Building a new PC to use SL on Linux: which suggestions?

I use Linux Ubuntu. I am going to buy a new computer in the next months and I mostly will use it for Second Life (+ browsing, email, chat and other usual stuff).

I never used 64-bit operating systems before, and I am new to the multi-core processors too - so I can hardly decide what should I prefer or avoid.

I know that 64-bit Linuxes had issues with Flash plugin on Firefox (is this still true?) - I often use Flash so I really want to avoid this kind of issues.

On the other side, it looks like Second Life doesn't fully leverage on dual-core systems; I don't play other 3D games or CPU-hungry applications, and I don't want to spend lots of money for something that won't improve SL performances.

I'm actually using a Nvidia graphic card and I think I'm going to stick with Nvidia (maybe a geforce7600). Chart representing a range of performances for 100 most popular GPUs using SL:
s3.amazonaws.com/secondlifegrid.net/frameratesbygpu.png

My new PC will ship 2 (maybe 4) RAM GB and a S-ATA150/10.000 RPM hard disk.

What kind of system would you build for a SecondLife-optimized, desktop system?

I'd be happy to receive suggestions and explanations. Thanks.

I have an Intel Core2Duo running the 32 bit version of Ubuntu 7.10, and SL runs smooth. As does all other applications I need. I have read about quite a few problems related to the 64 bit version, and guess I'll be running 32 bit for another year or so.

I agree with Ibrahim here. I just set up a new dual-core PC(2 Pentium D processors) and SL runs fine on a dual-core running a 32-bit distro(PCLinuxOS). You might have better luck trying a distro that runs on an x86_x64 architecture, but stick with 32-bit to stay on the safe side.

Well, I just did this about 2 months ago. I decided to upgrade, built a brand new computer with Linux in mind. I ended up with the following:

eVGA nForce 680i SLI motherboard
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor
4GB of RAM (GeIL)
PNY GeForce 7900GS (256MB standard)
Dual 250GB HDs
DVD-ROM, DVD±RW, Floppy, etc.

Running Gentoo ("amd64". SL runs perfectly well with proper multilib support under 64-bit.

EDIT: The only issue at the moment is video support. It simply will not work because LL doesn't ship the client with 32-bit gstreamer libraries, and there are a few other issues that I am aware of in that area, but I don't use or need video, so it has never been a major concern to me. It would be nice if it worked, but I won't lose sleep over it.


Nothing really bad about 64-bit and Linux handles multiple cores flawlessly (at least on x86, x86_64) these days. A lot of applications are threaded, so multiple cores are always beneficial.


Unfortunately, this is still very true. However, if you run a 32-bit Firefox under 64-bit, the Flash plugin will usually work without any issues. There is a 32-bit->64-bit bridge plugin for Firefox called nspluginwrapper, but it's extremely flakey and loves to crash.


Also true, at the moment. I only see one core out of my 4 ever active when SL is running. But I didn't build this system with SL specifically in mind... it was intended for more serious gaming as well as 3D work and development.


If you can, I'd recommend PNY's GeForce 7900GS. It's in the ~$120 range and performs like a champ in SL, as well as other games. I get 30+ FPS even with FSAA cranked up, in populated areas. With FSAA off, well over 100FPS. The 7900GS uses a newer GPU core than the 7600, so it's faster while using less power.


I'd recommend 4GB. It will pay off in the long run, though you can always upgrade from 2GB later.


See above.

...and have considered the same issues. Here is my take.

2 cores should be useful, because even if SL remains predominantly one thread doing all the hard work, the other core can still pick up all the 'housekeeping' processes that run in the background. For the situation you describe, more than 2 cores would be wasted, in the present software environment.

Running a 32bit OS on a 64bit-capable x86 CPU should be fine and I am looking at that option myself - 64bit is certainly nice, but software with considerably less hiccups is even nicer . Tofu says there will EVENTUALLY be a 64bit SL client, so then I would change my OS, etc. up.

Memory - get heaps. More the better as Linux caches disk there too. If money is tight, start with 2G and then install another closely matched 2G (or 6G, slots permitting later. With a decent whack of memory, HDD performance should be reasonably unimportant. Fast memory timings and a good northbridge would likely be an excellent investment too, though I wouldn't go as far as blowing lots of cash on the "eXtreme" types of overclockers' memories - just regular fast RAM.

Graphics - Nvidia is MUCH better for SL right now. AMD seems to be getting ATI's act together but that won't show ripe fruit in your purchase frame. A high end 7xxx card will give you best performance+STABILITY (8xxx's are still a bit glitchy at times, I have heard*). As much video ram as you can get (eg, 512M+). Graphics RAM is MORE important than Graphics Processor speed for SL as it is VERY texture-heavy.


* I would LOVE to hear from some 8xxx users on their first-hand experiences.

I've been getting the definite impression 64-bit OS's aren't ready for prime-time. They're unstable and don't work well with some things, like audio and proprietary video drivers. I use a dual-core AMD64, and it runs a lot better with OpenSUSE 10.3 32-bit than it did with the 64-bit version. I've also noticed a lot of computers advertised as having 64-bit processors, but being sold with 32-bit Windows. That tells me that Micro$oft is either charging more for the 64-bit version (which wouldn't surprise me), or it just doesn't work as well as the 32-bit (that wouldn't surprise me, either)..

As a side note, a 64-bit processor probably works faster, even with a 32-bit OS, than any 32-bit processor.

Adamas

Shipping the 32-bit gstreamer libraries won't help - you'd need the big entourage of gstreamer plugins and their dependencies too, which is why we (softly) rely upon the system gstreamer.

Right right, which is why I stated that I'm "aware of other issues in that area." Perhaps I was too vague. But I do understand the problems there, and it is unfortunate. I do understand there is little LL can really do about that, at least for right now because of the massive amount of packages that would be required, but as I said, I can live without video.