Need advice on video card upgrades

So this is my current setup
P4 3.0GHz with 1GB RAM
running a GeForce FX 5200 NVIDIA card (AGP 8x)

And I'm thinking of upgrading to a GeForce 6800

Now I know that getting a faster video card is a waste if my CPU sucks,
(this is especially true since SL is quite CPU intensive)
So my question is whether getting a GeForce 6800 is worth it on my system,
or if I should just start buying parts for a new computer?

Thanks!!

It is definitely worth it. Getting a GeForce 6800 on, say, a 1.2 ghz machine won't really increase performance, because the CPU will be the bottleneck, however, on a 3.0 ghz machine you'll see a noticable difference. In that configuration, the video card is definitely the bottleneck point for your client FPS.

Regards,

-Flip

I'd keep away from Nvidia. I am one of those unfortuneate players who can no longer play SL since the update because the game crashes almost immediately upon logging in. I have tried everything to get it to work anfd have now had 5 tele phine conversations with SL Tech Support.

I have reluctantly concluded that the source of my problem is my Nvidia 7800 GT card which by some twist of fate has been rendered incompatibnle with SL by 1.10/. Some others who have posted on the forums about the crashing issue also report using the 7800. As far as I know the 6800 is not affected but if you know that Nvidias can cause problems on SL why not go for an ATI. The next update might affect the 6800 as this one has apparently affected the 7800 GT.

JMHO

You have a respectable system -- not state of the art, but enough CPU to run SL well. The NVidia 6800 that you're thinking of buying would cost $100 to $200, depending on which version you buy, and you will get a considerable improvement in performance; I would expect your frame rate to double. I'd be inclined to look more at the lower half of the range as representing more bang for the buck.

The only drawback of the 6800 is that some of the new eye candy won't be supported, because of the lack of current state-of-the-art features like the latest vertex shader support. (Note: some of the stuff I'm talking about got left out of 1.10.0, but may find its way back into 1.10.1 or 1.11. Early preview users saw what the full vertex shader implementation could do for SL visuals.) To get those, the only AGP options I know of are the NVidia 7800 ($300) and the Radeon X1600 ($200). Either of those is a bit more that I would personally choose to invest in your system, but you may decide otherwise.

You might also think about another gigabyte of RAM. The memory footprint of the SL client seems to be growing over time, and we're approaching the point where 1GB may not be enough. If Windows Vista is in your future, 1GB will certainly not be adequate.

Thanks for your quick reponse Flip!

I guess a more annoying follow-up of my question is whether I'll be getting my money's worth with a 6800 on my 3GHz system, or maybe I'm better off with a lesser card like the 6200?

edit:
hehe, Shirley answered my question before I posted it. The other option I was considering was to buy a lesser card like the 6200 and upping my memory to 2gigs.

Your CPU is fine, in fact its being underutilized by your current card, there should be no bottleneck.

RAM is going to be your bottleneck, upgrade to 2gb.

I can tell you, it ain't the 7800GT, I'm running a bfgtech version of that same card and my stuff is all running fine.

If you updated your drivers make sure you ALSO used a driver cleaner to get rid of the old ones. I had this problem with Quake 4.

Actually I think most people feel exactly the opposite here ... stay away from ATI. It's not that ATI cards cannot be made to work (I have 9600 Pro in one machine that works just fine). But by and large most of the problems that people have here are due to ATI's imperfect implementation of Open GL. I would honestly think twice before going with an ATI card for SL.

I have the nVidea 7800 GT OC and have not had any problems. Performance is flawless and very fast. I am not sure what your issue is Hok, but it's not merely that you have the 7800. I do feel for you though.

Yeah I switched to Nvidia and I've never been happier.

Echoed. Thusfar, my performance has been terrific with the card running Second Life. In Linux. Under Wine.


I'd say that's a pretty fair testament.

Also, nVidia provides their own Linux drivers and config tools, which is a nice perk.

I'd got for the 6800. The 6200 is a light edition model, from what I've heard, that actually isn't much better than the 5500/5600. As per Hok's query, nVidia has traditionally been a far superior card for use with SL due to their well-written drivers. Hok, is it possible your card overheated somehow? I've had that happen with very high end cards before, especially if something slows down the fan.

Regards,

-Flip

I had an ATI 9800 Radeon Pro that overheated and crapped out. I replaced it with a nvidia 6200 which isn't a new card but it works really well for sl on my pc.

Been using a 6800 and have seen some of my frame rates go off the scale. At the same time I also have 2 Gigs' of RAM, and a single core 64 Bit AMD Procesor (dual core wasnt out at the time).

It's tough to say which is better since each part adds it's own lil' something. RAM is dirt cheap anymore, unless you go for the top-o-the-line Overclocking stuff.

I have a 7800GT - what version of the drivers are you using from Nvidia? SL has not crashed at all for me (well any more than usual, it crashes every once in awhile, but not daily or anything).

Moving this to Technical support

I have a 7800GTX and have no issues with SL, never had, and this update has been a great help in my quality and frame rates. Just because a few people, what? 10? had an issue doesn't mean everyone will, go with NVidia apparently Hok hasn't seen all the issues with ATI, A LOT more than NVidia.

Thanks all for your reports on the 7800 series. I was gonna go out today and get another card .

Well if it's not my card what else can it be???? Where else can I look for the problem?? What else can I do??

My system ran flawlessy until the 1.1.0 update. I have tried everything I can thinlk of???

My cable connection is Uber and working fine, I recently did a fresh reinstall of windows and I have only SL and Photoshop with plugins as applications installed.


I have:

1) Installed the latest manufacturer drives for my hardware.

2) Reset my firewall to allow maximum permissions to SL 1.10.

3) Totally disabled my anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware during
attempte to play.

4) Uninstalled all prior versions of SL including the preview 1.10
version.

5) Manually deleted all file entries and registry entries of SL that had
not been removed by the uninstall program,.

6) With anti-virus, firewall, and anti-spyware disabled, re-downloaded
and reinstalled SL 1.1.0

7) Reduced all performance settings to the bare minimum, significantly below those
that I had used sucessfully with SL 1.09

Rolled back my video card drivers to the earlier version.

7) Redownloaded and reistalled the latest video drivers.

Reinstalled SL and all my drivers and tried to play SL and all my drivers with my anti-virus. spyware, and firewall completly uninstalled.

Tried to play the game with my charater wearing no accessory
attachments.

9) Cussed. cried and pounded my head on my desk.


My Specs are:


Windows XP SP2
Velocity Micro Gamer's Edge PC
Nvidia 256 MB 7800 GT
AMD Dual Core 3800+
1 Gig Ram
Hi-Speed Cable (direct connectiion/no wireless)

Until 1.10 I was quite hapy with a BFG nVidia 7900GTX 512.

Sadly it was terribly slow in Preview after vertex shaders were crippled. Anticipating problems with 1.10 in view of my Preview experiences I took readings with screenshots in a number of places back in April, took them again yesterday and I'm down anything from 10% to 50% depending on location. Plus I get crashes, slow loading textures, especially when flying, and strobing textures.

This on a 6 week old machine with the latest official drivers.

I'd definitely hold of on a new card myself, and particularly a higher end nVidia as SL doesn't seem to like them any more...

Though I expect after the forthcoming wave of rolling restarts and client updates they'll eventually get them working again.