Jump to content

2023 - Which viewer is better for low end computers?

Jesiris

By Jesiris,
in Second Life Viewer

 Share
You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 223 days.

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

Recommended Posts

Jesiris

Jesiris

Posted
Posted (edited)

I was using Firestorm without any problems since the last update. Now, unfortunately, I can't get online without crashing, even on low settings.

So I decided to try find another viewer. Can you help me with suggestions? And any other viewer have same chat layout like Firestorm?

Computer Info: 

  1. Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3210 CPU @ 3.20GHz   3.20 GHz
  2. RAM memory: 8,00 GB
  3. System: Windows 11 x64
  4. Motherboard: Intel H61
  5. Video Card: GPU: RX 570 SERIES
Edited by Jesiris
Video Card added.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sid Nagy

Sid Nagy

Posted
Posted (edited)

Most oldbies have long ago decided with what viewer they view our wonderful world.

Most Firestorm users find it difficult to find their way in the LL viewer. They will advise Firestorm.
Most LL viewer users find it difficult to find their way in Firestorm. They will advise the LL viewer.
Most Catznip viewer users ........................................................  rinse and repeat.

Remember..... an awful lot of code is the same in all viewers.

It is a bit the same as with Linux vs Microsoft on pc's,  Betamax vs VHS with video recorders, Apple vs Android on the smartphone.
There is no winner, but a lot of flame wars. We are talking about religions in the end.

My recommendation: Test them both and pick the one that suits you personally best.

Edited by Sid Nagy
  • Like 5
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
AmeliaJ08

AmeliaJ08

Posted
Posted (edited)

Singularity especially the newer versions always seemed very fast to me when I was running on less than ideal hardware. It's not the same as Firestorm and it did annoy me that certain things I like to use were missing but maybe you could get along with it.

Not sure why newest Firestorm would be crashing for you though, do you mean with a bugsplat message? RX570 should be more than capable of running it, your hardware isn't brand new but it's not that weak really.

 

 

 

 

Edited by AmeliaJ08
  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Emma Krokus

Emma Krokus

Posted
Posted
10 minutes ago, AmeliaJ08 said:

Singularity especially the newer versions always seemed very fast to me when I was running on less than ideal hardware. It's not the same as Firestorm and it did annoy me that certain things I like to use were missing but maybe you could get along with it.

Not sure why newest Firestorm would be crashing for you though, do you mean with a bugsplat message? RX570 should be more than capable of running it, your hardware isn't brand new but it's not that weak really.

 

 

 

 

I used Singularity for years and happily, but it has not been updated in quite a while... Genesis is a fork of that (with new features) and I am currently trying it out. It does do well on an older machine. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Kathrine Jansma

Kathrine Jansma

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, Jesiris said:

RAM memory: 8,00 GB

If you can, add another 8GB for happyness, its like 12 € for a single DDR3 8GB module if you have a slot free or double that if you replace your old modules.

For efficiency Cool VL Viewer and Genesis are both decent, especially if you tweak settings a bit, but are not V2 style.

 

Not sure why you crash all the time with Firestorm, there are a few things that could go wrong or could overwhelm your machine.

You might want to tweak some settings, due to your low VRAM/RAM/CPU core count.

You could try to disable "Dynamic Texture Memory" in Preferences -> Graphics -> Hardware Settings as some AMD GPUs/Drivers report bogus values for free memory that causes crashes.

You could also try to reduce Image Decode Concurrency to 1 on the same page, that might free CPU corest (but slows down rezzing).

You could als try to enable Preferences -> Graphics -> Rendering -> Restrict Maximum Texture Resolution to 512px.

 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Ocean Starchild

Ocean Starchild

Posted
Posted

I came back to SL two years ago, and was running an Asus laptop from 2016 which would barely handle Firestorm even on it's lowest settings. The only way I was able to use SL was by using the Catznip viewer until I bought a desktop pc. Might be worth a shot, though I haven't seen any updates from them in quite some time.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JeromFranzic

JeromFranzic

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, rasterscan said:

Not tried london citys 'genesis' viewer but its supposed to be great for lower spec laptops and it is on official LL TPV list and as someone mentioned the singularity crew are behind it

I definitely would recommend Genesis for low spec PCs. It's also Open Sim compatible, and runs well in Linux with Wine. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Marigold Devin

Marigold Devin

Posted
Posted
On 8/17/2023 at 2:13 PM, Jesiris said:

I was using Firestorm without any problems since the last update. Now, unfortunately, I can't get online without crashing, even on low settings.

So I decided to try find another viewer. Can you help me with suggestions? And any other viewer have same chat layout like Firestorm?

Computer Info: 

  1. Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-3210 CPU @ 3.20GHz   3.20 GHz
  2. RAM memory: 8,00 GB
  3. System: Windows 11 x64
  4. Motherboard: Intel H61
  5. Video Card: GPU: RX 570 SERIES

I would stay with Firestorm, and see if another version of it will work for now. Please don't be tempted to go with any viewers not on the approved list of Third Party Viewers. 

Check your computer graphics card drivers are up-to-date too, and you haven't got excessive clutter on your hard drive. Every little thing can affect how your viewer runs. 

  • Like 1
  • Sad 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
JeromFranzic

JeromFranzic

Posted
Posted (edited)
4 minutes ago, Marigold Devin said:

I would stay with Firestorm, and see if another version of it will work for now. Please don't be tempted to go with any viewers not on the approved list of Third Party Viewers. 

Check your computer graphics card drivers are up-to-date too, and you haven't got excessive clutter on your hard drive. Every little thing can affect how your viewer runs. 

Genesis is a LL approved TPV. With the OP's amount of system RAM, I'd not run much else in the background. 

Edited by JeromFranzic
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Sid Nagy

Sid Nagy

Posted
Posted (edited)

 

LL doesn't approve TPV's

6 hours ago, JeromFranzic said:

Genesis is a LL approved TPV. With the OP's amount of system RAM, I'd not run much else in the background. 

TVP creators can self-certify that their viewer complies with the LL policies.
The Lab does not check them nor approve them. They don't take any responsibility for the use of them.

LL only acts when a TPV is reported for illegal functioning.
Everyone uses TPV's at their own risk.

The warning on top of LL's third party viewer page says it all:

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory

Quote

Warning: The viewers listed here are not developed nor distributed by Linden Lab. Being listed here means only that the developers of the viewer have represented that they comply with the Policy on Third-Party Viewers and the Second Life Terms of Service. You are responsible for evaluating whether you want to use and share information with them.

 

Edited by Sid Nagy
Almost Saturday.
  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gavin Hird

Gavin Hird

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Marigold Devin said:

Please don't be tempted to go with any viewers not on the approved list of Third Party Viewers. 

LL does not check the viewers on the TPV list unless there are some abuse report of unregular behavior, or if they suspect the viewer corrupts data written to the servers. 

In my case (unlisted) the macOS build is both signed and notarized by Apple, and the Windows version is built from the exactly same repository. In addition it is published in my real name. If I had nefarious intentions I would do neither.  I am sure this is the same for others, unless they brag about being a copybot viewer (as some do).

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Jesiris

Jesiris

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Thank you everyone who helped me with tips and advices. I tried Genesis Viewer and it really looks like a good viewer. The only issue I had was visual only (I wanted the toolbar buttons as icons instead of names and edit their position of them at my screen). Even so, I crashed few minutes later using it, and realized maybe the problem was different than I thought. So, in the end, coincidentally there was a power outage on the day that firestorm updated, and this damaged the computer's power supply, making me believe that the problem was in the new version. By changing the computer's power supply, all problems were resolved. Now I'm back in Firestorm and so happy to escape this nightmare. Frankly, I love the tools that Firestorm has and I'm really used to the viewer after using it for so many years.

Thanks again and I hope this thread helps other players who have similar issues in the future.

Kisses (◕ᴗ◕✿)

  • Like 4
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Marigold Devin

Marigold Devin

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, Gavin Hird said:

LL does not check the viewers on the TPV list unless there are some abuse report of unregular behavior, or if they suspect the viewer corrupts data written to the servers. 

In my case (unlisted) the macOS build is both signed and notarized by Apple, and the Windows version is built from the exactly same repository. In addition it is published in my real name. If I had nefarious intentions I would do neither.  I am sure this is the same for others, unless they brag about being a copybot viewer (as some do).

OK.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
  • 3 weeks later...
TheFlyingSaltire

TheFlyingSaltire

Posted
Posted

I started using Firestorm years ago but, after an update (two years ago, maybe three) it became very laggy, even on low settings.  I experimented with a few alternative viewers and found that Singularity worked best.  I know that it hasn't had any recent updates, but it works and, to me, that's all that matters.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Henri Beauchamp

Henri Beauchamp

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, TheFlyingSaltire said:

I started using Firestorm years ago but, after an update (two years ago, maybe three) it became very laggy, even on low settings.  I experimented with a few alternative viewers and found that Singularity worked best.  I know that it hasn't had any recent updates, but it works and, to me, that's all that matters.

Try the Cool VL Viewer...

Or, if the legacy Windlight renderer works faster for you, and you are under Windows, try Genesis (a fork of Singularity).

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
You are about to reply to a thread that has been inactive for 223 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
Go to topic listing
×
×
  • Create New...