Graphics problem

[bebopSI]

I have an Alienware Area-51 Extreme Laptop: 3.4GHz, 1gb Ram, Geforce FX go5700 (128mb) video card. I payed an assload for this computer and it should be able to run the game reasonably well. The game reccomends almost all of the highest settings for video as well. The problem is...the game runs near perfectly for 15 or so minutes and then the screen flickers....it lags for 15 seconds...then flickers (actually appears to turn off and on really quickly) again and it runs perfectly for another 30 seconds and repeats. During this period there is very slow frame rate and stuttering. I have the latest driver from the alienware support site, i have direct x 9.0c, all programs are closed and it continues to do this even when i set all the video settings to the lowest possible. What is causing this problem? this also occurs in CS course in the same fashion. I'm confused please help.

 

[Phirax]

If you post a screenshot of your problem (assuming you can capture it), it will help someone determine your problem.

I also get display errors, from some reason some textures seem to display corrupt almost like i'm getting artifacts. I know its not due to a hardware issue, so I can only assume its the ATi drivers (which i've tried multiple versions). The problem becomes worse when i switch on effects such as FSAA and AF, however turning eye candy to minimum produces no improvement.

I'd post a screenshot, however I'm at work atm.

**Edit Update**
Found an example of the problem I have (and no I don't have my GFX Card OC'd)

BTW My System Is,
AMD Athlon 2800+ (Barton)
ASUS A7V8X Rev 1.04
1Gb Kingston HyperX PC3200
HiS Radeon 9800 Pro IceQ
SoundBlaster Live 5.1 SE <- sound stuttering when using this card
Philips Sound Edge <- No sound stuttering when using this card.

 

[bebopSI]

A screen shot would show nothing useful. the screen just all the sudden flickers for a fraction of a second (uncatchable) and it starts to slow down considerably for 15 or so seconds and then it fixes itself. This only happens after about 15 minutes of reasonably well run gameplay, but continues on the afformentioned cycle and does not cease until i quit and start HL2 up again.

 

[Phirax]

Hmm that sounds more like a hardware throttle issue, either CPU or Graphics Card, but with all the bugs in this game you can't rule anything out..

** Edit Update **

Here is a link to show an actually screenshot from my PC and its texture issue..

http://img118.exs.cx/img118/394/hl2_hl2_cg.jpg

sorry i didn't mean to post the actual image in this thread in my above post.. I can't edit to just make it into a link..

 

[Mambo]

I am getting the exact same errors as they look in your above image. I have an ATI 9600 Pro, newest ati drivers and via drivers. nothing seems to help except reloading the level.

 

[Phirax]

After looking around for a while, it seems that if you use the 4.12 Beta drivers, and also Catalyst Control Centre you can switch some feature called A.I off which is supposed to fix the problem. Unfortunately i have to wait to get home before i can confirm it..

 

[DetonatorDc]

hmz, strange, i also have an Ati Radeon 9600 pro, and exactly the same problem as you! I first had it with the 4.11 drivers, then i switched to 4.12 beta drivers, suddenly I thought it was gone.

But now i again notice texture problems on mostly the gun I am carrying.

 

[CR0M]

bebopSI - could it be your firewall? or an auto update for something running in the background? I get the same thing in CoD online when my firewall decides to kick in - screen flickers, everything slows right down. The only way to get out of it is to minimise the game and disable whatever has decided to run in windows.
Just a thought.

 

[bebopSI]

i dont think thats it, i make sure nothing is running, and i have no firewall...just a a linksys router. My machine should more then run this game and it doesnt sound like a video card problem. Why would it run perfectly and then decide to behave that way only after about 15 minutes have passed and not be affected by any if the video settings even they are set to low. Screen resolution doesnt change it either.

 

[Phirax]

Hey, well in my case installing Catalyst Control Centre, and disabling A.I with the 4.12 Beta drivers fixed my problem. Played for 3 hours without a single issue

 

[CR0M]

i dont think thats it, i make sure nothing is running, and i have no firewall...

You would be surprised - windows updates run without you knowing if you have auto update enabled and can drag other apps right down. Check your running processes.

 

[DetonatorDc]

The new ATI Catalyst 4.12 drivers solve this problem, go download them.

 

[countuebles]

Must not be windows, could be steam too. But I concur. And new drivers seldom hurt.

But do you guys have the same problems when you scale the texture quality down?

 

[DetonatorDc]

For me, it made no difference when playing on high texture settings and on medium texture settings. --> With both settings my textures got mad.