Looking for some ideas for computers with good graphics

[myralee1]

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a new laptop for multi-use. Just want to get some ideas for what type of graphic card, specifications (processors, RAM) or computer is good for using SL?

My current computer is very basic and has very bad graphics. I don't need a gaming computer but will get one if it's worth the price. I just want to see the hyper-realistic graphics. 

[SodaGnome]

This is just what I do and just my opinion, but I just go to the HP web site and look at their gaming PC's. I've just always used HP computers as they work well for me. You want a computer with a good Nvidia graphics card in it. They have some gaming laptops there with Nvidia cards in them starting around $800 for an older NVidia card.... the 10xx series. Really one should buy the newest Nvidia card available though it will cost a little more. But I myself will never buy a lap top for a few reasons, only buy desktops. One is there is no easy way to open up lap tops and hit them with an air duster every month or so. Dust is the number one reason computers die. Second I have a newer HP gaming computer with a newer Nvidia card and last time I opened up my side panel to get the dust out of the fans, well the Nvidia card is huge..... looks like a space ship.....I know they make Nvidia cards for lap tops..... but yea they can't be as good right..... they have to be tiny to fit in there. 

But yea a HP gaming  lap top with the best Nvidia card you can afford.... the more RAM helps games as well. I run second life on ultra with no problems. 

 

EDIT: You really do need a "gaming" computer to run games..... the only difference between a "gaming" one and a normal one is the gaming one has a better graphics card.... the only difference in price is around $300.... which is the cost of the better graphics card

Edited October 20, 2020 by SodaGnome
spelling

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

1 hour ago, myralee1 said:

will get one if it's worth the price.

A laptop with an Intel i9 10000-series CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and an NVIDIA RTX 2060 graphics card should do the trick. The laptop will cost around 1600 US$, though, but it'll get you going in SL for a decent amount of time into the future.

If you have the patience for a few more months, see what the new AMD Ryzen series come up with for laptops. It may be cheaper and faster than Intel. Also, the new RTX 3000 series may see an additional solution for laptops really soon, with a significant speed bump for graphics. But then again, COVID may cause a delay.... Personally, I'd keep an eye on tech news for the coming months first.

Edited October 20, 2020 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[SodaGnome]

Oh never get "liquid cooling" option.... my friend did and it's a noisy computer!

[Lillith Hapmouche]

Laptop or desktop computer... what's it gonna be now? Better make a proper decision or you'll get stuff like the next gen desktop GPU generation influencing the completel seperate field of laptop performance. Or advice like "You said you don't need a gaming computer, just something decent for SL? Get a gaming computer, they are all the same basically!".

37 minutes ago, SodaGnome said:

You want a computer with a good Nvidia graphics card in it.

Why?

 

[Luna Bliss]

49 minutes ago, SodaGnome said:

Oh never get "liquid cooling" option.... my friend did and it's a noisy computer!

I've never seen noise comparisons between liquid-cooled vs not....could be on average liquid-cooled is more noisy so good to check this out.

But my desktop and laptop (Eluktronics brand), both liquid-cooled, are not noisy at all.  I even use VR with my laptop -- I do have the laptop sitting on a separate fan base to help cool it.

[Claireschen Hesten]

54 minutes ago, SodaGnome said:

You want a computer with a good Nvidia graphics card in it. 
Really one should buy the newest Nvidia card available though it will cost a little more

What's wrong with AMD?
In the 12 and a half years or so i've been in SL i've only ever use ATI/AMD it's worked well enough for me to still be here, once upon a time Nvidia might have edged ATI/AMD for openGL but i'm sure that's not the case anymore

[myralee1]

Hey guys, thanks for all your inputs.It has given me some ideas on what to look for in specs. I don't know a lot about computer so I will have to do further research to find one that suits me. I currently use an AMD A12 processor with 8G RAM, it's ok for my use. The graphics are just terrible, it's more for work. I don't mind investing some money in a good computer for long term, use including SL and other gaming platforms. 

 

[Lillith Hapmouche]

Well, as said before: make up your mind what your needs are and whether you want a mobile solution or not. Also set yourself a budget and your absolute hard limit which you can spend. That's when you can get specfic advice for a new config.

The machines based on an A12 are way dated by now and pretty much any modern entry level hardware will wipe the floor with it, so that's an easy one.

[Lyssa Greymoon]

2 hours ago, Claireschen Hesten said:

What's wrong with AMD?

It's been the drivers. The hardware is excellent, but it was gimped by terrible drivers. The 2020 drivers really improved SL on AMD.

[Bree Giffen]

Might want to wait for Black Friday sales.

https://www.asus.com/us/Laptops/Gaming-Series-Products/

https://store.acer.com/en-us/laptops/gaming

https://www.lenovo.com/us/en/d/gaming-laptops

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/gaming-laptops/sc/game-laptops?~ck=bt

https://store.hp.com/us/en/slp/hp-gaming

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Laptop#AORUS

https://us.msi.com/Laptops

[animats]

Definitely 16GB. I was just at London City, and with 8GB, I reached thrashing, where the viewer was swapping out to disk. Then the viewer stalled out and disconnected. I need to upgrade, and soon.

[Maryanne Solo]

The latest Craptops use 7nm technology in their CPU's and have beefy graphics chips and good reasonable amounts of RAM,
usually combined with an SSD or Hybrid setup, meaning for under $1000USD you can get a 64bit laptop that will handle SL relatively easily.
I run 64gb of RAM so lets not even head down that path lol.
Double your efforts in regard to the screen type/performance as that is one of the first areas to suffer in quality vs cheap price.

I have never researched them much before, nor been even remotely interested as I am a custom workstation devotee but was looking
for a solution for one of my nieces and her university studies. (She/we got an MSI A3DC Thunderbird lol for $1kAUD).
(I must say as a foreigner the Thunderbird "connection" with Indigenous/USA Indian mythology impressed us and does not appear detrimental to
or "tacky" aligned with the wonderful beliefs of North American Indian peoples. I hope they think so too).

The manufacturers & retailers refer to them as gaming laptops.
Most of them have room for upgraded components also it seems.

I'll probably get one next year, (to replace tablet used for day job), when their functionality increases even more.
maybe......🙄
For further research have a look here, (all Australian dollars), and I am quite surprised there is no currency converter built into the site. 

It's awesome fun comparing them all for specifications & best value.
In a nutshell these little rippers are purchased for around the same price as a proper pc's graphics card! 🤯

Good luck in your efforts! 8^) 

Edited October 21, 2020 by Maryanne Solo

[Evah Baxton]

 

[Sassy Kenin]

Welcome to the Forum myralee1🥰

[Sassy Kenin]

On 10/20/2020 at 8:50 AM, myralee1 said:

Hi all,

I am looking to buy a new laptop for multi-use. Just want to get some ideas for what type of graphic card, specifications (processors, RAM) or computer is good for using SL?

My current computer is very basic and has very bad graphics. I don't need a gaming computer but will get one if it's worth the price. I just want to see the hyper-realistic graphics. 

Any NVIDIA graphics Series 1050/1060.2060 laptop with an Intel I5/I7 or Ryzen should do.  Second Life on that you can run Max Settings.. You can also use most Ryzen Laptops just be sure you get at least 512 Boot SSD and you can add a second drive for more storage.. find a laptop then look on youtube to see how to upgrade it..if not its not a good deal

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-15-6-laptop-amd-ryzen-5-8gb-memory-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-512gb-ssd-black/6409467.p?skuId=6409467

add $50 to upgrade Ram to 18GB with a 8GB stick you can get here

 

RP-17 Ultra Performance 17.3" 144Hz AMD Ryzen Laptop

It's the best deal anyplace in its class and very future proof for what your asking for!

 $600 can get you something close or $1200 can get you something that is already upgraded and you can login 4 years from now while running photoshop with ease and 4K videos

Edited October 21, 2020 by Sassy Kenin
Linkie

[myralee1]

17 hours ago, Sassy Kenin said:

Welcome to the Forum myralee1🥰

Thank you! I am really leaning towards the AMD Ryzen processor with 16 GB RAM, would I still need an SDD card? I don't know much about the gaming computers XMG though. 

[Sassy Kenin]

10 hours ago, myralee1 said:

would I still need an SDD card? I don't know much about the gaming computers XMG though. 

SSD Hard Drives have mostly replaced older Hard Drives, especially the drive your windows/programs installs. when you see a gaming laptop with one it's cheaper because they know most gamer's will replace it with an SSD and use the old one as a storage drive. Often people with an older laptop will replace the older hard drive with an SSD hard drive to give it a few more years life, so not getting a new one without it to save a few bucks will become more money later and likely a lot of stress later on too

In none techie speak... Hard drives use a Very Fast spinning metal magnetic plate, they will slow down your laptop not long after using..it will use 30% or more of your battery, Your laptop will be noticeably louder..it will generate more heat. god help you if you drop the laptop with a spinning plate as often the shock of fallen will damage the hard drive (your computer is broken) ...SSD does not move, is cool to touch and uses much less of your battery and will not fail if the laptop is accidentally dropped.

The XMG Core 17 / Eluktronics RP-17 is assembled in the USA in the new England area..they are hand assembled by a tech person and fully tested before shipping so no dead laptop or dead screen pixels with a really good warranty..the quality is world class they use CLEVO parts! and if your not in the USA then look for any custom laptop maker in Europe or Asia that makes custom laptops using Clevo parts.

 

 

Edited October 23, 2020 by Sassy Kenin
Added Link

[Lyssa Greymoon]

21 hours ago, myralee1 said:

Thank you! I am really leaning towards the AMD Ryzen processor with 16 GB RAM, would I still need an SDD card? I don't know much about the gaming computers XMG though. 

IMO every computer needs an SSD. Mechanical hard drives are the biggest drag on performance you can have in a computer.

[animats]

Putting Firefox's cache directory on SSD is a big help, but outside of that, more SSD will not speed things up. The viewer uses the cache heavily, but, once launched, barely touches other files.

Edited October 24, 2020 by animats

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

1 hour ago, animats said:

more SSD will not speed things up.

At least one SSD increases performance more than anything else on a computer, if its used as boot drive, for the OS and for all the software and games. SSD's are the norm on any platform anyway, nowadays, so there's no question whether someone needs one. And the more capacity it has, the larger the data storage lifespan is for a given amount of data. The only reason to use a spinning drive (please, ONLY as a second storage space) is the purchase price.

[Paul Hexem]

8 hours ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

At least one SSD increases performance more than anything else on a computer, if its used as boot drive, for the OS and for all the software and games. SSD's are the norm on any platform anyway, nowadays, so there's no question whether someone needs one. And the more capacity it has, the larger the data storage lifespan is for a given amount of data. The only reason to use a spinning drive (please, ONLY as a second storage space) is the purchase price.

In normal games that may be true, but for someone that only uses SL and doesn't intend to play other games, an SSD isn't going to significantly outperform an HDD enough to justify the price tag. Doesn't matter how fast your drive is when you're getting your assets off LL's crappy servers in real time, generally slower than the SSD can load anyway. Better off spending it on CPU and GPU, to handle all the extra vertices on all the poorly made meshes and 1024 px textures you're about to download.

[Lillith Hapmouche]

51 minutes ago, Paul Hexem said:

an SSD isn't going to significantly outperform an HDD enough to justify the price tag.

Benchmarks to prove that, please.

256 to 512 GB SSDs have very fair prices, just saw a 128 GB one for like 15 €. If you have to cut out a SSD to stay within your budget, you should probably save some more. 
HDD drives have outlived their purpose in a modern computer setup.

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

1 hour ago, Paul Hexem said:

but for someone that only uses SL and doesn't intend to play other games

Are you seriously suggesting that in 2020 anyone would even even consider buying a computer that does not boot from an SSD? For one, you wouldn't even find one pre-built in any computer store anymore today.

Any arguments for using incandescent light bulb over LED too, for that matter? (Please don't answer that. That wasn't a real question.)

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

1 hour ago, Paul Hexem said:

Doesn't matter how fast your drive is when you're getting your assets off LL's crappy servers in real time

Most of the time, you get your assets from your cache, not from the network. And gosh darn, if that's ever an reason to have an SSD.

Seriously, folks, it's pointless discussing whether or not to use an SSD as primary data storage. It's literally the cheapest and easiest investment for performance gain. It's way more worthwhile discussing which type of processor or graphics card to choose. Discussing SSD vs. HD is a complete and utter waste of time.