Tf2 virtually unplayable

[Mental Buga]

For the last couple of weeks I have been having tremendous problems with lag and stuttering while playing tf2. Its gotten so bad that I jump in and after a few mins I have no choice but to leave. Granted my system is old and I am actually getting my new computer on the 29th Jan, but in the mean time I was wondering if anyone could help so I could at least enjoy a game of tf2.

Current comp. Pent 4. 3.6, 2gig ram and graphic card is ATI Radeon HD4670, not sure if you need more info..

Problem started a couple of weeks ago, I havent installed anything new in quite a while and now for trouble shooting I have tried.

I have : Ran 3 different virus scans, as well as malware and ad-aware personal. Ran deep scans and found nothing. I freed up more room on my gaming drive have 40 gig free there and I ran a defrag on my whole comp and cleaned up all folders. I updated the drivers but I ended up reverting back to the previous version because it made it worse. I also ran the tf2 specific checks cache and defragged the game. I am connected via extreme speed cable, they have checked the box and I have run speed tests everything there was fine. We did have a wireless router but after updating the firmware it conked out and we have gone back to our old one which works fine. Incidentally there are another 2 computers connected and to rule out cable and router I logged on one of the other computers and it ran like a dream, (same comp specs) so its specific to this comp. The only thing I havent done is uninstall tf2 and for the main reason that I am having lag issues in other games but no where near as severe as in tf2. Ah I forgot I also have a program that tests all the components of my computer, I ran tests on all hardware and it found no problems.

The game is spiking every couple of seconds my ping will go from 60 to anywhere up to over 500 and I am experiencing stuttering. Can anyone think of anything else I can try? I would really like to play tf2 this week !

 

[Dead Tom]

It sounds like your network lag is falling into something after joining and becoming under-load. What i suggest is see if you can clean out your computer and see if any extra dust/random junk could be add heat. I would also see that there isn't a process that is sending extra network data out but not getting anything back. Also check so that you aren't downloading anything and you just forgot to turn it off.

 

[Mental Buga]

It sounds like your network lag is falling into something after joining and becoming under-load. What i suggest is see if you can clean out your computer and see if any extra dust/random junk could be add heat. I would also see that there isn't a process that is sending extra network data out but not getting anything back. Also check so that you aren't downloading anything and you just forgot to turn it off.

hmm havent checked for dust, will do that, however I have closed all programs even the virus protection, in the hope to find the route of the problem but thats not made any difference either

 

[Dead Tom]

Did you check the processes panel in task manager? Or just look at the network load at current state, then go into game and see what processes (other than the game) use up the most bandwidth.

 

[alf_]

As some of the others have said, it sounds like a network issue. Have you ruled out the other computers? My wife was uploading files on a few occasions and I had the exact same behavior you're describing. You said that you logged in on one of the other computers, but I'm not sure if the others were turned off at the time.

I would try turning off all of the other computers and use just the one computer as a test. Most upload speeds are a fraction of the download speeds and the router probably doesn't have a way to prioritize traffic to a particular system. Any program uploading will cause issues for TF2.

I'd try running a traceroute while your computer is at your Windows desktop and while you're playing (spectator) to see if it's a networking bottleneck. I usually start here with any networking issues to determine where the issue is-the computer, router or ISP. Instructions from Microsoft Technet follow:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314868

From there you can use a free tool I use to start diagnosing software issues, a program called Process Explorer by Sisinternals (now owned by Microsoft). I like it much better than the task manager, although you don't have a network bandwidth feature in Process Explorer.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx

You can use Autoruns (also by Sysinternals) to see what is automatically running on your computer, and modify the autorun settings in Windows in a nice GUI.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx

You can also try a different network card if you have one you can pull from a different system if it appears to be your computer from the traceroute.

There's always a small chance that your computer is owned and AV isn't detecting it. I've seen a lot of that at work recently, although it doesn't happen as often for home users.

If all else fails, back up your files and rebuild Windows. It's not much fun, but it's usually pretty effective. Windows munched my Nvidia RAID a few months back and I had to diagnose everything and rebuild which is one reason I haven't been on recently.

 

[Louis VI]

Same here Buga, I have been spiking on CSS from 50 ping to 300, also on TF2 90 to 300. I started noticing it since Thursday. Btw what ISP do you have Bell or Videotron ?

 

[Mental Buga]

Guys this is very helpful, Alf as for your first suggestion, traceroute and determining if its the computer or router or isp has already been verified. I have turned the other pc's off run tests with the modem and router, by all of the methods tried it remained very computer specific. Even with this computer on, the other pc of the same specs doesnt experience any problems.

I did however just run the process explorer and it did locate a problem with a skype side program called Skype web features, which seemed to be on some kind of loop every 20 seconds or so I located it and deleted it and will now go to verify if that was the process causing the problems, will update with info after.

 

[Mental Buga]

Same here Buga, I have been spiking on CSS from 50 ping to 300, also on TF2 90 to 300. I started noticing it since Thursday. Btw what ISP do you have Bell or Videotron ?

I am with Videotron, however I am 100% that its computer specific. I got onto videotron and they ran a trace from there, everything is running as it should. I am gonna log for a few mins and check out if that skype thing had anything to do with it.

Just to clarify to check the router and cable, all other pc's were off, changed the router from the wireless to the regular one - no difference, plugged my computer straight to cable - no difference. Turned my computer off and used the other comp of same specs and in both instances no problems were detected. Updated drivers of network card problem seemed to be worse so I return back to the previous drivers.

 

[Bravo Company]

The only issue I can see is your net lagging you. FPS wouldn't have anything to do with ping. Your specs are good enough to run TF2 well. Could someone be piggy backing off your net?

You tried my "internet nazi" idea with unplugging everything except your computer from the router.

It *might* be your network card or mobo. If you have super high speed internet like you said, having a skype program in the background shouldn't hurt you by only 1-5 ping, at most.

 

[Mental Buga]

No theres no piggy backing, besides even with my computer off, the others on the same connection are running fine, it would be the same if any computer was connected and thats just not the case.

This is I hardly use skype and its not on boot up, I have no idea where this skype web features came from, unless it was in a new update, it was the only other process that was running while I was in tf2 apart from steam and hl2 and wasnt detected by my internal process panel.

Seems after deleting this, tf2 is running better, I just logged for 20 mins or so and watched my ping and the process panel and my ping didnt go over 200, its still intermittant, but playable , last night it was going up to and over 500 every few seconds and the rubber banding and staggering was so great I just couldnt play, which is how its been lately.

Big thank you to Alf, at least I can play tf2 until I get my new computer on the 29th

thank you very much ! irks me somewhat after a week of tests, it turned out to be something so simple, isnt that always the case !!

 

[alf_]

No problem, glad I could help! If Skype was trying to connect to their master servers every 20 seconds, it could definitely cause enough uploaded packets to slow down TF2.

Here's a couple other programs which you can use to analyze your open connections and the actual net flow. These drill way down into geek land, but it will show you anything short of a rootkit. I don't know if you would want to mess with it since you're getting a new computer on the 29th, but others may get something out of these programs.

You can see what programs are actively using a network connection by using TcpView (Sysinternals again) which shows you everything actively using TCP and UDP on your system.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897437.aspx

From there you can focus in on particular areas by using Wireshark (free app).
http://www.wireshark.org/

I deal with net flow on a regular basis at work, but if you don't have the time to learn how to filter and analyze it, you're usually better off reinstalling your OS.