I thought I would point out that the majority of people who play BF2 and SF misunderstand what the term LAG actually is and means. The definition of lag is slang for network latency. Basically its the time for all the 0's and 1's to travel from your PC to the server and back again. This is measured in milliseconds or your "ping".
The reason I brought this up is because I see a few people on our server complain of lag or blame something happening because of lag. eg. "sorry but I lagged, or does anyone have lag?"
Our server never lags, ever, period. Why doesn't it lag? It has resources/power to burn. Way more than you need for BF2 or SF. It only uses 3% of its 100mbit pipe. Hmm love to have that net connection at home :p It has never exceeded 80% CPU resources. This includes running VOIP an Battle Recorder. Now EA recommends not to run BR on 64 player maps because it takes a massive amount of grunt, yet our dedicated box, which we don't share with anyone, unlike 99% of BF2 servers which have more than 1 instance of BF2 playing at the same time. Without BR running it uses less than 30% CPU.
Those that complain of lag maybe 3 out of 50 players on a 64 player map. They always ask if anyone else is lagging and the usual response is nothing or no. I saw this several times last night and started to ask questions about their PC. If my PC doesn't lag when connected and I have a 200 ping then its not due to network latency per say its due to their PC not being up to spec for BF2. It plays like a LAN game for me or in other words my PC can handle 64 player maps.
This makes me ask the question to the person crying lag something about their PC. The 1st question I ask is how much RAM do you have? The people who cry LAG have 1 thing in common, a lack of RAM. Its a well documented fact that BF2 is resource hungry and a memory whore. 1.5 - 2gig is what you need. I know a lot know this but it seems a lot don't. All these people I ask usually have 512mb of RAM and they are trying to play 64 player maps. They also have crappy vid cards as well. They meet the minumum requirements for the game but that is not what you need for 64 player maps.
People with 512mb should really only play 16 player maps. 1gig 32 player maps, 1.5-2gig+ 64 player maps. Use this as the BF2 rule of thumb.
If you experience what you may think is LAG then you need to be "realisitic" as to whether your PC can handle playing the different map sizes. Don't expect to play 64 player maps and have your PC run smooth if you only have 512mb RAM. If your PC is not running smoothly lower your graphic settings. This is the key. People try to run at too high settings to make the game look nice at the expense of smooth gameplay.
There are other factors such as packet loss which can cause lag and connection problem warnings so it may also be associated with your ISP. 128k upload is what you need to play BF2 smoothly without LAG and download speed of 512k is recommended.
So next time you think you are lagging take a moment to think and be realistic as to whether your PC has enough RAM/CPU/VID/Connection grunt to be able to play BF2. Don't forget that not all servers are the same, as mentioned, some have up to 10 instances of BF2 running at the same time and the server can't handle the load. This is when everyone experiences whats perceived as LAG not just a few people.
Avoid 64 player maps unless your PC can handle them or upgrade your PC so it can if you must play 64 player maps.
Hope this helps some people.
The reason I brought this up is because I see a few people on our server complain of lag or blame something happening because of lag. eg. "sorry but I lagged, or does anyone have lag?"
Our server never lags, ever, period. Why doesn't it lag? It has resources/power to burn. Way more than you need for BF2 or SF. It only uses 3% of its 100mbit pipe. Hmm love to have that net connection at home :p It has never exceeded 80% CPU resources. This includes running VOIP an Battle Recorder. Now EA recommends not to run BR on 64 player maps because it takes a massive amount of grunt, yet our dedicated box, which we don't share with anyone, unlike 99% of BF2 servers which have more than 1 instance of BF2 playing at the same time. Without BR running it uses less than 30% CPU.
Those that complain of lag maybe 3 out of 50 players on a 64 player map. They always ask if anyone else is lagging and the usual response is nothing or no. I saw this several times last night and started to ask questions about their PC. If my PC doesn't lag when connected and I have a 200 ping then its not due to network latency per say its due to their PC not being up to spec for BF2. It plays like a LAN game for me or in other words my PC can handle 64 player maps.
This makes me ask the question to the person crying lag something about their PC. The 1st question I ask is how much RAM do you have? The people who cry LAG have 1 thing in common, a lack of RAM. Its a well documented fact that BF2 is resource hungry and a memory whore. 1.5 - 2gig is what you need. I know a lot know this but it seems a lot don't. All these people I ask usually have 512mb of RAM and they are trying to play 64 player maps. They also have crappy vid cards as well. They meet the minumum requirements for the game but that is not what you need for 64 player maps.
People with 512mb should really only play 16 player maps. 1gig 32 player maps, 1.5-2gig+ 64 player maps. Use this as the BF2 rule of thumb.
If you experience what you may think is LAG then you need to be "realisitic" as to whether your PC can handle playing the different map sizes. Don't expect to play 64 player maps and have your PC run smooth if you only have 512mb RAM. If your PC is not running smoothly lower your graphic settings. This is the key. People try to run at too high settings to make the game look nice at the expense of smooth gameplay.
There are other factors such as packet loss which can cause lag and connection problem warnings so it may also be associated with your ISP. 128k upload is what you need to play BF2 smoothly without LAG and download speed of 512k is recommended.
So next time you think you are lagging take a moment to think and be realistic as to whether your PC has enough RAM/CPU/VID/Connection grunt to be able to play BF2. Don't forget that not all servers are the same, as mentioned, some have up to 10 instances of BF2 running at the same time and the server can't handle the load. This is when everyone experiences whats perceived as LAG not just a few people.
Avoid 64 player maps unless your PC can handle them or upgrade your PC so it can if you must play 64 player maps.
Hope this helps some people.
However it makes no difference for low ping or high ping I have found. What you can notice though if server connection is not capable of handling a lot of players, as in there is a lack of bandwidth all players pings will increase. That is LAG.
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