i just bought hl2. i chose all the recommended settings in the video tab (there were asteriks beside them). however, during gameplay, my screen will randomly freeze and the sound will stutter. this will happen for about 3 seconds, then it will recover. it doesnt happen at a consistent interval, sometimes i may go 15 minutes without seeing it, but its usually every couple minutes. it happens regardless of how much action is going on... i've been totally sitting still, in a room with no enemies, and it happens. i tried turning AA off, but it still happens. i don't have many processes, but here's a link to a screenshot of them, just in case maybe someone is familiar with a troublemaking process. (please ignore gnotify.exe, i've tried turning that off before, it didn't help so i turned it back on.) i am thinking of re-installing the game. however, i don't have CDs, i have to download it from steam, and it takes about 3 hours... i don't want to bother if it won't fix it! so i thought i'd run it by everyone here! thanks! Athlon XP 3200+ Shuttle AN35N Ultra Geforce 6800GT OC @ 410mhz/1.08ghz 1GB PC3200

i'd also like to add that my cpu runs at about 50C during game play, and idles at 35-40C. system temp is ranges between 32-40C. Athlon XP 3200+ Shuttle AN35N Ultra Geforce 6800GT OC @ 410mhz/1.08ghz 1GB PC3200

this is embarassing.... i just keep remembering things. ill wait for a reply before i spill out any more facts i remember... but i need to update my signautre, i am also not overclocking anymore! Athlon XP 3200+ Shuttle AN35N Ultra Geforce 6800GT OC @ 410mhz/1.08ghz 1GB PC3200

Yeah I have the same problem.. My system spec is this: win xp pro sp2 1gig ocz ram 3000+ 64 bit athlon 6800gt Make sure everything is application controlled and I would lower some of the shaders and character models to medium. I haven't tried that yet but will do tonight. I will post back any info I get. Thanks

Its a bug in the source engine. It even happens to the best systems. Nothing you can really do about it but some people have done some tweaks to some config files and claimed it has fixed the problem but I don't know weather this really works. Google it up.

thanks everyone Athlon XP 3200+ Shuttle AN35N Ultra Geforce 6800GT OC 1GB PC3200