Is there any way to enable fullres displacement maps and full bump maps in half life 2 without switching to direct x 9.0? I remember i once had full bump maps in hl2 after switching back and forth from 8.1 to 9.0 then staying with 8.1.
I'm playing on a 5700.
HL2DM is much more stressing than css. Maybe you should get more ram, maybe check for stuff running in the background?
BTW, i've always wanted a 3:4 aspect ratio monitor :E