Loading times slow, need advice...

[trkorecky]

Hey all, I'm new here but have a question. Right now, the load times are really long (I think like 30+ seconds) between areas, and sometimes the game stutters a bit depending on where I look.

Now I'm sure that I have the graphics set up too high for my card, but it looks so pretty :E

Computer Specs:
HP Pavilion A350N - http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?cc=us&docname=c00041542&lc=en
Change graphics card to Sapphire Atlantis ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
Change installed memory to 2x512MB PC3200 Kingston ValueRAM (yes, computer supports PC3200. HP's website must be wrong).

Would another 2x512MB PC3200 help at all? It is, after all, only $80 for the kit.

Thanks in advance for any replies.

 

[63]

They're long for everyone.

 

[trkorecky]

Alright, I guess getting the RAM wouldn't help then. Thanks.

 

[Lahire149]

can u adjust you ram timings? or maybe get a new mobo?

 

[Reaktor4]

a faster hd would probably help more

 

[Lahire149]

a faster hd would probably help more

not too much, it would only help if it was upgraded to something like a Raptor.

 

[Deemo]

make sure your drive is defragmented. having a defraged drive helps a ton

 

[Reaktor4]

not too much, it would only help if it was upgraded to something like a Raptor.

thats what i mean

 

[Lahire149]

thats what i mean

well he does have a HP mobo, so it probablyl doesn't have SATA...
And yes, defrag help lots.

 

[Reaktor4]

Well if he cant upgrade then i would make a partition just for games. Oh yeah and allow hl2 to use more ram if you havnt already (-heapsize is the command iirc).
But anyway, hds belong in the stone age. I hate the slow pieces of shit.

 

[diluted]

The long load times are normal. Although mine dropped by about half when I added another half gig of RAM, it still takes nearly a minute to load a map.

 

[hi_ted]

I went from 512mb to 1.5gb of RAM and only noticed a couple of seconds off the loading times. Bloodlines had a greater difference.

 

[Fuse Kazuki]

My loading times were always slow, so I guess its normal.

 

[Lahire149]

HL2 only uses a maximum of 500megs of RAM. So combine that with window's usage and you have around 750-850 being used; therefore 1gig is plenty.
And if he makes a new partition won't that mean he has to reformat his whole drive? that's a pain to go through, with backing up all the data, reinstalling windows and drivers and win update ect...

 

[giant384]

isnt 30 sec normal for everyone thats what i get 30-45 sec

 

[giant384]

Mine took as long as it did to Drink a Glass of Wallpaper

ehh...

 

[Lahire149]

isnt 30 sec normal for everyone thats what i get 30-45 sec

i think we're just trying to help him get better laoding times even if they are already are normal.

 

[trkorecky]

I guess if everyone else gets the same load times, I'm normal then.

I just beat the game last night and I must say, I feel like I accomplished something. Definately was a top-notch purchase, and I can't wait for the expansion and HL3 if/when that comes.

Does the heapsize or whatever command help any?

 

[trkorecky]

Sorry for double-post, but it wasn't letting me edit the first.

I have defragged, and I defrag frequently (I use Diskeeper).

As for RAM usage and whatnot, I made a separate hardware profile for games using Black Viper's "Bare Bones" setup. I log into my normal account, end "explorer.exe's" process tree (ending everything), and make sure Half-Life 2 gets "Realtime" priority.

 

[jondy]

Update everything and (reiterating what's already been said) keep your computer clean; number of processes kept to a minimum, defrag blah.

My load times are insanely fast now compared to the agonizing waits I put up with when I first installed the game