512 mb or ram not enough :(

[Rafa 5.0]

I started playing HL2, it's freaking AWESOME!!!, but the game is sluggish and it stutters every 10 sec., so I'm thinking that the problem is gonna be my ram, i only have 512mb, I'm running the game with everything on high, no AA or AF(for now)
My question is, those people running the game with 512mb, are you experiencing something similar?, if so, what do you have the game set at and what kind of system do you have?
one more thing, what's the command to see your FPS?

if this helps, my system:

AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2Ghz
512 MB DDR RAM (will upgrade in about a week, buying 1 more gig of ram)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
250 Watt power supply (i want to buy a 300 watt soon)

 

[Ranadok]

That is almost exactly my system (128MB vid card RAM instead of 256), and I've been having the same problem. My FPS is high and fairly stable , except when it stutters every few minutes. It isn't quite every 10 seconds, but it was at the beginning of the game.

 

[smacky]

i have the same kind of system, only i have 128mb on my radeon. i have almost everything on high except a few on medium. i only have 2x AA and it runs smooth, only sometimes at the beginning of a level it stops for a sec or when i blow up alot of stuff

 

[shapeshifter]

yup its your ram, that stuttering is hd trashing (its using your swap ram on the hd)

 

[iNetter]

Before starting the game, make sure you have absolutely nothing else running except for XP and HL2. Try to terminate as many processes as possible (without crashing your comp of course).

Also: download and run this program just before you play HL2 to free up as much RAM as possible http://www.cyberlat.com/ramcleaner/

Hope that helps.

 

[tobe]

I started playing HL2, it's freaking AWESOME!!!, but the game is sluggish and it stutters every 10 sec., so I'm thinking that the problem is gonna be my ram, i only have 512mb, I'm running the game with everything on high, no AA or AF(for now)
My question is, those people running the game with 512mb, are you experiencing something similar?, if so, what do you have the game set at and what kind of system do you have?
one more thing, what's the command to see your FPS?

if this helps, my system:

AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2Ghz
512 MB DDR RAM (will upgrade in about a week, buying 1 more gig of ram)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
250 Watt power supply (i want to buy a 300 watt soon)

Rafa, I agree HL2 is awsome both graphicaly and game play. With reagrds to your prob do a search for Sound Issues in HL2. I get similar problems (but not as often as you mention) mainly with the sound stuttering and holding up the game, but dont think its your Ram, (tho you can never have too much IMO) i've got 768Mb DDR2700.

 

[tobe]

I started playing HL2, it's freaking AWESOME!!!, but the game is sluggish and it stutters every 10 sec., so I'm thinking that the problem is gonna be my ram, i only have 512mb, I'm running the game with everything on high, no AA or AF(for now)
My question is, those people running the game with 512mb, are you experiencing something similar?, if so, what do you have the game set at and what kind of system do you have?
one more thing, what's the command to see your FPS?

if this helps, my system:

AMD Athlon XP 3200+ 2.2Ghz
512 MB DDR RAM (will upgrade in about a week, buying 1 more gig of ram)
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB
250 Watt power supply (i want to buy a 300 watt soon)

Rafa, I agree HL2 is awsome both graphicaly and game play. With reagrds to your prob do a search for Sound Issues in HL2. I get similar problems (but not as often as you mention) mainly with the sound stuttering and holding up the game, but dont think its your Ram, (tho you can never have too much IMO) i've got 768Mb DDR2700 and have about 570Mb physical RAM free before I play HL2.

 

[Ahnteis]

I'm running the game with everything on high

Turn textures to medium. That's what Valve suggests for 512 MB RAM.

 

[Shadow-warrior]

People with 1gig are still having the sound stuttering problem so its probably the game.

 

[Rafa 5.0]

I'm running the game with everything on high

Turn textures to medium. That's what Valve suggests for 512 MB RAM.

Yeah, that's the first thing I did after I noticed the problem, so I turned it to medium and continue playing, and now it runs fine, with a stutter every now and then, yeah, im pretty sure it's the RAM, it's killing my system
can anyone tell me the command to get the FPS?

 

[Sanius]

I think the problem is your powersupply..

 

[JPack]

Treat yourself to a GB. Preferably 1.5 GB.

 

[DrSinistro]

it is not a PSU issue... i have the same problem but i'm running on a 700W psu

 

[Wraithen]

I tried it out with medium textures and the performance boost wasn't worthwhile considdering the reduction in detail. So I'm on mostly high and 2xAA (it does make a difference) and I put up with some infrequent pauses and sound issues (that weren't really fixed with the change anyway.

I must get an extra halg gig of RAM though... neeeed money

 

[Frezz]

First: HL2 is one of the best games I ever played!
I have the same problem. My fps is more then good, but for some reason my HD is loading someting every 5-10 sec, and then everything stops for a short moment. Im running the game with everything at high, 2xAA and 8xAF. I have no probelms with sound.

My computer:
- AMD XP3200
- Shapphire X800 PRO (16 pipes)
- 512 MB DDR RAM
- Creative soundblaster 1024

 

[<?>..::ButcheR::]

yep its your ram

 

[mayfer]

yes.. i have the same problem. i think everybody does. it especially annoys me when i'm using a fast vehicle, because it's loading all sorts of new stuff every couple seconds.
more ram...

 

[perrkele]

I've got the same problem, except that the stuttering is _very_ frequent. Basically it doesn't stutter only when I'm playing a level that I've already passed. But whenever I go to a "new" area, it's more than a bit painful to play, really! ;(

It seems as if whenever it loads a new sound, my HD goes completely crazy and the screen freezes (with sounds looping) until it's done doing whatever it does. I haven't got the slightest idea whether it's something about my RAM, or my sound card drivers or my HD... frustrating! It seems like many people with only 512mb of RAM seem to be playing the game without any stuttering, though so I'm sort of more inclined to think it's the sound card or HD. But then again, I have everything maxed out with 4x/8x AA/AF, so maybe I should first try lowering my settings and see what happens.

I've got 2.2ghz xp-m, 512mb ddr450 RAM, 6800GT, Sb live 5.1, 450W PSU, 160GB 7200rpm 8mb seagate HD etc.

PS. Despite the stuttering, though... a BRILLIANT game so far! I just reached Ravenholm and damn, what a ride! So much creativity that it hurts!

 

[Rafa 5.0]

Thx for all the replies, so I can safely assume that for most of us the problem is the RAM, meaning HL2 should really be played with 1GB+ of memory, right??

 

[Barnz]

Am playing with a GIG of good quality RAM and am getting exactly the same stuttering, I think its down to the game myself, also get that loading that seems to last forever, and the little loading bits in game.

Its a shame really as every other game runs perfect, doom 3, farcry e.t.c

 

[Koshibb]

how do i make sure that HL2 and CS:S is using all the RAM it needs, is there a way i can tell it to use all the ram ? and wats the best nvidia driver for the Source Engine?

FYI - I got 1 gig of ram...