I need your opinion please

[Euphoria Lenoirre]

Hello!

I tried to download and run the viewer but it says that my video drivers are not good. I have updated them. Is my pc too bad for playing second life?

Here is what i have:

Microsoft Windows XP

Proffesional

Version 2002

Service Pack 2

AMD Duron(tm) p

1,81 GHz, 1,50 GB RAM-1

NVIDIA GeForce Fx 5200

If I need to replace something, what is it?

I do not have money for a new pc :(

Thank you for reading

[Gryphon Warden]

First, XP normally requires at least 2 gigs to run comfortably on a PC.

Second, a 1.81 GHz processor is very slow compared to current standards, I would upgrade if possible.

Third, an NVidia FX 5200 is well, very substandard for SL graphics. You want at least 512 Meg of video memory and you did not mention how much you have on your 5200 card. I would upgrade my video card as well.

 

Looks to me like if you want to run the current versions of SL you need more memory, a faster processor, AND a higher end video card.

 

Sorry.

Gryph

[Euphoria Lenoirre]

thanks Gryph!

[Ishtara Rothschild]

Judging by your old single core processor, your PC is probably 5-10 years old. All contemporary graphics cards are made for the PCIe (PCI Express) bus, and I doubt that your board has a slot for those. You'll also run into problems when trying to upgrade your CPU, because socket A is no longer being used.

Which means that upgrading is not really an option, unless you buy an entirely new mainboard and new RAM, a new graphics card, and a new power supply unit to go with it. You might as well buy a complete new PC.

[anna Acanthus]

Just in case you haven't happened upon this yet, a pretty exhaustive list of TPVs some of which will still allow playing of SL on older PCs (not sure for how much longer though) :

http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Third_Party_Viewer_Directory

Hope you'll be able to afford a new PC soon

** Boy Lane's viewers have a long reputation of being stable and lite too : 

http://my.opera.com/boylane/blog/all-new-rainbow-1-22-12

I tested mac version and it was twice as fast as V1 on a 2006 e-mac (non intel)

[Nalates Urriah]

Anna's suggestion to check Third Party Viewers is probably your best bet.

You can also look at the SL Viewer 1.23. It is an older viewer that demands less hardware. It does not render the new free style models (we call them mesh).

You can get CPU-Z to check whether your CPU supports the features needed to run SL. Most viewers need a CPU feature labeled SSE2. Some older viewers do not require it. They are going to give you slower frame rates. 5 or 6 FPS (Frames per Second) is about as slow as one can go and that is pretty jerky.

The minimum system requirements for Second Life say SSE2 is required. That would be for the current stable SL Viewer.

According to Microsoft the max memory supported by Windows XP is 4gb (Reference). The minimum needed by SL is 512 mb. However, that will make for a slow XP system. Your 1.5gb should get you by.

The nVidia 5200 is another block. A 6600 is the minimum. You can get an nVidia 8800 on eBay for US$25 to $75. You still wont get great performance. But, if you have SSE2 and a new video card you should be good to go.

The 9800's are a better card and bidding on those is running $25 to $100 with a couple of Buy-Now's at $85.

Amazon has a new nVidia GT 430 for $66.

Someone (this dumb forum won't let me see more than just the post I'm replying to) pointed out that the type of slots on your motherboard may be a problem. The newer cards require PCI slots. You can Google for information on how to determine which kind of slot is on your motherboard. Or you can look here. The system information utility MSINFO32 will tell you in Hardware/IO. Saves opening the case.

You may want to check what CPU's your motherboard supports. You can get its information from MSINFO32 also. Then look up it's specs. You may get by with a CPU and Video card upgrades. If so, you could do an upgrade for under $200, which is way better than $700 to $800 for a decent new computer.

For help with CPU's that will fit your board look here.

The trade-off seems to often be between knowledge and money. The more you know and can do the cheaper it is.