Would upgrading my P4 1.6GHz 1.2GB RAM machine's graphics card help?

Hi,

One PC I have is a bit slow to enjoy 2nd life. The CPU usage is usually quite high & walking around is usually a little slow (response time wise). I have 1.2GB of memory in it but I'm wondering whether if I upgrade to a reasponable graphics card whether this could make a difference and let me use the PC for 2nd life. So...

Q1 - Could a new graphics card make a difference here? (or is a P4 1.6GHz just to slow a computer)

Q2 - If yes, what sort of card, spec, brand is recommended?

PC DETAILS = P4 1.6GHz, 1.2GB RAM, with ADSL internet (just a basic video card, about 2 year old PC - I can try to get details on the card if this helps - just let me know how to get these from the PC and what parameters are needed)

Tks

Hi, Greg.

First of all, high CPU usage is pretty much normal with SL.

Your CPU speed isn't bad, maybe a little slow but reasonable, and your RAM (an unusual amount -- 1.2 GB?) is good.

The video card is a VERY important thing in SL. One way to check what you have is to check under Help | About Second Life (while running SL, naturally). It will give you some general info about your computer, along with a lot of other data.

When I first started in SL I had a 32 MB video card, and shortly thereafter upgraded to a 128 MB card and it made a major difference in performance.

P2

I get the following info:

CPU: 0.18 micron Intel Pentium 4 (1614 Mhz)
Memory: 1280 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
OpenGL Vendor: NVIDIA Corporation
OpenGL Renderer: GeForce2 MX/AGP/SSE2
OpenGL Version: 1.5.4
Packets Lost: 0/730 (0.0%)

From my graphics card software:
- DAC Type: Integrated RAMDAC
- memory size = 64MB
- Chip Type GeForece2 MX/MX 400
- Bios v 3.11.01.43.00


What sort of display card spec would people recommend?

Thanks
Greg

GeForce 2? Hell yeah upgrading that will help, it's ancient.

There's some threads about discussing what card's best, I'd suggest starting there.

I recomend buying a GeForce 6600GT or if you're lucky to find one, a GeForce 6800GS. I'd also up that processor if I were you too, older P4s can be had cheap now so you shouldn't have a problem moneywise upgrading to a 2.4ghz P4.

On a side note, AMD and Intel performance is NOT the same at identical Ghz ratings especially in the era your CPU is from. My 1.9Ghz AMD Anthlon XP is equivalent to a 2.4Ghz Intel P4 in terms of performance, just keep that in mind when shopping for a compatable chip your motherboard can handle.

Hmm, along the general theme of this string, I'd like to ask this. I've heard (Rumor) that a video card will "Adjust" to the type of system one has. My backup PC is a HP 1.2 with 512 memory (Maxed). But I'm running GeForce MX 200 card. So, my question is....will this PC handle a more powerful card. Right now I just use it for email and my Webcam and Voice stuff. I run SL on my newer unit.

Hey folks! Dont forget that the newer video cards can sometimes require more power. Make sure you're not running some dinky 120 volt Power Supply. 350 Watts Minimum at least.

You know, you're going to send that poor person looking all over the store for a power supply that's "better" than 120 volts.

What he said is true though. If you have some ancient 200 watt power supply, you'll need to upgrade it before you replace the video card. Also, if you're using AGP be careful not to buy a new low voltage card if all you have is a high voltage AGP slot (it won't fit).

Probably, depends on your power supply (like Tod69 said) and your AGP bus. Some cards can run on a lower AGP bus speed than they're capable of (I've got a 8x card on a 4x bus for instance), that may be what you've heard.

For a motherboard that old, you may find it hard to get a compatible one. I had to do a lot of shopping around to find one with a 400 MHz front side bus that would work with my older motherboard.

Just found my ASUS P4S333 manual - it refers to the following slots: PCI, AGP and ACR.

If I don't have PCI-Express support does the AGP (accelerated graphics port that supports AGP 4X cards) help me out, or be better than a PCI based card? (sorry I'm not sure of the differences)

I see cards listed under the AGP section of a local website including cards like:
- Alastor GeForce FX5900XT 128MB TV/DVI
- Radeon 9600XT 256M Sapphire
- Albatron 256MDDR FX6600Q TVO

I only see 2 under the PCI section (not PCIE) including:
- PCI Gecube Radeon 9250 128MB Low Profile Edition

Guess I'm trying to determine what I can do with what I've got (i.e. which card), but also fishing for whether I'm fighting a losing battle and really need to upgrade the motherboard in order to get decent video card support for 2nd life.


Tks

I'm out of touch with specific graphics cards, but you'll want to go with an AGP one. AGP was introduced specifically because PCI didn't have enough bandwidth for modern graphics applications. Or was it the speed? I can't remember to be honest.

Yes, AGP is definitely superior to the older PCI bus interface.

P2

Just had a discussion with a local shop here. Sounds like I should decide whether I want to keep the current motherboard/CPU or upgrade now, as if I were to want to upgrade the CPU/motherboard apparently the way to go would be a motherboard with PCI-Express (not AGP). i.e. my options being (a) upgrade display card only, (b) PC/Motherboard/memory/graphics card, or (c) new PC. Decisions decisions


Re an AGP card (my option a) they recommended:

Gigabyte N66T128D GEF6600GT 128M 8XAGP TV-OUT,DVI

or for a little cheaper (less performance)

Albatron 256MDDR FX6600Q TVO or 3rd choice

Radeon 9600XT 256M Sapphire

Indeed. The biggest factor in PC bits is always how much you want to spend.

Your video card will account for about around 2/3rds of the speed in second life.

Your cpu will be the other 1/3rd. Actually, your cpu might even be responsible for more than 1/3rd - I based that number on my turion desktop speed increase from half speed to full speed in frame rate increase.


But the lack of ram can also hurt you. 512 meg is fine if SL is the only thing running, otherwise 1 gig is better.

I recommend the eVGA 6600GT video card. You can get it on newegg.com for about $110 (after $20 mail in rebate).

This card is the best bang for the buck - you can go faster, but not at a price point that gets you more for the dollar.

I'm looking to get a Geforce 6800GS myself.

Q1 - Is this the same as the "Gigabyte N66T128D GEF6600GT 128M 8XAGP TV-OUT,DVI" I mentioned?

Q2 - Does anyone know whether this card I mentioned above, which supports AGP 8x, whether it will work in my PC which has an AGP 4x slot?

It is essentually the same card, based on the same video chipset anyway. As far as the AGP slot is concerned the 8X should be compatable with the 4X slot. The 2X AGP slot will not fit as I recall. It is a fine card and will do a great job for you no doubt. Stay away from anything ATI as they are fantastic for anything else except SL as they more often than not will have problems.

Lets face it though, you have a computer long in the tooth with a really poor video card. Check around and see if one of your friends has something like a Nvidia 5500 card they pulled out and might sell to ya for $20. Heck, even a TI 4200 would be better than what ya have.

If you decide on a new computer be advised most sold at retail have built in graphics on the motherboard and they tend to be about the same as what you have now. You will usually have to specify a separate video card and then most large retailers will try to push whatever ATI card they have the most of.

Specs for a solid SL machine.

3000+ AMD These are inexpensive and powerful, anything 2500+ up is a good choice even a 3000+ Sempron works well.

A8n-SLI motherboard with Nforce 4 chipset and PCI-e, about the best you can get and will allow you to upgrade for years to come since it will run the fastest AMD cpus available.

At least 1gig of memory, unfortunatly your old memory may work but its gonna be slow, it depends on how old yours is. Don't count on it.

Nvidia 6600 GT running on PCI-e, best bang for the buck and can usually be overclocked to better than 6800 speeds.

450W or better power supply, that is 450w true power output and not voodoo watts from cheap units.

Stay away from anything called Emachine or their equivelent, power supplies should not glow red.

A SATAII hard drive if you have a choice.

Nvidia

Wow - thanks for that Kathmandu - you've answered my questions + more.

PS Kathmandu - I also noticed this: "One available AGP3.0 compliant slot or better" for the GEF6600 we were talking about above. Do you know how this relates to 4x and 8x?

Do you think this will be ok in my PC which has an AGP 4x slot?

Cheers

AGP 3.0 is 8x. It should run on a 4x slot, but it won't help your situation since it'll bottleneck the card's capabilities.

AGP 3.0 is the AGP standard used and it depends on the exact model and make of your motherboard. There is a lot of overlap between the types of slots. AGP3.0 was adopted while 2x AGP slots were still being made and is the AGP standard today. AGP2.0 was still used in some motherboards with the 4x AGP slot. According to the standard, it is supposed to be backward compatible so if you have a 4x slot with AGP 2.0 it should still work but some features will be unused. Looking up your motherboard it looks like it has the 2x-4x universal type slot and AGP2.0 and then looking at forums I see a lot of people having mega problems updating to the 6600 and 6800 Nvidia cards. Just from the reports of problems I would back away from trying to put a modern card into the less than stellar mobo from 2002.

Thanks again Kathmandu & Ron, great info

Last question (only if you happen to know/remember) - is there a card you would recommend for my situation - e.g. cheaper than this one, but would improve my current situation (maybe one of the others I listed earlier)?