CS Source not running as smooth as desired

[Diddy2]

Just bought CS Source and I think it is awesome I really like it and really enjoy playing it. There is however one thing that annoys me a bit - it feels like it completely drains the computer (when you are playing the game), for instance when you do alt+tab it takes some time before you get to windows and then when you alt+tab back it takes quite a lot of time to get back into the game (when typing a lot of time I mean it is a lot of time in this very situation). Furthermore it sometime lag a bit. And when you close down source it also takes a lot of time.

I have this Dell laptop with Windows XP media center edition, specs:
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU T5600 @ 1.83GHz
L2 cache: 2.048 KB
Mermory: 1.024 MB (50% Used)
Mainboard: Dell Inc. 0XD720
Video card: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400

Which means I should be capable of running this game perfectly smoothly.

Why is this happening? and can I do anything about it?

[pharoah]

to start with an x1400 isnt a really strong video card,however cleanup your pc,and defragment games like a freshly defragmented drive.also look in your bios to see if there is an option to allow you to increase the ammount of vram.lastly if none of that helps drop the game settings a bit,and that is almost garaunteed to speed up the frame rate.

[Diddy2]

But well should X1400 not be able to run CS Source?

[pharoah]

well obviously it is running,and like you said not smoothly.follow my directions i said in my first response to this thread,and see what happens,if it helps or not.

[Diddy2]

also look in your bios to see if there is an option to allow you to increase the ammount of vram.


Was does that mean? And I will try to do as you said.

[pharoah]

vram = video ram your card may be able to use some of the system memory to give it a boost.

[Tiber Septim]

Games aren't designed to be constantly minimized/maximized. If you are constantly Alt+Tabbing in and out of the game it's definately going to cause quite a bit of lag, even on higher-end machines. You could do it with older games, but the newer ones don't like it.

Give pharoahs suggestions of a clean-up/defrag a go and see if that helps at all.
Also, make sure you shut down all background tasks before booting the game up, tasks such as virus scanners, IM's etc. should be shut down unless absoloutly necessary.

What settings are you trying to run CS on? Try dropping the resoloution down a notch or two and see how much of a performance boost you get.

[Diddy2]

Originally Posted by pharoah

vram = video ram your card may be able to use some of the system memory to give it a boost.

Well sorry for being stupid but how on earth do you do that?

And I try to run the game in 1024x768, and I get about 48 fps. But sometimes when there happens alot at the same time I get this minor set back, well it lags a bit and then I am kind of gone a bit back in time... Do not know why it is happening.

[pharoah]

we will get to that a bit later go ahead do a disk cleanup,and defragment.scan your computer for viruses,and spyware as well.all the things listed can degrade game performance alot.

[Diddy2]

Originally Posted by pharoah

we will get to that a bit later go ahead do a disk cleanup,and defragment.scan your computer for viruses,and spyware as well.all the things listed can degrade game performance alot.

Well tried it and it does not work. So still got those lag not major lags but those small lags that are quite annoying. But well it seems kind of odd to me becaues I am supposed to be able to run this game, and run it quite smoothly. So why is this happening?

Another thing which might be interesting might just be me showing my lack of knowledge, is that when on desktop and no programs are running the computer it has a 497 MB PF usage is that not quite a lot, maybe a bit too much?

[pharoah]

maybe you have to much running on startup.50% ram usage idle seems a bit high.turn off as many running processes as possible.better yet do this open start menu then hit run.type in the run box "msconfig" hit enter.when the msconfig box opens hit the startup tab.disable everything in there.restart then try the game again,and no this cant hurt anything.if it does help you probably have to many running processes sucking up your system resources.then we will work from there.

[1 g0t 0wn3d]

2.4 GHz Processor, 512MB RAM, DirectX 9 level graphics card, Windows 2000/XP, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection are the recomended

Having 50% ram idle is very bad considering that you have windows xp but you should be able to run it well anyway


My suggestion is to get the latest patchs

[Diddy2]

Originally Posted by 1 g0t 0wn3d

My suggestion is to get the latest patchs

Ehm I do not quite understand... What do you mean?


And I will try to clear more Memory.

[Deleted090308]

Hi,
Patches are updates for the game. You can download them from the game website.

Nicholas

[Tiber Septim]

If you open up steam and go to the 'My Games' tab, CS:S should automatically update to the latest version.

[Diddy2]

Well tried everything now and it does not run as it should (IMO). So what is the problem is it because it is a laptop? Or is it the videocard that is not capable of running the game?

Video card: ATI Mobility Radeon X1400

It is just so frustrating...

[pharoah]

well its kinda both let me explain.first off its definetly not your cpu those are great.it comes down to video the x1400 is nothing,but an x1300 with a bit higher clock.also laptop video cards are crippled versions of there desktop counterparts.dropping some detail settings,and/or resolution will probably be the only fix.the only other thing that i know of that may help is adding more ram.

[Diddy2]

So can you please name me a video card that can run CS Source.

[pharoah]

that depends you going to get another laptop,or are you going to upgrade a desktop.laptops with exchangable video cards are rare.im just not sure if you can do that with that dell or not.need more info before i can give any advise here.

[Diddy2]

Originally Posted by pharoah

that depends you going to get another laptop,or are you going to upgrade a desktop.laptops with exchangable video cards are rare.im just not sure if you can do that with that dell or not.need more info before i can give any advise here.

Well it was more a matter of intrest and no I cannot afford to buy a new com (or well I can afford but I do not want to). I just cannot see why a 256 MB Radeon Video Card laptop or not, furhermore it was said that this laptop should be desinged for gaming so Dell suggested this very card, is not capable of running CS Source properly a now 2 years old game. And the recuirments says Directx 7.0 so well one should think that it should work out - but well the world of computers never cease to amaze...