Lag Problem....

[netddos]

I'm having severe and very strange lag issue on my server.

Hardware Specs:
Celeron 430 1.8GHz
2GB DDR2 RAM
Integrated Intel GMA 950
160GB HDD
Netgear Wireless G Adaptor <--- could this be the problem? gets full 5 bars with 54Mbps
6000kbps/3000kbps Fiber To The Home(FTTH) connection
Winxp


I'm running SRCDS CS Source server on this computer. Computer also runs Apache, DynDNS server and MySQL at the same time.

The problem I'm having is very strange.
When my friend X joined the server, he would get his ping as high as 900 (He and I were the only ones in this server). A day after, he joined again, and his lantency hovered around 90~500. On that same day, my other friend Z joined the server for the first time. He got his ping as high as 900 as my friend X did a day before.

This doesn't make any sense. With my 3000kbps upload, I should be able to handle 3 people without lifting a finger.

I tried other mods, CSS, hl2mp, synergy and they all experience the same kind of lag.

When friends X and Z join other servers, their pings are more acceptable (50~150). They both have broadband.

I tried to mess around with maxrate, maxupdaterate, ect to make things better but seemed to have ZERO effect..didn't make it worse or better.

Does anyone have an idea as to why my game server is behaving this way?

my server is located at

206.40.209.6:27015

to anyone who's interested in giving me a tip...

thanks..

[realchamp]

It might be your Proccessor, its a Celeron, Celeron isnt ideel for servers.

And your CPU, isnt so fast, and you are running quite much.(MYSQL etc. etc.)

[Drocona]

I'm pretty sure that CPU is killing the gameplay and getting it all lagged up. I'm surprised if that CPU can run just a MySQL server alone without long load times actually.

Celerons are the worst processors you can own, they are cheap for a reason.

Next thing I noticed is the wireless, you simply don't run servers on a wireless connection due to disconnects and unavailability of the network. Wiresless is completely unreliable, even if your computer sits right next to the access point.

[netddos]

Do you really think the problem is my CPU?

Humm although I may run MySQL and Apache at the same time as SRCDS, I rarely see those processes taking a hold of CPU power.

When I monitor my CPU usage, when all of them are running (SRCDS included), I see MAYBE like 20% CPU usage.

Plus, I'm not trying to host like 10 players on my map. Although Celeron 430 is one of the worse processors you can own, it should be better than Athlon XP 2100+ which I used to use to host server with 10 people.

[Drocona]

I'm 100% sure that the Athlon XP will beat the celeron with ease

You can roughly see P4 and athlon XP as equals. (Mainstream CPU's)
Same goes for Celeron and Sempron. (Budget CPU's)

[netddos]

Drocona Wrote:I'm 100% sure that the Athlon XP will beat the celeron with ease

You can roughly see P4 and athlon XP as equals. (Mainstream CPU's)
Same goes for Celeron and Sempron. (Budget CPU's)

I still can't believe modern CPU clocked at 1.8Ghz cannot handle server with 3 people...

and according to here, the new Celerons can easily beat Athlon XP 3000+

http://www.devhardware.com/forums/mobile-computing-75/intel-celeron-m-430-vs-amd-xp-m-3000t-141122.html

"Yeah Snod is right as usual...

Those celerons aint like the ones we used to bitch about in the past. These new ones are faster, more efficient and are very overclockable.

They are of course budget buys, but if the price is right they can be perfect for the average user."

[Drocona]

The Athlon from that site you posted is the mobile version, they usually have lesser specs than normal desktop CPU's.

There is always the possibility they perform better, I haven't owned a celeron in a few years, to be sure I suggest checking the cache and bus speeds of the procs, the higher the better.

It's only a general advice to stay out of the budget procs for running servers. As far as I know and heard from other people is that the CPU just maxes out REAL fast (100%) on those budget PC's, which means they only operate "fast" for a short time, like a sprint CPU instead of a stayer If you know what I mean