Unresponsive with new computer

I'm not a newbie here, and have been using SL for a while. I was previously running a P 2.4 GHz with 2GB ram and a 256KB video (Nvidia GE Force) card, running on both cable modem (at 5mb down, 712 up), and had zero problems.

I recently went extreme, and got a new computer with an Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 (it's got four processors on a single die, each running at 2.4 ghz), with 3 GB of ram, NVIDIA GE Force 8500 GT, and I'm now running on cable at 10MB down and 1MB up.

The problem is that peformance of SL now stinks. It takes forever to load stuff, and I can't seem to navigate easily any longer. I use the direction arrows and they seem to "stick" and never really are responsive.

I know it can't be my computer, and it can't be "lag" from my end on the internet. I've run numerous speed tests, traceroutes, pings, and the like and have no problems reaching SL.

So, anyone got any ideas? Are there some settings I need to adjust to throttle things back down to the way my old system used to be, or does the newest SL updated software just suck?

Any ideas......please.

Some things to look at since I have the same cpu. You need to make sure you have the correct drivers for your motherboard. I had to update my bios first thing as the cpu was so new the motherboard didn't work with it correctly. Also make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card, may even have to try the beta drivers since the 8500 is relatively new. Bad news is the 8500 is not going to blow your socks off performance wise even with the high performance cpu but you should see 30 fps in most areas. If you are using Vista, there is your problem right there.

I am using the correct mobo drivers and chipset drivers (the latest from Gigabyte for this board, and the latest intel INF files for the chip), so that's not the problem.

I have the machine set up to dual boot, using XP Pro SP2 and Vista. I have the exact same problems running under either Vista or under XP on the new machine.

Just to run a comparison test, I logged on with my old computer (the P4.2.4 single core, 2mb, and same ISP at 10MB download), and I am experiencing the same sorts of problems, which makes me think that the problem is either:

a) SL is extremely laggy right now, given the holiday weekend and the numbers of people that might all be on at the same time; or

b) it's the latest version that I'm running (1.18.2 dated August 10, 2007) that is causing a problem.

Interestingly, I looked under "Help" and "About Second Life" and discovered that SL thinks I'm only running a single-core Intel 2.4 (I guess it only sees one of the four cores), and it also only thinks I'm running 2GB of ram, even though I've got 3MB installed (and I'm running right now in Vista, so there's no problem with the OS "seeing" the extra GB).

The board I'm running is a Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L Rev. 2.0, which is a very speedy and reliable board. I've had no issues with it in Vista at all other than the Realtek drivers which have a problem with front panel sound detection using the onboard sound (this is a widespread problem under Vista with others too). I've had zero problems running under XP Pro, not even with the sound.

Hope this additional info helps, and that you can give me some clues about what might be causing the problem and how to fix it.

Well, something is screwy with your SL install because it is seeing my quad CPU just fine. Try the 'ol uninstall completely and reinstall SL trick. You might also see these symptoms if you are using wireless or something is causing high latency, if you have a router try hooking straight to the modem as some routers can cause similar problems. Kill anything running in the background including virus checker and firewall and see if it affects it. Are you dropping any packets? Have you done a tracerout to a LL server?

I don't have a dualcore, or in your case even, quadcore CPU, but did you try to assign the SL task to one core manually yet? I believe thats done via the taskmanager. Maybe that helps *shrugs*

-Asriazh

In task manager, processes tab, right hand click the SecondLide.exe choose Affinity, and select only one core. Although I am as perplexed as to why you are having issuses. The latest 'updated' client said that it now included better identification for multiple Intel Core chips.

When my client freezes, which it only started doing the last couple of updates ago, I open task manager and see that secondlife is running twice in the applications tab, once the freeze is over, it drops back to just the normal one. I run a AMD dual core CPU.

In conclusion... its screwed....

It was the Belkin router. Apparently this is a fairly well documented issue with the Belkin Wireless Pre-N Routers, but only those running version 2000+ of the firmware.

I have two of these routers. I had assumed they were identical. They are not. Last week, I switched out the original for one that I had purchased for one of my kids' use at his college dorm. He graduated in June and brought it back home with him (yes, sadly for my wife and I, he's still living at home with us, but that's a different story). When I got my new computer a few weeks ago, the wireless started to act funny. So I swapped out the old router for the newer one.

By the way, I don't run SL wirelessly, and the new computer is hard wired to the Belkin router, but that's apparently not the problem.

Those who are running the 2000+ version of the firmware on the Belkin Pre-N's have reported trouble with streaming media, VOIP applications, and other issues with sustained packet transmissions. I noticed it when I was having trouble with SL, and when accessing the router with one of my wireless clients (we have five wireless computers in the house), I couldn't run the speed tests at either DSLReports.com or at Speedtest.net without dropping the wireless connection.

A quick Google search disclosed that on the Belkin Pre-N's running the Ver. 2000 and up firmware, that the QoS is broken. Thus, when sustained bursts of data (e.g., streaming, or large packet transmissions from speed tests, or whatever SL does) are interpreted by the router as a DoS (Denial of Service) attack. This was confirmed by looking into the router's Security Logs, and sure enough, last night when I was running SL, the router reported about a dozen "denial of service" attacks. I'm guessing that these were not genuine DoS's, but rather just the router's bad handling (or over-careful handling) of the traffic.

This morning, I switched back to the older Belkin Pre-N (running Ver. 1000 of the firmware) and SL runs very well.

I love the Belkin Pre-N's otherwise, because they get the widest and longest wireless coverage of any wireless router I've ever used. We have a large property, with a two-story house, with lots of insulating material, brick, concrete, etc, and from the front of our lot to the back it's more than 300 feet and I have great coverage everywhere.

Assuming anyone else has the Belkin Pre-N router issue, the only real solution to the problem is either do what I did, and try to replace it with a Ver. 1000 firmware model (they don't make them any more so they're impossible to find) OR, you can simply buy a non-wireless router, and hook the Belkin Pre-N up and use it as a wireless Access Point (i.e., turn off the DHCP server and use the DHCP in the wired router).

BTW, turning off the firewall and turning off the QoS settings in the newer Belkin Pre-N (using the internal interface) had no effect at all. The real issue is that QoS, which insures smooth multimedia and large packet transmission (which is evidently used in SL, as well as certain other streaming media) is BROKEN in the Belkin Pre-N Wireless, but only the one with Ver. 2000 of the firmware.

Thanks for the replies and the help. I will also check out the issue of the single vs. multiple core CPU mentioned above and let you all know if that has any effect.

Great detective work, Winston! I don't know whether you noticed it, but there might be some items of interest in this multicore thread (mostly dual core folks, but hey):

/111/9c/141803/1.html