Having problems with Valve games.

[JUDOHAWK]

Ok here's the skinny on my situation. I was using vista last night, and decided to install the Windows 7 RC. Now all of my games were running fine. L4D usually hitting(and staying) over 60, TF2 and DoD:S same thing. On Win7 RC it would barely hit 45-50 and drop to 30, so I thought meh, maybe something with compatibility(I had the Win7 beta using beta drivers awhile back and everything ran perfect then). So today I reinstall Vista, only to find out my Valve games are doing the same exact thing, Im like :O This is unusual to me and nothing I do will fix it. In the meantime as well I have tested Ass. Creed, CoD4 and they seem to run fine. CoD4 runs great with a framerate of like 70-100+, even with AA. Ass. Creed is smooth so it's not jittery or anything.

One other thing to note, CS:S isn't like this, but I forgot what it was like before, Im seeing it easily hit 150 or so, but dropping to 70ish 80 but I think I remember it being like that before.

Specs that are of importance:
E5200 @ 3 ghz
2GB DDR2-800
HD4830 with the Core OCed to 700 and mem to 1000. My GPU temp while in game sits at like 55-60 so it can't be heat and it still does this at stock settings

Oh and Im using a 400W corsair incase someone wants to know that too.

I just cannot for the life of me figure out what is wrong, and I doubt it's a driver issue since like I said, other games seem to be working just great. Granted these games are playable at anything over 30, but obviously I don't want to settle on that. L4D also takes forever to load a map, so I thought HDD at first but Im not seeing signs of HDD failure and other games load up quick :/ Sorry everything seems disorganized, I typed as it came to me.

Thanks for any and all help guys.

 

[X-Terminator]

Now the first thing I thought of when reading this is hard drive. did you do a defrag. and did you do a virus scan lately.

 

[JUDOHAWK]

Not defrag, but I guess I could go dl auslogics right now.

 

[X-Terminator]

when my computer starts to slow down the first thing I do is a virus scan(AVG Free), then I do a spyware / malware scan (Spyware Doctor), then I do a defrag (PerfectDisk 2008). That usually fixes all my problems.

 

[JUDOHAWK]

Well It wasn't a slow down, this is on a brand spanking install of windows :/

Also, I've never had a fragmented drive interfere with my games running like this.

I want me some TF2!! lol. I hope someone has had something like this happen and has a solution

But in the meantime Ill defrag and scan I guess. See if that helps, can't hurt to try surely.

 

[JUDOHAWK]

Meh, it still hangs right when the loading bar gets halfway. It seemed to get to the halfway point alot quicker though, and the game starts up real quick as well. Just loading any map does this, and if I let it sit for 10 mins it will load but performance will be horrible.

I'll also note here that I have tried it with disabling Multi-core rendering aswell, but no dice.

 

[JessicaD]

Judohawk,

Microsoft does have an official Windows 7 Beta Support Forum located here http://tinyurl.com/9fhdl5 . It is supported by product specialists as well as engineers and support teams. You may want to post your question there.

Another great site that offers many valuable resources is Microsoft Springboard. I would also check out what they have to offer to find a solution to your problem.


http://tinyurl.com/832nco

Jessica
Microsoft TechNet / Springboard
v-jedeen@microsoft.com

 

[JUDOHAWK]

Im using Windows Vista now, and even after a fresh install it still does it. However, Like I said. CoD4, Ass. Creed, and CS:S seem to be running just fine. So I don't think it's a driver or hardware issue. I see absolutely no signs of of my HDD failing(which I've experience several and none of the symptoms are there). I just cannot figure this out, but I guess Ill go post on that Springboard site, I really hope someone can help me Thanks Jessica, I appreciate any help even if it wasn't directly related to my problem. I also wanna thank Terminator also, just because offering suggestions is all one can do I guess.

Ok I guess that site is for RC, so idk if it would do any good posting there.

Also I was thinking about something. I used to dual boot linux and Windows. So I had the GRUB set to default with essentially two partitions. Well when I installed Windows I just installed over the Windows one, leaving the Linux partition there(Might get back to fixing the bootloader, idk lol) The only thing I can think of is that maybe that partition is conflicting with something. I don't even think it's possible but one can't help but think. Considering All of my games were working fine and dandy on Vista, then after I installed RC1 literally 2 hours or so later my Valve games were messed up. Or maybe I need to re-install steam.

 

[JUDOHAWK]

As an update I created a new partition table, formatted it and used the entire HDD as a single partition. Then installed Win7 RC, everything went great, except that L4D still freezes when the level is half loaded. I don't even know why I bothered doing that, it's a lost cause, I don't see how it can go from playing L4D, TF2 great one moment, then right after reinstalling an OS it does this. Like I said, nothing unusual has been happening, no crashes, no lockups, everything's running quick. No overheating. Im just at a loss for words.

 

[JUDOHAWK]

bump

In hopes that someone can help me Im still trying but nothing is working.

 

[Kenshai]

Are you using the same version of direct x? Anything change with drivers? Did your overclocks revert? Thirty is still a playable frame rate, but I agree you should be seeing better. Did you change the settings you had in the game?

 

[JUDOHAWK]

Ok let me kinda explain a few things on what happened. First off, Yea Im using the same DX as I was. Basically the games ran perfect on Vista, I formatted and installed Win7 and the games weren't working. Then I went back to Vista and still the same thing. OCs did not revert, well my CPU didn't, I ofcourse was using CCC for my GPU OC. Also, 30 technically is playable, but if it takes 5-10 mins to load a level, then something is wrong and I will not play like that. Also it seems there is a bottleneck somewhere, but I can't for the life of me figure out where. Like I said CoD4 and Assassin's creed ran great so I have a hard time believing it's my hardware. But L4D and TF2 basically hovered at 40-50 even with changing settings, and resolution. Almost like a CPU bottleneck, even though I used to get close to 100 fps and higher at times normally. Idk, it's tough to say, I've formatted and reinstalled windows twice with no dice, there are absolutely no signs of HDD failure, everything else runs absolutely flawless, except for L4D and TF2 and DoD:S. I've verifyed the game data several times. I can't help but think there's a conflict with the updated version of source engine those games use. CS:S seemed to be running fine, but that uses the older Source engine :/ I've also tried with disabling multicore too.

 

[denice25]

scan your hard disk....

 

[JUDOHAWK]

I have.

 

[Kenshai]

Are you reinstalling steam or are you just keeping it on a separate hard drive and running off the exe?

 

[JUDOHAWK]

It's all on one harddrive and on one partition. Pretty much the same setup as when the games were running fine. I also ran ChkDsk just now ^^^^ that last reply was for viruses and the like, and the ChkDsk came up fine, no errors or anything. So Im baffled as to what it can be :/

Ok well for awhile I had two partitions, a main one for windows and a secondary 8 gig one or so for linux. Just the other day when I reinstalled Win7 again(after going back to vista didn't work) I created a new partition table, basically just one whole partition, and formatted it well. So take that as what you will.

 

[JessicaD]

Im using Windows Vista now, and even after a fresh install it still does it. However, Like I said. CoD4, Ass. Creed, and CS:S seem to be running just fine. So I don't think it's a driver or hardware issue. I see absolutely no signs of of my HDD failing(which I've experience several and none of the symptoms are there). I just cannot figure this out, but I guess Ill go post on that Springboard site, I really hope someone can help me Thanks Jessica, I appreciate any help even if it wasn't directly related to my problem. I also wanna thank Terminator also, just because offering suggestions is all one can do I guess.

Ok I guess that site is for RC, so idk if it would do any good posting there.

Also I was thinking about something. I used to dual boot linux and Windows. So I had the GRUB set to default with essentially two partitions. Well when I installed Windows I just installed over the Windows one, leaving the Linux partition there(Might get back to fixing the bootloader, idk lol) The only thing I can think of is that maybe that partition is conflicting with something. I don't even think it's possible but one can't help but think. Considering All of my games were working fine and dandy on Vista, then after I installed RC1 literally 2 hours or so later my Valve games were messed up. Or maybe I need to re-install steam.

Judohawk,

My apologies, I did not realize you were having trouble with Vista. For further support, Microsoft Springboard / TechNet also does support forums for Vista troubleshooting as well. For further information, please see the following link:

http://tinyurl.com/m6c9lm

Jessica
Microsoft Springboard / TechNet
v-jedeen@Microsoft.com

 

[Darknova]

In the Steam Window, right-click each game and click the options to Defragment Game Files, and to Verify File Integrity. See if that helps at all.

 

[JUDOHAWK]

unfortunately I have verified and defragmented the files and it still does it. Im beginning to think it really is my HDD, so I might just have to order one for 50 dollars or something. I honestly don't see how it could be, since I've ran ChkDsk(which I know has its faults lol) but there was nothing that came up.

You guys think I should just bite the bullet and buy a new HDD? It would suck though if I got a new HDD and it still had issues >.>

 

[kyle2020]

Have you installed your latest graphic drivers or are you letting auto update install them for you?

 

[JUDOHAWK]

nah I did them manually, and Im on the latest. Penumbra wouldn't start up until I had 9.5 lol, but they are the latest.

I also made sure they were cleaned out well before installing the new ones.

 

[PCpraiser100]

This is a common issue to Windows 7, I had the same issues with Crysis, it seems that the OS has some trouble utilizing APIs in demanding gameplay.

 

[Kenshai]

This is a common issue to Windows 7, I had the same issues with Crysis, it seems that the OS has some trouble utilizing APIs in demanding gameplay.

But he's saying that when switching back to vista the problem still occurs

 

[JUDOHAWK]

Yes, I was on vista and it worked great. Then went to Windows 7 and had problems. Then going back to Vista resulted in the same thing. So idk, Id hate to have to buy a new HDD when this one seems fine still but I might have to I guess. If anyone else has any suggestions keep em coming, but I've pretty much given up on trying to troubleshoot it on my own.