Alright, finally figure out my problem with R6V.. apparently after setting my custom res to 1440x900 everything was fine.. setting anything from my native res results in terrible stuttering for some obscure reasons..
Now there's another problem, ITS A SYSTEM HOG.. pardon.. ehem.. more like VIDEO CARD HOG...
X1800XT cant even muster playable framerates at 1440x900 res..
set shadow to high, sure you get perfectly rendered shadows.. and very pretty shadows I should add.. but man did my FPS dropped.. far from playable..
The only max option my once mighty X1800XT can muster is to shove shadows to low/very low. Actually to play online WELL, it has to be set to very low, i.e. no shadows on characters and trees and such.
I can still handle HDR and those fancy eye adaptation effects and blur... but shadows, not a chance..
From what I read the only cards that can really run this Unreal 3 engine are the 8800 series cards.. literally head over heels..