Hey beanolo,
sorry, I didnt mean to ignore your post...its just that ive been reading on forums that people with a similar setup as mine have AT LEAST 50-60 constant...id even be happy with that....I dont doubt that your right however, about steam using so much reources running in the backround, but I just cant beleive with this setup id be dropping as low 29 fps in some cases. I dont really have any other games to compare this to, only half life 2 itself.
But thanks everyone for your input!!