PC/Internet speed
 

I'm quite keen on playing games on my x-box/PC and one of them is a PC MMO-RTS where I get the chance to shoot anyone from anywhere in the world, good eh!?!
I've recently been experiencing problems where, after playing for half an hour or so, my PC starts getting synchronisation errors because it's getting "Laggy"?
My PC isn't ancient (yet), it's a 1.8Ghz celeron processor with 256k ram and I'm using Internet Explorer 5 over NTL's 300k cable modem. I'm concerned that it's not so much the internet connection but my PC that's slowing down?
How can this happen? More to the point, as a complete technophobe (I'd rather fight my way into one-piece leathers and fend off the DesmoDue racers into Paddock Hill bend) what can I do about it?
I've cut the other programmes out so that I'm just running Microsoft Spyware and McaFee virus software at the same time as my game but are there some settings I could try on my PC to stop it slowing to a crawl?
:puzzled:

Hiya - I posted something similar recently and have has limited success.

Some suggestions...

1) Remove all the installed programs and other stuff you dont actually use.

2) Try cleaning put the registry - I found 'RegistryCleaner' quite good for this task - but free version is quite limited.

3) Do a 'Defragmentation' - (Defrag) of your hard drive.

failing all that if you seen no real improvement I think the way forward (and I am working down this path now)....is to backup all your files / progs and completely REFORMAT the hard drive and then reinstall.

Good luck - Frank

In my experience the quickest and easiest way of speeding up games is to spend out on a specialised graphics card with as much memory as you can afford.

I don't think that optimising your disk will have any effect, since when playing games over the net, the system isn't using the disk - its just CPU power and (IMHO lots of) memory.

Thanks Frank, I've tried all that except for the complete re-install, can't build up the nerve for it to be honest :o

And thanks Eamonn, I was hoping to not have to go that far but it seems like it's the only way. What sort of RAM is the best for games and where's the best place to get it?

For games usage the best memory is that which comes with the card - i.e. is not a separate plug in module.

Look for at least 256 Mbytes graphics cards for good performance.

Take a look at review of graphics cards and this group test

Also remember there are two types of graphics cards for the PC - either PCI or AGP. The connections are different and you need to get the right one! Check with your PC's handbook if you're not sure.

HTH.

If you're getting lag etc it's got to be network related rather than graphics card etc.

What processes are running on your machine when you're gaming?

How do you connect to the internet? USB through your modem, or do you have a router etc? and run a Cat5 cable to your PC through a n/work card?

How does your xbox connect? does that suffer lag also?

How is general browsing on the web? when the lag occurs what happens if you exit the game and look what processes are running, what's your web connection like then?

Can you alt-tab in your game when this happens? then check what is running on your PC at that time.

You haven't got something like AV updates etc scheduled at certain times have you?

Lots of questions, but lots of potential issues

Errrr! I'll have a look and see if I can work out some answers when I get home. :o I know I'm not running with the latest technology but the game I play over the net says it only requires a 366Mhz processor & 28k modem (minimum!) and I'm getting problems with 1.8Ghz processor over 300k broadband fed in through a USB port. I'm happy to bump up the SDRAM (seems I only got 128k!!!) if that's a problem and I think it's an Intel AGP graphics card but you're getting to the boundaries of my knowledge now and I dunno what to do first let alone next :rolleye: