TF2 Hardware Lag?

[ashmedai]

Problem: I just got the game Team Fortress 2 and love it. Sadly, I get lag in the game that really brings down my enjoyment of it.

Description: The lag consists of what appears to be a drop in framerate, a slowing of movement response when keys are pressed, and just an overall choppy experience. It lasts 10-15 seconds at a time, occurring about once a minute. When it isn't lagging, the game runs at an exceptional level. It seems fairly random and not dependent on what is on screen. I can be standing in a room by myself and it will lag. I can be in a room with pyro's burning and demo's setting off explosions, body parts flying everywhere, and it can run perfect. It doesn't seem dependent on what is happening graphically.

Related?: I experience the same type of problem with the game World in Conflict on single-player. It will randomly lag, this time a shorter duration, only 5-10 seconds, and only happening once every 2 minutes or so. No other game shows these problems. Opposing Fronts and STALKER are both recently played games, in similar genres, that show no problems.

OS: Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 SP2B.

Graphics: I have 2x BFG Tech BFGR7950512GTOCE GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 in SLI. ForceWare version 163.71. DirectX version 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904). I have tried turning graphics down from the recommended high. No performance change was observed. High or low settings, I still get the same lag.

Memory: 4GB OCZ Platinum Revision 2 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor.

Motherboard: ABIT AW9D LGA 775 Intel 975X ATX Intel Motherboard.

Internet/Network: 5mb down, 512k up. My connection is fine with ping being under 30 on the servers I play on. My friend plays on the same network connection and does not experience the problem with his computer. I do not have the problem with other games I play online.

Other Info: I am using the ABIT uGuru program that came with the motherboard. It is set to the following (I believe these were default);
Ext Clock 266MHz
PCIEClk 100
VCore 1.3813
CCR2V 1.80
MCH1.5V 1.50

If you need anymore information, just let me know. Thanks to all who offer some help. This is really bugging me because it seems either a problem with my computer or with the game(s). If it is on my end, I really would like to get it fixed.

I am new to this site. My apologies if I did anything wrong or posted in the wrong section.

[donutman]

I have the EXACT same problem. I'm glad to hear someone else is having this same issue. I have not been able to pinpoint what is going on! It's very annoying..

Amd X2 4200+
1GB DDR 400
eVGA 7600gt (latest drivers)
Asus A8V-VM SE (latest BIOS)
Windows XP Pro

[jwatson]

It sounds to me like one of two things.

First, I would definitely check out any programs you have running in the background. If you have an anti-virus program (or any anti-malware software), a firewall, maybe java/flash, etc... make sure they are not set to constantly update. You might even go into Task Manager and check out the CPU History graph in the Performance tab, and see if it has regular spikes... then maybe you can watch and figure out why.

The other thing it could be is video card drivers. Don't just make sure you have the latest, but google it to find out what other people think of it. Often times people will prefer version X over version Y.

Good luck!

[KarmaKiller]

I'll try to offer some help..
With you saying it happens in single player mode, that would eliminate any internet connection problem.
With you specs (ash) you shouldn't be experiencing any problems with games. I would check for any background apps. That would almost have to be it.

Now donutman, I think you may have a couple of problems.
1. Your RAM. I would recommend you pick up another stick of RAM, and see if that helps. Pretty much the standard for gaming rigs anymore is 2Gb.
2. Your video card. It should be able to run that game on med to low settings. But I wouldn't expect it to run much higher then that. TF2 is a new game, that is probably pretty demanding. I haven't played it yet myself, but by todays standards, your GPU is getting a little weak.

Hope I helped.

[ashmedai]

I got it running at an acceptable level where I believe I am no longer experiencing any game lag, only network.

Options --> Video --> Advanced
Turned off the game Anti aliasing, leaving the Nvidia CP to control it (possible conflict there with both were trying to control it?).
Set High Dynamic Range to None.
Set Motion Blur to Disabled.

Edit: I did reinstall Windows but upon fresh install of TF2, had the same problems. This eliminated the chance of background programs causing it (aside from Nvidia CP?). When I changed the above settings, I saw a world of difference.

[Ykoops]

What are your Nvidia settings at? I changed all of those ingame settings but I still get the lag spikes. It's getting stupid, I almost can't play.

I have an Nvidia Geforce Go 7900 GS, 2GB of ram btw.

Any help is appreciated, this is silly.

[Phyc0lops]

Better late than never.....

I saw this post while googling something and had to answer.

You have a heat problem.

My laptop was doing the exact same thing with my 3d games and a friend suggest*I blow out my vid card with some canned air. I got a bunch of crap out it it, like cat hair (iIdon't even own a cat!) and it cleared up the problem immediatly. You could try cleaning out your case or try running the computer with the case off for a bit to see if it clears up the problem. If it does you need some more fans.

[sehui]

yo, Im having the same issues as the original poster

I did what he did, changing the anti-alias and dynamic range, but I still get the issues.

So, I'll try reinstalling tf2, I just downloaded my new driver (nvidia 6800) for my graphics card, and I guess we'll see from there.