Nvidia Driver 304.125 does not work properly

I have recently placed Zorin OS 9 Core on a USB drive and installed it onto this desktop computer. After installing and doing the basic updates, I used the Synaptic Package Manager to choose 304.125 (proprietary, tested) and hit apply. Once it was done I restarted the computer. After it booted to the desktop the computer was very sluggish. I would click on the Zorin logo and it would take 30 secs to a minute just to pull up the menu. Everything is extremely slow. At first I tried changing the hard drive (at first I didn't know it was the graphics driver), and then changing the graphics card to another Nvidia card that would use the same driver. I found out that using the 173.14 driver works just fine with no issues whatsoever.

I find this odd considering this desktop was using Zorin OS 9 Lite before this upgrade and it was using the 304.125 drivers without and issue. What on earth is causing this version to not work properly? I want to use the latest driver so Steam will work; right now it tells me that I have too old of a driver and closes on me.

Here is inxi -v 2:

System: Host: BSOD-PC Kernel: 3.13.0-53-generic i686 (32 bit) Desktop: Gnome Distro: Zorin 9 trusty
Machine: Mobo: MICRO-STAR model: MS-7142 version: 1.00 Bios: Phoenix version: 6.00 PG date: 06/27/2006
CPU: Single core AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (-UP-) clocked at 1999.899 MHz
Graphics: Card: NVIDIA NV40 [GeForce 6800 GT]
X.Org: 1.15.1 drivers: nvidia (unloaded: fbdev,vesa,nouveau) Resolution: 1280x1024@51.0hz
GLX Renderer: GeForce 6800 GT/AGP/SSE2/3DNOW! GLX Version: 2.1.2 NVIDIA 173.14.39
Network: Card: VIA VT6102 [Rhine-II] driver: via-rhine
Drives: HDD Total Size: 82.3GB (8.5% used) 1: model: HDS728080PLAT20
Info: Processes: 171 Uptime: 26 min Memory: 741.7/2015.9MB Client: Shell (bash) inxi: 1.9.17

Here is lspci from Terminal.

00:00.0 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.1 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.2 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.3 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.4 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:00.7 Host bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. K8M800 Host Bridge
00:01.0 PCI bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237/8251 PCI bridge [K8M890/K8T800/K8T890 South]
00:0f.0 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VIA VT6420 SATA RAID Controller (rev 80)
00:0f.1 IDE interface: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82C586A/B/VT82C686/A/B/VT823x/A/C PIPC Bus Master IDE (rev 06)
00:10.0 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.1 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.2 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.3 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT82xxxxx UHCI USB 1.1 Controller (rev 81)
00:10.4 USB controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. USB 2.0 (rev 86)
00:11.0 ISA bridge: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8237 ISA bridge [KT600/K8T800/K8T890 South]
00:11.5 Multimedia audio controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT8233/A/8235/8237 AC97 Audio Controller (rev 60)
00:12.0 Ethernet controller: VIA Technologies, Inc. VT6102 [Rhine-II] (rev 78)
00:18.0 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] HyperTransport Technology Configuration
00:18.1 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Address Map
00:18.2 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] DRAM Controller
00:18.3 Host bridge: Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. [AMD] K8 [Athlon64/Opteron] Miscellaneous Control
01:00.0 VGA compatible controller: NVIDIA Corporation NV40 [GeForce 6800 GT] (rev a1)

Let me know more information is needed. I'm a noob to Linux OS's so bare with me.

I cannot think why it is an issue - to be honest I have given up using proprietary drivers - I have an nVidia 620GT card and the colours go wrong - I am very happy with the Open Source drivers that run by default in Zorin and don't have any issues - apart from what I experienced in Zorin 6 on a different rig - Opera 12.16 dimming and 'freezing'. What you have to remember is that Proprietary Drivers (nVidia/AMD) are built for the Graphics Card - these might conflict with the Kernel in use which will have the correct open source driver for your card built in. I would advise removing your proprietary driver and see how your system fairs without it.

Lastly, you did state you had been running Zorin Lite which might be more suitable for your rig.

I think you are right unfortunately. I will switch back to lite so I can play my old Steam games. I might try Ubuntu to see if there is a difference.

Hi,

this might help a tad:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2490