If you have a NVIDIA FX series video card, it seems as if you can forget about about playing Oblivion. My PC has: 3 Gig CPU, 2 Gig fast RAM, latest drivers, but game speed and mouse pointer lag is so slow with my 5600 FX as to be totally unplayable, even with resolution down to 640 x 480, and all screen effects off or at lowest settings. Bethesda are aware of this issue, as per the following text from the Oblivion technical support page.

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Q: Performance issues on systems with an Nvidia FX card.

A: The game does indeed work on every FX card, but the performance may not be what you want depending on your PC. We suggest upgrading to a better FX card (see list of FX "Performance" cards below) or even a card above that.


GeForce FX 5950 Ultra
GeForce FX 5900 Ultra
GeForce FX 5900
GeForce FX 5900 XT
GeForce PCX 5900
GeForce FX 5700 Ultra
GeForce FX 5700
GeForce FX 5700LE
GeForce PCX 5750


Try these tips to improve performance on a system with an Nvidia FX series card.

1. Set the game options to run at the lowest possible settings. Set the game resolution to 640 x 480, low detail, and shadows off.

2. Run a scandisk and defrag on the hard drive
3. Shut down all background applications and processes before launching the game.
4. Make sure your processor and memory are above the minimum required, that will help offset the performance issues with the video card.
5. Make sure you have the latest drivers for the video card installed.

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Compare the above to the Oblivion readme file , where it clearly states that the FX series is supported.

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-Supported Video Card Chipsets:
ATI X1900 series
ATI X1800 series
ATI X1600 series
ATI X1300 series
ATI X850 series
ATI x800 series
ATI x700 series
ATI x600 series
ATI Radeon 9800 series
ATI Radeon 9700 series
ATI Radeon 9600 series
ATI Radeon 9500 series
NVIDIA Geforce 7800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6800 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 series
NVIDIA GeForce 6200 series
NVIDIA GeForce FX series

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Yes, the games does "work" as they state, but only to the extent that you can load it, **not** to actually play it !! Maybe a more powerful FX card might(?)make the game playable, but only if you sacrifice all video quality ...

Looks like I have to upgrade my video card now .... GRRRR

( Perhaps this post could be added to a FAQ sticky, or a bug reporting thread )

[ 03-23-2006, 08:42 PM: Message edited by: Pangur Ban ]

Well my ti 4600 performs better than my newer fx 5200 hands down. This is because it is an old gaming card as opposed to the 5200 being a newer low-level card. I would never even dream of trying Oblivion with my 5200 since I know it just cannot do crap in most games of today.

( Not that this thread is a debate on video cards ... ) My FX 5600 Ultra was more than capable of running Doom 3 and Half Life 2 at 1024 x 768, with video options set high, but couldn't run Oblivion even at the lowest resolution settings and options. The graphics engine for Oblivion just does not support FX cards, despite what the readme states.

[ 03-24-2006, 12:32 AM: Message edited by: Pangur Ban ]

Is every FX user experiencing this? I mean, is it now generally accepted that these cards won't run Oblivion?

Check the hardware forum on TES, they had some sort of tweak or so.

I checked out the forum, but couldn't find the tweak you mentioned ( found plenty of ranting about the FX card problem !! )

JrKASperov, where is that tweak you found?

Thanks,
Pangur [img]graemlins/catchase.gif[/img]

I wish I would have seen this thread before I asked about video pecking order. The answer was right in front of me.

Thanks

Set "frames to render ahead" to 0.

I found the tweaks, and applied them.

They made a big difference, as they made it possible to actually *play* the game, but with such restrictions, even on the lowest resolution and video setting, that it was tedious, laggy, and just plain ugly, taking most of the enjoyment out of the experience.

Individual results will vary depending on what type of FX card you have, but I'm not going to play any further.

I'm going to return my game ( bless the EB returns policy !! ) and wait and see if a patch comes out.

Why not try for a new card...the 5600 hardly does your system justice as it is. Try a 6600gt or a 6800 maybe? I know this isn't the point I'm just saying, your card bottlenecks you anyways.