stuttering in games?

[JHsu]

heya, I'm having a minor problem with my computer when playing certain games(Clive Barker's Undying, Morrowind, Jedi Knight 2). No matter what resolution or what graphics detail I set the game at, gameplay stutters, as in the game plays very smooth/quick for 10 secs, freezes for a sec, then continues on for another 10 seconds. This is starting to wear on my nerves, as my computer DEFINITELY shouldn't be experiencing this. I've updated all the drivers, with the latest BIOS for my motherboard, and using the new Catalyst 2.2 drivers for the Radeon, any idea what could be the matter?

System Specs:
Athlon XP 2000+
Asus A7V333 using Via service pack 4.42
512MB of DDR333
ATI Radeon 8500LE(128MB) clocked at 285/285
SBLive!
running Windows XP Professional(straight off the CD, no updated files from the net):|

 

[AnAndAustin]

Well your setup is VERY nice and VERY capable. I would rec running scandisk and defrag and see if that helps, also ensure you aren't running out of room on your HD(s). Also try setting any o/c's back to their defaults.

Next see what TSR progs are running, disabling AV and Firewalls may helps certain games. If many similarly demanding games run fine then that would mostly rule out hw faults or even drivers to a large degree.

BIOS-wise, try temp setting your AGP Aperture to 64MB (or 128MB) and setting AGP4x to AGP2x. This is unlikely to help, but doesn't hurt to try. Disabling AGP/VGA caches & shadows are very good perminent tips, also be sure you have an IRQ assigned to your AGP.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Try different drivers, do you have a true (built not powered) Rad8500LE? Be sure to try non-catalyst drivers and your manu if appl. I have also heard to avoid 4in1 drivers, certainly the IDE and AGP parts. Mixing a VIA mobo with a fast gfx card and SB Live is not generally great, be sure to install the 'VIA PCI Latency Patch'.

It could be a virus, but I doubt it. Try Housecall Free Online AV, it has had many great recs.

 

[JHsu]

thanks for responding, and yes I have a "built by ATI" card...where do you get non-catalyst drivers? and on a different note, can I get WinXP professional updates even if my main computer is not connected to the net?(my main gaming computer which runs winXP isn't hooked to the net, while my older athlon running win98 is hooked up to the net, so most of my updates to my gaming comp are done through CD-Rs and floppy transfers)

 

[AnAndAustin]

Built by ATI rule! That rules out getting your drivers from the likes of Hercules etc. Non-catalyst (ie Rad8500LE only prior to catalyst release) should be readily available, although I am unsure precisely where a quick search of the net should help.

WinXP updates AFAIK are only easily available from accessing the net through Windows Update. M$ gave up allowing users to download these things manually and installing later ages ago, much to the annoyance of anybody who has had to upgrade or reinstall an OS. I would strongly rec plugging a modem in (or some other means) to allow this PC to connect to the Internet to recieve the Windows Update stuff, even as a one-off.