Halo pc online lag

[RR]

Sometimes I have so much lag while playing Halo it's hard to get
anywhere. What can I do to lower the lag. I have a pretty fast cable
internet connection. I am running Halo on a system with Windows XP64
powered by an AMD 64 2800+ with 2GB RAM and an ASUS nVidia Geforce 5200
video card with 128MB RAM. Is my video card a major setback? Would it
help to overclock my video card? Motherboard? or just get a better
video card? I do have my game resolution set to 640x480. There is one or
two maps that move like a snail. Its like a movie playing frame by frame
second by second.

[JMoney]

Is it only laggy when playing online?
If so, you can rule out quite a bit hardware wise.
You will want do some testing with your internet connection. Try
pinging the server you play on and compare it to the times you get
pinging yahoo or google or something.
Try turning off all other computers on your network. Also with cable,
your performance can be affected by your neighbors . If you live in a
highly saturated area, or have an abusive user nearby, that could be an
issue. Try taking your pc to your buddy's house and see if there is any
difference.

Also, make sure all applications that may be using your internet
connection are closed when you play. Do a scan for spyware and viruses.

What kind of router are you using? Have you forwarded the ports your
game uses to your PC? What about a software firewall? Have your tried
disabling it?

Lastly, if you have a spare NIC, try swapping that. If not, they are
pretty cheap and it's worth a try. If you have a junk network card, you
could potentially have a problem.

JMoney

Post by RR
Sometimes I have so much lag while playing Halo it's hard to get
anywhere. What can I do to lower the lag. I have a pretty fast cable
internet connection. I am running Halo on a system with Windows XP64
powered by an AMD 64 2800+ with 2GB RAM and an ASUS nVidia Geforce 5200
video card with 128MB RAM. Is my video card a major setback? Would it
help to overclock my video card? Motherboard? or just get a better
video card? I do have my game resolution set to 640x480. There is one or
two maps that move like a snail. Its like a movie playing frame by frame
second by second.

[RR]

Post by JMoney
Is it only laggy when playing online?
If so, you can rule out quite a bit hardware wise.
You will want do some testing with your internet connection. Try
pinging the server you play on and compare it to the times you get
pinging yahoo or google or something.
Try turning off all other computers on your network. Also with cable,
your performance can be affected by your neighbors . If you live in a
highly saturated area, or have an abusive user nearby, that could be an
issue. Try taking your pc to your buddy's house and see if there is any
difference.
Also, make sure all applications that may be using your internet
connection are closed when you play. Do a scan for spyware and viruses.

I do scan for spyware once in a while. I do not have a virus scanner on
this computer since I haven't found one that works with XP64.

Post by JMoney
What kind of router are you using? Have you forwarded the ports your
game uses to your PC? What about a software firewall? Have your tried
disabling it?

I have a Netgear 4 port cable router. Dont think I know how to forward
ports. what would that do ? I do have Windows Firewall enabled. I
haven't yet, but I could try disabling it.

Post by JMoney
Lastly, if you have a spare NIC, try swapping that. If not, they are
pretty cheap and it's worth a try. If you have a junk network card, you
could potentially have a problem.
JMoney

My NIC is an onboard intergrated controller on the ASUS motherboard.

[JMoney]

Post by RR

Post by JMoney
Is it only laggy when playing online?
If so, you can rule out quite a bit hardware wise.
You will want do some testing with your internet connection. Try
pinging the server you play on and compare it to the times you get
pinging yahoo or google or something.
Try turning off all other computers on your network. Also with cable,
your performance can be affected by your neighbors . If you live in a
highly saturated area, or have an abusive user nearby, that could be
an issue. Try taking your pc to your buddy's house and see if there
is any difference.

I think trying it at a friends would be the best thing to start with.
You can then zero in on either your computer or your network/isp.

Post by RR

Post by JMoney
Also, make sure all applications that may be using your internet
connection are closed when you play. Do a scan for spyware and viruses.

I do scan for spyware once in a while. I do not have a virus scanner on
this computer since I haven't found one that works with XP64.

Windows XP 64 comes with built in compatibility for most 32-bit apps.
Try AVG free - free.grisoft.com

Post by RR

Post by JMoney
What kind of router are you using? Have you forwarded the ports your
game uses to your PC? What about a software firewall? Have your
tried disabling it?

I have a Netgear 4 port cable router. Dont think I know how to forward
ports. what would that do ? I do have Windows Firewall enabled. I
haven't yet, but I could try disabling it.

Check with your documentation. It should tell you how to foward ports.
You need to change your comptuers IP from being dynamic to static.
Forward the ports the game uses to that IP in your router.

Post by RR

Post by JMoney
Lastly, if you have a spare NIC, try swapping that. If not, they are
pretty cheap and it's worth a try. If you have a junk network card,
you could potentially have a problem.
JMoney

My NIC is an onboard intergrated controller on the ASUS motherboard.

You can still try a new NIC, simply put one in and plug your ethernet
cable into it instead of the onboard one. Your NIC is probably fine
though, that would be a last ditch effort imho.

[RR]

ok thanks for all your help