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[naddel81]

My PC should handle GES without a problem. CPU and GPU are not maxed out at all, but GES stutters while other modern games run fine.

What can I do?
Why is GES so "demanding"?

Best wishes.

[soupcan]

What are your specs?

Have you tried this solution?

[naddel81]

I am running a quad core with at least 2.6 GHz (Core 2 Quad 9600) and it only maxes out one core. The other cores are not utilized very much.
Why is that that is does not use all cores?
The hardware specs are way above anything that was available at the time when HL2 was released.

[soupcan]

You didn't state your graphics card or RAM.... those are both important factors too.

An old Core 2 Quad might work "OK" but you may need to lower settings. GE:S is more demanding than HL2 because it has larger and more detailed environments. Even HL2 today is more demanding than it was in 2004 due to engine upgrades.

The reason you see it max out a single core is because this version of the engine (2007) is largely single-threaded. Multithreaded rendering is hidden behind a cvar, mat_queue_mode 2, but is unstable.

[naddel81]

The other specs are 4gb ddr2 ram (400MHz instead of 333) and a 560 Ti that is also bored when playing GE Source.
So the only limit seems to be the one thread CPU utilization. That will not change when downgrading graphics I guess.
Is a recompile using a newer SDK possible to fully support multi-threading?

[soupcan]

We're not planning to port the mod to a newer engine at the moment.

As I mentioned, mat_queue_mode 2 might give you a better experience, the biggest drawback being if you alt-tab, you can't switch back to the game.