Help! Major HL2 performance issues (56K warning).

[Gratch]

So I got HL2 through Steam this morning, but it's having major problems running.  Here's a couple examples:

The loading screen.  Notice the missing textures and wire frame


In-game.  As I move my view, you can see the repeating tetures and (again) a bunch of wire frame stuff showing


I updated my video drivers to Nvidia's latest (6693) as well as DirectX to 9.0c this morning.  Oddly, it played fine for about 1/2 hour up until this point, then it all went to hell.  

Any ideas where I should start troubleshooting?  Did I get a corrupted download, or do you think something is just out of whack with my system?

P.S.  I tried a couple other 3d games (Etherlords 2 and Neverwinter Nights), and they both ran just fine.

[dangerballs]

What video card do you have?

[Gratch]

Sorry, forgot to list specs:

Athlon XP 2200+
Asus A7V8X mobo
GeforceFX 5900
512 MB PC2700 RAM


I checked on the Steam boards and got the texture and wireframe issue fixed by reverifying the HL2 Steam files.  However, it caused my water not to show up at all.  The only way I know I'm in water is if I hear a splash when I jump.  Any ideas here?

Now I'm remembering why I quit playing PC games in the first place.  Way to much pain in the ass just to get one running.  

[Floyd Walker]

I had something similar happen to me when I first installed HL2 (retail CDs).
Fixed it by having Steam delete the offline components and allowing it to reinstall (not just verifying). Took a while, but after that was done, the graphics glitches were gone.
Hope this helps!

[-Lord Ebonstone-]

My brother had all sorts of HL2 problems until I found out he'd installed it with Virus Protection running.

Uninstall Steam.  Manually delete the Steam folder.  Disable all non-system-crucial programs, and reinstall.

[ChrisGwinn]

Go to the support section of steam, search for "validate" and follow the instructions under "How can I verify that my GCF Cache files are good?"

[Turtle]

Don't bother with reinstalling unless validation doesn't work.

Basically, some people when they install or download from steam get corrupted files during the transfer process.  Steam has a command line process that'll force steam to go in and check each and every file for a game and make sure they're correct.  Files that are corrupt are downloaded again through steam.

If you have all the latest updates and whatnot, then this is most likely the culprit, especially since you said you had just gotten the game through steam.