FPS Problems on a Decent System.

[AntiPastry]

Running HL2DM on 1024x768 with all settings on low except for textures, which is on high, I get between 15 and 80 fps, averaging around 35 or so, but frequently dipping into unplayable fps depending on the map.

System Specs:
Radeon 9800 pro
3ghz Pentium 4
Asus P4P800S motherboard
1024 mb pc32000 ram

As far as I know, people who have worse systems can run this more smoothly. Most recent Catalyst drivers are installed. Any suggestions?

 

[Llama]

what internet connecrion are you using?

 

[Gunner]

Add these to your config.cfg and make it read-only:

mat_specular "0"
mat_bumpmap "0"
cl_phys_props_enable "0"
cl_phys_props_max "0"

Also add -heapsize 512000 to your HL2DM shortcut.

Uninstall old apps & games, defrag, disable all HKLM & HKCU autoruns in /software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/run

Install latest motherboard drivers.

Overclock the 9800 pro or even flash it to XT.

You could also play around with the cas timing on your ram but I wouldn't =p

 

[.syL]

Nah, you should get decent frames with a system like that, even without tweaking. Framerates dropping to an unaccaptable level on a system like yours could point to faulty hardware. Do you have problems with other (hardware demanding) games? I'd suggest the following:

As gunner suggested, check for recent drivers, especially for your gfx card. After that, I'd strongly recommend running some hardware tests to be sure everything's ok. 3d mark is a good start, but to be really sure run both the prime95 stress test and memtest for at least 12 hours. http://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v238.exe and http://www.memtest86.com/memt32.zip. (in prime95, when starting the stress test, use the second method).

IMPORTANT: Be sure to check your system temperature the first hour or so when running prime95, especially for your CPU. And insufficiently cooled system can produce frame drops like yours. If that should be the case, check that your CPU fan is hasn't come loose (even a tiny bit can make a difference).
The prime95 readme explains the stress tests, so be sure to read that.

To test your gfx card, you can use 3d mark and ATI tool (http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/).

If you pass all tests without errors, you can be pretty sure that your hardware is ok. In that case, I'd recommend a fresh install of Steam and all HL2 files, and if that doesn't help a clean windows install.

Besides, testing your system with prime95 and memtest is always a good idea, especially if you've just bought new hardware. I had a similar problem to yours, and it turned out that a corner of my cpu was broken of (probably happend during a lan ). However, it was only noticable in 3d games, and even then, cs 1.6 was still running fine.

 

[diluted]

Try the 5.1 Catalysts and see if that makes any difference. I've been having problems with the newer versions.

 

[ComradeBadger]

Add these to your config.cfg and make it read-only:

mat_specular "0"
mat_bumpmap "0"
cl_phys_props_enable "0"
cl_phys_props_max "0"

Also add -heapsize 512000 to your HL2DM shortcut.

Uninstall old apps & games, defrag, disable all HKLM & HKCU autoruns in /software/microsoft/windows/currentversion/run

Install latest motherboard drivers.

Overclock the 9800 pro or even flash it to XT.

You could also play around with the cas timing on your ram but I wouldn't =p

The heapsize tip really helped my FPS getting 99FPS constant now!

All on High and 1024x768 on a 6600GT

Ta mate

 

[AntiPastry]

Yeah, I had the heapsize in the launch options, and those things in my config already, and my 9800 pro is actually at XT speeds at factory clock, and I had it overclocked a bit with ATI Tool, at safe levels of course. I'm on a cable connection, though I don't see a correlation between connection and fps. I dunno about those autoruns in the registry though, so I won't mess with it.

I thought possibly hardware problems as well. Before, I would get 76 fps constant in Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory, but now it's far less, and that isn't exactly a graphics intensive game. Playing regular CS, the fps doesn't seem appropriate to what is on screen. So yeah, I'll run the artifact test in ATI tool and those other tests as well.

 

[netrex]

I have kinda similar specs:

• Motherboard: ASUS P4P800 Deluxe
• CPU: P4 2.6GHz PC800
• RAM: TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Dual Pack
• GFX: Excalibur Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB

And I also get really bad FPS, and the stuff you posted Gunner didn't do it

Overclock the 9800 pro or even flash it to XT.

But, Will this work with any Radeon 9800 Pro card?

 

[.syL]

AFAIK only certain 9800pro cards can be flashed and even then it's risky. I have a 9500np softmodded to 9700 and am getting high fps pretty much all the time, although my gfx settings are all on low. I've played to hl2 singleplayer though with settings on high without much of a problem. Chances are, something's either wrong with your system or some hl2dm bug is kicking in.

 

[netrex]

I had no problems with full details when I played HL2 singleplayer in 1024x768. But DM is just screwy..

 

[justmatt]

I've been having similar problems on a 2800+/9700 pro system. I used to be able to play DM at 1024 with high settings fine, now it's choppy as hell. However, I checked my temps and for some reason my system is running hot. I'm planning to get a new case/etc for my computer soon, so hopefully that will help cool things down. I'd check your temps.

 

[mrkab00m]

Running HL2DM on 1024x768 with all settings on low except for textures, which is on high, I get between 15 and 80 fps, averaging around 35 or so, but frequently dipping into unplayable fps depending on the map.

System Specs:
Radeon 9800 pro
3ghz Pentium 4
Asus P4P800S motherboard
1024 mb pc32000 ram

As far as I know, people who have worse systems can run this more smoothly. Most recent Catalyst drivers are installed. Any suggestions?

Heehee, I'm on a 1.8 P4 with just 256 ram, and an fx5200, my average fps is around 40.

 

[s3pReMiSis]

512mb ddr pc2700 ram
geforce ti4200 128mb
p4 2.4ghz CPU

my fps are 50-100

 

[satch919]

I say that you try different drivers. The latest ATi drivers slowed down my performance a lot. (Catalyst 5.2s) I now use the latest Omega Drivers and they work great so far.

 

[oni_666]

Heehee, I'm on a 1.8 P4 with just 256 ram, and an fx5200, my average fps is around 40.

I think you'll find, If you benchmark properly, That your average fps on your system would be very much below 40 fps.


If you download and run the benchmark from here..

http://www.benchemall.com/

It will run a benchmark for HL2, You may, if your lucky get a average of 40fps at low settings, in HL2, But at maximum settings, You will be lucky to get an average of half of that 40.

The 40fps you are seeing is probably what you see if you enter "cl_showfps 1" in the console, And this will only be with "gordon" standing in one place, As soon as you select high settings and get into an Intense firefight, then this 40fps will drop to almost nothing.

My system, The FX5900XT which is about 4 times as fast as a 5200 averages about 40fps, This is all the time,on maximum settings, with 8x AF, even in Intense firefights, Not when just standing in one place.

 

[Dancingwllamas]

In my experience, the Catalyst 4.12s are the best for HL2, but I haven't tried Omegas.

 

[AntiPastry]

On my system listed in the first post I got 2051 3dmarks, 3007 as cpu score from 3dmark2005. As far as I know, 2051 3dmarks is a little bit low, and I don't know about the cpu score.

 

[netrex]

My system, The FX5900XT which is about 4 times as fast as a 5200 averages about 40fps, This is all the time,on maximum settings, with 8x AF, even in Intense firefights, Not when just standing in one place.

I hope you're not playing with 8x AF that would be a total waste

 

[Flyingbig]

Running HL2DM on 1024x768 with all settings on low except for textures, which is on high, I get between 15 and 80 fps, averaging around 35 or so, but frequently dipping into unplayable fps depending on the map.

System Specs:
Radeon 9800 pro
3ghz Pentium 4
Asus P4P800S motherboard
1024 mb pc32000 ram

As far as I know, people who have worse systems can run this more smoothly. Most recent Catalyst drivers are installed. Any suggestions?

And you believe them? Seriously dude, if you ask someone what size they are they will always add an inch, its human nature. Same applies to gamers. Its a boasting contest. I have an AMD64 3500+, 1 gig of ram and a 6600gt and although hl2 runs great, CS and more specifically HL2 deathmatch run abit less well for whatever reason. Its normal for the game to drop to around 30 frames. Hope this helps.

P.S. CS will normally drop to around 40 rather than 30 during serious fire fights. Hl2dm is just more stressful for a graphics card, i'd like to know why.

 

[GonzoBabbleshit]

I don't get any fps issues...

P4 Prescott 3.2Ghz
1gb ram (Crucial, PC3200)
Sapphire x800 pro

usually between 40 and 100