YYsmith

OpenBench & Furmark are two legitimate OpenGL bencharks. Both show that similarly priced AMD Radeon graphics cards outperform nVidia GeForce at OpenGL. http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1533/15/ http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=nvidia_gtx_550ti&num=6 These have been tested on Windows as well as Linux. As you can see, the Radeon HD 6770 outperforming a Geforce GTX 550 Ti on OpenGL using OpenBench. It also shows a Radeon HD 6970 outperforming an nVidia GeForce GTX 580 using a test that runs Open GL 3.X. OpenGL performance for various games can vary but it is clear current generation AMD Radeon & nVidia GeForce are equally capable and for the OpenGL benchmarks tested, the similarly priced AMD Radeon outperformed their nVidia GeForce counterparts although benchmarks are subjective and OpenGL peformance may vary on different software or games with the same GPU. I also work in a computer center thus I have the advantage of working with many different video cards and seeing them work in the OpenGL environment. I stand by my statements with links to benchmarks. @Chris, if you very strangely believe that a mid-end GeForce, like a GeForce GTX 550 can outperform something high end from AMD like the Radeon HD 7950 as you claimed, instead of making empty statements, show us some benchmarks.

There seems to be a lot of misinformation out there about AMD Radeon & nVidia GeForce video cards, so I thought I would clarify some things. First off, both AMD Radeon as well as nVidia GeForce video cards run OpenGL just fine with the latest drivers. At the university computer center, Second Life is used for educational purposes and I have setup and seen hundreds of computers using nVidia GeForce & AMD Radeon run problem free. Secondly, AMD Radeon video cards are actually slightly faster than nVidia GeForce when it comes to running OpenGL. Furmark, is an intense OpenGL benchmark. If you take a look at that chart, you will see that an AMD Radeon HD 6950 is faster than dual nVidia GeForce GTX 580 running in SLI. http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1533/15/ However, for most people running Second Life, both nVidia GeForce & AMD Radeon will work well. If you are running at a resolution of 1080P and which to achieve an average frames per second of 30, which is the fps required for smooth animation, provided your CPU, RAM and internet connection is sufficient, the AMD Radeon HD 7750 or nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti is sufficient. Anything faster is a bonus So feel free to choose either an AMD Radeon or an nVidia GeForce for your SL system. Both will work well although based on the latest OpenGL benchmarks, AMD Radeon video cards tend to be faster.

I have to *respectfully* but also strongly disagree with this. I volunteer my time at a college computer lab and they use Second Life for educational purposes. Thus I have setup and seen Second Life running on computers with many different configurations. In my humble opinion: - Second Life runs WELL on both nVidia GeForce & AMD Radeon graphics, as long as the GPU is sufficiently powerful - Second Life runs on some Intel HD Graphics but the lighting & detail is not as good as nVidia or AMD/ATI What screen resolution you run at determines what video card you will need. The higher the screen resolution, the more powerful the graphics card you will need. Here are the specs which I am confident is what is required due to setting up many systems. Second Life @ 720P (ie 1280X720, 1366X768, 1024X768) - Radeon HD 6310 - high graphic detail in low traffic areas, medium graphic detail in high traffic areas - Radeon HD 6520g or faster - high graphic detail in all areas without anti aliasing - Radeon HD 7750 or faster - ultra high graphic detail with anti aliasing - GeForce GT 520m - high graphic detail in low traffic areas, medium graphic detail in high traffic areas - GeForce GT 540m or faster - high graphic detail in all areas without anti aliasing - GeForce GTX 550 or faster - ultra high graphic detail with anti aliasing - Intel HD Graphics 3000 - medium graphic details, no AA, graphics not rendered as nice as nVidia or AMD If you want to play SL on a multi-monitor setup, with each monitor at 1080P resolution, then you will want the ultra high end and ultra expensive desktop video cards like the nVidia GeForce GTX 570 or higher / AMD Radeon HD 7950 or higher. If you want to play SL on a single monitor at 1080P with the graphics settings on ultra high with antialiasing cranked up, a mid-end graphics card like an AMD Radeon HD 7750 or higher / nVidia GeForce GTX 550 or higher will get the job done well.

I have talked to others and they seem to be having the same issue with less realistic water in viewer 3.2.8 versus the prior version. Out of curiosity, which video card are you using? I am wondering if this issue is unique to the nVidia GeForce or if it is something that is not showing up properly on all nVidia, AMD & Intel graphics cards.

Great post! The AMD E-350 w/ Radeon HD 6310 and E-450 w/Radeon HD 6320 are excellent low cost APUs that are extremely popular in value priced laptop computers now. I have seen friends run SL off of the Radeon HD 6320 with high graphic details with Firestorm and he, like yourself, is able to play. SL is a great game in that it is playable with excellent graphics even with modestly priced laptop computers today

Is there a step by step guide for making an AO from scratch? What templates do I need to make an AO? What software do I need to make an AO? How do I upload an AO to Second Life?

All three of the laptop computers you are considering can play Second Life at a resolution of 1366 * 768. They all have sufficient CPU power as well as sufficient RAM. The game is especially enjoyable if you have a fast internet connection which you do have. The GPU or graphics card is key. EXCELLENT Radeon HD 6620g - excellent graphics card that can play almost all games at high graphic detail at about 720P resolution - SL uses OpenGL 2, Radeon HD 6620g is capable of OpenGL 4.2 - http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/AMD+Radeon+HD+6620G/games - very demanding games like Crysis 2, Civilizations 5 can play at medium or high graphic details - - super demanding game like Skyrim plays on this GPU very well at high graphics detail - can play Second Life at high graphic details smoothly ||| GOOD nVidia GeForce GT 520m - this entry level discrete graphics from nVidia is a decent GPU for laptops and doesn't get too hot - can play Second Life at 720P resolutions with medium graphic detail, smoothly - SL uses OpenGL 2, GeForce GT 520m is capable of OpenGL 4.2 - - super demanding game like Skyrim plays on this GPU decently at low graphic detail ||| DECENT Intel HD Graphics 3000 - integrated graphics that come with Intel Sandy Bridge APUs - drivers not mature like Radeon or GeForce drivers, graphics aren't rendered as nicely as competition - SL uses OpenGL 2, Intel HD 3000 capable of OpenGL 3 - Second Life playable at medium graphic detail with relatively smoothness