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[Hzza]

Ok, I've been having issues the last couple of weeks and can't figure out for the life of me whats wrong; computer or ISP/Intranetz.

I've been running TF2, L4D and Fallout 3 on medium settings perfectly since I got them and they've been running perfectly. Offline in all 3 work fine, but on TF2 and L4D if there's more then 4 enemies on screen I get massive slowdown and general gayness.

Now, my thinking was that if I've got so much stuff clogging up my system that I get slowdown, it should happen offline as well as online right? I've been pretty good on cleaning shite off my computer so I really don't think it is that but I could be wrong. And probably am....

So it must be the ISP/net? Right? Errmmm.....that's where you guys can help me! Eliminate the fact that my PC is fine, so I can phone up the ISP and give them some uncontrollable rage upside their head.

------------------
System Information (for what its worth)
------------------
Time of this report: 11/23/2008, 20:14:01
       Machine name: TOMHARRIS-PC
   Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
       System Model: XPS M1530                       
               BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A09
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T7250  @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
             Memory: 2046MB RAM
          Page File: 1167MB used, 3160MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode

[DeadlyAvenger]

Are you using wireless / wired connection?

I've found since switching to a power plug networking adapter I am having fewer online problems.

[mark]

"Hello I'm windows XP"
"Hello I'm windows vi... *shut down*"

I know as little as you about hardware but I know that Vista is not a gamers friend.

[CruelCow]

First of all, is it lag or is it low fps? (Can you tell the difference?)
Second, as deadly said, how exactly are you connecting to the internet? USB-Modem? wired/wireless router? etc.
Third: are you running a firewall or something of the likes?

[DeadlyAvenger]

"Hello I'm windows XP"
"Hello I'm windows vi... *shut down*"

I know as little as you about hardware but I know that Vista is not a gamers friend.

im having no major issues with vista. nothing that can't be fixed with a quick google search. and i find it considerably less likely to unrecoverably crash (i.e. ctrl+alt+delete and i can get back to normal)

[Junta]

You know what.. I had a spell for a couple of weeks earlier in the year when TF2 would simply hang all the time (time-outs etc).

Does it happen on specific servers? I found my problems improved after a re-install of Vista / and or a steam update or two.

Claws and papa will remember me joining day after day to leave the server in frustration - funny thing was no major hardware or software change on my part

If you want to check ISP then you want to run a TRACERT report - but this can only be done against an IP address (such as the server you're trying to connect to).
for example, from the command line in VISTA:

type tracert 217.163.25.215 then enter (change the IP address for a L4D server IP if needed)

this will display a list of "hops" to connect to a specific serever (the example above is for WDG server 1). If any hop has a high latency or the tracert fails to complete then you know its a crappy or intermitent connection.

[thereason]

Do you still freeze up if you turn all the graphic settings in TF2 down as far as you can?

[Hzza]

@deadly - Wired, had to give up on the wireless, too high ping!

@cow - I think its probably low FPS and theres no firewall (had to turn it off for Mass Effect and never got around to turning it back on!)

@John - I'll give it a go tonight

@Rob - Settings don't seem to make a difference, it happens on my standard settings and when I drop them down.

Cheers for your help guys

[Junta]

I also note that L4D has the ability to multi-thread properly (take advantage of multiple processing cores) - it could be that one of your cores doesn't work well (as I see that you have a core 2 duo there). This would however, NOT explain the fact that L4D previously ran well for you

Just a thought.. and probably unlikely. Does TF2 give you the same problems? I know that TF2 is not particularly multi-threaded and if it runs fine then we may just have an issue with multi-threading capability on your PC. This could indicate another process chewing up CPU time when you try to play L4D (may need to obtain a list of running processes on your system - download and run processexlorer to see a list of apps / services that are currently running).

Last thought: Intel processors have EIST enabled - this is their "speedstep" technology that throttles down a processor if it gets hot. Have you considered checking temperatures? The throttling down is automatic and can dramatically decrease performance on a PC, the Core 2 chips are excellent power savers especially on laptops and they can clock down to a very low speed to dramatically reduce heat. If you find that your L4D performance suddenly degrades then I would not ignore heat as something that you need to check - especially when gaming on a laptop (and L4D does push the graphics card doesn't it).

You can download RivaTuner to monitor graphics temperatures in the background, there is also a Core 2 plug in (for RivaTuner) that monitors CPU temperatures in the background too. By this I mean that RivaTuner can run silently while you play L4D and show a chart of temperatures over time.

[DeadlyAvenger]

smote for offering excellent advice.

[Junta]

Don't make me take that one Karma away! LOL - I just gave it to you.. lol

[DeadlyAvenger]

while you're still at uber-karma i will continue to smite instead of applaud.

[Hzza]

Just a thought.. and probably unlikely. Does TF2 give you the same problems? I know that TF2 is not particularly multi-threaded and if it runs fine then we may just have an issue with multi-threading capability on your PC. This could indicate another process chewing up CPU time when you try to play L4D (may need to obtain a list of running processes on your system - download and run processexlorer to see a list of apps / services that are currently running).

TF2 used to run fine, but seemingly ever since I installed L4D things have gone up the swanny!

Last thought: Intel processors have EIST enabled - this is their "speedstep" technology that throttles down a processor if it gets hot. Have you considered checking temperatures? The throttling down is automatic and can dramatically decrease performance on a PC, the Core 2 chips are excellent power savers especially on laptops and they can clock down to a very low speed to dramatically reduce heat. If you find that your L4D performance suddenly degrades then I would not ignore heat as something that you need to check - especially when gaming on a laptop (and L4D does push the graphics card doesn't it).

You can download RivaTuner to monitor graphics temperatures in the background, there is also a Core 2 plug in (for RivaTuner) that monitors CPU temperatures in the background too. By this I mean that RivaTuner can run silently while you play L4D and show a chart of temperatures over time.

Again, this will be checked tonight. I'm gutted, I was going to bring the laptop to work whilst the boss is away and try to sort it at work but woke up too late . Grudgingly applaud John for being a general legend and deadly for his advice-smite

[Mr Chug]

I used to have major stuttering problems when I played TF2 on a laptop due to processor heat- was only intermittent due to the speedstep thing that John mentioned. However, I don't see how online play would cause any more heat than singleplayer.

[Hzza]

On the heat topic, I have had issues with overheating before but I thought I'd got it sorted (DVD's lifting computer off the desk); I'll nick a fan from work and see if that has any affect. Someone on a different site once mentioned something about ramping up the fan speed or something, anyone have any ideas how that can be done?