Off the shelf computer recommendation to run SL fast

[Carlyle Chaparral]

Can somebody give me some examples of "off the shelf" computer systems that have the CPU speed, RAM, and NVidia graphics hardware and drivers necessary to run SL efficiently?   I'm willing to buy a system that will do it, but I don't have time to try to build one up from pieces.  Thanks for a couple of suggestions.

[PeterCanessa Oh]

What is sold 'off the shelf' rather depends on where you are in the world, especially if you're after recommendations by brand name.  Note that whatever you get it is likely that drivers and the OS itself will need updating, just because the computer will have been built some weeks, even months, previously

[Erwin Solo]

The best value for me is:

http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/computer_can_series.do?storeName=computer_store&category=desktops&a1=Category&v1=High+performance&series_name=h8xt_series&jumpid=in_R329_prodexp/hhoslp/psg/desktops/High_performance/h8xt_series

Configure it with the 600W power supply and the 1.5GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580  and you'll have something that will seem fast for about 2 years and okay in year 3, IMHO.

My system is kinda like that, but I got it 2 years ago :matte-motes-big-grin: .  The above or its successor is what I'll probably buy in the fall or this time next year.  I've the older i7 930 and the older Radeon HD 5770 (1.0GB DDR5) card, and it runs SL high-graphics mode bumped up to 256 meters without much trouble. 

You can probably get a discount off the rack rate if you work for a major employer or are a student or support a student.  Call the phone number and ask about that.

You can save a few bucks by getting a cheaper video card now; the GTX 580 is overkill for SL this year, IMHO.  However, if you go with a cheaper card now, please still get the 600W power supply so that you can do a mid-life graphics card upgrade in a year or two.  Or, just get the GTX 580 now and rock on.

 

[LoveAngeL Lyre]

Hello Carlyle and welcome to SL Forums. If you need an economical suggestion, theoretically you can run this moment SL in high graphics efficiently with:

• Processor Intel ®  Core i3 @ 2.10GHz
• 4GB Ram
• Nvidia GT 500 series (520 or 540)

....with windows 7 (32 or 64 bit) and with internet connection up to 2 Mbps.

On the other side if your aim is the Ultra Performance (with Lighting, shadows etc) you need definitely something much better and more expensive which i am not sure if it is worth to buy just for SL.

[Nalates Urriah]

If you are going to go for performance, you may want to look through this thread: How Fast is Your Viewer? - Second Life. Its not very scientific but you will get an idea of what equipment is giving what results.

It looks like Win7-64 bit with at least a quad core processor and a US$100 to $200 video card provides good performance.

SL is a CPU intense process. Bumping up to i7 with 6 cores is more important than a better video card.

Laptops tend to try and use the graphics processing that is built into i5 and i7 cpu's. That is a really bad idea for SL. SL needs the video card to handle the graphics because the CPU is really busy.

If you want to get into the gory details: How To get a Faster Second Life