HL2 - Can it handle X2s?

[momeeno]

Hi.

I'd just like to a give a big thanks to Valve for making a really, really stupid game delivery system. I won't be buying any more products from Valve. But anyway.

Half Life 2. It should run on my system without any major hiccups.

It doesn't. I have an X2 4400+, 1GB Corsair PC3200 XLL, SATA2 250GB HDD, Audigy 2 ZS, X800 Pro.

I get stuttering sounds, the gameplay is laggy, it pauses every couple of seconds. It's stupid. I'm not happy.

Helf.

 

[sinkoman]

Hi.

I'd just like to a give a big thanks to Valve for making a really, really stupid game delivery system. I won't be buying any more products from Valve. But anyway.

Nobody cares, take your whining elsewhere.

Half Life 2. It should run on my system without any major hiccups.

It doesn't. I have an X2 4400+, 1GB Corsair PC3200 XLL, SATA2 250GB HDD, Audigy 2 ZS, X800 Pro.

I get stuttering sounds, the gameplay is laggy, it pauses every couple of seconds. It's stupid. I'm not happy.

Helf.

Nope, it's you just expecting "OMFG I SHELLED OUT ALL THIS CASH ON MY L33T SYSTEM AND NOW I CAN RUN ALL GAMES AT FULL!!!".

It's the stuttering bug, caused by a hardware incompatability issue, most likely your soundcard. Take it out then try again.

 

[momeeno]

Ow, my pride - I'm going to cry. I really am. Seriously. That hurt. Especially that bit about me expecting the l33tz0r357 framZ ev0r @ FULL!!!!oneoneone. I feel the need to point out that an Nforce 3 Ultra motherboard and an AGP X800 Pro aren't exactly "L33t", and I don't expect 120FPS at 1920x1440 with 4xAA and 16x Anisotropy. But I believe that an X2 4400+ and an X800 Pro should give me smooth gameplay.

Still drunk from last night are we? Is being able to play a game straight after installing it an unreasonable request? I think not. I think being forced to spend 3 hours updating a game before being able to play it is highly dubious. And 'whining' is such a base, mundane and cliched descriptor. But that's beside the point.

If the stuttering bug is being caused by a hardware compatibility issue ie the soundcard, then surely the fault lies with the developer seeing as how I'm using the world's most commonly supported add-on soundcard. Maybe the second most commonly supported soundcard after the Live! and a few integrated solutions.

I have a hard time believing that in order to play this game (which by the by was delayed numerous times 'in order to iron out all the issues') I have to remove my $200 soundcard and use my AC'97. Actually, I find it quite easy to believe. What I find hard to believe is the fact that there is no definitive solution to this problem almost a year after the game's release. What the hell was the 3 hours of patching for?!

 

[Lbdwag]

try doing any of the patching (which once Steam finds out that there is a patch you cannot play until they are installed) over dialup... yeah... I had to take my computer to work and update it there.... I'm over it, don't like it, but I use Offline mode now...

Anyways, as with removing you AG2 card... have you tried different drivers for it? For my 6800 video card I had to revert to 2 or 3 dirver revisions back before I could get HL2, HL2DM, and UT2k4 to work correctly.

 

[diluted]

Don't mind him, he's one of the many Steam apologists on these forums. Criticize Steam in any way and a few of them always seem to come out of the woodwork and start flaming away. Just ignore it.

You're right to assume that HL2 should run pretty much flawlessly on a machine like that. Do you have spare hardware lying around that you could swap with the current stuff in your computer? Soundcard, memory, hard drive, etc. You could try swapping one piece of hardware out, if nothing changes, then try another one... and maybe you could pinpoint the cause of the problem. That's the only thing I can think of.

 

[CookieCuttah]

Hey try snd_mixahead .2 or .9. Just play with those. Also have a look at the sound options.
Try some new drivers. Redownload half-life 2.
Last of all, look over the snd_ commands, you could try doing the async one.

 

[momeeno]

Well, I've already tried swapping the RAM with some Kingston DDR, that didn't help. I ran the game with a 6600GT in it, and that didn't help.

I haven't tried removing the soundcard yet because I paid a couple of hundred bucks for it... and $1200 for the Pioneer stereo system I'm running off it.. I'll try using older creative drivers. 2-3 revisions behind you say? I'll look around.

CookieCuttah: snd_mixahead .2 or .9; I assume these are console commands? Can they be used in the command line, ie -snd_mixahead .2?

Thanks.

BTW, funnily enough Lost Coast at 1280x1024, HDR, 2xAA, 16xAF everything on full gives me no stuttering and 60+ FPS! What the hell?!

 

[Cole]

Try defragging one night, if HL2 files are all over the place on your HD, then your computer is basically searching for the files thus causing stutering. I think there is a console command that prefetches all the textures before hand(longer load time but less stuttering).

 

[sinkoman]

Don't mind him, he's one of the many Steam apologists on these forums. Criticize Steam in any way and a few of them always seem to come out of the woodwork and start flaming away. Just ignore it.

There's a difference between somebody saying "I don't like steam very much" and somebody saying "This is so stupid, I don't think i'll buy anything from them ever again! HA!"

I tried to help bucko. I sure as hell hope this doesn't turn into another flame fest, like the "LC being a pain" thread.

Well, anyway, did you try removing your soundcard like I said? There have been a few compatability issues with the audigy's and HL2.

You don't have to leave it out, just take it out and see if it helps

 

[Beerdude26]

If the stuttering bug is being caused by a hardware compatibility issue ie the soundcard, then surely the fault lies with the developer seeing as how I'm using the world's most commonly supported add-on soundcard. Maybe the second most commonly supported soundcard after the Live! and a few integrated solutions.

Actually, no. They aren't responsible for hardware compatibility issues. But because they're such great people they're working on a patch for it anyway. Loads of games don't support certain sound- and video cards.

 

[NeptuneUK]

hang on i dont get it.... its VALVES fault that YOUR PC doesnt run it

 

[ríomhaire]

The updates are completely worth it. If you didn't use those 3 hours to download then you would have had 3 hours extra load time(exaguration), more stuttering, the soldiers wouldn't nade properly and your stuttering would be worse.

 

[ZeeM]

read sig

 

[sinkoman]

read sig

Nobody cares.

 

[ukfluke]

does it run all other games like Doom 3 or far cry ok?

if so we can assume you have the same problem as many others. I have 2 things for you to try.

1. If your using catalyst drivers try changing to omega drivers. http://www.omegadrivers.net/ this solved it instantly for many ati users.

2. "snd_async_fullyasync 1" type this into console or add it to your config.cfg file. This also solved it for many people.

I think theres a new problem as after the update 11/9 lots of poeple have bad stutter. your not the only one i get it too. we have to wait for valve to fix their crappy code. http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=365603

 

[Beerdude26]

I think theres a new problem as after the update 11/9 lots of poeple have bad stutter. your not the only one i get it too. we have to wait for valve to fix their crappy code.

Technically, it's their crappy Xbox code

 

[ukfluke]

beerdude26, was it the optimization code from xbox they were putting in the last update?

 

[Beerdude26]

beerdude26, was it the optimization code from xbox they were putting in the last update?

Yes.

Doesn't seem quite optimized, but meh

 

[ZeeM]

Nobody cares.

Maybe when you stop the valve ass-licking