Need Help Fixing H2v

[Van Camp]

Hey guys,

I have 3 major problems with my H2v client. I have done a lot of troubleshooting and have had long in-game discussions with Kills Alone about these issues. We couldn't find an answer, so I decided to post here.

Anyway, I am experiencing a very weird lag. The game will run smoothly at 200FPS, and at random points during a match, and even in the main menus, it will lag. It will be running at 200FPS, and every half a second it will jump down to 60FPS, then another half a second it jumps back up to 200FPS, then goes back down to 60FPS. This will go on for about 20 seconds and usually does this about 2 - 4 times a match. After the 20 seconds, It resumes a smooth 200FPS. I have tried everything. Cleaned dust of my PC, downloaded Razor Gaming Booster and changed my desktop appearance to best performance.

Second, random crashes. I have noticed they have been occurring when there is a lot of chatter going on in the chatbox. Earlier on, I was playing with Kills Alone. During our discussion, I crashed 2 times in a span of 5 minutes. This was when other players joined into the discussion. I am thinking the problem is caused by my lack of RAM.

Lastly, my GFWL will randomly disconnect. My NAT type is always Moderate. I have overridden my GFWL port and set it to 10,000. No difference. I have allowed GFWL through my Firewall which didn't change anything.

These errors do not ever happen on my other GFWL games. The only problem that does occur is the random disconnection from GFWL. I have also restarted my OS several times in the past year and during those times I never had these problems (except for the GFWL disconnecting). I am also trying to capture a video of the lag but my DXtory is giving me trouble right now...

NOTE: My PC is outdated. Ordering a new PC tomorrow anyway but won't arrive for a week. Here is my dxdiag if it's needed.
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/7/2013, 00:07:45
Machine name: JAMES-PC
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_rtm.090713-1255)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: P55-USB3
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 750 @ 2.67GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4092MB RAM
Page File: 4108MB used, 4072MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7600.16385 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 2: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (retail)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (retail)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (retail)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce GTS 250
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0615&SUBSYS_34E71458&REV_A2
Display Memory: 2795 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1005 MB
Shared Memory: 1789 MB
Current Mode: 1360 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: N3240w-E
Monitor Id: VSC0B1F
Native Mode: 1360 x 768(p) (60.015Hz)
Output Type: HD15
Driver Name: nvd3dumx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvwgf2umx.dll,nvd3dum,nvwgf2um,nvwgf2um
Driver File Version: 9.18.0013.1070 (English)
Driver Version: 9.18.13.1070
DDI Version: 10
Driver Model: WDDM 1.1
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 12/3/2012 08:47:14, 18045968 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: n/a
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4555-11CF-C673-EA141FC2C435}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0615
SubSys ID: 0x34E71458
Revision ID: 0x00A2
Driver Strong Name: oem7.inf:NVIDIA_SetA_Devices.NTamd64.6.1:Section011:9.18.13.1070ci\ven_10de&dev_0615
Rank Of Driver: 00E02001
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_C ModeVC1_C ModeWMV9_C

 

[SIC I TITAN I]

Maybe your network card is fucking up. Mine use to shut off at times after I replaced it, it worked fine

 

[Van Camp]

It sais it there, under Display drivers. It's a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

 

[SIC I TITAN I]

Have you tried updating your drivers?

Here are the latest nvidia drivers: http://www.nvidia.com/object/win8-win7- ... river.html

 

[GCreat0r]

It sais it there, under Display drivers. It's a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

I got the exact same video card as you and mine works fine. I dod update mine but I never had any problems with it.

EDIT:

Anyway, I am experiencing a very weird lag. The game will run smoothly at 200FPS, and at random points during a match, and even in the main menus, it will lag. It will be running at 200FPS, and every half a second it will jump down to 60FPS, then another half a second it jumps back up to 200FPS, then goes back down to 60FPS. This will go on for about 20 seconds and usually does this about 2 - 4 times a match. After the 20 seconds, It resumes a smooth 200FPS.

Altho after reading this again it sounds familiar.
Do you mean that at a random point in game the game suddently ´stutters´ for about 20 seconds?
I got the same thing so that's probebly the video card.

 

[SIC I TITAN I]

It sais it there, under Display drivers. It's a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

I got the exact same video card as you and mine works fine. I dod update mine but I never had any problems with it.

Not all video cards have the same life. Some last longer than others

 

[GCreat0r]

It sais it there, under Display drivers. It's a NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250

I got the exact same video card as you and mine works fine. I dod update mine but I never had any problems with it.

Not all video cards have the same life. Some last longer than others

I edited my previous post because after reading the first post again I realized I might have the same problem as him after all.

 

[Van Camp]

My drivers are updated.

I think the problem could be with my RAM. I don't know. Halo 2 worked perfectly previously but since my last OS restore, H2v doesn't want to cooperate with my PC.

"I{ edited my previous post because after reading the first post again I realized I might have the same problem as him after all."
So you get random lag spikes? I'm going to download fraps now since DXtory isn't working, and get a video up of what my lag problem looks like.

EDIT: Video is now uploading. Give it 25 minutes or so.

 

[Kills Alone]

Like I said, test the system and the game with one stick of RAM, if you get bad results try the other stick by itself. RAM is the culprit many times.

Also the firewall on your router could cause an issue with connection. Join lag causes a type of stuttering that is lag but it takes on all forms graphically, and join-lag never stops as long as someone is coming in.

Remember to run CCleaner, its a great little app and it offers a better Add/Remove section as well. If you use the reg clean you might want to make a backup.

Now I know this is obvious but you could have some type of infection, if you watch Task Manager you might see a spike in resource use then be able to track down where its coming from by watching RAM and CPU use under the Performance tab.

 

[Van Camp]

Like I said, test the system and the game with one stick of RAM, if you get bad results try the other stick by itself. RAM is the culprit many times.

Also the firewall on your router could cause an issue with connection. Join lag causes a type of stuttering that is lag but it takes on all forms graphically, and join-lag never stops as long as someone is coming in.

Remember to run CCleaner, its a great little app and it offers a better Add/Remove section as well. If you use the reg clean you might want to make a backup.

Now I know this is obvious but you could have some type of infection, if you watch Task Manager you might see a spike in resource use then be able to trap down where its coming from by watching RAM and CPU use under the Performance tab.

It's late, I shall do all of this tomorrow. Thanks very much Kills.

Here is the video guys, skip to 3:29, that's where the lag starts. I couldn't be bothered editing so that's why the lag only happens near the end of the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO-1Xz-r ... e=youtu.be

 

[GCreat0r]

That's The same problem! I got that too! I never tought I would find anyone else with that problem.
Since we both got the same grapics card the problem probebly lies in the card.

 

[PCTechmaster07]

If you think the memory might be a problem you could always run a Memtest to see if a stick is bad:

Memtest86+

Just burn the image to a disk

 

[Kantanomo]

With your NAT you have to change it to open on your router/modem, just forwarding or changing ports wont fix it.

As for the video problem it could be one of many things, like do you run your game with -novsync. One other problem others have had with the game, is that their frames are so high it overloads the gpu for a second and causes it to freeze shortly. There is a FPS limiter out there somewhere, but sadly I do not have it for I have never needed it. I will ask around and see if I can get my hands on it and post it up.

 

[SIC I TITAN I]

Oh I see the lag you're talking about. I use to get this too from time to time. It went away when I restarted h2v. Maybe like others have said your ram is bad. Ram is easy to replace btw.

 

[Twinreaper]

From how bad that lag was, I would have to say it was definatly CPU thread/priority issue or a major GPU issue. GPU's do all have differently life expectancies and in my experience, all Nvidia chipset cards use sub-par thermal compounds on the heatsinks. Always go with a water/liquid cooler block for the GPU and or always replace the paste with top notch Arctic Silv 5 or better before you even install the card. Trust me, it makes a world of difference.

 

[Shawn]

Q1 I have a gts 450 and it will do the same thing and it does not affect me.

Q2 You may be correct, an i5 with only 4 Gb of ram and a gts 250 1 Gb card that may be your problem... or this game just is not optimized for your pc.

Q3 It may be your isp since Australia has some weird problems when it comes to gaming.

 

[Kills Alone]

It really looks hardware related, yet he says it only happens with H2v. This game is terribly optimized.

 

[GCreat0r]

It really looks hardware related, yet he says it only happens with H2v. This game is terribly optimized.

I still think its the grapiscard. Too much coincidence we both have the same kind of unexplained lag and we have the same grapicscard.

 

[Van Camp]

Thanks for the ideas guys,

I have tried FPSLimiter already. I set it to 30FPS and I still got the lag.
This never happens with ANY other game I have. Games which are more hardware demanding than Halo2 never have these lag problems. My other GFWL game Dark Souls, runs on maximum graphics with no lag at all.
If this lag is hardware related, then it would happen on all of my other games too. I'm thinking it could be either the following:
-Halo 2 is horribly optimized. Some GPU will run Halo 2 better than others, and my GPU seems to be the bad one.
- But this cannot be the case, since before i restarted my OS, I still was using the same hardware. Halo2 never lagged like this.

-Or, Halo 2 is still badly optimized, and loves to eat up all the RAM. My computer is old and there may be a problem with my RAM now. The lag doesn't happen on other games, as they are optimized well and don't need to use up much RAM.

I shall test out memtest to check my RAM. Even though I am getting a new computer in 3 days or so, we should still try to find the answer, as we may encounter more people with the same problem.

I have also downgraded my DirectX version to DirectX9. Didn't make a difference.

I will test memtest first, then I will re-install Halo2 and finally try everything Kills said on his post in the first page. Twin, I will probably do that paste and water cooling on my new computer. Might get a little expensive I'll have to see.

EDIT: GCreat0r, I almost forgot. Since we have the same problem, what motherboard and CPU do you have, and how much RAM do you have? Just realized I can't memtest or reinstall halo2. I don't have CD drive, I'm preparing my new case so my CD drive has been put into the new case. So, i can't reinstall halo2 or burn memtest to a disk. I tried to mount memtest to a drive using Daemon Tools but it won't run.

 

[PCTechmaster07]

I should've mentioned (sorry) that memtest is a bootable disk (runs outside of windows). If you don't have an optical drive to use at the minute you can install it on a USB drive and boot it from that (if your motherboard supports it). Try using YUMI to install it on a pen drive (or external hard drive, whatever works).

Download YUMI

Just make sure you don't have anything important on the drive you're using, if you do back it up somewhere before using this.

The other thing you could try for memtest is burning an image from another computer (if possible).