Why does Second Life run so badly on a good computer?

[xlime4]

Hi everyone,

My PC has an Radeon Rx 480 8GB Graphics Card, an Intel i5 6500 CPU and 16GB RAM. In theory, this means that I should be able to play Second Life at a high setting, possibly even the highest settings. However, I can only use the medium setting. Anything higher or lower drops the FPS to a crawl. At medium, it stays at around 30 FPS, which isn’t ideal but it’s still playable. In empty areas, it shoots up to 100 FPS, but it is only 30 FPS in any remotely busy area.

The internet I have is atrocious because I am using the university’s wi-fi, though I’m planning to get an ethernet cable. Is it possible that it is a network issue, or could it be something else? If it’s something else, how can I resolve it? Thanks for any advice.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

Are you in the US? Wireless or hardwired? Have you run a speedtest to the SL servers in Arizona? http://tucson.speedtest.net/

[Lyssa Greymoon]

1 hour ago, xlime4 said:

How do I check the hard drive, and what am I checking for?

You're looking for errors, either file system errors or physical errors on the drive. First, do the Malware and antivirus scan. Get Malwarebytes (Malwarebytes.com) and let it do its thing. I assume you have Windows virus protection on, check in the security settings to make sure it's running.

Then open the Windows File Explorer and right click on your hard drive. Select Properties from that menu. click the tools tab then the check button to search for file system errors.

You'll want to get a SMART utility to check your hard drive. Passmark's DiskCheckup seems good. https://www.passmark.com/products/diskcheckup/ It'll let you know if your drive has any issues and let you run self-tests on the drive.

[xlime4]

Now that I think about it...I think there’s something wrong with my RAM. Every time I get a BSOD, I keep getting errors relating to RAM failure. Looks like I’ll need to get some new RAM sticks and someone who can help me fit them in, soon

[Nalates Urriah]

On 10/12/2019 at 4:27 AM, xlime4 said:

Now that I think about it...I think there’s something wrong with my RAM. Every time I get a BSOD, I keep getting errors relating to RAM failure. Looks like I’ll need to get some new RAM sticks and someone who can help me fit them in, soon

Before you buy RAM look up the specs on your motherboard. You can use the free program CPU-Z to get the model number and then look up the specs. You want the fastest RAM your motherboard will support for the best performance. Slower RAM works fine it is just a bit slower.

Your motherboard and Windows can run a memory test. Test your memory before you start buying stuff. For Windows testing just type memory test in the Cortana or search window in the lower left. You have to restart the computer and it takes some time for the test to run. But, if your memory isn't the problem... new memory probably won't help.

Cheesecurd is right. changing out memory is easy.  

PS: Whirly's comment about the Firestorm Splash screen is important.  That you have an unusual screen at FS open and cannot refresh your install of Windows STRONGLY suggests malware is present. Run Windows Defender and any other antivirus you have installed. Once you have the viruses or malware out then try refreshing your Windows.

 

Edited October 13, 2019 by Nalates Urriah
Added info

[Lindal Kidd]

You can also check your RAM, and maybe find out which stick is bad, by running Memtest86, a free utility.

[xlime4]

On 10/13/2019 at 11:24 AM, Whirly Fizzle said:

 

@xlime4

I don't like the look of that image at all.
Can you just confirm that you are seeing that Glide Student advert where the Firestorm login screen should be?

If the login screen is being replaced by an advert like that then you have some kind of malware/browser hijacker on your system.
Obviously malware can cause poor performance too.
 

 

That’s not malware. That’s my university internet access thing.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

35 minutes ago, xlime4 said:

That’s not malware. That’s my university internet access thing.

It could easily be your school throttling down on SL.. I know my kids school does that for non approved programs.

 

[xlime4]

1 minute ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

It could easily be your school throttling down on SL.. I know my kids school does that for non approved programs.

 

Yeah. If I get an ethernet cable though, then I won’t have to keep logging in. Hopefully that’ll mean it’ll stop throttling down.

[Lindal Kidd]

2 hours ago, xlime4 said:

Yeah. If I get an ethernet cable though, then I won’t have to keep logging in. Hopefully that’ll mean it’ll stop throttling down.

Er...that isn't what we in the adult world who worry about the cost of bandwidth and tuition and all that, call an optimal solution.  Plus, it probably won't work.

I'm sorry to be blunt, but you're at university to study and learn.  The school's computer network is intended to be used to facilitate that, not for gaming and entertainment.  Not to mention that your personal time is supposed to be focused on learning too.  If you're using student loans to finance part of your education, an inefficient use of your time and energy in these years will haunt you for many years afterwards.

Do I feel strongly about this?  You bet I do!  We didn't have the internet when I did my undergraduate work, but in an analogous situation, I goofed off during my sophomore year and let my grades slide.  My parents, who were footing the bill, required me to take out a personal loan at the credit union to pay for my next semester's tuition...or quit school.  Paying off that loan really taught me the value...or at least the cost...of a college education.

First priority is your studies.  If you have time and energy left over, get a job to help pay your way.  There won't be a lot of time left over after that for fun stuff, but trust me...there'll be enough to give you some great memories of these years.

[Rolig Loon]

5 hours ago, Drake1 Nightfire said:

It could easily be your school throttling down on SL.. I know my kids school does that for non approved programs.

Yes, exactly.  Many campus IT systems will deliberately throttle non-academic use except during very inconvenient hours -- like from 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m.  The campus network is intended for academic use.  As a concession for students who can't think of anything better to do in the middle of the night, IT will sometimes lift the restriction for that brief time only.  If you really want to use SL, find a friend off campus who will be willing to let you log in from her modem.

[Lyssa Greymoon]

6 hours ago, xlime4 said:

Yeah. If I get an ethernet cable though, then I won’t have to keep logging in. Hopefully that’ll mean it’ll stop throttling down.

Aside from IT policy or the ethics of using your computer for something other than purely academic pursuits, getting your computer off the WiFi shared with every malware infested, f'd up laptop in your dorm will only help things, so yeah, do that even if you never run SL again. It's not going to fix your computer's other problems though.

Edited October 16, 2019 by Lyssa Greymoon