BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

[exxon]

Hey there. I've searched all over the forum, and have noticed that there ARE others having the same problem. But as most of the suggestions state, defrag, update drivers, lower settings, etc etc, none of these are working. My video settings are as follows: Dyn Light/Shadow - Low, Texture - Low, View Distance - 100%, Everything else medium. I've tried adjusting memory timings, AGP memory size(as i have an agp card), and everything else mentioned. But for the first 5 or so minutes of the game i have constant stutters. Every 1-2 seconds is a .5 - 1 second pause, which when flying can mean instant death. After these 5 minutes of loading or so the game plays like butter (very smooth, never below 30fps). If ANYONE can shed some light into this problem please, do so. THANKS A TON! :) Here's my spec's

EDIT: sorry i guess cpu-z doesn't include vid card. I'm running a geforce 6800 agp card with the latest drivers.
Processor(s)
Number of processors 1
Number of cores 1 per processor
Number of threads 1 (max 1) per processor
Name AMD Athlon XP
Code Name Barton
Specification AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2500+
Package Socket A (462)
Family/Model/Stepping 6.A.0
Extended Family/Model 7.A
Core Stepping
Technology 0.13 um
Core Speed 1836.8 MHz
Multiplier x Bus speed 11.0 x 167.0 MHz
Rated Bus speed 334.0 MHz
Instruction sets MMX (+), 3DNow! (+), SSE
L1 Data cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 64 KBytes, 2-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 512 KBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
Chipset & Memory
Northbridge NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 rev. C1
Southbridge NVIDIA nForce2 MCP rev. A4
Graphic Interface AGP
AGP Revision 3.0
AGP Transfer Rate 8x
AGP Side Band Addressing supported, enabled
Memory Type DDR
Memory Size 1024 MBytes
Memory Frequency 167.0 MHz (1:1)
CAS# Latency (tCL) 2.5 clocks
RAS# to CAS# (tRDC) 3 clocks
RAS# Precharge (tRP) 3 clocks
Cycle Time (tRAS) 7 clocks
System
System Manufacturer
System Name
System S/N
Mainboard Vendor
Mainboard Model nVidia-nForce2
BIOS Vendor Phoenix Technologies, LTD
BIOS Version 6.00 PG
BIOS Date 08/08/2004
Memory SPD
Module 1 DDR, PC2700 (166 MHz), 512 MBytes, OCZ
Module 2 DDR, PC3200 (200 MHz), 512 MBytes, unknown brand
Software
Windows Version Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
DirectX Version 9.0c

[BliTzTank]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

Loading pauses.
I only get them if I try to run textures on high. I run All Medium 6x AA & I only get loading pauses for the 1st 10 seconds or so, possibly a bit longer if the maps really hectic.

Loading pauses are typically HDD or RAM related.

[exxon]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

Yes i know they're typically hdd and ram related, which is what confuses me. I've ran diskeeper many times, and i have next to no fragments. And my ram is 2x512 mb sticks (non matching brands and non matching timings) So i set my timings to the slower of the two (2.5-3-3-8). Neither my ram or cpu is overclocked (my computer is on almost all the time so i don't want to get it too hot). And with my setup and amount of ram i shouldn't have any problems running with the settings i am, and techinaclly i don't have any problems except for just the beginning loading stutters.

Are there any hard drive settings i should be worrying about? Something that could affect the performance?

[BliTzTank]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

Are you playing on large servers?
With your RAM & CPU big servers would really strain your system.
You know what you can do, join an empty server, and see if it happens still.

[exxon]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

No i join 32 player servers in general. never 64. but i'll try joining an empty and see what happens. But again with my settings i shouldn't have any problems

[BliTzTank]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

I was thinking it might be the players around you that are causing these stutters & just the action in general.

[exxon]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

Alright so i tried joining an empty server, but i still get the stutters, which takes me back to thinking it's a software issue because my rig shouldn't have problems.

[BliTzTank]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

Sound drivers updated?
I'd also re-install your video drivers.

It probably is a software issue.

[exxon]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

I noticed that creative released a new audigy/2/4 unified driver so i'm going to try that out. If not i'll to a drivercleaner uninstall of my video drivers and let you know what happens! thanks for your suggestiions blitztank. I'll let you know if i find something

EDIT: Also even though i'm using a nforce2 board, i'm going to try installing the nforce 4 drivers because i've heard that they're compatiable. I'll let you know what happens.

[|CBW|Simon]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

If you are running a SATA drive, you'll want to make sure it is running DMA and not PIO. There are guides here that talk about this (use DMA and PIO for your seach term). I've seen the above stated issue be Sound Card related before. Your driver update may fix it.

What is your net hookup? Router and ISP type (cable, dsl)? This could just be the router having issues with shuffling the data to your computer properly.

I also always like to suggest letting BF2 create a new BF2 folder in the MY DOCUMENTS folder just to make sure it isn't just a corrupted file somewhere.

Simon

[exxon]

Re: BF2 Stutter for 5 minutes (NOT FPS PROBLEM)

I'm not running sata, i updated my sound card/mobo drivers and still nothin. I have a d-link di-604 router hooked up to shaw cable. And yes i've tried deleting the bf2 folder and i still have the same problem