First, I try to get on, am told that my "integrated graphics" aren't good enough for SecondLife. I see that "Radeon" or "GeForce" cards work, so I go buy a video card (for, frankly, more than I wanted to throw at SecondLife), a Radeon 7000. I then try to get on SecondLife, and it's not working either. I contact them and they tell me that the 7000 is likewise "not good enough". Frankly, I'm not a "gamer", so I've never had a need for a video card, so I have no clue what the various "levels" of the bazillion cards out there mean! Finally, they point me to something on their site which says:
... which really doesn't tell me anything! Since I had bad luck with a Radeon card, I go look for a GeForce card, and see a "GeForce FX 5200" at about the price point I'd be willing to pay. So I write their support people and ask if that card "is good enough" for SecondLife. Today I hear back from them that while that card is supported, it's not "recommended", and they list NEW specs (above and beyond what's on the site!):* nVidia GeForce 2, GeForce 4mx, or better
* OR ATI Radeon 8500, 9250, or better
... which only confused me, since NONE of these numbers show up in the cards I've been looking at (I've opted for AGP cards, so as to not waste a PCI slot). I wrote back asking "Would a GeForce 6200a or 6200se be "better" than a GeForce FX 5600 but not as good as a GeForce 6600?" but I've not heard anything from them.o nVidia GeForce FX 5600, GeForce 6600, or better
o OR ATI Radeon 9600, X600, or better
Anybody out there know about these goddamn video cards???
I mean, come on ... how hard would it be for them to do a comprehensive listing of available video cards (if even just cribbed from the TigerDirect, NewEgg, etc. sites) and do a simple table of "supported" or "not supported"? I've had computers of various types for 26 years (going back to the Sinclair ZX-81) and I've never had this much insanity over an upgrade!