Second Life Forums Archive - 8400gs SL Performance

Erico Francis

Registered User

Join date: 14 Aug 2008

Posts: 3

08-15-2008 05:19

Hy there!

According to the following link, I can assume that SL is a VGA heavy application:

http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/1...phics-cardgpu

I intend to buy a 256MB 8400gs at stock 450Mhz (GPU), 800Mhz (memory) and 1200Mhz (Shaders) video card just for playing SL, and i can find people around the web playing it smoothly with that card... So, assuming that CPU, Memory and network are not bottlenecking, can i run the client in that card at 1280 X 850 in Ultra (all max)? I use to visit a lot of crowded places and i expect to reach about 30fps... but isn't that too much for a very low budget card?

Txs, all! =D

Milla Janick

Empress Of The Universe

Join date: 2 Jan 2008

Posts: 3,075

08-15-2008 06:19

30fps on ultra settings in a crowded area is a lot to ask from any video card. I don't believe the 8400GS is going to hack it.

It may run SL smoothly, but you'll have to dial back some of the settings.

SuezanneC Baskerville

Forums Rock!

Join date: 22 Dec 2003

Posts: 14,229

08-15-2008 06:29

There's a thread in Tom's Hardware on the topic of "What's the use of low end GPU like 8400GS?"
at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247327-33-what-8400gs .

The author of that thread is asking why nVidia even bothers to make such a low end card and questions whether they are enough better than an integrated video processor to make it worth the bother.

From what I read, the 8400GS is a low end video card, not one that you would expect to run at the highest settings in a crowded area and get 30 fps from.

Here's one of the posts from that thread:

From: IndigoMoss in Tom's Hardware forum

Yeah those cards are pretty much the bare minimum, usually placed in PC's where the OEM has a decent motherboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard (example

35 chipset) without on-board video. You see them a lot in the higher-end HP and Dell machines, where the motherboard doesn't have an onboard graphics card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_processing_unit . They are also useful for the fact that they have a DVI port, which a lot of LCD's use as a standard, not to mention they have TV-out also. It's sort of like the FX5200 or the Geforce 4 MX of yesteryear. Most OEM's will call them "Dedicated Hardware Graphics" or something like that to sucker the purchaser with the allure of being able to play games, only to complain that they can't play whatever new game that came out that they were interested in. I used to be a technician at a local computer shop and I can't tell you how many times customers have told me that they thought that they were getting the best of the best because they paid so much for their computer, only to find out that they are at least 3 generations behind as far as GPU's are concerned.

_____________________

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So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them.

I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to

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Erico Francis

Registered User

Join date: 14 Aug 2008

Posts: 3

08-15-2008 06:37

From: Milla Janick

30fps on ultra settings in a crowded area is a lot to ask from any video card. I don't believe the 8400GS is going to hack it.

It may run SL smoothly, but you'll have to dial back some of the settings.

Txs Milla!

Would it run in high? Or should i not expect a good framerate above "Mid" settings? Any experiences, fellows?

Erico Francis

Registered User

Join date: 14 Aug 2008

Posts: 3

08-15-2008 06:39

From: SuezanneC Baskerville

There's a thread in Tom's Hardware on the topic of "What's the use of low end GPU like 8400GS?"
at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247327-33-what-8400gs .

The author of that thread is asking why nVidia even bothers to make such a low end card and questions whether they are enough better than an integrated video processor to make it worth the bother.

From what I read, the 8400GS is a low end video card, not one that you would expect to run at the highest settings in a crowded area and get 30 fps from.

Here's one of the posts from that thread:

Txs! Maybe a 8600GT GDDR3 is the way to go...

8400gs SL Performance
Erico Francis Registered User Join date: 14 Aug 2008 Posts: 3	08-15-2008 05:19 Hy there! According to the following link, I can assume that SL is a VGA heavy application: http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/11/1...phics-cardgpu I intend to buy a 256MB 8400gs at stock 450Mhz (GPU), 800Mhz (memory) and 1200Mhz (Shaders) video card just for playing SL, and i can find people around the web playing it smoothly with that card... So, assuming that CPU, Memory and network are not bottlenecking, can i run the client in that card at 1280 X 850 in Ultra (all max)? I use to visit a lot of crowded places and i expect to reach about 30fps... but isn't that too much for a very low budget card? Txs, all! =D
Milla Janick Empress Of The Universe Join date: 2 Jan 2008 Posts: 3,075	08-15-2008 06:19 30fps on ultra settings in a crowded area is a lot to ask from any video card. I don't believe the 8400GS is going to hack it. It may run SL smoothly, but you'll have to dial back some of the settings.
SuezanneC Baskerville Forums Rock! Join date: 22 Dec 2003 Posts: 14,229	08-15-2008 06:29 There's a thread in Tom's Hardware on the topic of "What's the use of low end GPU like 8400GS?" at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247327-33-what-8400gs . The author of that thread is asking why nVidia even bothers to make such a low end card and questions whether they are enough better than an integrated video processor to make it worth the bother. From what I read, the 8400GS is a low end video card, not one that you would expect to run at the highest settings in a crowded area and get 30 fps from. Here's one of the posts from that thread: From: IndigoMoss in Tom's Hardware forum Yeah those cards are pretty much the bare minimum, usually placed in PC's where the OEM has a decent motherboard http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motherboard (example35 chipset) without on-board video. You see them a lot in the higher-end HP and Dell machines, where the motherboard doesn't have an onboard graphics card http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graphics_processing_unit . They are also useful for the fact that they have a DVI port, which a lot of LCD's use as a standard, not to mention they have TV-out also. It's sort of like the FX5200 or the Geforce 4 MX of yesteryear. Most OEM's will call them "Dedicated Hardware Graphics" or something like that to sucker the purchaser with the allure of being able to play games, only to complain that they can't play whatever new game that came out that they were interested in. I used to be a technician at a local computer shop and I can't tell you how many times customers have told me that they thought that they were getting the best of the best because they paid so much for their computer, only to find out that they are at least 3 generations behind as far as GPU's are concerned. _____________________ - So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them. I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to http://www.google.com/profiles/suezanne - http://lindenlab.tribe.net/ created on 11/19/03. Members: Ben, Catherine, Colin, Cory, Dan, Doug, Jim, Philip, Phoenix, Richard, Robin, and Ryan -
Erico Francis Registered User Join date: 14 Aug 2008 Posts: 3	08-15-2008 06:37 From: Milla Janick 30fps on ultra settings in a crowded area is a lot to ask from any video card. I don't believe the 8400GS is going to hack it. It may run SL smoothly, but you'll have to dial back some of the settings. Txs Milla! Would it run in high? Or should i not expect a good framerate above "Mid" settings? Any experiences, fellows?
Erico Francis Registered User Join date: 14 Aug 2008 Posts: 3	08-15-2008 06:39 From: SuezanneC Baskerville There's a thread in Tom's Hardware on the topic of "What's the use of low end GPU like 8400GS?" at http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/247327-33-what-8400gs . The author of that thread is asking why nVidia even bothers to make such a low end card and questions whether they are enough better than an integrated video processor to make it worth the bother. From what I read, the 8400GS is a low end video card, not one that you would expect to run at the highest settings in a crowded area and get 30 fps from. Here's one of the posts from that thread: Txs! Maybe a 8600GT GDDR3 is the way to go...

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8400gs SL Performance