Game running poorly on good machine

Hello. I just started playing after a 1-year break yesterday and so far I have been really bummed because my game is running very sloppy. First off, on the main menu I have very low FPS, which averages in at around 13. When I finally got in game, I noticed my FPS was once again very poor, usually around 9-17.

My options were set to high so I said hey, let's turn 'em down. When I turned everything to off/low, the graphics didn't change much and my game was running at around the same FPS, with little to NO increase. This struck me as odd considering my computer is pretty moderate. Not only that, but even with graphics on high, everything seems like it's not as good looking as I remember seeing it a year ago.

Then I decided to install it on my sister's computer. It is far worse than mine, with an INTEGRATED graphics card and half the RAM. It ran at about the same FPS with the graphics on high and everything seemed to look better. Needless to say, I am very confused.

Let me knock a few things out. First off, I reformatted last Thursday. I can play Quake 4, CS:S and even Mafia on medium-high settings and they run perfectly fine with solid FPS. I also reinstalled the game about an hour ago and used my CD's instead of the online installer, and still nothing.

Here is my rig:

Windows XP
AMD 64bit 3000+
1GB dual-channeled RAM
250GB new HD
X800XL
Integrated audio

Here is what the game looks like when I'm playing (notice the squares):

http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l1...g?t=1181884455

Any help is GREATLY appreciated.

Do you have the right drivers, etc. for your graphics card? Also check compatibility issues with your motherboard...

Try a -nosound command flag.


I am a total noob when it comes to AMD/ATI so I have no clue about the good or the bad of that card.

*edit* Online install is usually better than CD install.

Darnit, I'm not sure why but the properties on my .exe doesn't have a command line. The only thing I can edit is the filename and the other tabs have some nonsense. My fps!! Why!!

I downloaded some updated VIA and AMD AGP drivers and now my fps jumped up about 4... sweet!

Try updating the ATI drivers too, since the graphics look like that it may be a video driver bug. If the latest ones don't work try ones from a few months ago, ATI's driver updates have been known to break games that worked before, and the X800XL isn't a newest gen card so they may not even have tested their latest drivers with it.

Make a shortcut.

I take that back, I didn't fix it. I have tested this a bit and I am having a truly confusing problem.

First off, when I installed the new drivers and went into the game, it ran like a MONSTER. I was consistently getting 60-92 FPS while in the city and my sister even witnessed it. I thought it was fixed so I closed the game. Then I went back into the game a few hours later (I had just booted my computer mind you) and it ran bad again. I get the magical number of 15fps while in the city.

I proceeded to uninstall my drivers and driver clean and downloaded some old ATI drivers that I used to use that were very stable, the Catalyst 6.8's. I then got ingame and it ran like a BEAST again. Was smooth and I was incredibly happy. I logged out after playing for a bit and didn't go back into the game till this morning. I am now back where I was again, 15fps when I see other players and about 21-24 when I don't. It seems to be at about 1/3 of what it SHOULD be running at.

I can't figure it out for the life of me. No programs are changing and I even opened up the 60 and 6112 ports by port forwarding. Any ideas?

Defragging my Hard Drive fixed it. Thanks guys.