New computer - new SL experience!

This is totally against the industry standards. Having been a gamer for years, new and upcoming game releases have always required the most cutting edge advances in computer performance to enjoy full capabilities, and indeed gaming development has spurred on those technical advances.

I think I'll have to do that Isablan. I'm planning on a system with 2 or 3 GB, but would like the option to upgrade that memory in the future without having to buy another computer in a year. I've "configured" a system on their website, but on there, they don't offer the graphics card I want with the system I configured. I'm thinking I'm going to call them and do it that way, but it sounds like I should do my research first. I would like at least a Nvidia 8600 GT PCIe (I think that's the one....lol), which was recommended on the technical forum. But I want to make sure that the computer I'm looking at has the power supply for that card. I checked other places, and Dell really does seem to have what I want, or close to it, for the best price. I can't wait, though, to try SL on something more powerful than what I have. I'm getting tired of living in a fog because my draw distance has to stay so low. I'm sure there's a lot I miss that way. I can turn my draw distance up, but have to keep my preferences window open in case I freeze, and I can't even attempt to move my avatar or I'll be sitting there for 15 minutes waiting for her to move again.

You have the misfortune of owning one of the relatively few systems that use Rambus memory. That wasn't a proprietary Dell thing; it was something that was briefly being pushed as the Great New Thing, and mostly ended up on high-end systems from a number of manufacturers of Intel-based systems. (AMD motherboards never supported it.) Rambus memory offered a lot more memory bandwidth than the then-current DDR (that is, the peak rate of transferring data from memory to the CPU was higher), but at a price; its latency (the amount of time it takes to start transferring data from a new address) was very high. The result is that it performed well in benchmark tests, but tended to do poorly running real-world programs, especially games (because they branch around a lot). It was also expensive, both because of limited market acceptance and because of high patent fees charged by Rambus (which was a patent licensing company, not a manufacturer).

Rambus systems aren't worth upgrading unless you can find inexpensive used memory. Otherwise, it's cheaper to buy a new motherboard and DDR2 memory (or a new system) than to buy Rambus memory.

Now here I thought you only owned a black plastic box. You sneaky girl.

And also don't expect SL to run Windlight at high settings on a 3 year old office computer using a freebie internet provider

Of course server side issues won't be cured with a new PC, for those saying "yeah but LL ... it's LL's fault".

When I got this PC, my SL experience changed beyond all recognition. Everyone around me complaining about lag, things taking forever to rez ... nope ... none of that at all.

You can't have all bells and whistles if you're on an older PC. Are you more concerned about the social side of things or the all-singing all-dancing? If the latter then getting better equipment is the only way to have the experience you are looking for.

I'm going to upgrade at least the graphics card ... but tbh the thought of a shiny new quad core ... sighs wistfully.

LL should team up with a computer manufacturer, maybe find a way to offer discounts to SL members as a special promotion. I'm sure they'd find it pretty lucrative and sell a bunch of computers. I'm not only upgrading for SL, but it's probably the biggest factor in my decision to buy a new PC.

It is not your fault you do not understand, your iq is a result of your genetics

The point is if your computer sucks so will your game experience

I know what you meant by that, but just for purposes of clarification and nit-pickery...

NASA's computers suck. The computers in the Shuttle were designed in the 1970's, and a Commodore 64 can run rings around them. The computers in the mission control rooms are similar dinosaurs.

It's not uncommon to see a few billion dollars' worth of taxpayer-funded electronics being used as a "front end" to supply data to a simple desktop PC. Which then takes the data, analyzes it, and flashes up a screen with a complete report, including pretty colored graphics.

NASA scientists work all day trying to coax these beasts to accept, process, or disgorge data, or to talk to one another. Then they go home, take off their shoes, put their feet up, and heave a big sigh of relief to be able to use a "real" computer to play SL or WOW.

(I know more than I want to about this. I dated a NASA engineer, way back when, and had to listen to him bitch.)