Investing 500 $US in a video card will increase the fps a lot?

I am getting bad adiction to SL so I´ve decided to invest around 500 US DOLAR in a new video card for my pc, but the question is... the change of video card upgrade will seriously increase my ftp rates or I just should renew my whole computer (a bit lazy to do it atm. I will avoid this option, if posible)?

I use
HP PAVILLION 730.es
P IV 2.8GH
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128MB)
1GB RAM
HDD 160GB + 320GB
INTERNET: REAL 4.000 kbps

Any video cards (around that price) are speacially good/optimized to use with SL? I don´t play any other games and the rest of programs I use have low graphic card requirments.

Thanks in advance

(I corrected the interent conection data, is real 4.000 kbps, not 4 kbps like I wrote first, lol. Sorry for the confusion)

i have the 5200 in my laptop...its not the best, but could be worse. Your main problem is your internet speed, if its really 4kbps....I can hit 4 fps at times with 150kbps coming downstream....running on an Athlon X2, 2gb, and a 7900. In a nice fresh land like the new sims, I'll get up to 75fps, all graphic settings on high...but average based on the traffic closer to 45-55fps.

When in a full sim, it can go from 4fps to 40fps anytime, just depending on what everyone in my radius is doing.

Get 1 gig more ram (2gig total+) and 7900/7950 card (cheap now) SL will be a whole new experience

New 8800 cards wont do much for you in SL.

Try the new First Look viewer

Yeah, what Thili said would be your best bet without upgrading the whole system. The first look veiwer has almost doubled my framerate but then I have a newer dual core system with an Nvidia 6800 Ultra. SL benefits more with having lots and lots of system memory and CPU power over graphics card horsepower in most instances. Any nvidia card 6600GT or better will work with SL quite nicely. *Note: a 7300 is not better than a 6600 but a 7600 is somewhat better(more capabilities but not significantly faster) and a 7800 can be significantly better.

1 gb of memory would only help your client and how it works. even with only 768mb of memory on a 6600 AGP nVidia graphics card, with a socket A AMD athalon XP 2200 i still got up to 52FPS at the first look test island... and yes getting FIRST LOOK VIEWER will increase your FPS almost 10 fold. Besides we all gonna be stuck with it on wednesday.

What im saying is updating memory at this point is not as important as updating your video card. if your short on cash, a 7600 nVidia card is your best bet... prices about 100-150 us dollars for a 512mb video card at .... shiza can't say the website here can i? anyways this tiger website is great for low prices.... for about 100 more you can get the 7900 or 7950gt card... keep in mind, the 7600 card is the same card as the 7900 ... just not overclocked.

If money is no object get the 7950 PCIe nVidia card.. shiza get TWO of them!! 512mb each and you will be living ontop of the world... even with you 1mb memory computer.

cheers

Thanks to all for all the interesting comentaries you left. I will go shopping as soon I have the chance this week and I will keep in mind all you said. I will go back to tell you how the upgrade worked after all.
Thanks again for the help.

if you want feel free to contact me in world under this name. i've been doing computer shopping for the last 8 months to build a brand new computer for myself. my total computer price was just under 1100 this includes a am2 motherboard with an athalon x2 4400 cpu, a asus motherboard, a cheap tower cause i dont care about looks, a 7600gs 512mb video card, 2gb memory 350gb sata drive, dvd burner, 550w psu, and everything but the monitor. i'll help you price it if you request help. i believe i know where to get the best bang for your buck.

Keep in mind that upgrades are always occuring. I already upgraded this system 80% from the new build. Thats part of the learning and building experience. From what i learned over thee past 5 years, goes a long way. I bought a 7900 gtx 512 and i fun like a blazing rabbit. But Also I added a poserful cpu colling fan etc......My advice do your our learning around the internet alot of good information for you to get........

Good Luck,


Usagi

Hi! I finally was able to go shopping and this is what I got ...
(I will try to give details, in case this could be usefull for someone)

My pc:
HP PAVILLION t230.es as seen here:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/bph08681.pdf

STEP 1
PREPARATION
I clean the main 160GB HDD leaving +120 GB free on it.
I check for errors in the HDD and I remove fragmentation. Everything is ok.
I unistall SL totally.
I reinstall SL last version (Second Life 1.13.3(58185) February 20, 2007)
I make some notes of ftp references in diverese areas to compare later.

STEP 2
MEMORY UPGRADE
PC has only 2 memory sockets, using 1 module of 512MB memory each socket.
I can´t upgrade memory from 1GB to 2GB. I need to buy two new 1 GB each memory modules.
I bought a blistered box containing 2 modules of 1 GB each of genuine Kingston memory. (174 euros / US$ 22
I replace the old memory modules for the new ones.
Pc takes the modules with no problem and it shows 2 GB RAM available in "My Pc".
I stress the pc opening multiple programs and it looks like the 2GB are real and they are really working.
I check SL and I compare:
- fps results: I don´t see any obvious increasing of the fps between "before" and "later" in the reference places I noted .
- sensasions: I don´t really appreciate any positive effect.
I don´t care this too much because I know having 2GB RAM is allways a good thing.
If I don´t take adventage of the 2GB in SL I will take adventage of them when using other programs for sure. No problem.

STEP 3
VGA UPGRADE
I went to my favorite megashop (maybe other shops are cheaper or more focused, but I like to do this way, sorry).
I was going to purchase NVIDIA 512MB XFX 7950GT (307 euros / US$ 402) that I previewed in the megashop's web.
The shopkeeper warns me about I will need PCI EXPRESS PORT to install that VGA so I have to change the plan.
I finally buy the only 512 MB videocard using AGP PORT they have for sale: A nicely boxed ATI RADEON SAPPHIRE X1600PRO AGP. (135 euros / US$ 177).
Following the recomendation from the shopkeeper I buy one 400 WATS POWER SUPPLY (15 euros / US$ 19) to replace my current 250 WATS POWER SUPPLY.
I remove the GEFORCE FX 5200 from my pc.
I install the new ATI X1600 in my pc.
I test my reference places to compare "before" and "later":
- fps results: I observe a very small increase of the fps.
In a reference place fps goes from 20-22 to 22-24. In another reference place (full club), from 2-8 to 4-10. And in everyplace I check more or less the 5%-15% gain.
- sensations: I feel some improvements. It's not what I was waiting for, but things work a little better with the new card I think.
Showing multiple buildings when flying over architecture rich areas works better. Open areas in general look like showing faster and smother.

CONCLUSION
In resume I feel rather disappointed, but oh well...
I´ve never seen a piece of entretainment software like this. Imho SL is totally above the industry standars with too insane hardware requirments.
Anyway I am fascinated for this proyect. I stay happy here more for what SL could be in future, than for what SL actually is (crashes, bugs, betas, new versions/patches every two days...)
I will take a break now. I promised myself not to open a pc in 3-4 moths (I really hate it).
I will buy a new system this summer, made it with all the top and newest parts of hardware available in the market the moment of the purchasing.
I guess I will abuse again of your generosity sharing your knowledge and I will ask for new advice in this forum, as you were so gentle this time.
Ill see how this potential wonder, SL, works in a modern top system then
Thanks to all who read and commented and sorry for my weird english.

Check the ATI website for a newer driver...The one that comes with a new card out of the box might be a year old.

I would like to point out that in no way is the 7600 an underclocked 7900 (nor vice versa). The 7600 uses a 128 bit memory interface and has 12 pixel pipes whereas the 7900's (and 7800's) use a 256 bit memory interface and 24 pixel pipes. Not trival things to dismiss.



You would likely have been better off going with a 256MB NVidia card if available rather than the 512 ATI as NVidia has historically always had better opengl support in their cards. If SL was directx based rather than opengl the edge would go to ATI.

And yes, do check for updated drivers for the card you have.

Yes, I didn´t even open the CD ROM that comes with the VGA. I installed the VGA and I went to ATI oficial site to search and download the last driver and that is what I installed and the driver that is working:
7-2_xp_dd_ccc_wdm_enu_41238


I doubted, I hate to admit it. I read some about that in the forum. I think that finally wins the need to see "checked on" the last click box (512 MB) of preferences. Oh well, next time... at least for me.


Thanks for the feedback.