Half-Life 2 Runs Terrible...HELP!!

[Aviatin']

ended up formatting machine, and installing the newest Omega Drivers based on the Newest ATI drivers that were just realesed.

i am running high resolutions and everything seems good also added that extra 1gb of ram, excellent. i believe its the omega drivers to explain for this. thanks guys

can't believe no one suggested to run driver cleaner and completely remove all the nvidia drivers. i had the exact same problem before and it was because of ATI and NV drivers clashing.

[Inferno83]

can't believe no one suggested to run driver cleaner and completely remove all the nvidia drivers. i had the exact same problem before and it was because of ATI and NV drivers clashing.

I have a base install of my system already on a Ghost Image, so its no problem to load up a new "install" of my machine, instead of trying to patch the system with driver clean ups.

Was thinking of running the game at 2xAA or 4xAA do you think my Video Card would start to lag with that setting on? All other settings in the game are at HIGH

[runamonk]

I have a base install of my system already on a Ghost Image, so its no problem to load up a new "install" of my machine, instead of trying to patch the system with driver clean ups.

Was thinking of running the game at 2xAA or 4xAA do you think my Video Card would start to lag with that setting on? All other settings in the game are at HIGH

With a 9800XT you'll get some jerk in the larger fights and such but it'll be okay. Remember the game was designed to run "Good" with the 9800xt as it was the highend card at the time.

[RacerX27]

can't believe no one suggested to run driver cleaner and completely remove all the nvidia drivers. i had the exact same problem before and it was because of ATI and NV drivers clashing.

I don't suggest driver cleaner because more often then not it can cause problems.

I can't tell you how many threads I've read that someone used driver cleaner and it made some kind of problem.

A fresh install is always best with major hardware changes. MBs, video cards, sound cards. Oh golly esp sound cards. Fresh installs will clear almost every issue thats driver related.

[Aviatin']

I don't suggest driver cleaner because more often then not it can cause problems.

I can't tell you how many threads I've read that someone used driver cleaner and it made some kind of problem.

A fresh install is always best with major hardware changes. MBs, video cards, sound cards. Oh golly esp sound cards. Fresh installs will clear almost every issue thats driver related.

i have never had an issue using driver cleaner, although i have only used it for gfx cards, not for anything else, ever. as long as you use it in safe mode, it works just fine

[Aviatin']

I have a base install of my system already on a Ghost Image, so its no problem to load up a new "install" of my machine, instead of trying to patch the system with driver clean ups.

now that is a pretty good idea, i should have done that. but i have my base install + the basic programs and drivers i needed ready to go with True Image.

[Inferno83]

now that is a pretty good idea, i should have done that. but i have my base install + the basic programs and drivers i needed ready to go with True Image.

yeap it took me awhile to get a good image, it has all my motherboard drivers, and drivers for everything EXCEPT my video card. I have the My Documents folder linked to a seperate partition on my drive, so i never loose anything when i ghost my machine.

it truley gives me the ability to test out which graphics drivers improve FPS for certain games.

yes I know my 9800XT is not the newest and greatest, but I take pride in the fact that its the fastest Series 9 card and I have it overclocked at a pretty good speed right now and I think i have headroom to go to 450MHZ!!!

PS - What exactly does AA do?>? THanks

[Chiles4]

Not only do I "Ghost", but I create a series of about 3 images:

1. one with XP freshly installed and, simple tweaks applied, and XP activated.
2. one with Nvidia platform drivers installed so I can use the onboard NIC and get on the net
3. one with XP updates applied
4. one with DX9, graphics and audio drivers installed
etc., etc.

That's not exactly how I do it but you get the idea.

After having been at this forum for quite a few years, I'm reflecting on the posts regarding poor performance for a specific game. And it's amazing how it rarely boils down to something simple like add more memory or defrag your drive. So much of the time the real answer is something that cannot even be determined because it's some bizarre software issue related to the game, drivers, DirectX, or the OS. And it's not like we can do much serious trouble-shooting when software is involved except for obvious remedies like trying different drivers, reinstalling the game, or reinstalling DirectX, maybe changing video settings.

So many times, when I read about such problems, I say to myself (after all the really obvious attempts have been tried), I can't tell you what the problem is but I'd lay down a $50 bet that if you reinstalled everything from a bare drive (partition) that your problem would be solved.

Sure, it's a drastic measure but think of it as a wordy pitch for TrueImage or Norton Ghost. There's nothing like the feeling of having a completely fresh install and having everything working perfectly.

OT (or more OT I should say): This thread (poor perf. in HL2) is by no means an example for this but alot of the time its actually quicker to reload everything then spend hours, days, or weeks trying to save a sick OS.

[3dfxrain]

When I owned the game it didnt run smooth, it was terrible. Stuttering bug. I heard there was a system wide bug which caused the whole computer to slow down. When with Valve you need a strong sense of the term "Buyer Beware". I had no answer to it. Even with updates and stuff. In the end I got bored of HL2 and very angry. I was even forced to make a new account because I lost my password and they wouldnt let me have a new one! it would be so easy to get me a new password, but they were so incompetant, the new account I made to this day couldnt be traced although I havent needed to use it. I believe there are other games that are higher quality.

[chris89]

i didn't read all the posts but this is a first, i knew hl2 is quite demanding, but it runs and looks alot better than any other dx9 game. I can run hl2 / counter-strike source at 1600x1200 with 6X AA and 16XAF with no vsync or color correction and everything on high and still get well about 60 fps all the time. I wish more of these newer dx9 games would run and look as good.

[Inferno83]

hehehe, its been 1 year since I posted this. and since have bought a ATI X1950XT *drools*. I can easily max out every option in HL2, Farcry, Doom3, and Quake 4, and the card STILL has room to be pushed more. I AM IN LOVE with this card, and have gone BACK to play some of the games i had already played and conquered to see the visuals and quality i missed the first time 'round. !!!

[chris89]

That's sweet. That card costs a crap load of money. I'm going with the R600 in few months so i can play DX10 games, like Crysis, But yeah that card is crazy fast, What's your system setup?

[DerekUGA]

can't believe no one suggested to run driver cleaner and completely remove all the nvidia drivers. i had the exact same problem before and it was because of ATI and NV drivers clashing.

Yeah I was shocked by that too. Seemed like an obvious case of old driver hanging on for dear life-itis. Oh well, glad you got it fixed & thanks everyone for telling us how crappy Steam is so I didn't go buy HL2 off a bargain bin.

[Inferno83]

That's sweet. That card costs a crap load of money. I'm going with the R600 in few months so i can play DX10 games, like Crysis, But yeah that card is crazy fast, What's your system setup?

Actually it was not "that" bad it was $350Canadian for the card. Considering the XTX, is about $650 Canadian..

I have an overclocked Pentium D820 @ 3.0GHZ, 2GBytes RAM and that glorious video card and everything runs perfect...hehehe

[chris89]

Actually it was not "that" bad it was $350Canadian for the card. Considering the XTX, is about $650 Canadian..

I have an overclocked Pentium D820 @ 3.0GHZ, 2GBytes RAM and that glorious video card and everything runs perfect...hehehe

I'm going to be getting a completely new system pretty soon and i'm looking forward for the r600. What other games have you played? Have you played Call of Duty 2? at maxed out graphics with no lag? I'm anticipating these new dx10 and sm3.0 games... like R6 Vegas and Tomb Raider Legend... to see them in sm3.0 flawlessly... o, im going with the e6600 intel core 2 duo, Crucial Ballistix ddr2-800 1gig kit, r600 when it comes out ... and an audigy or something better than a sound blaster live 5.1.....