a question about graphics

im thinking about buying a computer that has a nvida 6150 se graphics card...will that work with secondlife?

ahhhh...........what manufacturer? The number seems like an ATI card. But the "SE" sort of makes it seem to be an nVidia.

It's crap. It will probably run Second Life, but very poorly.

I'm not sure it will run SL even crappy. I had and nVidia 7200LE back when I first started using SL...........that card barely ran it back then. I know without much doubt that card would not even be enough to allow SL to start..........and SL is 50 times as demanding now as it was back then. So your lessor spec'd card surely would choke at best.......not let SL launch is the more likely outcome.

As others have said, it's crap. Don't get it.

If you want a more detailed explanation, here are the three main things to know:

1. The 6100 series are not real graphics cards. They're integrated graphics processors (IGP's), built directly into motherboards (specifically, nForce4 boards). IGP's should be avoided like the plague. They will never, ever, EVER handle any graphics-intensive programs properly or at speed. It would be an extreme stroke of luck to get SL to run on a 6150 at all, let alone be stable or fast.

2. The entire GeForce 6 line is 5 years and 4 generations out of date. Don't spend money to invest in the past. Get something built in the present that will work well now and will continue to work going into the near future. Absolutely DON'T buy what didn't even work 5 years ago when it was current.

3. With nVidia cards, the first digit indicates the manufacturing series, and the second denotes the card's performance level within the series. In this case, the number 6 designates that the card was made in 2004 or 2005, and the number 1 means it's the absolute worst of the worst of what was made at that time.


nVidia's most current line is the GeForce 200 series. Why 200? They decided to be ridiculously confusing this year, and change from 4-digit to 3-digit numberings. The previous series was GeForce 9, which had four digits for each model (9600, 9800, etc.). For whatever reason, they decided following GeForce 9 with GeForce 10 just wouldn't be cool, so they went with "GeForce 200", which pretty much everyone who does not work for nVidia agrees is among the silliest things the company has ever done. But it is what it is.


Anyway, for SL, here's as low as I would go. If the card is GeForce 8 series or older, make sure the second digit is a 6 or higher. If it's GeForce 9 series or newer, the second digit should be at least a 5. Steer clear of low end cards and IGP's at all costs.

I'll second that, and add that for the 100/200 series, the second number should be 3 or higher.

I'm assumming the series and performance numbers are basically the same as before except 3 digits instead of 4. Which to my warped mind makes sense to start with 3 digits over going to the 5 digit numbering system............that could get so far out of line. 10 years from now we could be trying to decypher model numbers resembling serial numbers.......what a nightmare that would be.

you guys saved me some money.thanks for all the help.

Chosen is dreamy <3

Aw, thanks, Briana. You're not so bad yourself.