People often ask me what sort of computer and software I am using to create the images and videos you see on this blog. Here is a list of my computer specifications.
I got this computer in December of 2014. I purchased most of the parts from Amazon and had someone custom build it for me. I will update this list whenever I add or replace something.
I also purchased a laptop in August of 2016 so I can use it for work and traveling purposes. I will list that below as well, but it’s not a computer I will often use for Second Life, only when I travel.
In late July 2017 I purchased a new microphone, pop filter and windscreen for the microphone to improve the sound quality in my youtube videos. From August 1st, 2017, all of my youtube videos are using my new microphone, listed below.
If you plan on purchasing any of the following items from Amazon, please support this site by clicking on the affiliate links below to purchase. Thank you.
| Case: |
Cooling Fan: |
Power Supply: |
Motherboard: |
| Memory: |
Processor: |
Video Card: |
Hard drive: |
| CD/DVD: |
Wi-Fi Adapter: |
Monitor: |
USB Flash Drive: |
| Keyboard: |
Mouse: |
3D Mouse: |
Tablet: |
| Headset: |
Microphone: |
Pop filter for Mic: |
Windscreen: |
| Operating system: |
Photo editing: |
Video capture: |
|
| Laptop: |
Laptop Bag: |
Laptop Mouse: |
If you have an ad blocker on your browser, then you probably don’t see the links above, therefore I am also making a list of the items below:
Computer, Software & Accessories:
- Case: CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced
- Case Cooling Fan: NZXT Technologies NZXT FZ-140mm Blue LED Cooling
- Power Supply: Corsair RM Series 750 Watt ATX/EPS 80PLUS Gold-Certified Power Supply
- Motherboard: ASUS Z97-A ATX DDR3 2600 LGA 1150 Motherboards Z97-A
- Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory
- Processor: Intel Core i7-4790K Processor
- Video Card: ASUS STRIX-GTX970-DC20C-4GD5 Graphics Cards
- Hard drive: Crucial MX100 512GB SATA 2.5″ 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) Internal Solid State Drive
- CD/DVD: Pioneer Electronics USA Internal Blu-Ray Writer
- Wi-Fi Adapter: Netgear Nighthawk AC1900 Wi-Fi USB Adapter
- Monitor: ViewSonic VX2252MH 22-Inch LED-Lit LCD Monitor
- USB Flash Drive: SanDisk Extreme CZ80 64GB USB 3.0 Flash Drive
- Keyboard: Logitech Illuminated Keyboard K740
- Mouse: Evoluent VerticalMouse 4 “Regular Size” Right Hand
- 3D Mouse: 3Dconnexion 3DX-700028 SpaceNavigator 3D Mouse
- Tablet: Wacom Intuos Art Pen and Touch tablet
- Headset: Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset
- Microphone: Blue Yeti USB Microphone – Silver
- Pop Filter for Mic: Dragonpad USA Pop filter Studio Microphone Mic Wind Screen Pop Filter
- Windscreen for Mic: Professional Foam Windscreen for Blue Yeti
- Operating System: Windows 7 Professional SP1 64bit
- Photo Editing: Adobe Photoshop CC
- Video Capture: Camtasia
Laptop & Accessories
Now I know what to put on my Birthday wish list!!!
If you were to buy a system today, what would your wish list be? Would you upgrade anything?
I’m honestly pretty happy with it right now. The only thing I might do is later this year upgrade to a newer video card. But I would always stick with an nvidia card. I’m currently eyeing the Asus nvidia gtx 560 available here:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KLY9UW/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=zahra08-20&link_code=as3&camp=211189&creative=373489&creativeASIN=B004KLY9UW
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May I ask if you can update this one day? =]
Amore I haven’t changed anything in my computer as of yet. When I do, I will update this.
Ah okay! For some reason, I just can’t see the links to the products. So I only asked for a update because I thought everything was blank lol.
It just might be my computer though. But I can’t see the specs, even when I view the page source. I don’t know why, but thank you for your swift reply!
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I can’t see the specs either. So, i fired up the seldom used Internet Explorer and sure enuf they show up. So, Firefox 6 does not show them for me but IE does.
Thank you so much Strawberry! That helped alot actually.
– Yes, I tried IE also and didn’t see anything. I may just need to look on a different computer.
I have Firefox 6.0.1 and it shows for me. It also shows for me in IE, Chrome, Safari and Opera. I wonder why it’s not showing up for you guys. I wonder if you guys have an ad blocker installed or something. This is rather worrying. I think I think put up just a simple list as well now for those that can see it.
Thank you for letting me know!
That was it exactly Strawberry!
I’m using the same version of Firefox, but I do have AdBlockPlus installed to remove annoying advertisements.
I didn’t know it would delete your specs too! But adding an exception to your site made it viewable. So now I see everything on the screenshot.
Thank you again for your prompt responses. =]
I just bought a new video card this week. This is the one I have:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004RJJV1Y?ie=UTF8&tag=zahra08-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=1789&creativeASIN=B004RJJV1Y
I will be updating this page very soon.
Oh, gosh how I want your computer!
I currently am on an iMac, but I really want optimum SL haha, as bad of an investment as that may seem, it would benefit in the long run for sure. I am really hesitant to return to windows, though. I mean, there is also the thing about not having the money but still! Well, I’m not even sure what a good custom built PC would cost, haha.
I want forever on shadows too! hahahaha
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Not sure if you’ve posted this somewhere else or not but it’s worth mentioning that in order to use more than 4 GB of RAM, you must use Windows 7 64-bit. Windows 7 32-bit will only see 4 GB no matter how much you have in your machine.
Thanks for posting this so I don’t have to ask, been crazy about your photos and am looking into building my own desktop in the next couple months. I might just go for the GeForce GTX 550 Ti, but after knowing you’ve got the 560, its now a thought to splurge a little bit more!
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I’m planning to upgrade to a GTX 560 Ti sometime in the near future as I’ve heard it’s the best graphics card for Second Life. Your photos pretty much prove that theory anyway. However, would it be possible if you could tell me your FPS when running Second Life in ultra graphics settings with FULL shadows and anti-aliasing?
Thanks
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Hello! I have a graphics card that is a few years old now, and I think I am unable to get it replaced (because I’m using a laptop). Is there a way for me to have high graphics with low lag, even with an older graphics card?
Oh oops, I just noticed the comments on this page now.
Sethrian, my FPS is around 60 to 70 when I have ultra graphics and shadows on.
Gothier, I’m sorry I’m not that familiar with computer hardware however I think if it’s an older graphics card it’ll be hard for you to high graphics with low lag.
Love this page Berry!!
Any new updates to the software?
Nope, no updates as of yet. Still running Windows 7 and PS CS5.
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Hello. My gfx is a GTX 660 with a modern I7 CPU and 16 GB. I am in SL with often 20-40 FPS in Ultra with Shadows activated, any only in some regions I am having up tp 120 FPS. How do you reach 60-70 FPS in generally? Do you use a special viewer for example? Thanks, Boa
Hi Boa, the only viewer I use for photography and such now is the official second life viewer. That one seems to work the best for me.
I have purchased a new computer this weekend and have updated all of my pc specs above.
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I have a question for you, did you buy each thing and build your own computer if not what computer is this.. if you don’t mind me asking and I would like to know what is photoshop cc for that price…its confusing to me… and thank you so much Strawberry for always sharing
Hi MidnightRain. Yes, I actually purchased majority of the parts from Amazon and then had someone custom build it for me. Photoshop CC is the latest version of photoshop. It’s a monthly subscription that you pay, you’ll find the details here: http://www.adobe.com/creativecloud.html
Congratulations! Such a superb computer. I can’t await new Berry photos and look ahead.
Each time I look your blog have a desire to squeeze you and give a smack !!!
I think commendable who is dedicated to help and inform, I have a small channel on youtube where I make video tutorials in my language.
Now assembled a facebook page with the intention of sharing links of generous people like you.
Not that you need advertising but your tips are so good !!! !!! As good I take the liberty to share links from your blog there.
Thank you for your generosity and congratulations for the same reason!
Kisses !!! (Sorry the funny english…i used the traslator to make it quickly)
Based on your computer specs you should be getting far more than 20-30 fps. You did not say whether you were in shadow mode or what your antialising setting were at that level. Or how many avatars were around. I get that and above even in the presence of 50 avatars in a Club. I have found that SL is sometimes not recognized as a game so instead of the GPU running at in my case 940mhz it will run at 340-500 mhz (check using GPU-Z). So I have to make a game profile in the Nvidia Control Panel and change Power Management Mode to “Prefer Maximum Power. Also in some cases your processor may “park” half of your threads to conserve battery power for laptops and if you have a desktop is affecting performance (check using “task manager” under the “performance tab” and select “resource monitor” “cpu” tab and the right column.
Berry, quick ? – if you know, isn’t the 560 a step down from the 760?
Hey Jackson, honestly I am not familiar with hardware so not sure, I just get what bro tells me to, lol. But I used to have 560ti and this new 760 is better I believe.
Oh, lol… reading the comments section, it appeared as you were ‘upgrading’ to the 560 from the 760 you had installed.
Do you use your tablet for everything that you do in photoshop?
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Hey Silver, no I rarely use my tablet actually. I really should more often.
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Strawberry:
Wish i would have known earlier: i could have sold you my Win Monster. i switched to iMac 27 Retina. (sighs) Well, if you ever wish to see my bespoke machine, leave a message or get in touch.
64GB RAM
2 GTX690 in SLI array
6 HD of varying sizes, main is for OS and is SSD
Corsair cooling
1200 watt power supply
if anyone is interested, contact and will send specific specs.
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Hi Berry,
I absolutely love your photographs and this section just makes me hate my macbook pro to play SL with. Even my desktop (which is very old now and it lags SOOO bad) doesn’t help. I just want to ask you, what is your normal graphic settings for SL (not when when you’re taking pictures or photography) and does it lag? And what is your max settings for SL for when you take photographs? Please, please, please answer the 2 questions for me! 🙂 Thanks!
Hello Ameliea, I keep my graphics settings on ultra, all of the time, with shadows. I very rarely lag, even in large crowds.
I’ll probably not earlier than in the 3rd quarter at the latest towards the end of the year, start me again to assemble a computer yourself. What is the average FPS as you reach for on Sims are heavily built and where many avatars stand on it?
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This is valuable information, Berry!
I run a not for profit art sim in-world and require a PC that can handle virtual life, such as quickly loading higher quality textures in galleries, hosting large groups of people, and shooting video. I miss being able to use lighting options when running on ultra very much.
One question I hope you can answer:) Do you have updates to your PC specs or anything you would recommend upgrading from your current build?
We are getting my PC rebuilt very soon, and it does not seem like many techs understand what type of rig is needed to do work in virtual worlds, along with all of the CC demands required. I would very much appreciate any recommendations!
Thank you so much for any suggestions.
Hugs,
Lisa
Asuka, I don’t really know off-hand as it varies.
Lisa, tbh I am not familiar with computer hardware, I always have someone else build my computers for me so I wouldn’t know what else to recommend aside from this. All I know is, this is what’s inside my PC and it works well for me.
😀 hehe Thank you so much for answering and so quickly! Same here. This is a big help! Thank you again! x
Yea, this is definitely on my to do list! Thanks for sharing Berry!
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Hi Strawberry, is this list up to date? I need to build a pc and have no idea what parts to purchase. Yours seems to have really good graphics. I would really like to upgrade the graphics card to a GeForce GTX 1060, but I have no idea if everything else in your build supports it I really don’t want to have to update it in the near future.
(I’m really in the dark about parts as much as you are.)
Thanks in advance!
Hi Ali,
Adding a GTX 1060 to what Strawberry has listed should prove to be very effective in SL.
Thank you Nas!!
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Some, can afford the high-end, stuff. Cool. Many, cannot –myself, for instance. lol Good thing I have a wealthy, brother. :/
I recently needed to replace my 10 year old music server (online DJ) which is separate from my main PC that I use for Second Life (7 years old and still running SL perfectly – with graphics card update).
With this update I went with the latest Intel processor the i7-7700 Kaby Lake Quad-Core 3.6 GHz LGA 1151 65W. I placed this in a mid-range motherboard, MSI Z270 TOMAHAWK LGA 1151 Intel Z270. I am a fan of the new M.2 2280 80mm NVMe PCIe which plug directly to the motherboard bus versus SATA (i.e. no need for cables) with 3X more data transfer rate than SATA based drives. The only potential issue is that this set up is practically hard wired to Windows 10, so in my case to load Windows 7 required a little workaround.
If you are updating, make sure you checkout NVMe PCIe drives and check your needs regarding the processor as Microsoft and Intel made it difficult to use anything other than Windows 10 on the latest generation i7 processors.
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That’s a pretty serious PC you got going there! I’ve used a mac my whole life and don’t really know Windows that well. But since I started using SL I have noticed it doesn’t run that well even on my quite new iMac with 16 gigs of memory in it and quad-core i7 processor. The cooling fans often get noisy! I think it might be that my graphics card is a bit poor… or maybe Firestorm just runs better on Windows. I do adjust graphics settings a lot depending what I am doing but still the fans whir. It’s getting hot just with me doing nothing with no other avatars around and draw distance low.
Anyway… seeing as this SL thing doesn’t seem to be leaving my life anytime soon I’m going to look into getting a dedicated PC like this.
Olivia that system Strawberry has listed on this page is a great system still but if you are building a new computer, it would be a bad idea to use those dated components.