High Spec Graphics cards giving low performance problem

Hello, i have the strangest of problem that i was wondering if anyone else has.

I own an Nvidia 1024mb 7950 Geforce graphics card. This can run any game on maximum settings without a single drop in FPS. But for second life, in its almost lowest settings i can jsut get 6 FPS. On my 4 year old machine i can get a constant 30 fps on medium graphics.

Is this because SL does not support pci-express or do i have a problem?

My old gaming machine equipped with a ATI 9800 Pro also struggles to run SL running at about 15 fps at best.

Thanks in advance,

Spunky

Edit: Cross posted to technical, ignore this.
/111/0b/153754/1.html#post1354868

I gather that unlike some games, SL is more CPU intensive. If your CPU and RAM is minimal then no upgrade in graphics is going to improve it.
You don't state your CPU/RAM specs?

I have the same card, and the same problems. Part of the problem is, of course, that SL won't use the full 1Gb memory you have available. And of course, the CPU problem cited above is also problematic. But I'm pulling frame rates anywhere from 20 fps to 140 fps, depending on what I'm looking at. Here's a few tricks:

1) Make sure that SL Preferences are set to use the full 512 mB memory on your card. (For some reason, mine keeps getting reset to 16 mB.)

2) If you're on a multiple CPU system, make sure that SL is set to use both CPUs. (I use a program called WinLauncher XP to do this when the program starts up.)

3) Make sure the program priority is set in the HIGH range. (You can do this from the task manager, but again, I use WinLauncher XP to do it. Yes, the game will be a trifle unstable, but I've had few (actually only 2 in the past 2 weeks) client crashes at this setting.

4) SL is set by cleint preferences to only use one GPU on the nVidia 7950. This can be changed. Go to the nVidia Settings program (in your taskbar tray) and open the nVidia control panel. Under 3D settings, click on "Manage 3D Settings" (You might have to click the "advanced" link to enable this feature) On the Program Settings Tab, under Step One "Select Program to Override" click the ADD button. Browse to the SL program directory and click on the SecondLife.exe icon. Click OKAY. Then, select Second Life (if it isn't already) from the list of programs. Now, under Step Two: "Specify Settings for Second LIfe" scroll down to Hardware Acceleration. Make sure it says "Use Global Settings." If it doesn't, select that option from the dropdown menu. Directly under this setting you'll find a setting for Multi-GPU Performance Mode. Select "Force Split Frame Rendering" for this setting. (Bear in mind, your system may have trouble with this setting, so if Split Frame Rendering does something weird (like give you halfe a picture), return to this setting and try one of the others. This is the setting you really have to experiment with in order to get SL to fully utilize the SLI features of your graphics card--and that's what'll really improve your fps.

5) Okay, once you're in world, you'll probably still be disappointed with your fps. There's one last truly bizarre thing that works here (and I have NO idea why). First, find an empty region that is bordered on at least two sides by ocean. (God help me, I'm NOT making this up. It won't work if you've only got one ocean side.) Fly to the very edge of this region, land, and go to mouseview. Point your camera at the horizon so that all you see is water and sky. Now wait about 1 minute. You'll notice your fps fluctuating a LOT, but constantly climbing upwards. Once you get an fps over 106 or so, (Depending on the region you use, you can go higher. I regularly hit 145 in Korea, but only 107 in Rosyth. Go figure.) Now you can go back to regular view and go about playing the game. You'll see much improved frame rates, usually in the 20 to 40 fps range. (Even in Ahern, I've pulled over 20 fps after doing this. But if you DO go to a place like Ahern that's got something over 160 AVs on four corners, you might want to repeat this step after your visit. It's almost like you have to clear the vRAM or something.

Anyway, hope this all helps. In the meantime, we need to yell loudly for LL to start supporting SLI cards and 64-bit systems. After all, in about a month, there's going to be a lot more demand for it.

Kam

NOTE: Yeah, this is a lot to go through for fps that you can get from a lesser card. But let me tell you, things rez a LOT faster. I'm usually done shopping by the time the rest of my group finishes rezzing a large store. It's blisteringly fast in that regard.