Choosing a computer

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What computer should I buy for Second Life?

This is an excellent question which understandably keeps coming up — after all, without a good system, you can't have an enjoyable inworld experience.

KBcaution.png Important: This page presents some sweeping generalizations for the sake of accessibility, and is for purely informational purposes. Location-based aspects like price and availability may vary greatly, and the very nature of this info means details are likely to go stale soon. Please keep this page updated and add "See also" links to further resources, along with dates for context.

The good news is there's plenty of information already out there, with some special considerations for Second Life. A well-equipped general computer will also likely run the Second Life Viewer well. However, so many specs and numbers may be confusing, especially if you don't consider yourself a technical maven.

Simple principles to keep in mind

  • Check the Second Life System Requirements - The "Minimum Requirements" column shows what's at least acceptable, and you're in a much better comfort zone if you meet or exceed the "Recommendations".
  • What else are you doing with the computer? - A person who enjoys casual tasks like web surfing and word processing has much less demanding needs than someone who wants to make Second Life machinima, or someone who's also playing games that insist on having a cutting-edge graphics card (for example, DirectX 11 making inroads).
  • When asking for advice, clearly state your budget and intent - It helps to know what your resources are and where you're coming from. As the saying goes, "A chain is only as strong as its weakest link". If you're talking to a brilliant geek, be sure they understand that the "super system" that barely meets their demands may be overkill for you. Don't be intimidated by tech talk; it's alright to ask "Why would you pick X over Y?" and learn. Useful experts should be able to demystify the tech jargon into simple language.
  • There are many differing but valid opinions - Like meals, a computer should be well-balanced: having a powerful CPU but lame graphics card (also known as a "video card") will result in lacking Second Life performance. Don't get caught in "fanboi" wars who are irrationally polarized towards one thing and against another. Take your time to do research and don't buy based on synthetic benchmarks, look for real-world performance measurements. However, certain observations are clearer than others — for example, AMD often positions its CPUs as cheaper alternatives to Intel, which weighs in your overall budget.
  • The market changes rapidly - You may have heard the old jokes about a computer being obsolete before you buy it. What realistically counts though, is rather than being fixated on specific parts and models, to be aware of guidelines and principles for picking good combinations. Learning release schedules by reading tech publications is helpful because the introduction of newer models tends to lower prices of older models. Also, some product lines carrying the same name go in and out of favor over time — it's like cars, where a newer model with the same name may not have the same temporal quality as an older one.
  • Certain product generations have easy-pick "superstars" - For example, quad-core processors used to be ludicrously expensive until Intel's Q6600 had a massive price drop and brought quad-core into the mainstream. Graphics cards enthusiasts keep pining for the next "8800GT" (the NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT was lauded for a superb price/performance ratio). And so on. You can't always count on these, but a product garnering stellar reviews from different reputable publications and many customers has plenty of experience to back it up.
  • Customer service matters - Last but not least, and especially if you're new to this, a friendly shop that helps you make informed buying decisions is a lot more reassuring than one that never answers your calls or emails. Note that support for an entire system usually only applies if it was built that way, so this point is more applicable to prebuilt system builders than "order the parts and build it yourself". But, individual component manufacturers also have their own support departments, which may factor into choosing one brand over another. For example, EVGA's warranty is often cited favorably by graphics cards enthusiasts.

What about SL-specific considerations?

Yes! The Second Life Viewer is a unique hybrid of use cases. For example, many games (like first-person shooters) take over your full screen and it's intended you won't be flipping between multiple apps. But with SL, running in windowed mode is popular, since you may need to view an external web browser, create textures in Photoshop and upload them into SL, and soforth. Furthermore, individual workflows can vary a lot, so when receiving advice from others, always present your intended uses, and consider what is specifically right for you. This is worth repeating until it's burned into your mind.

If you multitask with several other heavy applications, you should definitely have the resources to run them all comfortably. Multi-core CPUs are now common; you may want to check your current Task Manager load to observe if under typical usage, you're using a lot of current processing power. If so, that may be good reason to expand into faster, more cores. Another example: the Viewer can take up considerable RAM (easily over 1GB by itself if you stay inworld for awhile), so if you're also running other RAM-hungry apps like Photoshop and Firefox, at least 4GB RAM (on a 64-bit OS like 64-bit Windows 7 so you can use all of it) will give you a lot more breathing space.

Another thing often pointed out: a lot of games are fine with a somewhat skimpy CPU but much higher-end GPU (graphics card). That's not the case with Second Life: the Viewer will use whatever it can take on your CPU (it's typical to see close to 100% usage of a single core), so make sure you have a powerful CPU and matched GPU.

In addition, Linden Lab continues to improve performance so the Viewer will run even better on your current configuration. And don't forget to optimize your graphics preferences! There are a lot of variables you can tweak to squeeze more juice out of your current setup, including overclocking (if you're up for it).

If you're making machinima, fast hard drives are a must. Incidentally, hard drives are also a common bottleneck (the weakest link on the chain). Don't skimp on this or you'll get ugly stutters, since since disk activity includes both the Viewer reading from/writing to disk cache and realtime video-to-disk (whether it's FRAPS, Camtasia, etc.). If a single fast mechanical drive isn't giving you the speed you need, you may want to opt for a SSD paired a traditional hard drive. For example, as of 2010-07-19, Torley uses a 128GB Crucial M225 + 2TB Western Digital Caviar Black.

Can I get a computer that runs Second Life well for under US$1,000?

This used to be somewhat of a challenge to beat, but now, it's pretty easy to assemble a powerful computer that far exceeds the System Recommendations for less than US$1,000. You should also shop on deals sites like SlickDeals because promos, bundles and other discount can result in steep savings. For example, if you're building your own system, you can easily save $100-200 instead of buying prebuilt. On top of that, a new well-placed Newegg combos and rebates at checkout can result in an easy, additional $100-200 savings.

However, understand convenience (saving time rather than money) has its place, especially if you're not technically savvy and are scared to mess something up during assembly. If convenience trumps budget, there are lots of manufacturers offering prebuilt PCs. Check sites like ResellerRatings for what other customers think.

In any case, learning about different combinations of parts and figuring out what will offer you the best deal is a fun game. A good place to ask is EggXpert, which many Newegg regulars hang out at. (Incidentally, on 2010-07-12, Torley Linden asked for recommendations with a budget of $1,100.)

Also keep in mind other factors, like the quality of your network connection and Linden Lab's own servers, determine Second Life's overall performance. In other words, if you have a rockin' computer but your ISP is sluggish, don't count on a smooth time.

What about monitors?

Once an exotic luxury, 1920x1200 and 1920x1080 LCD monitors have become affordable and mainstream, many of which can be found for US$300 or less. (The next big resolution and price jump is to 2560x1440 and 2560x1600.) Prices can go higher for bigger monitors with the same resolution, more accurate color gamut, and so on.

If you do a lot of visual work like inworld building and photography, or if you like to have a lot of windows open at once, the added screen real estate is worth it.

Higher resolutions need more powerful graphics cards to run smoothly, especially with enhancements like antialiasing smoothing turned on.

Is Second Life compatible with [thing that isn't on the System Requirements]?

If it isn't on the System Requirements, Linden Lab can't guarantee compatibility. Our Quality Assurance testing for a specific configuration may be incomplete and still in-progress. While we examine what's broadly useful to our customers, we're not able to humanly test every possible combination of parts out there (of which there are billions) and we'd rather set expectations so you're not disappointed. Thus, a good move may be to wait awhile after some hot new part comes out, then ask other Residents who are "early adopters".

For example, the Viewer runs well on Windows 7 for many Residents. Some have reported troubles. See actual posts by Residents. Windows 7 hasn't appeared on the System Requirements yet and is pending status on Microsoft's side, so while actual experiences show a higher probability of performing well with Windows 7, stay tuned for our official word.

I just got a new computer, how can I help?

Congratulations! Use the Viewer extensively with your new computer so you understand firsthand how it performs under different conditions. Then, share your experiences openly, whether it's on your blog, our forums, or even on the discussion area of this help page. Your recommendations could help other Residents be well-informed about what to pick for their next PC build, and with continued sharing, you'll be regarded as an authority with a trusted opinion who's helped make Second Life easier. Doesn't that make you feel awesome? :)

What about laptops? Macs? Etc.

Add what you know here!

Laptops tend to be less powerful, although there are "gamer" laptops with mobile versions of powerful graphics cards which can perform capably. Netbooks, which are basically miniature laptops, generally don't perform well with SL because of lacking CPU, GPU, and RAM. This is subject to change as hardware continues to scale as it always does, bless Moore's Law.

Anecdotally, the Viewer perform noticeably slower on some Macs running Mac OS X rather than in the equivalent hardware's Boot Camp with Windows. This can be tested on any modern Intel Mac, as Torley has done on his Mac Pro (2008). This is a situation not unique to Second Life but shared by other 3D apps and games, as noted in Steam for Mac benchmarks. If you have comprehensive results, post them here.

See also

  • Graphics Cards - More info about how they work with the Viewer, and troubleshooting them.

Research

  • Newegg - Very popular place to to buy computer stuff at realistic prices. Even if you don't buy from here, the reviews are illuminating. A current product that has hundreds of reviews and at least 4 stars is likely a "safe" buy.
  • PassMark Software - One of several great sources for comparative benchmarks. Make sure you read their testing methodology so you understand why the rankings are the way they are.
  • Windows System Assessment Tool - You can probably run this right now — it can give you clues where the weak links are in your system.

There's no shortage of technology analysis sites out there. Some of the smaller players tend to cite the larger ones' research and propagate their news. Some popular ones are:

If you know what you're looking for, a good way to search many of these in one go is use Google News. Torley did this to learn about the GTX 460 the day it was launched.

Resident experiences

Link to more useful threads here!

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