IS there ANY solution for the cannon stotter bug with ATI cards except for getting Windows 7?

Hey .. i really am pissed about this absolutely gamebreaking bug, which I think you all know about. When cannons fire and when their explosives hit FPS drops to 1-5 and the sound stotters for the fraction of a second when using ATI cards from the HD 4 or 5XXX series. I really tried everyhting..have newest drivers..etc. but it just doesnt work. I fell really betrayed becasue I didnt have this probelm with the ATI 3XXX series.. but after upgrading my PC.. NTW has become unplayable.
Now some people said the problem would be solved if one gets W 7 instead of XP 32. Is this REALLY the only solution? As I really dont want to spend so much money to solve ONE bug in a game.

Instead of ranting against us in this backwater of a Total War site, I suggest http://forums.totalwar.com/forum.php asthe official forums, and www.sega.com as they have they are the official support for the game.

Actually I wasnt "ranting" against anyone in this forum. I am just disappointed that NTW doesnt work like it should anymore. And i dont think CA or Sega might have any solution for this problem if they didnt work it out in the last 5 patches for NTW. so, is there anybody who would like to help me?

Have you contacted www.amd.com about this in their section that deals with graphics bugs? CAis not going to make it card specific. You and all other AMD card owners are going to have to lean on AMD.

No. And do you really think AMD will provide any help with this specific problem? In the end its always the fan and customer who hast to solve the problems by himself or with other customers. But nvm.. I think I'lll just get Windows 7 and hope it works, although I must say that the fact CA doesnt do anything to adress the ongoing problems with ATI cards ( its not just with one) and NTW does show how much they really care about their customers.

if you are on xp at the moment i would seriously recommend upgrading to windows 7 anyway, regardless of gaming matters.

This thread may be of some help to you http://www.twcenter.net/forums/showthread.php?t=337169