# Battlefield 2142 Major Lag



## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

Hi everyone!

New problem for you all. haha 

Well, I have Battlefield 2142 in my computer and I have all the necessary things in my computer to play the game. Whenever I am playing Single Player, the game runs smoothly. But when I play multiplayer, it's a glitch fest. My gun will go up and down and all over the place, and when I'm in an action pack fight in a room, I skip all over the place and not even be able to aim my gun straight. Everyone else doesn't lag because I always get shot in the face by two bullets and get killed. 

SOMEONE HELP?! Is it because I am using a wireless connection?


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

Well, you didn't post any of your computer specs, but a wireless connection is definitely not good with that game. I had the exact same problem, but when I ran a patch cable from my router to my ethernet port, the connection problems went away. Wireless connections drop way too much info to be good for a game like that. Even if your reported speed is more than the required minimum, you'll still get those problems.

Post the rest of your system info to make sure there aren't any other hardware issues.


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

I have all the settings in the game on low, just to let everyone know.

Here's is some info from Easyinfo, which tells me what I need to play the game:









Response to Jones:

Thank you for your quick reply. 
So pretty much there is no way to make BF 2142 play correctly on my wireless connection ? =\


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

On the wireless connection, no. FPS require a very fast wired connection to avoid these problems. Trust me, no matter how good your wireless is, you will experience these problems.

As for your computer, it's looking like you're using a motherboard with onboard video. Is this a laptop? If so, you won't be able to upgrade your video. If it's a desktop, you can likely improve your gaming performance by adding a new video card.

Onboard video uses a portion of your system RAM to function, whereas add-in video cards have their own dedicated memory. Also, on-board GPU's are typically very weak compared to those found on add-in cards.

You can find out what type of card your computer can accept by finding out the model of your motherboard. You can use a free program called PC Wizard to find out all kinds of info on your pc. You can download it here:

http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php

Post your make and model of motherboard, and we can tell you what kind of upgrades you can get.


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

Downloaded the program you suggested. 
Here is my make and model of motherboard:

Mainboard: Hewlett-Packard Asterope

Chipset: ATI Radeon Xpress 200
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 524 @ 3066 MHz

EDIT: I have a desktop xP


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

Okay, after a quick search, here's a link to HP's site listing the specs of your motherboard:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?cc=us&docname=c00590356&lc=en

What we are looking for is either a PCI-Express slot or AGP slot. As you can see, under 'Expansion Slots', your board has one PCI-Express slot. This is what you need to put in a new graphics card. PCI-Express is the newest type of video card slot. AGP works too, but it's older technology.

Do you have a budget that you can spend on a new video card? Let us know and we'll see what we can dig up that would be a nice upgrade.


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

By the way, I have a LONG internet cord that I used to use for my Xbox so I can play on Xbox Live. Could I just unplug that cord and put it in my computer so I can get a better connection while playing BF 2142? If so, how do I setup my connection to go with the wired connection and not the wireless connection. I am sorry for being such a noob. Computers confuse me sometimes...

Edit: Thanks for helping me out and the great post, Jones. I need to check some boxes first because I remember having a video card in my old computer which I unplugged because it was too "powerful" and it wouldn't turn my computer on properly. I'll let you know what it is once I find it.


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

I am not sure what type of cable that the Xbox uses, but it's probably the same as a PC patch cord. Your wireless router should have plugs in it for this type of cord. You shouldn't have to do anything other than plug it into the router, and then into your motherboard's LAN connection. If you look on the spec page I linked, the picture of the backplate shows the correct place to plug it in. It's marked connector #4 in the picture.

To test that it's working, look at your network connections under the Windows Control Panel. It should list all you active connections. Check to see that 'Local Area Connection' is active and connected. To DOUBLE CHECK that it's working, disable your wireless connection, and try to browse the internet. If you can, then it's working.


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

Yes! It works!
Now I'm gonna try playing BF 2142. I'll let you know if it is laggy.


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

Good luck! Let us know how you make out.


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

One more thing I noticed in the screenshot you posted is that your computer has 55 processes running. Thats alot of extra stuff, and you can probably shut most of them off to help with your gaming performance.

You can turn off things like instant messagers, virusscanners, firewalls, quicktime, and other running processes, and it will free up RAM and processor time to make the game run that much smoother.


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

Jones said:


> One more thing I noticed in the screenshot you posted is that your computer has 55 processes running. Thats alot of extra stuff, and you can probably shut most of them off to help with your gaming performance.
> 
> You can turn off things like instant messagers, virusscanners, firewalls, quicktime, and other running processes, and it will free up RAM and processor time to make the game run that much smoother.


Yeah, I made sure that these were closed before I played (well at least some of them). Well I went back to playing BF 2142 and I have to say, it is much better than before. Lag isn't too bad but there is STILL lag that ruins the fun. =\

I guess I have no choice but to really look for that video card I have somewhere in my house. Once I find it, I'll post here what it is and if it will help at all.

Thanks for the help, Jones. For the first time, I received this much help with a computer problem!


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

Hey, no problem. These forums are the best! I've gotten loads of help from the users here on all kinds of problems.

Glad to hear it's working better now! 

BTW - If you're interested, here's a BF2142 forum that I frequent, and find that there's lots of good tips and tricks. It's helped me get better with the game, and it answers all kinds of questions about 'how to do stuff' and 'what weapons/items do'. Check it out here:

http://www.totalbf2142.com/forums/index.php

Just ignore all the angry rants, and focus on the good stuff!


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

lol thanks man.

By the way, I found the video card in the basement, but I am not really sure what it is (the type). The name of the card is called "Mad Dog Multimedia".

Is this video card good?


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

From what I can see on their website:
http://www.mdmm.com/products.php?categoryid=1

All they make is low-end cards. They don't even have any PCI-Express cards in their product range. I would surmise that your existing on-board video would be better than the card you have. Nevertheless, I'd consider buying a new gfx card. Here's a few options at varying price ranges that would play that game very well:

For $200. US:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150216

For $150. US:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130056

For $100. US:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130075

Keep in mind that going any lower is seriously going to impact the performance you get. I'd strongly advise you to stick to the $150 and up price range, as they will last you alot longer into future games, as well as give you awesome performance with current games. :up:

BTW - I chose all nVidia cards, because I personally prefer them. There's nothing wrong with ATI products, and alot of people really like them, but I have had bad experiences with them in the past, so I stick to nVidia. Just my opinion.


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## RedSpades (Jan 30, 2007)

Thanks once again. Going to check these cards out and see which one will suit my computer.


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

RedSpades said:


> Thanks once again. Going to check these cards out and see which one will suit my computer.


Well, they'll all fit into your PC, it's really just a matter of your available budget. Also, one thing to keep in mind when upgrading your video card (especially to something like a 7900 series card) is the power they draw. Your power supply will likely need to push at least 450-500 watts and have at least 20amp on the 12v rail. Otherwise, you can run into stability problems. This isn't too much of a problem, as decent powersupplies are pretty affordable. IF you need to, you could find one for $50-60 that would do the job quite nicely.


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## GripS (Apr 30, 2005)

I run the game beautifully with a 7600GT. No need for a beefy power supply either.


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

GripS said:


> I run the game beatifully with a 7600GT. No need for a beefy power supply either.


That's probably because you already have a 520watt OCZ PSU in your machine! 

This guy has an HP, and it may not have a PSU as nice as yours. The 7600GT is definitely one of the best in that price range though.


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## GripS (Apr 30, 2005)

sorry my post was incomplete. The 7600GT does not require an extra power lead from the PSU. So it draws all it's power from the PCI-Express slot.


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## reda316 (Mar 6, 2007)

ok i have a p 4 2.4 mh 1.5 gigs of ram 80 gig hd a radion ati 512 x1600 pro agp 
video card .... heres my prob i play fine with in a 32 man server that is conquest any thing more and i lag .......and when i mean lag is that my ping is good i mean verry good like 30 ping but my movemint is very jerky gun jerks all over the place
titan is wors .... no mater wht is my ping i lag and jerk need some help please


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

Reda, Are you playing on a wireless connection? Many other people have experienced the same problem and solved it by going to a direct wired connection.

Wireless connections have a habit of 'dropping' information as they transmit, and for PFS games like the BF series, this translates into player-killing lag.


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## reda316 (Mar 6, 2007)

no i have a direct conection to my modem!!!


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

What is your connection speed being reported as? You can test it by visiting this site:

http://www.speedtest.net/


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## reda316 (Mar 6, 2007)

ok my download is 3452 kb/s and upload is 677 kb/s very good!!!!


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

First thing is to eliminate the obvious.

1 - disk cleanup and defrag
2 - spyware, virus, malware scans
3 - shut off any background programs (instant messagers) as well as firewall and virus scanners while playing

Othwerwise, it sounds like you might have your graphics settings too high. Try going through this optimization guide, and see if there is any improvement:

http://www.tweakguides.com/BF2142_1.html

EDIT: And by the way, those connection speeds are very good, so they shouldn't be the problem.


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## reda316 (Mar 6, 2007)

i know dont have a antivirus and i shut every thing off when i play and my settings r at low 
aaa what eles mmmm o ya and my drivers for my video card r up dayted to the last version i dont know what to do!!!!!!!!!


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

This is a tough one. There's no apparent reason for why you're getting such low performance from your system. If you've tried all the other suggestions in this thread, and gone through the tweakguide, and it still didn't help, I'm out of ideas at this point.

Sorry, but I'm stumped. Anyone else have any ideas?


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## cracker224 (Jan 27, 2007)

You don't have an anti-virus?

EDIT: Oh and how many Mb and Bit is your graphics card??


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## Jones (Jul 28, 2005)

cracker224 said:


> You don't have an anti-virus?


I just noticed this, too. Reda, if you don't have any type of anti-virus program installed, this problem may be virus related.

AVG anti-virus has a very good free version you can download here:

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/5390/lng/us/tpl/v5#avg-anti-virus-free

Install, run a full system scan, and see if anything shows up.


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## MahaGamer (Jul 29, 2005)

I definantly agree with Grips... the 7600 GT is a very powerful card for the price, and size... it is a very small card but is very big in performance. I play BF2142 on all high settings and 1280x900 and get anywhere from 40-80fps depending on what is going on. Very powerful... would definantly recommend it. This is coming from someone who actually owns the card...
look at my specs below...


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