I bought this game not long after release but never got to play it because I would always run into this problem right after the cut scene. Once they say “May we live to see another day” and the game actually start up it starts to hang and move very slowly. The letters that eventually say “Eden Project” take about a second to move around each time while they're being rearranged. If I hit escape and bring up the menu It also seems to take about a second to refresh and everything moves in jerky 1 second intervals including the mouse pointer.
I've tried playing it again because I had upgraded my computer to 12 gigs of memory and thought it might work this time. I've updated all my drivers, downloaded the RAGE patch from AMD and validated the install on Steam. I've also tried turning my graphics down as far as possible but since they don't have a “High, Med, Low” setting I've kind of had to hit and miss. I'm not an expert on Vsync and the other options they give. I'm afraid that the problem might be that my processor isn't strong enough, though I thought it was a pretty good one and it runs other games perfectly fine. I've got some conflicting info while researching this but it sounds like my problem might also be because I have an ATI card and ID had some driver trouble with it. These are my system specs, thanks for any advice.
Processor: AMD Atholon II X4 630
Memory:12 Gigs
Windows 7 64bit
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series.

Chances are it's a driver issue. Head over to http://www.amd.com/uk/Pages/AMDHomePage.aspx to update your video drivers.

I have the same video card, and the game is working like it should on Catalyst 12.3

Thanks, I checked the link but I have the most current version. 12.4
I should also add that I can occasionally see the inside of the pod my character is sleeping in, so I'm not sure its an issue with the card. It seems to be taking a very long time to show the pieces of the game, which make me think its a memory or processor issue.

Hey Animeprime
Your machine is perfectly fine and will run just about everything on the market. No problem there...But:

You're EXACTLY in the same boat as me: Bought the game 2 weeks ago and ended up in the same spot. Have not played one single minute but seen the intro 73 times!

Been in touch with the hotline numerous times - they are very helpsome, but nothing helps:
Reinstalled ATI 12.4 from scratch. Downgraded to ATI 12.1 (works for many). Reinstalled Direct X. Reinstalled game. Tried numerous commandlines. They checked my machine through and through via reports.
Only difference is, that the game now also includes crashes when loading.

My rig is almost as powerful as yours and we're using the same graphics card (which normally rocks), but I have a feeling something else is wrong - the same thing happened when GTA 4 came out. It halted the computer in the same way until they patched it a month later - it's like my rig is pulled down by a workload which isn't there...

I really don't get it - we must be thousands with the ATI 5800 series card, who have bought this game and still havn't played a single minute!

Did either of you try: removing any rage configs that you might have made, start the game with http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1360602-is-the-stuttering-ever-gonna-be-fixed/page__p__20522216#entry20522216 +set com_safemode 1
play if it will allow you to, some, then remove the safe mode command then see if it will will work correct.
If not Try this: Go into your steam library page, right click Rage...got to properties...set launch options... insert "+jobs_numThreads 0" without the quotes. +jobs_numThreads 0

Thanks, I tried those both but still running into the same issue. ><