Ati cards are very CPU dependent from what I understand. You said you have the case left opened? do you have anything overclocked and have it oppen to cool it down? If so, un-oc everything.
Also try rage3d.com and get rage 3d tweak. it has a setting for HL games, try that and see it it works better then. Also, the Omega drivers generally work better than Ati's drivers, if you have not done so already, go to omegacorner.com and get the newest omega drivers.
I can't really think of anything else other than it may be win98. Try using XP or 2000.
I had issues with a few of my games made in 98 (the year 1998/7) so.. I don't like 2k.. at least not for games... in fact SP1 for 2k disabled 5 of the games I had when I had 2k.. so I had to upgrade to XP pro woot!
You are using the new catalysts right? On my 9800pro, I was getting only 60 fps with supplied drivers, but when I installed the cats I got constant 100fps.
1. Yes I used the newest 4.5 Catalysts, the 3.1s, the 3.6s and Omega versions of several of these and probably some versions whose isntall files I've deleted by now.
2. Yes I've used Rage3DTweak. Yes I tried the HL settings as well as a list of other recommendations.
3. Again, other games ran without that much hassle. Also people with 2x faster CPUs than mine report the same issue - meaning severe and unwarranted FPS drops as soon as players and structures show up on screen. Its minor in CS, and major in NS. The drops went down to 5 FPS or less (and easily capped out at 100 away from any offending objects).
4. I also tried the Omega drivers. No cheesecake.. err luck.
Like I said, try using win XP or 2000... I'm guessing that Ati didn't have a 7 year old OS in mind for their new high tech card. Instead of spending 100 bucks on a video card, get a new version of windows.
<!--QuoteBegin-Caboose+May 28 2004, 11:18 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (Caboose @ May 28 2004, 11:18 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Like I said, try using win XP or 2000... I'm guessing that Ati didn't have a 7 year old OS in mind for their new high tech card. Instead of spending 100 bucks on a video card, get a new version of windows. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd--> i concur.
I'm never gonna spend a dime on any version of windows <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
That aside, again negatory. Its simply an unresolved HL issue that ATI users across the board with all OSes have experienced - or at least, thats what the countless reports of the problem indicate. A lucky few are simply PC inepts and clogged up their system beforehand although it was working fine, whereas the majority can never get good HL performance with a specific set of components. Which set this is seems entirely arbitrary and not related to wether or not its top-performing gear (outside the extreme cases of course, like sub 800 Mhz CPUs or tiny RAM).
Which crackpot are you getting your assumptions from? Back in the day when HL came out, 100 FPS steady at a respectable resolution was a shocking concept. Theres visual reasons why you can perceive a difference between the bare minimum for fluid motion and high FPS, thanks to a moving PoV, lack of motion blur and crisp edges. It doesn't have much to do with the HL engine at all.
You gotta look around for deals on the web, man. I got a GeForce FX 5200 SERIOUSLY on the cheap. I can't remember too well, but I'm pretty sure it was like $70 or something.
Anyway, I run win2k, a R9500, and no problems here. Granted, my framerates are lower than expected, but that's a HL issue. most of the time i get 99 fps, rarely dropping below 70. So...I dunno.
Comments
Ati cards are very CPU dependent from what I understand. You said you have the case left opened? do you have anything overclocked and have it oppen to cool it down? If so, un-oc everything.
Also try rage3d.com and get rage 3d tweak. it has a setting for HL games, try that and see it it works better then. Also, the Omega drivers generally work better than Ati's drivers, if you have not done so already, go to omegacorner.com and get the newest omega drivers.
I can't really think of anything else other than it may be win98. Try using XP or 2000.
As for using win 2K for gaming.. EWWWWW!!!!!
2. Yes I've used Rage3DTweak. Yes I tried the HL settings as well as a list of other recommendations.
3. Again, other games ran without that much hassle. Also people with 2x faster CPUs than mine report the same issue - meaning severe and unwarranted FPS drops as soon as players and structures show up on screen. Its minor in CS, and major in NS. The drops went down to 5 FPS or less (and easily capped out at 100 away from any offending objects).
4. I also tried the Omega drivers. No cheesecake.. err luck.
i concur.
That aside, again negatory. Its simply an unresolved HL issue that ATI users across the board with all OSes have experienced - or at least, thats what the countless reports of the problem indicate. A lucky few are simply PC inepts and clogged up their system beforehand although it was working fine, whereas the majority can never get good HL performance with a specific set of components. Which set this is seems entirely arbitrary and not related to wether or not its top-performing gear (outside the extreme cases of course, like sub 800 Mhz CPUs or tiny RAM).
Anyway, I run win2k, a R9500, and no problems here. Granted, my framerates are lower than expected, but that's a HL issue. most of the time i get 99 fps, rarely dropping below 70. So...I dunno.