Is this laptop too old for SL?

[LibertinaValkyria]

Here comes another thread that the oldbies are probably tired of seeing by now.

Lowest possible graphics settings (Set on Low and made individual values lower/turned off shaders), no other programs open, connected to Verizon Fios (1mbps/sec) via wifi, 

Here's the specs. 

Manufacturer/Model: Toshiba Satellite T135D
Processor: AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual Core Processor L625

CPU: AMD Turion(tm) Neo X2 Dual Core Processor L625 (1596 MHz)

Memory: 3839 MB
OS Version: Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit Service Pack 1 (Build 7601)
Graphics Card Vendor: ATI Technologies Inc.
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon HD 3200 Graphics

Windows Graphics Driver Version: 8.97.100.11-130429a-158498C-ATI
OpenGL Version: 3.3.11672 Compatibility Profile Context

Latest drivers, latest windows updates, tried turning the laptop on and off, defrag, etc.

 

No matter where I am, textures take forever to load, animations are choppy to the point where avatars are just bouncing around the screen. I can move around and type, access the inventory and menus,etc. easily in sandboxes, but anytime I enter a place that has 5-20+ people in it, I lag like crazy. 

 

Are there settings that actually fix this, or am I SOL?

 

[Alwin Alcott]

there are a few things, at start try wired, thats in most cases better than wifi

 

i am too scared to tell the score for your graphics  ... go sit first and than click this link  but it explains the bad performance i think

http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=Radeon+HD+3200

[Jacey Pera]

Should be ok for low to medium settings reading the specs ..

you can also try out firestorm as it works better on lower spec Laptops in my opinion . 

[Ohjiro Watanabe]

(1mbps/sec)? one mega bit per second?

According to the blurb on their web site (http://fios.verizon.com/fios-plans.html) Verizon Fios start at 25 mbps so if you are doing a speed test and getting a result of 1 mbps that must be worth troubleshooting.

[LibertinaValkyria]

Alright, did a speed test via a website, the speed I assumed was 1mbps was the max download speed from torrents I wind up with.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/4491022980.png

Down: 16.39mbps

Up: 15.86mbps

 

Still lower than the hopes for 25, but 2 others use this connection too, though not for intensive programs like SL.

I've been using Firestorm to run SL, and despite running on Low settings with all my sliders down, I still get skipping graphics.

 

I get this laptop uses an old graphics card... That site only grades mine against modern counterparts, hence of course the score is horrendous in comparison. 

 

It just doesn't make sense how even on my low settings and strong connection, things take forever to load and animations skip constantly on my screen. Not to mention a single press of WASD or a click on click-to-move sends me flying across an area. I've been able to run Aura Kingdom and Scarlet Blade with less lag than this.

[Drake1 Nightfire]

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LibertinaValkyria wrote:

Alright, did a speed test via a website, the speed I assumed was 1mbps was the max download speed from torrents I wind up with.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/4491022980.png

Down: 16.39mbps

Up: 15.86mbps

 

Still lower than the hopes for 25, but 2 others use this connection too, though not for intensive programs like SL.

I've been using Firestorm to run SL, and despite running on Low settings with all my sliders down, I still get skipping graphics.

 

I get this laptop uses an old graphics card... That site only grades mine against modern counterparts, hence of course the score is horrendous in comparison. 

 

It just doesn't make sense how even on my low settings and strong connection, things take forever to load and animations skip constantly on my screen. Not to mention a single press of WASD or a click on click-to-move sends me flying across an area. I've been able to run Aura Kingdom and Scarlet Blade with less lag than this.

---

Firstly, you need to do a speedtest to this server.. http://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/fs_speedtest

That will give you an accurate idea of your speed when using SL. All usage of bandwidth will slow your use of SL.

Of course your card is horrendous in comparison, it is Horrendous.

ETA this is my test.. http://www.speedtest.net/my-result/4491308348

[Ohjiro Watanabe]

That sounds a bit more like the real world. You could investigate if there is a way to change the balance between upload and download so that the download is faster, that would probably be a setting in your account from your provider (if it exists).

The performance you are getting does make sense. Second Life is different from most other Internet games because you don't download the game before you start playing it as is the case with many games.

Firestorm is probably the not the best viewer for you, it is the heavy weight, try Alchemy Viewer.

[LibertinaValkyria]

I could kiss you, Ohjiro.

Installed Alchemy and it's been working WAY better. I can enter venues and not spend 10 minutes lagging around gray avatars.

While by no means able to run settings higher than Low+personal tweaks, I'm getting way better performance than I did on Firestorm with the same preferences.