My experience with the standard Cool Viewer on my more powerful Linux box is very good, but I have no experience with the Nicholaz viewer, or alt viewers in Windows, so any advice appreciated.
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Alternate viewers for a less powerful machine |
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 08:31
Hey everyone. Was wondering what you think is the best alternative viewer for a less powerful computer running Windows Vista, or XP (if different)? Nicholaz and Cool Viewer both have less intensive viewers for older computers, but which is the best, if either? Particularly, a computer with a graphics card that isn't quite up to snuff.
My experience with the standard Cool Viewer on my more powerful Linux box is very good, but I have no experience with the Nicholaz viewer, or alt viewers in Windows, so any advice appreciated. |
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Jesse Barnett
500,000 scoville units
Join date: 21 May 2006
Posts: 4,160
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01-31-2009 08:35
so any advice appreciated. Try all of them, then uninstall all but the one you like and fits your machine the best. _____________________
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Brenda Connolly
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Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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01-31-2009 08:53
I use the Cool Viewer 1.19 and it is wonderful. I used the Nicholaz Old School for a long time, but switched to the CV when the security issue arose a few months back. I have a 5 year old maching with an ATI X300 video card and the CV runs great. It has the old style interface, which I prefer and Boy Lane is still updating it, where Nicholaz has stopped. So CV gets a big thumbs up from me.
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Lee Ponzu
What Would Steve Do?
Join date: 28 Jun 2006
Posts: 1,770
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01-31-2009 08:56
Install the standard viewer, hit ^P, and turn everything waaaay down.
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 09:05
Brenda - Lee suggested just using the low quality settings, which I suppose is certainly an option (and what I currently do on my older XP laptop), but does the CV further improve performance more than just cranking down the settings would? I read in the description that it doesn't use Windlight, whereas the other viewers do, but I'm not really sure what that is, or how it effects performance. :3
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Milla Janick
Empress Of The Universe
Join date: 2 Jan 2008
Posts: 3,075
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01-31-2009 09:15
I believe it depends on the computer and video card. On some old machines, the pre-Windight viewers perform a little better than the current viewer with atmospheric shaders off. On some, it's the other way around. Try them and see what works for your particular computer.
Of course, the ideal solution is to replace the underperforming video card, if possible. _____________________
 http://www.avatarsunited.com/avatars/milla-janick All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... |
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LittleMe Jewell
...........
Join date: 8 Oct 2007
Posts: 11,319
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01-31-2009 09:23
My performance inworld jumped a lot when I switched to KirstenLee's viewer - though, like Nicholaz, it seems that she will not be doing any updates in the near future, if ever.
I still have on my computer an old Nicholaz based on the 1.18.5.3 version (non-windlight), a Cool View based on 1.19.0.5 (non-windlight), Nicholaz for 1.19.1.4, Cool View for 1.20.1.17, the current LL 1.21.6 and the latest LL RC 1.22.7 - I still sometimes bounce around on what I use. _____________________
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 09:24
My laptop is a Fujitsu P1610. It's the first of the ittsy bittsy web books, and I don't think replacing the card is an option - I'm afraid it would overheat with a more powerful card, and also, finding one to fit in its ittsy bittsy frame would probably cost a lot more than I'm willing to spend. So I think I'm going to stick to seeing how I can improve it, instead of tinkering with an already very delicate system.
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LittleMe Jewell
...........
Join date: 8 Oct 2007
Posts: 11,319
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01-31-2009 09:26
Given your computer, you could try the KirstenLee one with your graphic settings turned down a bit, but the pre-windlight Cool View may really be your best bet.
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-Lil Why do you sit there looking like an envelope without any address on it? ~Mark Twain~ Optimism is denial, so face the facts and move on. ♥♥♥ Lil's Yard Sale / Inventory Cleanout: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Triggerfish/52/27/22 . http://www.flickr.com/photos/littleme_jewell |
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Boy Lane
Evil Dolly
Join date: 8 May 2007
Posts: 690
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01-31-2009 09:30
My performance inworld jumped a lot when I switched to KirstenLee's viewer _____________________
Cool Viewers for Virtual Worlds, Home of Rainbow: http://my.opera.com/boylane
Download: http://coolviewer.googlecode.com Source: http://github.com/boy  Be plurked: http://plurk.com/BoyLane/invite |
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Boy Lane
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Join date: 8 May 2007
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01-31-2009 09:36
Brenda - Lee suggested just using the low quality settings, which I suppose is certainly an option... _____________________
Cool Viewers for Virtual Worlds, Home of Rainbow: http://my.opera.com/boylane
Download: http://coolviewer.googlecode.com Source: http://github.com/boy Be plurked: http://plurk.com/BoyLane/invite |
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 09:40
Thanks Boy, just dropped by your site and DL'ed it. Installing it now. I've clicked on the Cool Viewer shortcut button, but it's been saying "loading Cool Viewer" for a few minutes now... It is a VERY slow computer sometimes, so I'll give it a bit longer.
Hopefully I'll be able to get around without having to watch out for spontaneously appearing walls as much. |
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Boy Lane
Evil Dolly
Join date: 8 May 2007
Posts: 690
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01-31-2009 09:42
@Cat
Usually a network issue when it takes long to connect. Not sure if you did a fresh install on that machine, if not you may want to try the clean install instructions in the "Solid Gold" thread. _____________________
Cool Viewers for Virtual Worlds, Home of Rainbow: http://my.opera.com/boylane
Download: http://coolviewer.googlecode.com Source: http://github.com/boy Be plurked: http://plurk.com/BoyLane/invite |
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Marianne Little
A hopeless fool
Join date: 14 Aug 2007
Posts: 645
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01-31-2009 09:45
The 1.19.0.5 CV doesn't use windlight rendering. It's based on the last version before that was introduced in 1.19.1. It's definitely faster on older graphic cards, but it is also a rock stable proven viewer for current systems.] I love this viewer on my lousy laptop! I bought it 2 years ago, before I started SL. It was the cheapest that money could buy at that time - and I run 1.19.0.5 CV on it. On the stationary I have a newer CV with windlight. I also installed Kirsten Viewer, but I think I go back to CV on it too. Boy Lane does a really good job! I don't use the restraint features on CV, they are under their own section in preferences. I would say that CV is better than Nicholaz.... I tried that one too. _____________________
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 09:47
It's still trying to load... I didn't do a fresh install, so I'll give that a shot and report back.
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 09:53
P.S. Does it matter if the SL version cooresponds to the CV version? Does it matter if my SL viewer is 1.21 and the CV is 1.19?
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SuezanneC Baskerville
Forums Rock!
Join date: 22 Dec 2003
Posts: 14,229
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01-31-2009 10:02
Yes it matters.
A Cool Viewer download has to be extracted into a specific version of Second Life. http://my.opera.com/boylane/blog/solid has the instructions, including the links to download the older version of SL required for the 1.19 CV. _____________________
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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 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 - |
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 10:03
Ok, I'll uninstall again and try that
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Cat Velinov
Registered User
Join date: 4 Jan 2009
Posts: 23
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01-31-2009 10:25
Got it working!
There does seem to be a modest improvement - I don't know if things are rezzing faster, but it helps that there is less to rez. And of course, I get all the cool stuff that comes with CV. I never expected to turn it into my 2gig of memory, GeForce 8500 Linux speed demon with a simple viewer change, but it does seem to be giving me a bit more oomph. Thanks everyone, and thanks Boy! CV is awesome in every way. |
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EliteData Maximus
Technical Geek
Join date: 3 Oct 2007
Posts: 298
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01-31-2009 14:21
im still using 1.18.4
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Milla Janick
Empress Of The Universe
Join date: 2 Jan 2008
Posts: 3,075
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01-31-2009 14:52
im still using 1.18.4 That is the saddest story I have ever heard. _____________________
http://www.avatarsunited.com/avatars/milla-janick All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in rain... |
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Argent Stonecutter
Emergency Mustelid
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 20,263
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01-31-2009 15:44
I believe it depends on the computer and video card. On some old machines, the pre-Windight viewers perform a little better than the current viewer with atmospheric shaders off. _____________________
Argent Stonecutter - http://globalcausalityviolation.blogspot.com/
"And now I'm going to show you something really cool." Skyhook Station - http://xrl.us/skyhook23 Coonspiracy Store - http://xrl.us/coonstore |
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Clubside Granville
Registered Bonehead
Join date: 13 Apr 2006
Posts: 478
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01-31-2009 16:28
Cat, as you said, this is really a web book. It isn't designed to run something like Second Life, even with the somewhat modern shader technology turned off or not implemented. The P1610 has a 1.2GHz solo processor and Intel 950 graphics which doesn't have dedicated memory. This is a computer not meant for 3D of any kind. I'd say it's miraculous it can run Second Life at all given the graphics chip.
Either Linden Lab or the manufacturers of these web book/net book computers needs to be more explicit about the suitability or lack thereof for 3D applications. _____________________
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Argent Stonecutter
Emergency Mustelid
Join date: 20 Sep 2005
Posts: 20,263
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01-31-2009 16:48
Doesn't Linden Lab say that the intel GMA processors are unsupported?
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Brenda Connolly
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Join date: 10 Jan 2007
Posts: 25,000
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01-31-2009 16:49
Brenda - Lee suggested just using the low quality settings, which I suppose is certainly an option (and what I currently do on my older XP laptop), but does the CV further improve performance more than just cranking down the settings would? I read in the description that it doesn't use Windlight, whereas the other viewers do, but I'm not really sure what that is, or how it effects performance. :3 In my trials, on my machine, a non Windlight viewer performs and looks better than a dialed down Windlight. When turned down, the WL graphics are awful, dull and washed out, the water , sky and clouds are a semi opaque haze. In order to get them to an acceptable level, I had to sacrifice moving pretty much, it just took too long to rez and move about. The "cartoonish" non WL graphics are fine for me. So, yes, I see a difference in performance, worth making the tradeoff. _____________________
Don't you ever try to look behind my eyes. You don't want to know what they have seen.
http://brenda-connolly.blogspot.com |