSVC version 1800
Packets Lost: 1,157/364,027 (0.3%)
July 02 2018 13:04:47 SLT

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1

The primary requirement for good SL performance is your graphics card (although your CPU, RAM, and internet connection all play a part, too.)  I disagree with Chic, and think you should have at least 8 GB of RAM, even more if you can afford it.  At least one of your drives should be an SSD, a solid state drive.  Your PC will run faster if you put your operating system, your programs, and your SL caches on this drive.  The newer NVME type of SSDs, that fit into a special slot on your motherboard, are even faster than the SATA types.  The new line of AMD processors is very good, especially from a cost/performance standpoint (thus says my Resident Geek, and he is an Intel guy from years back.)

The thing is, graphics cards are still way overpriced, because the people setting up cryptocurrency mining arrays have been snapping them up as fast as they can be produced.  If you can wait maybe a few months, they may drop back down to a more reasonable level.  That's the bad news.  The GOOD news is that you don't need the very latest and most expensive models, and you definitely don't need to think about a dual graphics card setup...SL can't make use of them.  An Nvidia GTX 980 or better will be plenty good.

While the conventional wisdom would say, assemble the components and build it yourself to save some money, the graphics card situation has made PCs built by a custom house as cheap as, or even a bit cheaper than, buying individual components.  Here's a list of some, from PC Magazine: https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2393552,00.asp   

And here's another list from Tom's Hardware: https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-gaming-pc,review-2219.html

Edited by Lindal Kidd
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1
25 minutes ago, Chic Aeon said:

I will say though that I don't think you need 8 Gb for what you say you want. 

Haha ... I think you're likely to get a range of opinions whenever you ask what computer is "best" for SL.  The "8 Gb" recommendation is my own personal one.  Like Chic, I have a rig with 4 Gb on the motherboard, and I get acceptable performance in SL with my GTX 1070 graphics card.  I do find, though, that I crash more often than I like when there's a lot running in the background.  As a scripter, I tend to have creative software running all the time in addition to my browser, e-mail, and other stuff.  That's a lot to handle in 4 Gb.  Sadly, my motherboard cannot support any more memory than that, so I'm faced with having to make a major upgrade fairly soon.  Next time, I will certainly opt for at least 8Gb.  Hence, my recommendation.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1

Are you buying a preconfigured machine or can you place a custom order with specific parts? 

How much can you spend as a budget? What else has to be included in the price (Windows, monitor? Keyboard and mouse can hopefully be reused)?

Where are you located and are you planning to buy as soon as possible?
Speculation is that graphic card prices may drop throughout July and that Nvidia might come around with their new gen release in/after August ... but that's less speculation and more wishful thinking by some folks.

A little while ago, I posted a few suggestions which are still up to date... read here.

Tell your technicians that you plan to play a lot of unoptimized Early Access games, so you'll need a balanced bundle with no obvious CPU or GPU bottleneck. That might help ^_^

EDIT: Only go for 8 GB RAM if you really, really, really cannot afford 16 GB. 

Edited by Lillith Hapmouche
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1

You are getting lots of generic information. We can be more specific.

The viewer is complex and multi-threaded. So, several components have to work together. To understand look through my Hardware articles

Whether you are buying Intel or AMD the important factor is SPEED, not cores. 4 cores are plenty. More cores adds a small improvement. The faster the CPU the better. Generally i5 CPU's are the best buy for the money. Also, if you are not familiar with the 'generations' of CPU's you can be taken advantage of. Intel CPU's come with a designator; i5-6600k the red six is a generation number. 6th and 7th generation chips will work in a couple of specific generations of motherboards. The 8th generation and soon 9th gen CPU's require a newer motherboard. So, the upgrade path for 6 and 7 gen chips is closed.

If you multi-task while running SL then more cores may be worth the money, but not for running SL alone.

Memory speed is another big factor. Fast memory is better. A fast CPU and slow memory bottlenecks the CPU. You have to look at the motherboard to see what speed memory is the max it can handle.

Dedicated video cards are a must. I prefer NVIDIA. They have done a better job of keeping their OpenGL drivers up to date, which SL viewers depend on. It is possible to use twin video cards. But, the second card doesn't do much for SL viewers. You can find people with SLI machine talking about their performance here in the forum. I think spending the money on more and faster memory is smarter.

The SSD is great for the cache. I wouldn't waste it on programs' source. RAM Drives are WAY faster than SSD. Look here for a comparison of SSD, Ram, and Mechanical.

But, the wrong motherboard can kill video and SSD. New boards have 18 or more PCIe channels. These are data channels. If you fill them up, something has to wait. When you consider that a GTX 1080 video card wants to use 16 PCIe channels, you start to see the problem.

There is a lot to consider. You can pay for a gaming machine. But, that won't mean you'll be getting the top of the line components. Most computer sales fudge on the descriptions to give the impression of more hardware for less money. 

AND... if you get the best machine possible, spend US$4,000 and set the graphics at Ultra and turn the draw distance to 1024, your FPS is going to suck. Go to an event with 20 avatars with high ACI and you're are going to see FPS drop into the 20 FPS range.

Confused? It is complicated. But, a mid range computer is a reasonable price and provides reasonable performance for SL.

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1
4 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

Haha ... I think you're likely to get a range of opinions whenever you ask what computer is "best" for SL.  The "8 Gb" recommendation is my own personal one.  Like Chic, I have a rig with 4 Gb on the motherboard, and I get acceptable performance in SL with my GTX 1070 graphics card.  I do find, though, that I crash more often than I like when there's a lot running in the background.  As a scripter, I tend to have creative software running all the time in addition to my browser, e-mail, and other stuff.  That's a lot to handle in 4 Gb.  Sadly, my motherboard cannot support any more memory than that, so I'm faced with having to make a major upgrade fairly soon.  Next time, I will certainly opt for at least 8Gb.  Hence, my recommendation.  

Interesting. I almost NEVER crash. Like once in three months? So there must be something else going on. It could be where I hang out of course which is mostly places I have built LOL that are very "game asset" :D.

I would love a fancier machine but this one is working very well so no need at all. And yes, opinions will be all over the place :D

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0

Thank you all very much for your prompt, detailed and helpful answers!!!

22 hours ago, Lillith Hapmouche said:

Are you buying a preconfigured machine or can you place a custom order with specific parts? 

How much can you spend as a budget? What else has to be included in the price (Windows, monitor? Keyboard and mouse can hopefully be reused)?

Where are you located and are you planning to buy as soon as possible?
Speculation is that graphic card prices may drop throughout July and that Nvidia might come around with their new gen release in/after August ... but that's less speculation and more wishful thinking by some folks.

Your questions are very sensible. I'm placing a custom order; the budget really needs a starting point from what I need to run sl comfortably and then if necessary go down from there. Windows, yes. Monitor, will more likely need a new one. Keyboard and mouse can be reused. I'm in Latin America and yes, planning to buy as soon as possible. Thanks for the advice on graphics cards prices speculation; I don't think in my situation it will make much of a difference however, as they are imported and if prices go down, the local currency-usd dollar exchange rate goes up anyway so my guess is that will even things out.

 

22 hours ago, Chic Aeon said:

I have 4G on a two year old desktop and can still run three avatars, take photos with shadows and depth of field and have great framerates -- depending on the sim of course.  

Here is what I have. I run at high-ultra unless I am taking photos. 

This is just what I need! Thanks so much for posting all the details! I love taking photos, I'm usually on a tiny community sim which (unless there's a big event) are normally not very laggy and usually run only one avatar at a time now that I'm not rping but could use a second one for some photo shoots. I'd be super happy with high and if I can get a bit higher even better. Your post really gives me the starting point I need. And everyone else's advice helps me adjust things if my budget doesn't fit this or if I can extend it a bit, for example to 8 or 16Gb.

 

I'll have a look at all the articles you suggest Lindal, Lilith and Nalates (I will pass on your info and advice to my technician as it's really too technical for me to understand but he'll understand it and it's very valuable).

Once again, thank you all very, very much for such helpful answers!!! :)

 

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 0
13 minutes ago, Lillith Hapmouche said:

Does the store where you plan to order have a website? Would be interesting to check what kind of prices you can expect in Latin America and what brands are featured. 

I'm afraid they don't, but here's a link to one of the most popular and traditional stores (prices are shown in ARS$: it's a little under 30$ARS to 1USD) https://www.compumundo.com.ar/productos/componentes-pc/4720 . (I don't see Nvidia cards listed there but they are available and it's what my old desktop has) I think many people also buy parts in a website called Mercado Libre but I've never used it myself and it's mostly person to person transactions so I wouldn't trust it for this.

Edited by Bea Shamrock
Link to comment
Share on other sites

You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 2095 days.

Please take a moment to consider if this thread is worth bumping.

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...