Return of the ...

Well I'm back from my rather long getaway.... and upgraded too....

That's right folks, my return brings with it a few changes, and one of them is the computer I'll be using for SL. It's Big, Shiny, Black, and Pretty... and it's all mine...

dual Gigagbit LAN nForce750i northbridge, 1333 FSB, 2x16 PCIe2.0
Intel q6600 (quad core) running @ 2.4Ghz (not overclocked...yet)
EVGA nVidia GTX 280 (was a 9800GX2, got a better deal)
3Gb DDR2 Ram, RAID 0+1, 660GB HD total after RAID
7.1 Surround Sound, DVD-RW-DL + lightscribe
WinXPPro ('cause I HATE Vista)
22in Flat panel.

Let the jealousy begin =)


yes I know I could've opted for more RAM, by tweaking the registry XP will support 4Gb... but I've heard of issues with this so I skipped it... for now. However when (not if) I bite the bullet and migrate to Vista I'll be adding more ram, in matched sets

the q6600 is a good overclocker, and should be able to do 3.2Ghz safely with few changes in cooling

I'd have stuck with the 9800GX2 but they're back ordered indefinitely, and I'm impatient. The GTX 260 (next line up) doesn't really perform as well IMHO based on what I've seen... however the GTX 280 is pretty much par, especially at higher resulotions, and won't require a higher priced Motherboard to run in SLI with a second card (nevermind that scuttlebutt is, nVidia is scaling down support for GX2)

RAID is a HUGE bonus for this system, seeing as I just lost ~150Gb to HD failure, most of it irreplaceable personal items, and programming work... and here I was worried about SL screwing up my inventory eh?


So, I'll bet you're wondering how well it runs, in terms that mean something to you as an SL user? Well after having to tweak my settings to a great degree on my old comp just to be able to move and see, it's so refreshing.... I've got every setting on the 1.2 viewer maxed... even draw distance, running windowed at 1600x900 ... and it slides though SL like silk... zero client related hiccups, very few server related ones (group messaging is still hit and miss) and rez time is... scary fast.

the odd thing is with all these new pretty features, I can now see some of the things that suck about my Av... and the world around me... you'd be amazed at what differce bump textures make, or shiny effects, or even local lighting... and also how wrong they can go when people that can't see them try to use them...

Well anyways, that's my brag-n-bitch seesion, I'd also welcome any suggestions on games to play with this fun new monster, preferably RPG styles, online or off, SP or MMORPG (although subscription fees irk me)