Problems with The Orange Box...

[Silvinte]

See, theres this problem I'm having with Portal and TF2. I haven't checked out HL2:EP2 yet, but I'm pretty sure it has the same problem.

Anywho, heres my problem: whenever I try to run Portal, or TF2, for that matter, it lags right at the menu screen (in-game as well) for about 10 seconds, then runs smoothly for about 5, then lags for another 10, then plays for 5, and so on. ive tried lowering the resolution to 640x480, with everything on low or off, but it the problem remains unaffected.

It also warns me about a Connection error, but im not quite sure how to fix this.... ._.

Thanks. :3

My rig:
Windows XP Pro SP2
8600 GT
1.5Gb DDR RAM
AMD Athlon64FX 3800+ x2

 

[xcript]

Could this be your problem? http://forums.steampowered.com...howthread.php?t=660774

 

[Calculator83]

Originally posted by: Silvinte
See, theres this problem I'm having with Portal and TF2. I haven't checked out HL2:EP2 yet, but I'm pretty sure it has the same problem.

Anywho, heres my problem: whenever I try to run Portal, or TF2, for that matter, it lags right at the menu screen (in-game as well) for about 10 seconds, then runs smoothly for about 5, then lags for another 10, then plays for 5, and so on. ive tried lowering the resolution to 640x480, with everything on low or off, but it the problem remains unaffected.

It also warns me about a Connection error, but im not quite sure how to fix this.... ._.

Thanks. :3

My rig:
Windows XP Pro SP2
8600 GT
1.5Gb DDR RAM
AMD Athlon64FX 3800+ x2

I am about 95% certain it is because of Your Ram.

Get 2 Sticks of 1GB (Matching DUH) dual channel.

And that should add some butter to your performance.

1.5ddr, i'm guessing you got a 512 + 1gig. That means niether dual channel, nor matching top op-frequency.

 

[Capitalizt]

You will probably see an improvement by hitting alt + tab at the menu screen, then press control alt delete to access task manager, and changing "hl2.exe" to "high priority".

That will put the majority of your CPU + RAM power to running the game. It should improve performance significantly.

 

[Calculator83]

Originally posted by: Capitalizt
You will probably see an improvement by hitting alt + tab at the menu screen, then press control alt delete to access task manager, and changing "hl2.exe" to "high priority".

That will put the majority of your CPU + RAM power to running the game. It should improve performance significantly.

MAYBEEEEEE....

he should just get 2 gig ram in dual channel. Because alt-tabbing with his setup may result in crash.

It's about 70bux for the corsair value selects. You can get mushkin redline if you want to push some more fps out of ur system but 300 bux does not justify it.

 

[Coolone]

Originally posted by: Calculator83

Originally posted by: Silvinte
See, theres this problem I'm having with Portal and TF2. I haven't checked out HL2:EP2 yet, but I'm pretty sure it has the same problem.

Anywho, heres my problem: whenever I try to run Portal, or TF2, for that matter, it lags right at the menu screen (in-game as well) for about 10 seconds, then runs smoothly for about 5, then lags for another 10, then plays for 5, and so on. ive tried lowering the resolution to 640x480, with everything on low or off, but it the problem remains unaffected.

It also warns me about a Connection error, but im not quite sure how to fix this.... ._.

Thanks. :3

My rig:
Windows XP Pro SP2
8600 GT
1.5Gb DDR RAM
AMD Athlon64FX 3800+ x2

I am about 95% certain it is because of Your Ram.

Get 2 Sticks of 1GB (Matching DUH) dual channel.

And that should add some butter to your performance.

1.5ddr, i'm guessing you got a 512 + 1gig. That means niether dual channel, nor matching top op-frequency.

If it IS a case of mismatched ram, it's a possibility, but I'd look at software problems first before having him open up his machine and messing with parts when it could be a simple firewall issue. He could have his ram set up as 2x256 and 2x512, in which case, it would work perfectly and not be the ram at all.

Ram doesn't HAVE to obey the exponential multiplication of 2 rule. So you don't HAVE to have 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048MB etc to make it work. 96, 192, 384, 768, 1536, 3072MB etc would work just as well. I'm guessing you already knew that Calculator83, so I'm just explaining it for those who may not have known.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Coolone

Originally posted by: Calculator83

Originally posted by: Silvinte
See, theres this problem I'm having with Portal and TF2. I haven't checked out HL2:EP2 yet, but I'm pretty sure it has the same problem.

Anywho, heres my problem: whenever I try to run Portal, or TF2, for that matter, it lags right at the menu screen (in-game as well) for about 10 seconds, then runs smoothly for about 5, then lags for another 10, then plays for 5, and so on. ive tried lowering the resolution to 640x480, with everything on low or off, but it the problem remains unaffected.

It also warns me about a Connection error, but im not quite sure how to fix this.... ._.

Thanks. :3

My rig:
Windows XP Pro SP2
8600 GT
1.5Gb DDR RAM
AMD Athlon64FX 3800+ x2

I am about 95% certain it is because of Your Ram.

Get 2 Sticks of 1GB (Matching DUH) dual channel.

And that should add some butter to your performance.

1.5ddr, i'm guessing you got a 512 + 1gig. That means niether dual channel, nor matching top op-frequency.

If it IS a case of mismatched ram, it's a possibility, but I'd look at software problems first before having him open up his machine and messing with parts when it could be a simple firewall issue. He could have his ram set up as 2x256 and 2x512, in which case, it would work perfectly and not be the ram at all.

Ram doesn't HAVE to obey the exponential multiplication of 2 rule. So you don't HAVE to have 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048MB etc to make it work. 96, 192, 384, 768, 1536, 3072MB etc would work just as well. I'm guessing you already knew that Calculator83, so I'm just explaining it for those who may not have known.

I doubt it's lack of dual channel RAM. I run Portal and HL2 fine, with 1.5 GB of RAM, non dual-channel, on an Athlon 3200+. (yeah, I know, I should upgrade ) Anyway, it sounds a lot more like hard drive thrashing caused by lack of memory than any type of memory configuration.

OP, are you having problems only with Steam games? Is your hard drive light constantly on? Have you tried turning off other applications while playing?