- Synthmilk
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- Exalted Mythic Member
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Firstly, why are you running Vista 64bit with only 2GB of RAM? Upgrade to at least 3GB if not 4GB, your likely getting a performance hit because you don't have enough RAM.
Second, the problem with Halo PC is, and always has been, Gearbox optimized the code for the drivers/hardware available when it released. There are only two ways to get Halo PC to run smoothly. You can test each driver release to see which one works best on your hardware, OR, build a powerhouse of a machine that can muscle past the inefficient code.
For example, I could run Halo PC wonderfully using a GeForce 4 Ti 4200, 64MB VidRam, 512MB SysRam, and a 2.4GHz P4 (pre-hyper threading), at 1280x1024, full graphics settings.
However, a few nVidia driver updates later, and the game started to perform poorly. When that card died and I upgraded to a GeForce 5500, the game was unplayable even at 800x600 and all settings set to minimum.
My friend found the same issue with his GeForce 6800, and GF7600. The latest driver updates from nVidia, combined with an upgrade to 1GB SysRam, have thankfully allowed me to at least get playable frame rates using my GF5500, but the biggest tell is that my friends new Alienware system, dual GeForce 8800's in SLI and a Core 2 Duo at 2.6GHz, can run Halo at 1280x1024 and full settings, at good frame rates. Going higher though is too much even for it...
...when running XP. He has a Vista Ultimate 32bit partition, and Halo runs better on it (Higher frame rates, no stutter at all, even between zones), and can go to higher resolutions without problem.
On top of that, your running a 64bit operating system, aside from the fact that graphics drivers for 64bit Windows are not exactly up to par compared to their 32bit cousins, Halo PC is, again, optimized for a 32 bit environment, your running into tons of overhead as the game tries to make sense of the 64bit environment.
Bottom Line: If you want to run Halo PC on 64bit Vista, you need to upgrade your RAM and get much more powerful graphics cards. Otherwise, it should run acceptably if you switch to 32bit Vista, and run it at lower resolutions.