new desktop

[GabrielleVanDerMalle]

Are the new dell Alienware auroras  good for secondlife?

[DilliDallagio]

They all look fine to me. I am sure long time gamers may add their opinions but I see nothing in the lineup that could not handle the Second Life viewers.

[Nalates Urriah]

With all Dell hardware pay attention to the CPU designator. Intel has CPU generations, 1st to 10th. New Dell hardware can have Intel 7th to 10th generation CPU's, and even older pre iCore CPUs in low cost hardware. Later generations are better/newer.

Alienware units are usually overkill for SL use. So, if you are trying to get the most value for your dollar you may want to back-off to an i5-7xxx or 8xxx and NVIDIA 1000 series graphics GPU. As you go newer and faster than i5-7xxx you get very little improvement in performance. That could change over the life of the computer. Since the Lab has new engineers specializing in graphics game rendering... we may see some interesting changes in 2020. The Lab may take advantage of the new tech. In the future you might be able to use more of an Alienware's tech.

My 3yr-old i5-6600k seldom gets pushed past 40% CPU use and the GTX-1060 usually loafs along at 25% use.

[GabrielleVanDerMalle]

thanks  is  Nvidia  gforce RTX  ok for SL. ?

and since all new computers have Windows 10., is that ok for SL?

thanks again

[Ardy Lay]

Windows 10, yes.  Absolutely.  Also, don't bother installing Windows 7 or older if you need any sort of support with your computer.

[cheesecurd]

15 hours ago, GabrielleVanDerMalle said:

thanks  is  Nvidia  gforce RTX  ok for SL. ?

and since all new computers have Windows 10., is that ok for SL?

thanks again

Any RTX branded card is good for SL as that’s at minimum an RTX 2060 which is a pretty good performer. Obviously a 2070 or 2080 would be better but would offer pretty minimal steps up in performance for SL at least for a much higher price.

Windows 10 plays fine with SL, if you have the choice go for the “pro” edition which unlocks a lot of windows tinkering features which can be useful. 
 

I wouldn’t really suggest an Alienware prebuilt overall though because they’re pretty expensive for the raw specs you get, Dell has an Inspiron gaming line which offers a lot more entry level and mid tier systems for much cheaper. If you can get an Inspiron gaming system with the same specs, there’s not much special the alienware line offers over it.

[Lillith Hapmouche]

You really want someone who can barely name a specific GPU to tinker with a lot of Windows features? 😕

[cheesecurd]

On 12/31/2019 at 9:02 AM, Lillith Hapmouche said:

You really want someone who can barely name a specific GPU to tinker with a lot of Windows features? 😕

Google exists. And many of those things are extremely well documented.

Its better to have the ability to edit your group policies than be stuck with whatever god awful configuration Microsoft sticks you with after an update gone wrong. 

[Nalates Urriah]

While the RTX is fine it is overkill for SL. The RTX has features not used by SL. If the only 'game' you'll run is SL get a 1080 GTX and save money while getting more performance. If you run other games they may make the RTX worth the money.

Also, make sure your Windows 10 is a 64-bit version. SL crashes a lot when run on 32-bit versions.

Edited January 3, 2020 by Nalates Urriah

[Lindal Kidd]

I agree with Nalates on this one.  I absolutely love Nvidia cards, and I have an RTX 2080 Ti on my wish list...but not for SL, for simulators, using virtual reality.  The "R" in RTX stands for "ray tracing".  This is a fantastic new capability that improves the graphics realism of games...but ONLY for games that support it.  At this point in time, not a lot of game do support ray tracing, and Second Life is NOT one of them (and probably never will be).  The older GTX cards are the best cost/performance choice for SL.