I need help on buying a new computer

I will be geting a new computer soon. The computer I have now usually only gets about 6 to 8 fps at sl, that is with all of the graphics preferences set as low as possible. And I cant go into crowded areas and get more than 2 or 3 fps.


Does anyone have any recomendations for a affordable computer that will get higher fps rates at sl?


And without setting the graphices preferences low

6 to 8 fps is not all that bad. My semi 'gamer' computer runs 5 to 10 fps all the time. Fps is not intirely dependant on your computer. It's the sim you are in, lag (generated by server load), packet loss, your connection speed and many more factors. If you are getting a new computer because you need one or maybe you just want one that is fine.......but to get one just because you are only getting 6 to 8 fps most of the time, I'm afraid you are going to be very disappointed.

Go with the fastest dual core CPU you can afford, a high end nVidia graphics card with no less than 256 meg onboard memory, and not less than 1 gig of DDR2 RAM. If you can get cable connection go for it...........and opt for the high download speed (usually more expensive). If you are neworked, go ethernet instead of wireless.

That's about all you can do..........the rest is up to Linden Labs.

Thanks peggy I will consider all of that.

I would be getting a new computer for several different reasons. 1 being that the computer is down right now because the power supply went out in it. It is my understanding that a better power supply would let me get better hardware but then I would need extra cooling devices right?

A good power supply gives you good, clean power to run your components correctly. If you put a bigger power supply in a computer and change nothing else it is likely the system will run cooler because the bigger PS has more capacity so it may run cooler itself. The components draw the same power and generate the same heat as they did before though. New computers run significantly cooler than the ones built a couple years ago, Intel Pentiums
for sure, the new Core chips generate a fraction of the heat generated by a Pentium 4. Video cards usually have the cooling they need already a part of the card so it isn't that big an issue.

As for a recommendation, I can only add to from what has already been said. Don't skimp on the computer. 10 years ago we were dishing out $2000 for a computer and felt proud if we could get it to play Tomb Raider at all. Today that would be closer to $3000 in 2007 dollars and the capabilities of a $600 machine are phenomenal compared to back then. $3000 for a computer today will fetch a bleeding edge, near top of the line machine that would have gotten men in black and their black helicopters sniffing around looking for your alien technology back in 1997. .

Don't bother with Vista yet, there isn't much out there that is ready for it and with all the pretty doodads it runs most programs like games slower than XP.

For SL, make sure you have a good video card , at least an Nvidia 6600 GT or better. A 7300 isn't better by the way yet a 7800 is significantly better and an 8800 is scads better but SL doesn't benefit that much and its way too expensive. Stay away from older ATI cards in the 9xxx series as they are outdated and they don't play nice with SL for a lot of folks.

Lets clear up this rumor real quick. There are only a SMALL handfull of apps that are having a hard time with Vista thus far, iTunes being the main one with Nero and a couple other less well known apps falling behind as well. The iTunes issue is a significant one but the upgrade to Vista is SO well worth it that if you can build a PC which is geared towards Vista, by all means GO FOR IT!



One thing to remember, if you do go with Vista do NOT get an ATI video card! ATI and Vista do not play well together with SL yet. This is an ATI issue, not a SL issue as ATI has not yet finished their OpenGL driver support.

The lowest end video card I'd even consider would be the 7600GS (roughly $100) and if you can afford more, by all means get it. A 7950GT would be the shizznit for SL. Dont waste money on an 8800 as the performance improvement in SL isnt not cost effective. Meaning you get more bang for your buck when you go 7950GT.

As for dual core processors. It's well documented that SL does not support multiple threads so in order to get maximum performance you have to set the affinity of the CPU to a single core for SL anyway. That being said, get the best processor you can afford (I'm partial to Intel CPU's) so that you have the best possible performance in everything else.

2GB RAM should be the MINIMUM you consider when buying a new machine in 2007 and if you can afford 4GB, by all means get it!


Hope this helps a bit.

I'm not so sure that's so well documented. I've done that trick about a dozen times and I get a whopping 2% increase. My dual core pentium runs right at 54% with affinity set to both...........and 53% to 52% with affinity set to a single core. I've done it both ways...............core 0 and core 1. It ain't worth the time and effort. However, with affinity set to both I can launch IE and see absolutely no proformance decrease...........though my CPU usage jumps to over 70%. That's why I said go with the dual core.

And I'm partial to Intels too

Actually, SL First Look viewer 'seems' to have support for Mutiple Threaded Rendering.

In the Debug Menu, under Client, look in Rendering. There is an option called "Enable Mutiple Threads".

I tried it & it was as if someone took gauze off of my screen! Things just seemed more "3D-ish", textures were sharper, etc.

But then, knowing what LL is like, that'll probablly get borked before too long

It has nothing to do with CPU usage.... look at your FPS when running on both cores then switch to a single core and watch what happens.

my advice:

NOT A LAPTOP!!!