Viewer 3 performance issues - ATI Graphic cards

[alex Gravois]

Something needs to be addressed about the performance issues Viewer 3 is giving some of us ATI users. I have a ATI 6970, which when it first came out, was a about $400. I find it unnaceptable that my computer Hecta-Core computer cannot run Second Life with decent FPS. Second Life needs to have better support for graphic cards of all types, including enthuist type cards, not just chip-sets. 

I have even tried overclocking my card, RAM, and processor to gain at least a playable FPS, and still Second Life viewer 3 wont put out anymore FPS. It's unplayable. In a moderatly busy sim, on lowest setting I have getting 3-11FPS. Thats not right at all since I can max BF3 (Beta) out with no problem. 

Just wanted to address and issue I think needs to be addressed. Thank you :)

 

[SappaDallagio]

As much as I grumble about performance issues in Second Life, there's no way Linden Labs can accomodate every single variation of every single card on the market. They have limited resources and personnel and they do the best they can to include as many of the more common chipsets and cards that manufacturers are putting into their computers at the factories. Having said that... yes, I agree there should be better support for the higher end cards built into the viewer. 

Since you seem well versed in assembling and tweaking equipment, have you researched and gone through all the available tweaks and tips that other users have made within the settings of their video card setup and/or SL viewer preferences? It can be daunting but once you've tweaked the firmware and the software, you may be able to bump your FPS to a more acceptable level.

Do a search in here... the SL wiki... and the SL Jira for other user comments and/or submitted issues for your family of graphics card. With the info I've been able to cull from this forum alone, I've increased my average FPS from 11 up to 25, so I'm much happier. I know this machine I have is capable of doing more than that, so I keep searching for that extra tidbit of info that may give me the extra boost.

You failed to mention which V3 viewer you were using. LL has three different V3 viewers supported at the moment, so it might be worth your while to download and install them all to see if things improve for your card. I would suggest trying the beta viewer available on the SL downlad page (about the middle of the page, under the heading for "beta"). That would have the best chance of additional support... maybe.

You could also try the V3 third party viewers. I use Firestorm Mesh beta and Dolphin 3. Perhaps one of them will have more preferences for you to play with.

[Sephy McCaw]

Alex, turn of Opengl vertex buffer object... it doesnt work at all for ati cards... to find it go to me > preferences > graphics > hardware, then untick enable Opengl Vertex buffer object

[alex Gravois]

@SappaDallagio and Sephy McCaw

Thank you both! 

 

@SappaDallagio

Yes I have tried other viewers, they work perfectly, I maintain 60+ FPS all the time. I heard a rumor that SL was switching to viewer 3 permanently, taking all the old viewers offline, so I figured I would bite the bullet and get used to the new viewer. I had actually not looked at what other ATI users have said (I should have) so I thank you for that.

@Sephy McCaw

I went into my setting and I turned that off. I have no Idea why OpenGL was on at all. When I turned it off an instant boost of performance. Now I can actually move my camera around and walk without my FPS diving down to an unplayable rate. Still the frame rate suffers more than it should, I would like to see that looked into, and I am sure it will be. Thank you to both of you.

[SappaDallagio]

I'll confirm this is true. By default, this option was turned off for me (I have an AMD HD 6750M, which is basically an ATi) so I turned it on looking for extra performance. After all, it was working for others so I thought I'd give it a go. Bad mistake. Not that it caused any irreparable problems but performance lagged... badly. It's off now and if I could put a piece of virtual duct tape over the setting within prefs, complete with a DO NOT TURN ON! note, I'd do it. 

 

[Emily Aries]

VBO works just fine on ATI cards. Where did you read that?

VBO On 23.5fps

VBO Off 18.9fps

 

[Sephy McCaw]

Personal experience is what I go by on 2 sets of AMD graphics cards (no it can't be my system cause they were both on different hardware) and also the countless of people that have posted about this issue over the last year or so.

BTW did you try moving at all with VBO on? Fps dips like crazy, its a constant when its turned off.

 

[SappaDallagio]

For me, it wasn't a spec I read. It was my actual use of it. When VBO is enabled on my system, FPS drops to 10 FPS or less. When it is disabled, FPS jumps to 25 or better FPS, every other setting being left alone. The card in my computer is an AMD Radeon HD 6750M, which was produced after AMD purchased ATi. So, it is, in effect, an ATi product just rebadged as AMD.

 

[edited to clarify my video card's identification and to correct minor typos]

[Earnur Donogal]

I had same problem when I upgraded to viewer 3, my ATI card would "flash" black on my avatat and all over the screen. When I turned off VBO, pow, no more problems.