I normally don't use Temporal or Adaptive Anti Aliasling. I mostly leave CCC at default or change the AI to disabled.
How do I check if it is a IRQ conflict?
How do I access the card's BIOS?
I don't have another PCIe 16x slot and nor do I have my HDD in RAID, I only use 1 HDD.
HDD is probably in DMA mode.
How do I check if the HDD is accessed during stutter? Page file is left for windows to decide, which I know isn't recommended(but didn't kow what to set).
I have nothing extra (much) installed on my computers so there aren't many drivers. I don't install KB, mouse and monitor drivers.
Temps are fine, don't know about mem usage.
Tried clearing the CMOS(battery).
I don't use AV.
THE PROBLEMS (CURRENTLY IN DETAIL)
Little/Medium Problem Games:
UT04 Full:
Runs fine at 12x10 MAX no AA no AF in most Deathmatch maps where I don't use too many CPU bots(the lower the better plus map dependent).
Runs fine at/ok at 12x10 6x AA 16x HQ AF, but I don't think it runs as good as it does without AA and AF.
Runs ok with 6x AAA 16x HQ AF but I think it might be receiving some performance as well as FPS hit.
HL2
12x10 MAX AA AF(6x and 16x I think), runs fine, played very very little, no shooting at all, but that was fine.
GRAW
12x9 High no AA 16x HQ AF, runs acceptably, not many major issues, but not exactly perfect.
CoD2
12x10 MAX 4x AA 16x HQ AF, mostly runs decent(not perfect), some maps(the first one) seems to run a little crap when FPS dip relatively lower like mid 30s and lower 40s.
GTA San Andreas 12x10 6x AA 16x HQ AF, runs playable although definitely not perfect, plus texture loading issues when I walk while looking at the ground.
Doom3/Quake 4/Prey, runs playable at 12x10 MAX 4x AA, however they don't really seem to run that great. Quake 4 demo at 12x10 High 4x AA used to run a lot lot better than full Quake 4 at 12x10 UHigh. With these games I do get frequent performance issues, after interval of dozens of seconds maybe.
Chaos Theory demo, 12x10 MAX 4x AA, mostly runs fine, but not the best possible performance.
Hitman Blood Money demo, 12x10 MAX 4x AA, at best runs playable. Doesn't run too great and there is a lot lot more that I desire from it, which would actually make it a much better experience. Runs better without soft shadows and AA, however a 1900xtx doesn't need to loose them for the extra performance as my FPS are pretty good even without switching them off.
Fear Extraction Point demo, 12x9 MAX no AA, runs decently with the issues expected from ATi cards, not many hiccups here. With 4x AA the game become unplayable in certain areas but that is what a 1900xtx can anyway give according to benchies.
Battlefield 2 demo, 12x10 MAX, doesn't run that good.
Battlefield 2142 demo online, runs ok at 12x10 4x AA on a 200-250Kbps internet connection.
Most Wanted 12x10 4x AA, runs playable but not great. In some areas I may be still getting the tree/building or even road stuttering plus the game runs slightly choppy(not unplayable), I think a 1900xtx should do much more than this.
HUGE PROBLEMS
Fear full, 12x9 MAX 4x AA, 16x AF, the first map was ok for ATI cards overall, the beginning of the second map was also fine. But when I used cheats to skip to higher levels, mostly the game runs like crap and very often the FPS are very bad as well even without anybody in the vicinity. This game almost kind of runs unplayable.
NFS Carbon demo, runs ok at 800x600 lowest settings with occasional hiccups which shouldn't be there at these settings. With 10x7 High/Max with shaders at medium and motion blur off with no AA and maybe no AF, the game runs crap, it runs choppy, really choppy, plus it stutters. UNPLAYABLE
Age of Empires III Warchiefs Demo, mouse cursor lag/stutter issue especially over trees unless I keep dragging the mouse over the same areas constantly.
Then it becomes ok only at that exact place, if I go to a previous place again or move villagers the game again becomes unplayable as it gives that stutter. This issue comes atleast to a certain extent if I use the FRAPS record video key but then the game anyways becomes really choppy. UNPLAYABLE
Company of Heroes Demo, runs fine at 800x600 lowest. Runs with lag/stutter at 12x10/9 MAX no AA.
SS2 demo, Runs scarely playable, with frequent stutters and performance issues at 12x10/9 MAX no AA.
I have tried VSync in many games, it gives a performance hit to FPS, causes motion of the game to be uneven(, fast for a second and then slow motion), doesn't remove image tearing fully and sometimes causes stutters which weren't previously there.
I have removed the sound card which made things better atleast in MW.
What I don't understand is that why do some games like Carbon and CoH run fine at lowest settings but with High settings run real crap. Is my CPU being a Winchester and not Venice making so much of a difference as I don't have SSE3? My CPU is tried at 2 and 2.4GHz mainly, is it still that much of a bottleneck?
I tried a 6600GT and the problems were still the same, either there on both or on none. Soon I will try a different motherboard maybe with different 2 X 512mb RAM with all other things being the same maybe except the HDD(if I can try another one). And I recall right I was having issues even before upgrading which I may have neglected blaming to the 6600GT.
What do you guys think?