Computer lags intermittently while playing games

[Carade]

Now whenever I play Left 4 Dead 2 my computer will switch from running smooth as Fonzie, to lagging, and back to running smoothly. I've tried decreasing the graphical eye candy, and even disable multicore rendering, the problem isn't confined to Left 4 Dead either, I've encountered it during single player games such as Modern Warfare 2, also.

System Specs:

Processor: 2.13GHz Intel Core 2 Duo P7450
Memory: 4GB, 800MHz DDR2
Hard drive: 320GB 7,200rpm
Chipset: Mobile Intel PM45 Express Chipset
Graphics: 512MB Nvidia GeForce 9800M GS

Any help would be appreciated.

[synkr0nized]

I had this happen, or at least something very similar, most notably in online 3D games but also in offline and RTS games, and it bugged the crap out of me. I would be running great at a high FPS with everything clear as day, get a few seconds of 5-10 FPS and barely catch what was happening on the screen or be able to input any commands, and then back to smooth sailing. It seems like this may be the same thing, as you've tried to cut back on detail levels and things like that without any change.

Without writing the long post I originally did [on another forum] to describe the issue and the solution, here's a short version:

- tracked down using task manager that it seemed to always be one of the svchosts.exe processes spiking at the same time
- connected that svchosts.exe call (forget if I used a tool or just Windows CLI for this step) to the DNS Client service in Windows
- the service polls the hosts file on your computer regularly/periodically and often when there is network traffic; for me this was for whatever reason taking a ton of attention from my machine
- suggested solutions have been to make sure your hosts file is small (and if you run something like Spybot that alters the hosts file by adding tons of entries, it may be a cause) or to disable the related Windows service
--- this service is not required for your computer to operate, and most home users don't really have a need for it
--- To disable it, or at least set it so that it only starts when you manually activate it, go into the services panel (windows+r / start->run "services.msc" or go to your administrative tools folder in your start menu and select "services") and disable "DNS Client" or set it to manual.
---- If you don't want to disable it, you can at least do this to see if it resolves your issue before changing it back.


It stopped what was a year+ history of random stuttering/intermittent lag in games for me that I eventually learned to deal with (frustratingly so, though) when I played games. It worked for one or two other people when I posted it, so it may help you out.


If not, there are other things to look into, such as the free space on your hard drive or your swap file, that may be related.

[Carade]

I tried it, but it didn't work. I appreciate your help though.

[synkr0nized]

Ah, bummer, I was really hoping I was being helpful. Not being able to track down the source of things like this can be pretty frustrating, but the spikes of poor performance are even moreso in the middle of otherwise great play.

[Doc ock rokc]

Try Doing this On your Left 4 dead.

Right click the shortcut on your Desktop.
Then Click properties.
Then in the Target line go to the end (don't delete what it says on the line!) and type "-high"

This will tell your computer Left 4 Dead 2 is a high priority application and give it more leeway and Processor power. but to keep it from being distracted before the games go through your Task bar with a fine toothed comb and Close any unessential applications. Also On your firewall Put it Into gaming mode. This should free up some lag. Also IF your using a Wireless router try to keep anything Remotely magnetic away from both the Router and your NIC card. If your using a wired connection Make sure your Wire and Router are built for such speeds. Such bottle necks can effect gameplay drastically.
Also When ever possible Clear your Visual Memory. If you do so before a game It can help out in some cases.

[Carade]

While it didn't completely fix the occasional lag, it did make the frame skips far more bearable. So now people aren't yelling at me for shooting them. Thanks a lot!