technical question on lag

[o_goon]

I am relatively unknowledgeable when it comes to some technical issues. My question is how much, if any, does your video card impact the smoothness of play online? Or is it all dependent on your internet connection? Does being behind a router affect your lag and if so, what can be done to improve it.

I notice that when the action gets fast and furious my game gets more choppy. Is there anything on my end I can do to improve this?

[o_rebo]

The below assumes you're asking about HL1 not HL2

4 Things affect the smoothness of online gaming.

1.CPU.
2.Memory.
3.Video Card.
4.Connection type and settings.

Ignoring CPU and Memory type that leaves Video Card and Connection and settings, these can be somewhat tweaked.

Assuming your on broadbaned, make sure you have these set.

cl_cmdrate 60
cl_updaterate 60
rate 10000

That will prevent your connecting getting choked due to too much information trying to be sent thru low settings.

Other things you can do to improve connection is to close any programs using the internet connection, including.

MSN
Skype
Bittorrent
Kazaa+other p2p programs.

Lastly some servers will have better connections to tohers, so find servers with decent pings.

For Video Card settings well there are quite a few things that affect your FPS. Some of the biggest are

16bit of 32bit graphics
Resolution
v_sync

If your getting low fps i would suggest running with v_sync off, 16 bit and 800x600 resolution. To show your resoluton on screen use net_graph 3.

[o_jefferino]

With a router it will slow down your connection depending on how many people you have split on your internet connection. I believe it's actually if you have lets say 4 people your internet speed slows down by 4 compared to you only having the internet connection. Suggestions?? Play at times when your roomates are not using the internet or just kick them off whenever you want to play. I think with wireless routers it's even more slow since the signal dies out.

[o_goon]

The below assumes you're asking about HL1 not HL2

Assuming your on broadband, make sure you have these set.

cl_cmdrate 60
cl_updaterate 60
rate 10000

That will prevent your connecting getting choked due to too much information trying to be sent thru low settings.

Actually I am talking about HL2. I found cl_cmdrate and cl_updaterate but not rate. This is in the hl2 config file. Am I in the right place? I am not very knowledgeable in this aspect as you can see.

this is my basic set up: athlon xp 2500+, 1 gig 2700 memory, ati 9500pro video card.

I have a broadband cable connection 1.5 m down, 160k up.

[Mulchman MM]

Originally Posted by Jefferino

With a router it will slow down your connection depending on how many people you have split on your internet connection. I believe it's actually if you have lets say 4 people your internet speed slows down by 4 compared to you only having the internet connection. Suggestions?? Play at times when your roomates are not using the internet or just kick them off whenever you want to play. I think with wireless routers it's even more slow since the signal dies out.

That's just full of incorrect generalized comments.

You can't just have a blanket statement saying using a router will slow down your connection - that's completely false.

There's no "defined" factor that your "internet speed" will slow down to if you're sharing a connection with others by means of a router (or switch, or hub). There's so many variables. I'm going to leave it at that.

[o_ivaqual]

exactly. it depends on the total bandwith of the internet connection and how much of this bandwith each computer uses.

[o_voipme]

Technically, playing with a router/switch with 3 other computers connected at all times shouldn't affect your lag that much. Lag is predominantly caused by the physical distance between two computers. So regardless of the computer you have, you'll still ping 100 or more to computers on the west coast if you're playing on the east coast and if you have a decent connection at the very minimum. If anyone is interested in the really technical details, I'd be happy to explain.

[o_|404|innoc-tpf-]

Expanding on what VOIP said. Think of the route between two computers as being like highways. If there are a lot of cars on the road your travel time will be longer. If there are fewer cars it will be faster. Everytime you hit a freeway interchange you run the risk of hitting denser traffic. If the traffic is light you zip on through without being slowed. Obviously, the more lanes a Freeway has the more traffic it can handle with little or no slow down.

Now, carrying the analogy over. The roads inbetween would be the wires and routes that your data travels. The Interchanges would be routers and other gateways between you and the other computer. The number of lanes would be the amount of bandwidth.

So...lag can be caused by

Too many cars on the road - Too many users pushing or pulling data along a certain route

Too many cars at a particular interchange - too many users pushing or pulling data through a certain router or gateway

Road construction slowing your progress - repairs and upgrades to wiring and hardware.

Visiting Disneyland - Way too many damned people trying to get to the same server you're headed.

Wreckless drivers smashing into other drivers - Windows users infected with virii and spyware clogging available bandwidth

Hope that helps. By the way, there are a number of factors that can determine how a router performs. Saying that simply sharing a router among more people makes it slow is nonsense. With the simple routing that most consumer appliances do...the router is rarely the issue.

[o_darkside]

Originally Posted by Mulchman MM

That's just full of incorrect generalized comments.

You can't just have a blanket statement saying using a router will slow down your connection - that's completely false.

There's no "defined" factor that your "internet speed" will slow down to if you're sharing a connection with others by means of a router (or switch, or hub). There's so many variables. I'm going to leave it at that.

Completely AGREE with ya mulch... i read that and i was like where did this guy get this stuff.

[o_deadly furby]

You have the memory and the processor but, your Video Card could use an upgrade. In response to your question of " how much, if any, does your video card impact the smoothness of play online" the answer is A LOT.
The 9500 you have installed has no onboard hardware support for DirectX9 which is what HL2 utilizes. The entry level Direct X9 with hardware support, manufactured by ATI, was the 9600. I'd look into selling your 9500 and move up to a 9600Pro at the very least. If you can afford a 9800Pro, go for that. Obviously, make sure you're getting an AGP card and not a PCI card. You'll be shocked at the difference you'll see on your monitor.

[o_jefferino]

Oops!

[o_kam]

Originally Posted by Deadly Furby

The 9500 you have installed has no onboard hardware support for DirectX9 which is what HL2 utilizes. The entry level Direct X9 with hardware support, manufactured by ATI, was the 9600. I'd look into selling your 9500 and move up to a 9600Pro at the very least.

Actually 9500s do support dx9 and are better than 9600s.

The difference:

the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro has less rendering pixel pipelines from 8 to 4 and vertex shaders down to 2 from 4. Removing these means that ATI could reduce the tansistor count. See also that the memory bus width is reduced to 128-bit DDR. To compensate a little the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro has slighty faster core & memory clock speeds.

[o_groovyf]

Originally Posted by Goon

Actually I am talking about HL2. I found cl_cmdrate and cl_updaterate but not rate.

Not at main PC to check, but the "rate" setting may be in a file called userconfig.cfg