Win2k
P4 2G
256 PC2700 Corsair
ATI 8500 AIW, 128megs etc
SB Audigy2, no Apple IPod or anything plugged in, all normal clock speeds.
Latest DirectX, ATI drivers, no usual suspects, explorer.exe killed, no antialiasing etc, any game resolution and still it stutters even on the opening screen.
..
set priority high and stutters less but longer.