Ok smart people, can you solve this?

[xviciousx]

Ok get this, my computer lags in online games for no apparent reason. I can't figure it out. Keep in mind, I am an idiot. I don't know much about this here computer thingy. I have ruled out my ISP being a problem, others with Verizon don't have this problem. I've ruled out my wireless router, I've used this same Linksys router on other peoples' computers and no problems, it has to be me.

It'd odd because I'll lag, then it'll reverbrate (sp) and make my dude have like a seizure for a couple seconds.

Any ideas?

[harrymay]

what are the specs on your computer?

try an updated driver on your nic. i presume this is online gaming we are talking about?

[Oz]

Better yet - get friends who also play the game to come over with their rigs and use a few different computers to play on a LAN. If your computer lags noticeably behind newer, meaner hardware, it's time to talk about a budget for an upgrade.

[03cavPA]

Since we don't know anything about yer box, how about more RAM, newer vid card/updated vid drivers?

Try turning off a lot of the programs you don't need while you play the game.

[Rally Sport]

Run the game on the lowest settings.. if that doesnt help then yeah you might want to start putting in some money to RAM and video cards like stated above. I do hope you're using DSL (Or faster) connection right..? Because if youre on 56K.. man, that just wont cut it.

[harrymay]

maybe try replacing your flux capacitor, i did it to mine and now i can go back to the future and back again before youve morphed into the game


no seriously what are the specs? you may want to get a new video card. if your still using an athlon k6 its time to upgrade bad. or worse you are trying to play games on a celeron with 256mb and intel video

[G-man422]

^^ flux capacitor, LMAO!!!

[xviciousx]

I have 1.25 gigs of RAM with a GeForce 4 video card. everything else you'll have to walk me through

[Oz]

What is your FSB? (look in BIOS/CMOS)

How fast is the RAM running?

What sort of temperatures are you getting inside your case?

What processor do you have (type) and speed (GHz)?

What motherboard make/model do you have?

What OS are you running?

What programs load at startup, how much RAM do they consume?

[xviciousx]

Originally Posted by Oz

What is your FSB? (look in BIOS/CMOS)

How fast is the RAM running?

What sort of temperatures are you getting inside your case?

What processor do you have (type) and speed (GHz)?

What motherboard make/model do you have?

What OS are you running?

What programs load at startup, how much RAM do they consume?

1.) You'll have to spell it out

2.) I have 1.25 Gigs of RAM, that's all I know

3.) The case is left open but I have no fans or anything like that, I find that I don't use it enough to use it

4.) I have an AMD Sempron 3000+ 2 Gig running off a Compaq Presario SR1500NX

5.) Windows XP SP2

6.) I currently have 44 processes running using 339M, I don't know which I can eliminate

[Oz]

OK, post a list of all the programs loaded in your system tray after a new boot.

Cooling is most likely your problem!! The fact that you have no fans, and plkay games with instability problems add up to spell it out as most likely cause.

I would go and get some good heatsinks and fans and see if that fixes the problem. Won't break the bank at $20-50 either

[xviciousx]

list of all processes after start-up

hpsysdrv.exe
wuauclt.exe
vttimer.exe
alcxmntr.exe
firefox.exe (what i'm using to talk to you)
steam.exe (the game's engine)
ctfmon.exe
ipodservice.exe
realsched.exe
rundll32.exe
ituneshelper.exe
hpwuschd2.exe
jusched.exe
viewmgr.exe
hpcmpmgr.exe
hpztsb10.exe
sm56hlpr.exe
ccapp.exe
alg.exe
ccevtmgr.exe
spbbcsvc.exe
sndsrvc.exe
navapsvc.exe
issvc.exe
ccsetmgr.exe
ccproxy.exe
explorer.exe
svchost.exe (local service)
svchost.exe (network service)
svchost.exe (system)
svchost.exe (network service)
svchost.exe (system)
lsass.exe
services.exe
winlogon.exe
taskmgr.exe
csrss.exe
symwsc.exe
smss.exe
wdfmgr.exe
nvsvc32.exe
mdm.exe
lxrjd31s.exe
spoolsv.exe
system
system idle process

processes: 45 commit charge 251M/1422M

I dunno though, I think it has to do with my internet cuz I just found out today that I can't direct connect over im to send photos etc. something to do with a firewall maybe? would that cause my momentary lag? cuz i've played this game on much less powerful systems before uncooled and it ran perfectly smooth.

I'm using a linksys wireless router with a netgear connection to verizon at 54mbps.

[Oz]

OK, I can recognise a lot of unneccesary processes in that list, I suggest entering them one by one into Google and seeing if they are benign or not. You will need to work out how to stop each one from loading, as the process will be different for different programs. For some, you will have to open the programs and change it's setup and options, some will be located in the "Start Up" folderl, and some in the registry. Once again, the right query into google will give you a fairly good "how to" fix each one - plus by doing this I think you'll learn a lot about what's going on behind the scenes on your PC.

As far as the IM thing you mention, it probably has to do with closed/open ports on your networking device. If you have a router/switch type thing, log into it (usually through an IP address entered into your browser, let me know if you need help with this) and look for Network Address Translation (NAT) or port forwarding. Type: "[program name here, eg. MSN] ports to open" into Google and then in your Router Setup NAT, put the ports, your computers IP address (usually all the info required). This should fix that problem.

HOWEVER

I don't believe that's the cause of your gaming problems - because if the game's port was closed on the firewall it wouldn't work at all

AND

When you play ANY GRAPHICALLLY INTENSIVE GAME, you tax that capabilities of the HARD DRIVE, RAM, CPU, GPU and graphics card RAM all at the same time, usually to the highest rate possible - 100%

Running any computer system at 100% for extended periods of time results in HEAT and not having PROPER HEAT SINKS and FANS to dissipate that heat nearly always results in INSTABILITY and CRASHES.


So go out and spend that $50 and prove me wring before we try anything else, please.

Ozzie

[xviciousx]

rgr and thank you

[harrymay]

Originally Posted by xviciousx

list of all processes after start-up

hpsysdrv.exe- Kill this, you dont need it
wuauclt.exe
vttimer.exe
alcxmntr.exe
firefox.exe (what i'm using to talk to you)
steam.exe (the game's engine)
ctfmon.exe
ipodservice.exeunless you want itunes to open as soon as you plug in an ipod kill this
realsched.exekill this
rundll32.exe
ituneshelper.exekill this
hpwuschd2.exekill this
jusched.exekill this
viewmgr.exeim pretty sure this can go, google it first
hpcmpmgr.exedrop this
hpztsb10.exeand this
sm56hlpr.exesisnce you use broadband, kill this
ccapp.exe
alg.exe
ccevtmgr.exe
spbbcsvc.exe
sndsrvc.exe
navapsvc.exe
issvc.exe
ccsetmgr.exe
ccproxy.exe
explorer.exe
svchost.exe (local service)
svchost.exe (network service)
svchost.exe (system)
svchost.exe (network service)
svchost.exe (system)
lsass.exe
services.exe
winlogon.exe
taskmgr.exe
csrss.exe
symwsc.exe
smss.exe
wdfmgr.exe
nvsvc32.exe
mdm.exe
lxrjd31s.exe
spoolsv.exe
system
system idle process

processes: 45 commit charge 251M/1422M

I dunno though, I think it has to do with my internet cuz I just found out today that I can't direct connect over im to send photos etc. something to do with a firewall maybe? would that cause my momentary lag? cuz i've played this game on much less powerful systems before uncooled and it ran perfectly smooth.

I'm using a linksys wireless router with a netgear connection to verizon at 54mbps.

if you are leaving the case wide open, it will have a hard time over heating, especially with a sempron, i overclocked one and it still ran cooler than many others.

check that your firewall is not on, also log into your router and check that firewall is not blocking anything.



to stop the processes in the future, do this

start>run> type"msconfig". select "startup" and disable those items. that way they will not come up again. i presume you are either using the built in radeon xpress200 graphics chip or Sis chip. either way, if you are playing a game, those do not hold up. spend about $100 and get a new video card. your sharing all of your system resources to push the graphics through and that will cause problems.