RegistrationCop

Hello, everyone. I appreciate your help and attention on this matter. I recently purchased Stalker, Shadow of Chernobyl (digital download edition), to play on my computer. My specs are : AMD Phenom X4 (Quad core) 1.8GHz, 4GB RAM, 512 MB NVIDIA 9800 GTX+ video card, 640 GB hard drive (about 90% free space) which does not need to be defragmented, with Windows Vista Home Premium (64 bit).

Let me first say that all of the games I have ran on this system so far work fine, with great frame rates and little to no stuttering so I am positive this issue doesn't have to do with my system. This game also had the SAME EXACT stuttering issues on my old PC - which was an AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1.5GB RAM, 256 MB ATI X700 Pro video card, and 160 GB hard drive, with Windows XP Home (32 bit). That system met the minimum requirements and I used to play on the lowest graphical settings, but it still stuttered like a *****. On my newer computer, I optimised everything, and went through the Windows Vista Tweak Guide on Tweakguides.com to make sure everything was good. I also installed the latest drivers for my video card and sound card, along with a clean copy of windows recently just to be sure everything was a o.k.

My problem is that STALKER has SEVERE stuttering issues; when I say severe I mean like every two seconds, no matter where I am it does it. It mostly does it when I am moving around, but when I turn the mouse my frame rates are excellent, even on the max settings. When I stand still it doesn't seem to stutter. But I noticed that every few seconds when it stutters there is a little disk sign on the lower right hand corner (I presume it is loading from the hard drive or RAM), but it shouldn't be loading that much and stuttering - ESPECIALLY with my system specs, and considering that all of my other games run great - such as FEAR and OBLIVION. I lowered all of the settings to the lowest possible and the problem was exactly the same. I also tried the -noprefetch on the command line, and that did nothing. I went through the help guide on TweakGuides.com and was also told to upgrade the openal32.dll files. Did that, still the same. I tried the newest patch for the Digital Download edition (1.0005), and I also tried lowering my page file to nothing, and also raising it up to 10GB, still to no avail.

The guy that made the tweak guide on Tweak Guides.com said that if you're having issues with stalker, it's most likely your hardware or software settings; I totally disagree. This game engine is really messed up. I am beginning to run out of options here. I have read that many other people have similar problems and that they are having a hard time fixing it, although some people say some of the fixes that I mentioned earlier actually worked. Not for me. There has to be something I can do. Anyway, the stuttering is my main problem, but if anyone can help me I would GREATLY appreciate it and will do what I can to ensure that they are not wasting their time. I have tried many things, but the things I listed have not worked. Thank you for your time...

RegistrationCop

Well, I guess no one can help me on this issue. I tried searching for this problem online but to no avail. I did notice that most people have this issue but their game still runs. I think just about everyone who plays Stalker has this problem but doesn't notice it because they don't read the info in the game console. I'm not sure what to do now...

Just out of curiousity, does anyone know the proper way to switch from integrated/onboard ATI video to NVidia PCI Express (X16)? I don't want conflicting drivers and other types of driver issues.

dai

where are your power supply details
brand
wattage

boot from the onboard
in the device manager disable the onboard
if the card is listed uninstall it
turn the computer off
install the card
change the video cable from the onboard to the card
reboot into the bios
check to see if you can disable the onboard in there and set it to detect agp or pcie first
save and exit the bios tapping f8 and choose vga mode
when windows finishes booting
disable a/virus
install your drivers for the card
reboot the computer

RegistrationCop

Thanks for your attention on this matter. I already did all of that, the onboard video is disabled in the BIOS, onboard drivers were never installed in the first place. Although I am wondering if this driver is necessary - ATI PCI Express (3GIO) Filter Driver - it is listed under system devices and was installed after I installed the ATI/chipset driver. Do I need it? I have an NVidia card so I don't know if it causes problems. My power supply is 650 watt Antec Earthwatts, the minimum for the card is 475. I already set the BIOS to detect PCI E first. There is no anti virus on my computer.

What does booting into VGA mode and installing the new card do? I would think that installing the card in normal mode would be sufficient. Recently I noticed in Stalker the console says something like: "FATAL - too many lmap (lightmap?) textures (limit = 8 textures or 32M); Reduce pixel density (worse) or use more vertex lighting (better)." It also states that the current lmap textures are at 10, obviously over the "limit" of 8. What does this mean? This is my real issue I believe. Everyone I have asked cannot give me an answer because the problem seems to be too difficult for anyone to address. If you could shed light on this issue, I believe it is what is causing the stuttering issues, and I would greatly appreciate it. Now I am trying to figure out how to reduce pixel density or use more vertex lighting. Thank you so much for your attention, and I look forward to hearing from you again on this matter.

dai

if you arunning nvidia you don't want any ati drivers on there
if your running xp it stops windows loading it's version before you can load theones you want

emosun

Your running an nvidia card with a board that has an onboard ati graphics? Well thats pretty much your problem. Even if the onboard is disabled your never suppose to mix ati and nvidia graphics on the same system , the hardware will just always conflict with eachother.

If you can you should send the 9800 back and swap it for an ati option. Usually when people come here to upgrade there graphics we always recommend to use the same brand as there onboard. Otherwise you get conflicts.

RegistrationCop

I switched to a 4870 (ATI) and I am still having the same issues of stuttering. I did a complete Windows restore and formatted my hard drive to be sure there were no conflicting drivers. Got the latest chipset and graphics drivers for the 4870, and VIOLA! SAME PROBLEM. I'm thinking the stuttering is either A)the 1.8GHz clock speed of my processor is holding me back or B) the game is poorly optimised (definitely and obviously) or C) BOTH. But I would still like to figure out why I get that FATAL error message and how to fix it. nVidia NEVER RESPONDED to my email about it over 3 weeks ago. I can't stand the horrible customer service of the big companies today, it's really ridiculous. The only time they can help you is if you're a complete moron and you're asking dumb questions like about how to send a message through ******* email, or how to properly plug in your power cords. I'm actually about to purchase this AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ with 3.2 GHz clock speed. I am hoping it will help, although I am not sure if my motherboard will power it correctly. It runs at 125W, and my Phenom X4 runs at 65W (I believe it is multiplied by 3 or 4 to get the total amount), my motherboard is a Foxconn RS780 which is 780G chipset by AMD. Any ideas if this will be properly powered? The gateway site only says: "Compatible processors for the RS780 motherboards are: Athlon 64 X2, Athlon X2, Phenom X4 (95W), etc.", so I am guessing it will support ALL ATHLON X2's. The 95W next to Phenom must mean that is the max wattage supported, correct? Once again, I have a 650W power supply if that makes any difference. Thanks for the help!

emosun

Is S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the only game that does this , have you tried other games? Because if other games work then its a S.T.A.L.K.E.R. problem. If you open task manager and the cpu is running at 100% during gameplay then the cpu would be slowing it down , if its no running at 100% then its not a cpu problem.

akedm

I've just browsed the posts here, but whenever I have a problem with stuttering I play with the affinity settings in the task manager. For me stuttering is a sign of the computer processing the same information through each CPU (I think). I've an AMD too. Mine's a dual-core. If you're not familiar with this setting it controls the number of processors available to an application. Though this problem pops up more often in older application, I've found even newer games do not always calibrate properly.

I set mine by CTRL+ALT+DELeting from the application to the task manager's process tab (going off recollection here), right-click the application from the list (e.g. "stalker.exe"), select Set Affinity, then uncheck the CPUs til only one remains checked. This will limit the application to process through that one CPU. If you see improvement, then add another CPU to the mix and see what happens.

Note, if this works, then each time you play you'll have to reset the affinity.

dai

9800gtx+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...corsair%2b750w
4800
850w
toughpower
silverstone

emosun

He actually already had a 9800gtx dai.

RegistrationCop

Yes I already did have a 9800 GTX+. The 4870 is way better anyway. A year or so from now I will get a new motherboard and probably run a few 4870 X2's in crossfire. But anyway, STALKER is the only game that gives me stuttering problems. As I have heard, STALKER is horribly optimised, if at all. But what I can't understand is why they would be allowed to release such a horribly optimised game, with the stuttering and all. That goes to show - be skeptical about east european game designers. Any American or West European game I have ever played is always almost perfect, with no severe problems. What do you think about the Athlon 64 X2 6400+ (3.2GHz)? Would it be nice for games?

emosun

If it only happens in stalker then its a stalker problem then. I think the phenom you have now is good enough where an upgrade wouldn't do as much as you would want it to for how much it costs.