Second Life Forums Archive - How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card?

Mitchell Boyington

Registered User

Join date: 9 Oct 2006

Posts: 5

10-10-2006 09:03

How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card? I've tried playing second life and it seems to work, but the ammount of lag isn't enthralling so I checked the minimum requirements and I seem to have all the requirements met, but I am unsure on the whole video/graphics card thing. Help please?

Dnel DaSilva

Master Xessorizer

Join date: 22 May 2005

Posts: 781

10-10-2006 09:13

From: Mitchell Boyington

How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card? I've tried playing second life and it seems to work, but the ammount of lag isn't enthralling so I checked the minimum requirements and I seem to have all the requirements met, but I am unsure on the whole video/graphics card thing. Help please?

Ummm, if you see anything more than black on your screen you have a graphics card. All computers have one. On a Windows machine go to the control panel, and into system, go to the hardware tab and click the device manager button. Under display adapters, it will tell you the type of graphics card you have.

_____________________

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Coming soon to www.xessories.net

Why accessorize when you can Xessorize?

Elex Dusk

Bunneh

Join date: 19 Oct 2004

Posts: 800

10-10-2006 09:19

Please log in to Second Life...

Using the Help menu select Live Help...

In the Live Help window ask a Live Helper for a notecard on the subject of reducing lag (they'll be happy to give you the card)...

The card itself contains a variety of things you can tweak in your Preferences to help give you a less laggy Second Life experience.

Earl Zabibha

Registered User

Join date: 22 Aug 2006

Posts: 158

10-10-2006 09:57

From: Dnel DaSilva

Ummm, if you see anything more than black on your screen you have a graphics card.

HAHAHHAHA just what I was thinking

Raudf Fox

(ra-ow-th)

Join date: 25 Feb 2005

Posts: 5,119

10-10-2006 11:02

From: Mitchell Boyington

How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card? I've tried playing second life and it seems to work, but the ammount of lag isn't enthralling so I checked the minimum requirements and I seem to have all the requirements met, but I am unsure on the whole video/graphics card thing. Help please?

You have a graphics card of some sort, but is it one that can handle SL? *grins wryly* I'm not sure any graphics card can handle SL, but I know my ATI Radeon X300 can slog with it.

To find out what kind of graphics card you have, go to you desktop, right click the background and go down to properties. Click on the Settings Tab. That should tell you what kind of card you have. You may want to update any and all drivers for it.

You will also want to lower some things, like Particle Count and maybe even draw distance. I find that helps in most cases. Unfortunately, you will not get rid of the lag.

_____________________

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Want more attachment points for your avatar's wearing pleasure? Then please vote for

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SuezanneC Baskerville

Forums Rock!

Join date: 22 Dec 2003

Posts: 14,229

10-10-2006 14:14

The Help menu in Second Life has the option "About". Selecting "About" from the help menu will tell you the graphics card vendor and the graphics card, as well as what type of CPU you have, it's clock speed, and how much ram, all of which are good things to know when trying to figure out how well suited your system is for SL and what to do to improve performance.

_____________________

-

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

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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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Cottonteil Muromachi

Abominable

Join date: 2 Mar 2005

Posts: 1,071

10-11-2006 02:47

Not all computers have a graphics 'card'. Many budget ones has the GPU built into the motherboard made by Intel.

Once you've found the model of your card, you can compare its performance here (if its in the list).

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

For SL, it is both processor and GPU intensive.
There is a point where the bottleneck isn't at the graphics card, but the processor. Basically, the graphics card needs to be paired with a decent processor. If you have a fast graphics card, and a processor that can't keep up, it won't do much good. And vice versa.

Whimsycallie Pegler

Registered User

Join date: 28 Apr 2006

Posts: 1,003

10-11-2006 09:58

There is a good article in the knowledge base that walks you through checking what kind of video graphic card you have and doing updates.It is fairly easy to follow even for us non techy people.

Unfortunatley I sill don't know how to do links here. I will run and look up the articles name and post it here so you can search for it.

It is on the front page under most popular articles - titled:
How do I get the latest drivers for my graphics card?

Good luck.

How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card?
Mitchell Boyington Registered User Join date: 9 Oct 2006 Posts: 5	10-10-2006 09:03 How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card? I've tried playing second life and it seems to work, but the ammount of lag isn't enthralling so I checked the minimum requirements and I seem to have all the requirements met, but I am unsure on the whole video/graphics card thing. Help please?
Dnel DaSilva Master Xessorizer Join date: 22 May 2005 Posts: 781	10-10-2006 09:13 From: Mitchell Boyington How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card? I've tried playing second life and it seems to work, but the ammount of lag isn't enthralling so I checked the minimum requirements and I seem to have all the requirements met, but I am unsure on the whole video/graphics card thing. Help please? Ummm, if you see anything more than black on your screen you have a graphics card. All computers have one. On a Windows machine go to the control panel, and into system, go to the hardware tab and click the device manager button. Under display adapters, it will tell you the type of graphics card you have. _____________________ Xessories in Urbane, home of high quality jewelry and accessories. Coming soon to www.xessories.net Why accessorize when you can Xessorize?
Elex Dusk Bunneh Join date: 19 Oct 2004 Posts: 800	10-10-2006 09:19 Please log in to Second Life... Using the Help menu select Live Help... In the Live Help window ask a Live Helper for a notecard on the subject of reducing lag (they'll be happy to give you the card)... The card itself contains a variety of things you can tweak in your Preferences to help give you a less laggy Second Life experience.
Earl Zabibha Registered User Join date: 22 Aug 2006 Posts: 158	10-10-2006 09:57 From: Dnel DaSilva Ummm, if you see anything more than black on your screen you have a graphics card. HAHAHHAHA just what I was thinking
Raudf Fox (ra-ow-th) Join date: 25 Feb 2005 Posts: 5,119	10-10-2006 11:02 From: Mitchell Boyington How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card? I've tried playing second life and it seems to work, but the ammount of lag isn't enthralling so I checked the minimum requirements and I seem to have all the requirements met, but I am unsure on the whole video/graphics card thing. Help please? You have a graphics card of some sort, but is it one that can handle SL? grins wryly I'm not sure any graphics card can handle SL, but I know my ATI Radeon X300 can slog with it. To find out what kind of graphics card you have, go to you desktop, right click the background and go down to properties. Click on the Settings Tab. That should tell you what kind of card you have. You may want to update any and all drivers for it. You will also want to lower some things, like Particle Count and maybe even draw distance. I find that helps in most cases. Unfortunately, you will not get rid of the lag. _____________________ DiamonX Studios, the place of the Victorian Times series of gowns and dresses - Located at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Fushida/224/176 Want more attachment points for your avatar's wearing pleasure? Then please vote for https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/VWR-1065?
SuezanneC Baskerville Forums Rock! Join date: 22 Dec 2003 Posts: 14,229	10-10-2006 14:14 The Help menu in Second Life has the option "About". Selecting "About" from the help menu will tell you the graphics card vendor and the graphics card, as well as what type of CPU you have, it's clock speed, and how much ram, all of which are good things to know when trying to figure out how well suited your system is for SL and what to do to improve performance. _____________________ - 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 -
Cottonteil Muromachi Abominable Join date: 2 Mar 2005 Posts: 1,071	10-11-2006 02:47 Not all computers have a graphics 'card'. Many budget ones has the GPU built into the motherboard made by Intel. Once you've found the model of your card, you can compare its performance here (if its in the list). http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html For SL, it is both processor and GPU intensive. There is a point where the bottleneck isn't at the graphics card, but the processor. Basically, the graphics card needs to be paired with a decent processor. If you have a fast graphics card, and a processor that can't keep up, it won't do much good. And vice versa.
Whimsycallie Pegler Registered User Join date: 28 Apr 2006 Posts: 1,003	10-11-2006 09:58 There is a good article in the knowledge base that walks you through checking what kind of video graphic card you have and doing updates.It is fairly easy to follow even for us non techy people. Unfortunatley I sill don't know how to do links here. I will run and look up the articles name and post it here so you can search for it. It is on the front page under most popular articles - titled: How do I get the latest drivers for my graphics card? Good luck.

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How do I find out if I have a video/graphics card?