Oh God! I'm gonna be obsolete!

Taking a look at the minimum specs listed:



Graphics Card - the Geforce 2 came out around 2000. 64 megs of video memory has been the minimum available in cards for several years. Most cards have either 128 or 256 megs of video ram, some even as high as 512. The Geforce line of video cards from nVidia is now in its 7th generation (the 7000 series). Your average 5000 series Geforce card (the FX line) can be found for under $50 generally now. Video card technology changes rapidly. Unlike sound cards, which are pretty maxed out in terms of capabilities, dramatic improvements in video card capabilities are still being made. The good news about this is it pushes better and better technology toward the low end as new cards come out - so cutting edge cards today become your bargain video cards a year from now.

Computer - 3 GHZ Pentium 4 chips came out in 2002 (as in 3,000 MHZ). The minimum requirement is 800 mhz, and not not even a Pentium 4 or equivalent (AMD, Celeron, etc.). Entry level computers for the past 2 years have come with at least a 2 ghz processor, the standard now is 3 ghz. Although some home computers on the low end still come only with 256 megs of memory, 512 has been the standard for several years (as Windows XP does not run that well with 256 megs). Most new computers now come with 1 gig of memory in a lot of cases, and high end comptuers come with 2.

Broadband - this is unavoidable, with the amount of data being sent. The average broadband connection has been 1.5 mbps for several years. Most residential cable and DSL modems are now above 3 mbps - some as high as 8-10 mpbs or more.

The minimum specs definitely more than encompass the "average" computer out there. The only problem is that many low end computers come with a horrible built in video chipset made by Intel, which just does not have the video capabilities necessary to run a 3d application that relies on the video card the way SL does.

I know you like to have an informed opinion, Martin, so I wanted to provide you with some more info. Even if they doubled the minimum system specs, it would not be putting the minimum specs anywhere near the high end of computers - it would still be near the low end.

Wow the specs are that low! Ok nevermind my post then. Eep time to upgrade folks seriously you should of been upgrading every 6 months. Not as expensive that way. check out tigerdirect.com for you do it yourselfers k. Thanks Cristiano

Mar

ps

I'm runing a p4 3 gig
g force 5x range 256 mem.
5.1 surrond sound
t3 or so im told
...

and I still lag at times!

LOL

pss: sorry also the built in chip sets are easy to dis-able just a couple of clicks and your new cards should be detected.

Just a question: you say that 1.5 mbps is average, but my local phone company offers this as their "platinum" package at $99.95 per month, and they have a monopoly on DSL service in this area. Nobody else can or has offered it. I pay $60 per month for 512k upstream and 256 downstream...the 2nd largest package they offer before I have to pay $99.95 for the 1.5. Am I getting ripped off?

uh, yes!

Ok, I can't speak for the US, actually, but given that the UK is usually way more expensive, I would just have expected I paid more than you guys.

My internet connection is 32gbp a month - or 56usd a month. For an 8mb/s connection. Yes, thats 16 times faster than yours for just about the same money. So I'd be fairly sure you MUST be getting ripped off!

Edit: A quick IM to a friend in the US tells me she pays around 60 bucks for a 4mb/s connection.

Just to make a point, some of us (those whom use the imac series of computers) are going to have to purchase new computers entirely if it turns out it is indeed the hardware thats lacking.

Not just graphics cards, (graphic cards are hard wired to the motherboard and no room for expansion; for expansion a power mac would be required and then things get _very_ pricey) if the specs are shifted up as significantly and if we were to still want the optimum performance we once had in 1.6 and it is actually a hardware problem in the first place we'd be forced to purchase an entirely new machine.

30$ for a graphics card? In an instant would I upgrade even not knowing exactly how to install said (heck, I'd happily do so even if it cost 500$ USD), but that sadly isn't an option for some of us, and 5k$ USD for a new high end Mac or even a 1-2k$ USD investment for a new PC (bleh) is bit more significant of an investment than merely a dinner out or a evening at a club/pub dancing.

I just hope the problems that some of us seem to be experiencing is less hardware and more coding in so far as LL servers/client software and hence something that can be patched.

CRAP!!! Thanks for your reply

*wonders if it's cheaper to sue the phone company or pay the $99*

I'm afraid you are - I am paying $43/month for a 5 mbps down stream/384 k upstream connection, which will be upgraded to 8 mbps by the end of the year. Most consumer DSL/cable is at least 1.5 mbps downstream. Is cable an option for you? The DSL seems ridiculously overpriced. Where I live, BellSouth DSL is 3 mbps in its premium package for like $45 a month, and supposedly they will be offering 6 meg service soon for the same price. There are some alternative DSL providers as well that may offer better pricing, but it really depends on your area.

Sorry know nothing about macs. Also sorry to hear how expensive that is going to be

Here is the funny thing:

SL version 1.7 runs better on my old computer. That is correct folks.

My old AMD Athlon 1.4GHz, 512MB SDRAM system actaully handled SL 1.7 better with local lighting and shiny turned on. If the latest greatest hardware were a true solution to any problem then my new system, an Intel P4 2.4GHz 768MB DDR ram should have worked better, but alas it doesn't even with local lighting and shiny off.


Eh, even if they do raise the min specs, it most likely will be to a 900MHz proc and a 64MB video card Geforce 3 or newer. It isn't uncommon for software companies to do that and it will happen to SL, not now, not 1.8 but it will happen as it will have to for LL to maintain a marketable product that is full of new features. Perhaps there is a deeper reason why Havok 2 wasn't implemented yet.... User hardware specs would most likely need to go up a tad and that could alienate user base. Like it was mentioned earlier, computer gaming is an expensive hobby. If we want to continue engaging in this hobby, we will need to shell out the money to do so. You can't be an oil on canvas painter without shellng out cash for materials, computer games are the same way. Perhaps instead of worying about the future, plan for it now. Set aside a bit of cash out of each paycheck, watch Ebay for good deals, check the good price sites like priceline.com. Heck, even look at your local paper for info on a local tech company going bust, you can get some great things at low prices during inventory clearance sales ( I have, got myself a rackmount 4U server case for like $30). Prepare for the upgrade, be the upgrade. Also remember,just because the latest vid card which is uber cool and will be more than enough for SL in the future is $200 now just wait 6 months cause there is a good chance it will end up on the budget rack. I upgrade a part at a time, as I help people out, I usually get old computers in return as they are like "I dunno what to do with it, so you can have it". That is how I ended up with my P4, a buddy replaced it with a Dual Core so they passed it onto me as payment for doing data transfer work.