After hearing much about the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT and how it doesn't work on some systems I have found a way to ensure that it works.  I have tested this method on 4 different systems, with MC 2.8 and 3.0 and here's how you get it to work:

Most people are experiencing a stall with MC at the point where ACPL loads. 

You will first need to download RiveTuner (do a Yahoo search)

To stop ACPL error on startup, open RivaTuner.  On MAIN tab under "Driver Setting", click on "customize" next to FORCE WARE DETECTED.   Click on option  "OPEN GL".  Look under "Compatibility" tab for "Open GL Version String Override".  The options on the pull-down begins with "no override". Click on "1.5" and then click out of RivaTuner and restart Composer 3.0.

 I tried that but for some reason it didn't work for me, still got the crash.  I have an 8800 GTS on one of my suites.  I had to go an emulate a Quadro 4600 with Rivatuner.  That seems to work just fine.

I

CR8VDO:

After hearing much about the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT and how it doesn't work on some systems I have found a way to ensure that it works.

Is this with the 320/640mbs version, or the 512mbs version?

Thanks for the solution!  It worked great for me.  I'm running MC 3.0 on a Dell XPS 1730 with Vista Ultimate.  Now that I've done the fix it seems to be rock solid.  No weird errors or crashes.  Thanks again for sharing the work around.  I and many others appreciate your efforts.

Chris

Great tip, worked for me, thanks!

 Did anyone here try the "Turn off threaded optimization" trick (details below)?  Some users have reported that this solved their Geforce issues with Avid MC 3.0.  Given that this fix can be set to automatically work with Avid and ONLY Avid, and does not require a third party app, it seems like the best solution -- IF, of course, it works.

From the thread http://community.avid.com/forums/p/61129/342973.aspx#342973

To turn OFF "Threaded Optimization,"  open the Nvidia Control Panel and go to "Manage 3D Settings > Threaded optimization" and switch it to "Off" (the default is "Auto.")

Thanks for any feedback on this,

Larry

 Yes, I tried that.  Did not work for me either (I was really hoping!).

I'm on XP 32bit with a 8800GTS.  I'm still stuck with the Quadro trick.

lalittle:

 Did anyone here try the "Turn off threaded optimization" trick (details below)?  Some users have reported that this solved their Geforce issues with Avid MC 3.0.

Hi Larry,

Just confirming that this adjustment DID work with my EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX

Dave

 I can verify that this also works with the nVidia Geforce GTX280 card. I was about to pull my hair out man, thanks so much for the tip.

 I just tried that and it didn't work for me.

This worked for my Machine running

Vista Ultimate 64 bit, 8 gig of Ram, Nividia Geforce 9600 GT

Thanks!

TylerBush:

 I just tried that and it didn't work for me.

 Which card are you using, and which drivers?  I'm trying to find a pattern to why this works for some people but not others.

By the way, for people using 8800GTS cards, could you please specify which memory version you're using (i.e. 320, 640, or 512 MB)?

Thanks,

Larry

Nividia Geforce 9600 GT Newest Drivers, Vista Ultimate 64 bit (Avid Not Supported), 8 gig of Ram. I have yet to start testing it, but i got the program to open after trying for 3 days.

TylerBush:

Nividia Geforce 9600 GT Newest Drivers, Vista Ultimate 64 bit (Avid Not Supported), 8 gig of Ram. I have yet to start testing it, but i got the program to open after trying for 3 days.

 What did you do to get it to start working?  You indicated that the "Disable Threaded Optimization" trick didn't work (correct?), so what DID finally work?

Thanks,

Larry

 This is what worked sorry.

You will first need to download RiveTuner (do a Yahoo search)

To stop ACPL error on startup, open RivaTuner.  On MAIN tab under "Driver Setting", click on "customize" next to FORCE WARE DETECTED.   Click on option  "OPEN GL".  Look under "Compatibility" tab for "Open GL Version String Override".  The options on the pull-down begins with "no override". Click on "1.5" and then click out of RivaTuner and restart Composer 3.0.

 I also did this first Turn off threaded optimization, but that didn't help. Or maybe a conbination of the two works, i haven't turned threaded optimization back on.