Serious performance problem - please help!

[plcdfa]

Ok, I post it here cos I'm not at all convinced that my problem is hardware or driver related. Altough if the moderators find it inappropriate, please just move it to hardware or where you see fit.

The problem is that my 3D performance is extremely bad in Breezy as opposed to Hoary. My hardware's by no means new and shiny, but consider this one: Neverwinter Nights under Hoary ran with an accaptable 40 fps, now it's suffering with 6-8(!) no matter what I try. Also I can't play ET with all the options set to minimum, while in windows it runs smoothly with almost everything set to max.
I tried tweaking the games video settings, and giving them higher (...I mean lower:) ) priorities, but that didn't help. (Not even easing the problem to a considerable degree, which is quite strange... :confused: ) I think they might be conflicting with something, but I've run out of ideas.

Here's my specs:
Kubuntu 5.10 (clean install) with the 686 kernel from the repos
Celeron 1 GHz
256 MB RAM
Inno3D Geforce FX 5200 (128 MB RAM) AGP 4x with the 7174 driver from the nvidia website (I couldn't install the newer ones, cos they freeze the system at X startup.:confused: Don't think this causes the problem though, this isn't an old driver either, it dates 2005.03.31.)

Here are the interesting parts from my xorg.conf:
Section "Module"
# Load "GLcore"
Load "i2c"
Load "bitmap"
Load "ddc"
# Load "dri"
Load "extmod"
Load "freetype"
Load "glx"
Load "int10"
Load "type1"
Load "vbe"
EndSection
Section "Device"
Identifier "NVIDIA Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200]"
Driver "nvidia"
BusID "PCI:1:0:0"
Option "NoLogo" "true"
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
Identifier "Generic Monitor"
Option "DPMS"
HorizSync 28-51
VertRefresh 43-60
EndSection

Section "Screen"
Identifier "Default Screen"
Device "NVIDIA Corporation NV34 [GeForce FX 5200]"
Monitor "Generic Monitor"
DefaultDepth 24
Please just ask if I forgot something...
And this is the output of ps aux: (that's the command to list all running processes, isn't it? I'm a linux newbie.:oops: )
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1 0.0 0.2 1560 528 ? S 16:16 0:01 init [2]
root 2 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? SN 16:16 0:00 [ksoftirqd/0]
root 3 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:16 0:00 [events/0]
root 4 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:16 0:00 [khelper]
root 5 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:16 0:00 [kthread]
root 7 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:16 0:00 [kacpid]
root 82 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:16 0:00 [kblockd/0]
root 106 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [pdflush]
root 107 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [pdflush]
root 109 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S< 16:16 0:00 [aio/0]
root 108 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [kswapd0]
root 694 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [kseriod]
root 2334 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [khubd]
root 3905 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [kjournald]
root 4063 0.0 0.2 1660 564 ? S<s 16:16 0:00 udevd --daemon
root 6818 0.0 0.0 0 0 ? S 16:16 0:00 [kgameportd]
dhcp 7017 0.0 0.4 2328 1120 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 dhclient3 -pf /
root 7369 0.0 0.3 1820 1020 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/sbin/acpid
syslog 7384 0.0 0.2 1764 756 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /sbin/syslogd -
root 7401 0.0 0.1 1564 400 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /bin/dd bs 1 if
klog 7403 0.0 0.6 2564 1540 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /sbin/klogd -P
105 7416 0.0 0.4 2140 1040 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/bin/dbus-d
hal 7429 0.0 1.4 5056 3800 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/sbin/hald
hal 7434 0.0 0.2 1864 592 ? S 16:17 0:00 hald-addon-acpi
hal 7443 0.0 0.2 1864 632 ? S 16:17 0:00 hald-addon-stor
hal 7445 0.0 0.2 1864 632 ? S 16:17 0:00 hald-addon-stor
cupsys 7466 0.0 1.2 6300 3296 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd
hplip 7488 0.0 0.4 12612 1280 ? Ssl 16:17 0:00 /usr/sbin/hpiod
hplip 7498 0.0 2.2 8844 5852 ? S 16:17 0:00 python /usr/sbi
root 7936 0.0 0.3 2788 952 ? S 16:17 0:00 /usr/bin/xfstt
root 7941 0.0 0.2 2584 740 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/bin/kdm
nobody 7944 0.0 0.4 2260 1036 ? Ss 16:17 0:01 ksysguardd -d
root 7955 4.5 9.1 27352 23476 ? SL 16:17 1:44 /usr/X11R6/bin/
root 7957 0.0 0.5 3192 1348 ? S 16:17 0:00 -:0
daemon 7981 0.0 0.2 1752 656 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/sbin/atd
root 8002 0.0 0.3 1812 852 ? Ss 16:17 0:00 /usr/sbin/cron
root 8022 0.0 0.1 1556 492 tty1 Ss+ 16:17 0:00 /sbin/getty 384
root 8023 0.0 0.1 1556 492 tty2 Ss+ 16:17 0:00 /sbin/getty 384
beci 8040 0.0 0.6 5056 1608 ? Ss 16:20 0:00 /bin/sh /usr/bi
beci 8074 0.0 0.3 3120 1004 ? Ss 16:20 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-ag
beci 8098 0.0 4.2 25944 10936 ? Ss 16:20 0:00 kdeinit Running
beci 8101 0.0 3.7 24764 9616 ? S 16:20 0:00 dcopserver [kde
beci 8103 0.0 4.4 27032 11400 ? S 16:20 0:00 klauncher [kdei
beci 8106 0.1 6.3 30448 16224 ? S 16:20 0:02 kded [kdeinit]
beci 8108 0.0 0.5 2704 1452 ? S 16:20 0:00 /usr/lib/gamin/
beci 8112 0.3 3.7 48060 9724 ? S 16:20 0:07 artsd -F 10 -S
beci 8123 0.0 5.1 27508 13328 ? S 16:20 0:00 kaccess [kdeini
beci 8124 0.0 0.7 4268 1912 ? S 16:20 0:00 /usr/bin/ivman
beci 8125 0.0 0.1 1544 340 ? S 16:20 0:00 kwrapper ksmser
beci 8130 0.0 5.2 27688 13536 ? S 16:20 0:00 ksmserver [kdei
beci 8131 0.1 6.1 29740 15816 ? S 16:20 0:02 kwin [kdeinit]
beci 8137 0.1 6.9 30920 17796 ? S 16:20 0:02 kdesktop [kdein
beci 8144 0.5 9.4 38728 24256 ? S 16:20 0:12 kicker [kdeinit
beci 8145 0.0 4.7 27904 12128 ? S 16:20 0:00 kio_file [kdein
beci 8148 0.0 5.6 27960 14612 ? S 16:20 0:01 kbluetoothd --d
beci 8151 0.1 8.9 37816 22868 ? S 16:20 0:02 konqueror [kdei
beci 8152 0.5 6.8 31796 17692 ? R 16:20 0:10 konsole [kdeini
beci 8153 0.0 6.2 29424 16064 ? S 16:20 0:01 katapult -sessi
beci 8154 4.2 11.1 53608 28676 ? S 16:20 1:28 /usr/lib/opera/
beci 8155 0.0 0.8 5416 2056 pts/1 Ss+ 16:21 0:00 /bin/bash
beci 8156 0.0 0.8 5416 2064 pts/2 Ss 16:21 0:00 /bin/bash
beci 8165 0.0 7.9 36532 20380 ? S 16:21 0:01 konqueror [kdei
beci 8167 0.0 7.7 37904 19896 ? S 16:21 0:01 knotify [kdeini
beci 8168 0.0 7.9 36532 20396 ? S 16:21 0:01 konqueror [kdei
beci 8184 0.0 6.3 30368 16412 ? S 16:21 0:00 kio_uiserver [k
beci 8225 0.0 1.7 8484 4544 ? S 16:41 0:00 /usr/lib/opera/
beci 8226 0.0 0.1 1568 340 ? S 16:41 0:00 /usr/lib/opera/
beci 8261 8.9 7.6 30680 19536 ? Ss 16:49 0:32 ksysguard --sho
beci 8262 1.5 0.4 2252 1028 ? S 16:49 0:05 ksysguardd
beci 8263 0.0 4.6 26632 11852 ? S 16:49 0:00 kio_file [kdein
beci 8264 2.5 10.5 43656 26952 ? S 16:50 0:07 krusader -capti
beci 8265 0.0 4.6 26632 11844 ? S 16:50 0:00 kio_file [kdein
beci 8280 0.0 0.4 4592 1040 pts/2 R+ 16:55 0:00 ps aux

If you've got the smallest idea on which I could start looking for a solution, please share it. I like Linux very much otherwise, Ubuntu beats the sh*t out of Win, but I wanna believe it's also a better gaming platform. :D
Thanks in advence!
Oh, and sorry for the possible grammar mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker.

[plcdfa]

Oh, come on, please! Don't you have an idea what to check here? If I'm posting it the wrong place, just redirect me where I could get help.:(

[23meg]

Please paste the output of the command glxinfo |grep direct

[plcdfa]

Ok, sorry for the late reply, the output is:
direct rendering: No

Could this be the problem, and how can I enable it?

[plcdfa]

OK, problem solved by installing the latest nvidia drivers. Thanks for the not-so-enthusiast help. Just kidding.;-) It's quite strange afterall, cos this same driver used to freeze X when I tried it a month ago. :confused: Installing the driver pack from the nvidia site seems to be a pain in Breezy, which is odd as I succeded instantly with it under Hoary. (As a complete Linux newbie :cool: )
This time I had to experience with different versions, and the one which turned out to work at last also refused to load the kernel module automatically at startup, so I had to add it to /etc/modules. Maybe I messed up things with all this (though I tried to clean up after every install attempt), as I couldn't reenable direct rendering with the old driver, no matter what I tried. Anyway, if someone happens to have an explanation for all this weird behaviour, please post it. I really am curious. Just learning Linux you know.:)

[Kadin2048]

Just wondering, which version of the drivers did you end up installing? And did you use the actual install script that you download from the NVidia site? Or do it some other way?

I ask because I tried getting the latest ones from NVidia but never got it to work (it kept complaining about runlevels) and before I found a solution to that I had gone and installed the ones from the repository. Now I wonder if I inadvertently got an old version.

Anyway just curious; it seems that some people have wildly different luck with different versions of the drivers...

[frodon]

plcdfa, why don't you have this option in the device section ? : Option "RenderAccel" "true"It could be the problem.