Hiccuping in HL2... bottleneck?

[Rogue 2]

In HL2 I get "stuttering" before new objects, enemies, etc. pop on the screen.. pegs the HDD until it's cached, I'm assuming, but there's always this hiccup as it's accessing the HDD.
I'd like to remedy the problem as inexpensively as possible (hey we all have to pay the bills, right?)

My system:
Barton 2500+
MSI KT6VLSR
512MB Geil PC3200 2.5-6-3-3
80GB Samsung HDD 2MB cache 7200 RPM ATA133
XFX GF6600GT 128MB AGP
SB Live
Samsung CD-ROM

My initial thought was to add another stick of ram to bump it up to 1GB. But then I thought maybe the HDD was too slow. Or maybe my virtual memory settings are off.

Suggestions? Many thanks!

 

[montag451]

Try a defrag, and make sure that no other software is running [inc antivirus], and that no non-essential proggies start up at boot

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Actually this has been a known bug with HL2 under certain circumstances. There are some updates available, have you connected to STEAM and downloaded them?

 

[Rogue 2]

Yep, I have all HL2 Steam updates... also, I'm running 6600GT drivers 67.03.. would newer beta drivers make a difference?

 

[imported_jzimo]

I would try new drivers. It could help.

 

[biostud]

+512Mb ram

 

[fishmonger12]

there's been problems with the hl2 sound...

also, your cpu\ram are limiting. hard to tell which one, they are pretty even.