Kyle
I own an xbox 360 and my ping is around a 160 and i play cod and i am a pro player but online i do horrible because my ping is garbage but i do fine on lan. Will someone tell me what a good internet provider is and router to get that will bring my ping to around or under a 20? Plz plz help
Answer
Let me explain what "ping: is:
For online gaming the two things that are most important are latency and upload speed.
Latency is the delay (ping time) in milliseconds that it takes the signal to travel to the server and back. The lower the number the better, but you'll definitely want a ping time of under 120 ms or you'll have major problems with online gaming. Ideally you want less than 80 ms ping to the gaming server.
Ping time depends on distance and number of connections. Your connection may have to be routed through 15 or 20 hops (different locations) to reach the gaming server. Each server has a delay (latency) due to the distances that the signals must travel. Try to choose a closer gaming server to lower your ping time.
Upload speed also plays a factor in updating your player position data to the gaming server. Slow upload speeds can cause your online game to lag. The faster the better, but at least 0.5 Mbps would be my minimum recommendation.
That being said,
If you are using a wireless connection, I would try temporarily plugging your Xbox 360 directly into the router via a Ethernet cable.
If your game still lags with a direct connection, then the best router /modem in the world won't help, you'll need a better Internet connection.
However if the lag goes away then your problem is with the wireless connection between your router and your game console.
Wireless connections are not good for systems used for online gaming. Wireless signals are affected by many factors including distance, wall density, electrical interference, directional antenna range, etc.
By nature, interference in wireless systems causes problems with smooth, consistent speeds. Your latency (ping) may be 30 ms and wireless interference could cause it to spike to 200 ms or more.
You should try to centrally locate your wireless router or gateway up high and away from dense walls and electrical and 2.4 GHz wireless interference such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, etc.
For serious gaming or video streaming your best bet is a direct Ethernet connection. Ethernet is unaffected by wireless interference and will give you a rock solid, stable network connection.
If it is not feasible to run Ethernet cable the next best option would be a set of powerline network adapters http://isp1.us/reviews/netgear-xavb2101-powerline-adapter/
You plug one in by your router and one in the room where you need access and connect them to the devices with standard Ethernet patch cables. The network signals are transmitted over your existing home electrical wiring which will not be affected by wireless interference. There is still overhead in the connection but it is much more stable than WiFi.
Good Luck...
Let me explain what "ping: is:
For online gaming the two things that are most important are latency and upload speed.
Latency is the delay (ping time) in milliseconds that it takes the signal to travel to the server and back. The lower the number the better, but you'll definitely want a ping time of under 120 ms or you'll have major problems with online gaming. Ideally you want less than 80 ms ping to the gaming server.
Ping time depends on distance and number of connections. Your connection may have to be routed through 15 or 20 hops (different locations) to reach the gaming server. Each server has a delay (latency) due to the distances that the signals must travel. Try to choose a closer gaming server to lower your ping time.
Upload speed also plays a factor in updating your player position data to the gaming server. Slow upload speeds can cause your online game to lag. The faster the better, but at least 0.5 Mbps would be my minimum recommendation.
That being said,
If you are using a wireless connection, I would try temporarily plugging your Xbox 360 directly into the router via a Ethernet cable.
If your game still lags with a direct connection, then the best router /modem in the world won't help, you'll need a better Internet connection.
However if the lag goes away then your problem is with the wireless connection between your router and your game console.
Wireless connections are not good for systems used for online gaming. Wireless signals are affected by many factors including distance, wall density, electrical interference, directional antenna range, etc.
By nature, interference in wireless systems causes problems with smooth, consistent speeds. Your latency (ping) may be 30 ms and wireless interference could cause it to spike to 200 ms or more.
You should try to centrally locate your wireless router or gateway up high and away from dense walls and electrical and 2.4 GHz wireless interference such as microwave ovens, cordless phones, baby monitors, etc.
For serious gaming or video streaming your best bet is a direct Ethernet connection. Ethernet is unaffected by wireless interference and will give you a rock solid, stable network connection.
If it is not feasible to run Ethernet cable the next best option would be a set of powerline network adapters http://isp1.us/reviews/netgear-xavb2101-powerline-adapter/
You plug one in by your router and one in the room where you need access and connect them to the devices with standard Ethernet patch cables. The network signals are transmitted over your existing home electrical wiring which will not be affected by wireless interference. There is still overhead in the connection but it is much more stable than WiFi.
Good Luck...
Building Gaming Desktop?
JMO M
I have never built a desktop before, but I think i am going to try. What all components do i need and suggestions of brands please. Im trying to keep cost some what low. Thanks
Answer
Depends on how much gaming you are going to do, and what games you are thinking of playing. Ill mention both options.
Graphics Card
1. For the graphics card, if you are looking to play the top games, such as Crysis, call of duty 4, bioshock, etc, on max (high settings for crysis) then i would recommend at least the 8800gt 512mb. Even better would be if you got the 8800gts 512mb or the 9800gtx. I wouldn't recommend the 8800gtx or the 9800gx2 because they are not THAT much better than the ones ive mentioned but are like double the price. Also if you need to in the future you can SLI the cards that i mentioned.
If you are only going to be playing low to mid-demanding games such as unreal tournament, sims, a bit of call of duty, on high/max settings and you aren't going to be playing Crysis on high settings then get an 8600gt 512mb because this will be fine for what you get, and about $100 cheaper. (this will only play crysis on low/maybe mid settings)
Hard Drive
2. Any storage with at least 16mb cache will be fine. But i recommend you stick with the better brands, such as western digital (thats what i have), seagate, samsung. If you can find one with 32mb cache which isn't too expensive then go for that one. If not, then get one with 16mb cache.
RAM
3. Again you will have to make sure this is supported by your motherboard, but nowadays motherboards always support DDR2 800mhz RAM. So go for that. Get something with latency timings of 4-4-4-15 at least. This could be OCZ platinum revision 2, crucial, corsair, and try and get one with a heat spreader and not just the stick of ram. This will help it to cool down.
Processor
4. I recommend going with intel because at the moment they are winning the battle between intel and amd. And intel is better as an all-rounder. I recommend getting the E8200 (2x2.66ghz). This is because this is 45nm technology rather than the 65nm technology, meaning that it will run faster (comparing two cpus with the same clock), and it will also run cooler.
If you are looking for something a little bit more future proof, you may want to look at the quad cores, namely Q6600, Q6700 or Q9300.
Optical Drive
5. I recommend either Lite-on or samsung. Get something with 20x dvd writing capabilities. Don't worry about this too much. They only cost like $15 - $25.
Motherboard
6. For the motherboard, i recommend you get one which supports SLI technology. (looking at motherboard will probably get confusing). But you can tell if it supports SLI because the name of the motherboard has to have an nvidia nforce number so for example the xfx 780i motherboard. the 780i is the nforce number. I recommend getting the 680i or the 750i.
(Optional) Heatsink
7. If you do not do any overclocking, which im guessing you don't, then it won't affect you. But if you do overclock, i would recommend getting better CPU cooling and replace the stock cooling with something like the Arctic freezer 7 pro.
Power Supply
8. For the power supply, i recommend you get at least 500w. 550w or 600w if possible. This will ensure you have enough power if you decide to upgrade or build a new rig. Stick with good brands such as Corsair, Cooler Master, Seasonic and Enermax.
Case
9. For the case, its up to you really. Whichever looks the nicest to you. But make sure it's a mid tower or full tower case. I'd stick with Cooler Master, Antec and Thermaltake. Make sure you get one without a power supply already supplied otherwise you're going to waste your money.
Monitor
10. If you haven't got a nice, good monitor already, then i suggest getting either an Acer or even better a Samsung. Get one with at least a response time of 5ms and contrast of 1000:1. And try and get one with a DVI port. Also try and get a 22'' monitor, unless you don't like big screens, go with 19''.
Depends on how much gaming you are going to do, and what games you are thinking of playing. Ill mention both options.
Graphics Card
1. For the graphics card, if you are looking to play the top games, such as Crysis, call of duty 4, bioshock, etc, on max (high settings for crysis) then i would recommend at least the 8800gt 512mb. Even better would be if you got the 8800gts 512mb or the 9800gtx. I wouldn't recommend the 8800gtx or the 9800gx2 because they are not THAT much better than the ones ive mentioned but are like double the price. Also if you need to in the future you can SLI the cards that i mentioned.
If you are only going to be playing low to mid-demanding games such as unreal tournament, sims, a bit of call of duty, on high/max settings and you aren't going to be playing Crysis on high settings then get an 8600gt 512mb because this will be fine for what you get, and about $100 cheaper. (this will only play crysis on low/maybe mid settings)
Hard Drive
2. Any storage with at least 16mb cache will be fine. But i recommend you stick with the better brands, such as western digital (thats what i have), seagate, samsung. If you can find one with 32mb cache which isn't too expensive then go for that one. If not, then get one with 16mb cache.
RAM
3. Again you will have to make sure this is supported by your motherboard, but nowadays motherboards always support DDR2 800mhz RAM. So go for that. Get something with latency timings of 4-4-4-15 at least. This could be OCZ platinum revision 2, crucial, corsair, and try and get one with a heat spreader and not just the stick of ram. This will help it to cool down.
Processor
4. I recommend going with intel because at the moment they are winning the battle between intel and amd. And intel is better as an all-rounder. I recommend getting the E8200 (2x2.66ghz). This is because this is 45nm technology rather than the 65nm technology, meaning that it will run faster (comparing two cpus with the same clock), and it will also run cooler.
If you are looking for something a little bit more future proof, you may want to look at the quad cores, namely Q6600, Q6700 or Q9300.
Optical Drive
5. I recommend either Lite-on or samsung. Get something with 20x dvd writing capabilities. Don't worry about this too much. They only cost like $15 - $25.
Motherboard
6. For the motherboard, i recommend you get one which supports SLI technology. (looking at motherboard will probably get confusing). But you can tell if it supports SLI because the name of the motherboard has to have an nvidia nforce number so for example the xfx 780i motherboard. the 780i is the nforce number. I recommend getting the 680i or the 750i.
(Optional) Heatsink
7. If you do not do any overclocking, which im guessing you don't, then it won't affect you. But if you do overclock, i would recommend getting better CPU cooling and replace the stock cooling with something like the Arctic freezer 7 pro.
Power Supply
8. For the power supply, i recommend you get at least 500w. 550w or 600w if possible. This will ensure you have enough power if you decide to upgrade or build a new rig. Stick with good brands such as Corsair, Cooler Master, Seasonic and Enermax.
Case
9. For the case, its up to you really. Whichever looks the nicest to you. But make sure it's a mid tower or full tower case. I'd stick with Cooler Master, Antec and Thermaltake. Make sure you get one without a power supply already supplied otherwise you're going to waste your money.
Monitor
10. If you haven't got a nice, good monitor already, then i suggest getting either an Acer or even better a Samsung. Get one with at least a response time of 5ms and contrast of 1000:1. And try and get one with a DVI port. Also try and get a 22'' monitor, unless you don't like big screens, go with 19''.
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