Graphics card

Hey guys!

I was thinking about upgrading my graphics card for machinima.

I have a Nvidia 8600.

I was thinking of upgrading to a Nvidia 9600- does it have issues with Second Life? I believe the 9800 does, right?

My budget for this is about $250-300 so I want the best for my money

Thanks!

I use a 9800GTX and it runs SL flawlessly.

hi...
i have ATIRadeon HD 2600XT

i am not so happy with it..

although I have new ..double core prozz.

C.C.

I know you are keen to upgrade your Graphics Card, but before you do, consider looking in more detail what the SL Client is doing, before blaming your kit and spending loads of money.

Ctrl+Shift+1 look for Time Dilations (should be 1.00), Sim fps (should be at least 30fps), Update Agents (should be around 1-2sec), packet loss (ideally 0.0%), your own fps (ideally at least 25fps), active scripts (should be less than 5,00 for a class 5 server).

Now go into Advanced menu, Rendering, Info Display, and check Avatar Rendering Cost, have a look around. You may see some ppls with green numbers over their heads, some with orange (higher) and some with red. Red starts at around 1200. Now, those people that you can divide 1200 into their number, are effectively costing you rendering time on your client/system. In other words, someone with a rating of 4800= 4 avatar rendering. I've seen ppls with 25,000+.

If you are in contol of the shoot/scene, then read on.
Don't be fooled by these figures, they are more than indicators of what the person is visibly wearing, it also accounts for any HUD's and scripted objects they are wearing. Turning them off won't help, they should be removed completely. Watch the effects on those numbers.
If you are not in control of the shoot/scene.... well.....

Oh wow!! Great techniques! I'll try that AWM.

Now I did just upgrade my ram by 2 gigs and it is helping! I'm very happy about that.