JDHusky: Before you ask, I think I have the problem in mind. But I'll just ask for the sake of confirmation. This isn't micro stuttering since I'm only using a single GPU. I see upwards of 34-50fps in normal (medium-high) settings @ 1680x1050 and 60+ with everything dropped to the barebone-minimum (still at 1680x1050).
First off, my spec:
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate SP1
E8400 (OC'd to 3.6Ghz, I'm not upping the voltage until I clean the dust out of my heatsink. And my case is f*ing heavy to have to carry out to my air compressor. And no it's not overheating as it doesn't break 55c under full load anywhere xD)
2Gb DDR800 (5-5-5-15) <-- Culprit... possibly. Other stick died not too long ago.
1Tb Seagate Barracuda (with 200+ Gb left)
GTX 275 (896Mb)
Asus P5Q
Corsair VX550W (stable volt readings across the board)
I've already installed the 275.33 WHQL certified drivers, uninstalled the 3D nVidia vision drivers (controller and driver itself), patched to 1.2, killed all Win7 services that don't need to run (Idle Win7 usage just hovering around 500Mb, leaving me with 1.5Gb RAM), set my RAM timings accordingly, OC'd my CPU, defragged my HDD, set all my ini variables minimally (lows mat tex sizes, max downscaling, disabling all shader options) and yet... I'm left with this odd f*in stuttering from time to time.
I'm only left to believe it's my ram. That somehow even with Witcher 2 set at its possibly lowest setting (lower than you could ever set with the Configurator (DAMN YOU *shakes fist*)) yet still meeting MINIMAL requirements (mostly the ram since that's the least of everything else I have).
But to re-state this. I do meet the minimum RAM requirement of 2Gb. It's clocked properly and that should be that. :(
Anyone with some tips? Think I've exhausted pretty much all my options.
But thats for the future. I'm really hoping to tack this problem on the forehead so I don't go spending money too quickly and causing problems. xD
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Though the 2 gigs of RAM is difficult I think there is a solution but you may have to give a little back to lower settings UGGH! I do not know what your monitor is but you can use some adjustments to max your speed even with a small cutback in resolution if it can be supported.
1- In 2006 with Vista's introduction they made a provision for low memory machines called Robeson's Technology@ which has carried over to Win 7 as well. For under US$20.00 you can buy a Robeson capable flashdrive. (I recommend as the fastest one I've tested is the Patriot@
Xporter XT 200 - I like the 8gig version the best which I have seen for as little as US$15.00)
Most of my client's have had under-rammed laptops and this has done wonders for them if you patiently wait an extra minute or two while booting so it can take effect. It will give you 4gigs of "pseudoram" (not cache or virtual ram) for files which are historically called by the cache frequently. Additional Ram would definitely be preferred but this may be your inexpensive fix.
2- Your monitor may be a 16:9 which at max settings can only run at 60mhz. Try to find a decent (even if 5:4 or 4:3) setting which will run at a higher rate. I have found that I have had my best result running at 1280x1024 (5:4) at 75mhz to compensate for my poor video card and have not had any crashes, stuttering or wait times. Most of my NVidea and TW2 settings are medium with a couple high and a couple reduced to low and the game is still very pretty; albeit I do lose the "widescreen" effect ( like what happens when an old TV plays a widescreen movie.)
Rig: Feb 2008 build: SM C2SBA+ii workstaion MB E8400 3.0 ghz (no overclocking) 8gigs ddr2 mem, EVGA 600mhz 9500 1gig Ram video card. Two 160 gig HDD for OS' and Two 500gig WD 7200 Blue SATA HDD in Raid 0 array, dual OS - Win2k and Vista 64. (6 other storage HDD) Monitor/TV is Samsung 260 HD TOC.
