Half-Life 2 graphics problem:

[Ewan]

Well, I run HL2, it seems smooth enough, goes jerky at times but seems to get smoother as I play. After about 10 minutes, it freezes for quite a long time (20 secs or so). When it unfreezes, the graphics have gone glitchy as shown:


Specs:
Athlon XP 2500+
GeForce FX5600
256mb RAM
Windows XP Home

I am running it on 800x600 and with the advanced options set to what Half-Life 2 recommends for my specs. It happens in both windowed and full screen modes.

[Stabwound]

Well 256MB of RAM definately isn't enough for this game, especially when you have that many things running in the background. I bet it freezes like that when it is making an autosave/loading the next area which happens in random areas.

[Ewan]

That isn't much running in the background:

From left to right Steam, McAfee (normally I close that, just forgot to this time), Network Cable Unplugged, Ditto, Sound control, "Safely Remove Hardware", Nvidia thingy, auto sync (or w/e it's called, I close that normally too), and Nvidia sound thingy.

Also, it isn't just when it's autosaving or loading a new area. If I leave it on the main menu, (which shows game graphics in the background) it does it too.

[Stabwound]

Your videocard might be overheating... maybe try opening up the case and using a can of compressed air to blow off any dust on it...

[Ewan]

Seems it could be RAM, cause just now I was playing it in windowed mode, and as soon as it happened, the little :excl: sign appeared saying "Your system is low on virtual memory".

[Amok]

I think you can increase the size of your virtual memory by changing some setting in windows, sorry don't know how to do it though.

I've had the same problem as you with other games and it was because I had overclocked my shitty graphics card and it was overheating. It also happens if the graphics cards fan stops working.

[Mr. Peanuts]

My friend has so many fans to stop overheating, it sounds like leatherface is in the room with you when his PC is on.

[Edify]

so...u bought this or is it bootleg?

[Ewan]

I bought it.

[StarKitty]

Definately Ram....
Btw the back of the Half Life 2 box lies... the spec written there is definately not enough to run it...

To run the thing smoothly you probably want around 512 RAM

[IceStorm]

i want to PLAY halolololo2 stupid dialup

[Mr. Peanuts]

I have 768mb RAM now.

[Hairygroin]

The error you are seeing seems to be coming from a sort of failure within the graphics card...low system memory would create a slowdown, not trashed visuals.

The CPU isn't doing the drawing, the GFX card is. I've heard of this sort of issue arising from overheating memory on the GFX card, but I would try updating drivers to the latest version and making sure all your system drivers are up to date. Try running your computer with the case open to see if that helps...or if you have to, you may have to d/l a tool to underclock your vid card.

Has this sort of issue arisen in any other games you have played? If so, then it definitely would start pointed to the GFX card overheating as the source of the issue. Blow out all the fans in the case, and make sure the heatsinks on the card aren't matted with dust (which will kill heat dissipation).

[Ewan]

Never had this problem before, I have most recent drivers. Next time I am home I will open up the case and have a poke around.

The reaosn I still think it's RAM/memory related, is that I get the "low virtual memory" warning when it happens. How do I increase my virtual memory?

[Hairygroin]

if you have win2k/winxp, right click on my computer, click on properties...

When system properties comes up, click on the "advanced" tab, then the "settings" button under Performance, and then finally another "advanced" tab. Virtual Memory is at the bottom.

By default, windows manages your VM so I doubt that that is the problem. Being low on memory will not result in data corruption, it will merely slow things down to an eventual halt :P .