Please help me get f.e.a.r working properly on XP

Hi werner123, Thanks for your reply and your suggestions.

Unfortunately my bios doesn't have any option to enable or disable individual cores. However i have tried to do this with startaffinity, amd overdrives smart profiles, /numproc switch in boot.ini (have also tried /usepmtimer , amd dual core optimizer, All msconfig startup and services entries are stock, nothing extra ... I've gone through all your suggestions and here is what i've tried (each with half hour of testing or so after)

(completely removed prior catalyst and driver)
Have tried ati catalyst 9.1 and 10.3 to no effect. Have canceled them out from starting up.
The system is completely barebones, just stock OS and drivers and f.e.a.r, catalyst as well.

Have tried installing WMFAdist.exe which made the sound sound better but didn't stop the stuttering.. I've tried and use iobit gamebooster regularly, it's a great program!

I can't really run less than 1.08 Patch because I only really play the multiplayer, and there isn't really any servers left in the earlier patches..

Have tried many combinations of vsync and triple buffering, none of which have worked.

I'm wanting to get it working in XP for a few reasons, one i'm not really too keen on windows 7 and just want to go back to XP UI (on dual boot with 7 though), the other reason is it is a hell of a lot faster multiplayer. When it does go fine, (before i go into intense action areas) it is unbelievably smooth. Plus also the proper EAX sound rather than EAX virtualisation with 7.

Thanks for your ideas, but throughout i'm still getting glitches; minor pauses/stutters, probly only 0.1seconds each and only occurring in busy sections. I end up going to turn one way and it'll glitch and i will have turned to far, or leaned to far out etc.

I found this helpful thread which sounds about the exact same as what i have except for dual core;
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=983781
Have tried all these suggestions..

Here is my system and current software installed;

AMD 1055T x6 2.8GHz
4gb Strontium 1333mhz (2*2gb)
Powercolor Radeon HD5670
Onboard realtek audio
600w Litepower PSU
2*80gb RAID (this is only recent change, the f.e.a.r problem occurred on a no raid drive also)
32" LCD

Windows XP SP3
.NET 2.0
ATI Catalyst
K-lite codec pack
Winamp
Firefox
F.E.A.R combat 1.08

Anyway, Thanks heaps for your help, i do appreciate it. If you think of anything else please let me know, cheers

The main culprit here is win xp not being able to handle multi threaded cpu's like win 7.Run other games as well just to see if you get the same issues. Just use your old pc for winxp and this one for all your other games if you still have it.I was thinking of getting this cpu myself, but does not look like the x6 cpu's is playing very nice with win xp.Do you get this stuttering in single player mode as well? maybe your internet connection is to slow not enough bandwidth,see if disabling QOS in services does anything, or there is something wrong with the servers and nothing to do with your hardware at all.Anyway disable vpu recover in ccc, and have you tried removing one of your memory modules so that you are just running 2gb or 1gb.Look for settings in your bios relating to your cpu, change some settings.uninstall K-lite codec pack it can cause problems with games. Just install vlc media player it's free and can play every video/audio format out there,with vlc you wont need K-lite codec pack.If you have onboard gfx take out your 5670 and run the game with the onboard gfx to test or use another gfx card.The amd dual core optimizer is only going to make things worse this is only necessary if you have the old athlon x2 4400+ or so installed.Also try another monitor i assume you are using a tv monitor. Connect using HDMI cable. You are running a gigabyte motherboard make sure the top performance setting in your bios is disabled. Check for bios updates for your motherboard maybe there is a update related to this issue. Anyway i'm having stuttering issues myself with dead space 1&2 when vsync is enabled while all my other games is running fine.know how you feel.Let me know if you got it working properly,good luck

Hey thanks again for your reply.

Yeah i fully agree with you there. Though, to date this is the only game i've played in XP that is affected by it. In my limited experience, it is a really good processor, just not so great legacy instruction set. I have tried in the past heaps of other games like blur, split second, stalker, metro 2033 etc. None have the stuttering effect, all run faster than in windows 7 which is good.
At present I only have f.e.a.r combat, which is just the multiplayer component of fear. In the past i've tried single player fear on there & it has the same stuttering. Internet should be pretty ok. speed test ranges from 10 to 20mbps down and 800kb up . Qos was set on manual and not started, but i disabled it to be sure.
Have tried multiple servers, heaps in fact, from all different countries and the problem is with all of them.
VPU recover is disabled. All catalyst settings are at absolute minimum or off.
Tried playing once on each ramm dimm with the other one uninstalled, Unfortunately i have no onboard graphics or another card to test it on. Today i installed a quality 5.1 card and disabled onboard sound in bios, still have the problem, I did this because if i listen closely i can hear the audio skipping a little too & thought it may be related.
Yeah i thought the dual core optimizer might not be right, it just sounded so much like the symptoms and the suspected problem that i'm having, too bad there isn't a 6 core AMD XP optimiser. I'm sure that sounds like what i need lol..

Have tried also on a AOC 19" lcd, and a 32" CRT (crazy ay) My 32" lcd doesn't have a HDMI in, but i tried a HDMI to DVI cable (previously I had DVI -> DVI)
I've just noticed you'd written make sure 'top performance setting in BIOS is disabled' I read it as enabled before. I will have to try that and report back to you.

I am not sure which BIOS i have, i'll have to check. I'm a bit hesitant to update the BIOS .. Never really had to do it before & don't want to screw it up lol. I've checked the BIOS updates and there is something there that looks promising ;

http://www.gigabyte.co.nz/products/product-page.aspx?pi...

(If it's not there, goto Products -> Motherboards -> AM3 -> 770 -> 770TA-UD3 -> Downloads -> BIOS)

The agesa, update for 64 bit support bit.. I'll have to check what revision I have already.
Good idea though.

Cheers, yeah it is a bit frustrating. I've been playing the MP component of fear for years and years. It's like having ultimate performance (in XP) while you're playing then as soon as you start fighting or go into an action scene having it go to crap lol. Win 7 is okay, but even with every non essential thing disabled and lowest graphics etc it's not really near as fast and fluid as XP.

I'm going to set up triple boot probly tomorrow with xp 64 bit also. and see how that goes. Be interesting if anything.
Thanks again for your help. I appreciate the suggestions. Hope yer having a nice week

Checked and i already have F3 version of BIOS, I don't think there is anything in F4 (the latest) that would help.. Just new cpu id support etc.. ah well

The f4 bios is beta so dont do it.Anyway good luck and let me know if you got it working properly.

[SOLVED] !!!

Okay so tonight I installed XP 64bit, The problem is gone!!! woohoo !!!!!!

Have loaded everything up the same as in XP 32 bit and the problem is gone, nada. AWESOME!!

So for anyone experiencing stuttering options in XP 32bit with F.E.A.R or F.E.A.R. combat, It may be your processor not syncing with the timing of the 32bit OS exactly.

so.. Get WinXP 64bit or later and the problem is no longer there.

Thanks heaps for your help werner, I really appreciate it!

Woohoo

winp xp 64-bit is buggy as hell and it worked amazing!! go figure,keep in touch

[/Shame] Posted to soon...

While it took longer to start happening this time for some strange reason, it still occurs. Wonder why that was?

Ah well, ignore prev post, back to the drawing board i guess! Thanks all the same!

Mate mentioned today that i could always try WINE addon for linux as an alternative OS for gaming, I wonder if this supports EAX.. And also whether it's fast.. Have also been wondering whether Win2k could be a viable solution as well. Does 2K support EAX? i'm not sure..

Anyway i'll keep trying things till i get it...

drivers for linux is quite patchy but give it a try,an alternative to wine for linux is crossover games (dont think it's free though), go and have a look at that,think it supports more games,but i would not bother with linux just to much of a hassle when wanting to play games,but give it a try.Win2k does indeed support it dont know if you have to install service packs for it,but wdm drivers for your onboard sound should work.Have you tried win 7 64-bit?

cheers for that, I had a look at crossover games, looks a bit better than trying to do it the wine way. Yeah i thought it might be, i don't really have too much experience using linux so maybe easier to try something else first.
Yep the win7 i run is 64bit. I am building me up a new i5 system, still savin for a few parts, but mostly done, I can try it on that soon and see if there's any diff  

Why are you spending money on a i5 system? wait for bulldozer and see how that turns out, i think amd's got a winner with that one.Anyway there is nothing wrong with your current system, just get a faster gfx card.Enjoy the weekend

Win7 gives more graphic support than XP. do one thing go to http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/ and check your pc if it can run the game. make sure that you are using XP while running this scan

It's part of the CompTIA A+ course i'm doing, you build it, and it's all half price so you might as well buy it. Mmm i've seen the reviews, looks awesome! I had been looking at a skull trail for a while too though... Seen those?

Damn you lucky in that case yes do it.Seen skull trail bit a single sandy bridge i2500 or so will outperform it and it's not readily available and expensive as hell.

Best answer selected by soulreaper666.