That Stutter in Fear is Driving me Crazy

For some reason, the game stutters when loading the graphics, i dont think that upgrading to crossfire will help. I need input.

Fear 1.2 Single player

Computer settings is max
Performance settings is max except for res which is 1152x864 or equivalent
Everything in the backround is off with att tweaked
installed every optimizers for dualcore, defrag, system fixes
Up-to-date with drivers, antivirus, spyware and hotfixes

i tried the options on running everything on minimum and its the only setting that doesnt have stutters. but when i change the resolution to 800x600, it stutter again. 1024x768 res upwards is basically the same whether soft shadows or lighting is at max, still gives me constant 40+ fps.