NVidia problems

[Boernesky]

Hello everyone.  I have something to share.  I have a wonderful Asus G752VT with an NVidia gtx 970m.  When I first got it I was shocked to find that eventhough, at first, it ran my secondlife viewer with wonderful FPS it would suddenly drop as if experiencing lag.  If I let it, the FPS would drop <1.  I tried everything, frustrated.  This would happen with any of the viewers I tried.  So, I knew it wasn't the viewer.  It had to be my graphics card settings.  So, I went to ASUS to make sure I had the latest driver.  I did!  Well, I solved the problem.  But then, I had to reinstall windows (the long way to get out of the insider's preview program).  And I'd forgotten how I solved the problem.  So, here it is, in case I forget and have to do this again.  I haven't found anything on the web, at SL community, ASUS nor NVidia.

My solution was to run the NVidia GeForce Experience app.  This told me there is a more recent driver. Why this isn't on Asus's site, I don't know.  Installing this driver solves the problem?

Edited June 2, 2018 by Boernesky

[Lillith Hapmouche]

So what's the question?

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, Boernesky said:

Installing this driver solves the problem?

Even though you wrote this with a question mark, I'm pretty sure that is not a question since you say prior to this that it did solve your problem.

 

There are a variety of forums for non-question things, whereas the Answers section is specifically for asking questions.  Maybe try one of those in the future -- though I'm not really sure if there is a category for "I want to put this info here just in case I forget in the future".  It might be better to bookmark a web page or create some sort of note/doc on your computer to contain the things you might forget.

[Lindal Kidd]

Third party graphics card makers don't always have the latest GeForce drivers on their site.  The GeForce Experience app is one way to stay up to date, as the drivers are updated frequently.  You can also browse manually to Nvidia's site and get the latest drivers.  Many people prefer to do that, because GeForce Experience itself has caused problems for some.

[Boernesky]

where should I put it?

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 minutes ago, Boernesky said:

where should I put it?

You cannot move any thread.  You could ask LL to move it, but I'm not sure there is a good spot for it -- or just forget about it and keep it in mind for future threads.

As to the info itself, as I suggested, maybe create a note/doc on your own computer to hold all sorts of misc info that you don't want to forget.

[Boernesky]

Really?  you think I should keep this information, which could be very useful to others having this problem, to myself?

Perhaps I shouldn't have said that I'm putting this here for my personal benefit.  If I had seen this when I was looking for a solution (as someone else may be right now) it would have saved much time and frustration.

[Nalates Urriah]

22 hours ago, Boernesky said:

Really?  you think I should keep this information, which could be very useful to others having this problem, to myself?

Perhaps I shouldn't have said that I'm putting this here for my personal benefit.  If I had seen this when I was looking for a solution (as someone else may be right now) it would have saved much time and frustration.

It is nice that you shared your solution. That is the idea of the forum. You are always welcome to do that, for personal or altruistic reasons.

But, your solution is not the end all be all answer for NVIDIA problems. Plus, the 'install latest driver' solution is scattered through these forums as is advice about GeForce Experience. That you were searching for a solution and not finding it in the SL forums suggests you may want to re-think your search strategy. I also think your not being able to find a solution here is part of the reason the suggestion was made for you to have a personal information store of tricks you worked to learn and avoid frustrating searches.

Also, the 'newest driver' has on several occasions been the problem and people have had to roll back to a previous version. So, the simple idea to use the latest driver isn't always the solution. It is a good troubleshooting step. And GeForce Experience while generally a plus has its own set of problems. Especially when it installs a new driver that has problems with SL. 

So, while your effort is appreciated, it is getting critiqued by and suggestions made by people with a broader viewpoint on these issues. LittleMe and Lindal are answering questions and hearing about a wide range of problems and peoples' solutions almost everyday. So, 4k to 10k of posts verses 4 shows the levels of experience.

[Boernesky]

I'm starting to wonder if this board is meant to be helpful.

Tell me search terms which provide a post to...
1. describe this problem which is extreme, sudden lag after no lag for many minutes.
2. say problem continues after downloading "latest" driver from ASUS.
3. advise downloading the proper driver from NVidia.

I tried many and found nothing.  But, if you can show me a search criteria to that leads to such a post, you win.

 

Edited June 22, 2018 by Boernesky

[Lindal Kidd]

I don't think you'll find a post that meets all those criteria...but you will find a great many posts that suggest a particular graphics driver is the cause of a problem (many different symptoms, not just what you experienced.)  Sometimes, it's a NEW driver that introduces a problem, and the solution is to roll back to an earlier version.  Sometimes, as in your case, the driver needs to be updated.  Driver problems can and have occurred with all the major graphics platforms...ATI/AMD Radeon, Nvidia, and Intel.

Any time you experience some sort of graphics problem with your computer, with SL or any application, the graphics driver should be considered one of the "usual suspects."

I'm glad you were able to solve your problem, and pleased that you posted your solution.  Not everyone is so public-spirited.