Issues with CounterStrike 1.6

[Health1]

Okay here goes nothing from the simple to the complex:

Basically it is mixture of several things that I can define my problem on. What happens is, when I go into a West or East coast server, or any server not in my state (Tx) I have very poor registration, and mild lag. Now this issue is something that is known and is common and I have been playing the game for a long time and other FPS games as well. The problem is that when I compare myself to other players in my area (including right next to me, and several towns over and just in the general area) our spray patterns/routing/ or registration is completely different. Now comparing my registration/spray patterns and routing from one coast to the other, I do 100% better in just Texas servers when I play. But when I branch out like I know I will have to and have always done, the game is getting to the point where it is a annoyance. There have been multiple forum posts on several Steam client sites and just sites in general related to gaming. And nobody really has a fix for the issue, people just say deal with it. The issue with dealing with it is that nothing gets fixed, you just put a mask on the problem that is going to pop up everywhere.

And the sad thing is, and the thing that most people do not understand is that, when I shot a wall with a clip of 30 bullets at a fair distance with little to no control in game re-coil, my bullet marks that I see are COMPLETELY different from someone else on their screen. And that someone else can be someone next to me on LAN, or someone in CA, or NY, etc. I know this is merely because of the difference in people equipment or routing.... possibly. But I have done multiple comparisons with other NVIDIA users and the issue is still present, and I have also compared with ATI users, and people with my GIGABYTE mboard and people with ASUS boards as well.

What I have done:
Reformated, updated all drivers, and also tried multiple beta drivers for NVIDIA. Made sure running right refresh rate, made sure game was up to date and fresh installed the game. Changed ISP from DSL to CABLE then to CABLE Turbo with time warner.

Help needed : ( any information I'm willing to provide only reason I didnt provide comp specs is because this post is already long : (.

[Jason09]

Hi and welome to TSF!
Have you tried opening ports for CS? What is the make and model of your router?

[Health1]

I just use a Cable Modem, and sometimes I use a D-link switch when i need to connect multiple comps at home(lans etc).

Cable Modem: Motorola: SB4200 Surfboard Cable Modem.
D-Link Switch: DGS-2205

The problem happens on both however it just happens on my desktop. On my laptop with the game installed it does not happen at all.

PC Specs:
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 3800+
Mboard: Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 /w nforce4 chipset
Memory: DDR2 2x 2GB sticks.
OS: XP SP3
Vid card: Nvid 9800 GTX+, and also have tried to fix the problem with a Nvid 7900 GTO x2 256.

[Jason09]

Ok, in that case, what software firewall are you using, and are they the same on both the laptop and desktop?

[Health1]

No firewalls except just the default windows things, but the laptop is vista, desktop is xp... i know that is a nice difference but any help needed. Giving that it is prolly 9:30 at the time of this reply I will prolly test this on a 03 Sony Vaio laptop with xp sp3, to see what happens.

And on my desktop I have tested it with firewall completely off and nearly all security precaution set to low priority or just off. And keep in mind I have little to no software on my comp due to the new fresh reformat. And on top of this, I had original XP home, it had the same problem, and now I use XP Pro and it has the same problem. And it had the problem from sp2-sp3 when installing new updates if that helps. We should talk on aim or something : ) or some kind of chat.

**A friend thought a IP change would do the trick for the possible routing problem that may be causing this. I tried to change my IP like several different ways from using this forum and just on my on with .bat files and ipconfig /flushdns and renew and release commands. And still nothing. And I'm using Time warner Turbo. And the reason I bring this up, is I'm outside of houston and people that have turbo get 10-14 mbps where as I only get 7-8. Just food for thought.

[Jason09]

Are game settings the same on both machines?

[Health1]

Well the laptop settings had default rates and my desktop had different rates. I changed my desktop to the default rates and surprising it is what i want it to be. HOWEVER that means that every other player online gets the benefit to tailor the game to thereselve and their hardware but I do not in a sense. With these default rates, my game runs terrible in all aspects. And I honestly cannot figure out a common median between the two. Either my game sucks and my shots are good, or my shots are terrible and my game is smooth... But in a sense both are terrible because I will need a little of both to be successful or at least just to have fun.

[Health1]

Any other thoughts, tips, solutions? I'm honestly wanting this fixed : (

[Jason09]

When you say you've updated all drivers, does that include your network drivers?

[Health1]

yes I have. And a little update:

I guess I was somewhat wrong at the beginning. But basically I have changed my ip, and on each laptop I have mirrod all in game settings and the same problem happens on each laptop as it does on my computer. Now in the game when I play on a local or just any server in my state (Tx) the problem is somewhat non-existent in most cases. So it is basically what it should be. But as soon as i go to another state and it could be in the same timezone, the jump from bad to good is like a leap across a football field. And comparing it with others, there leap is just a minor hop. Any new suggestions?

[Jason09]

Run a test at www.speedtest.net to see if you are getting around your ISP average Internet speed.

[Health1]

I ran a speed test, and I have time warner turbo, and I did a search online and people get a average of 10-14. And I on occasion just get 6-8.

[Jason09]

I presume download? Are both the download and upload speeds lower than the ISP average?

[Health1]

yes they are. But when I just had there standard package the frame of what I should be getting to what I was actually getting was very small.

[Jason09]

Try resetting your modem and router.

[Health1]

i have done that multiple times to no resolution.

[Jason09]

Have you tried playing on different servers at different times of the day?

[Health1]

Yes I have any any server other than mine in the same state (tx) it is terrible the problem is so blatent. I sometimes play early in the morning around 10 am before i have to go to work, and other times it is late at night around 3-4 am my time(cst). I'm never really home during peak hours, or never really have enough time to play during that peak hour time of 5-11ish.

[Jason09]

I'm sorry, but I am out of suggestions. I do think it's very weird that only servers out of state you can't play properly on, but only on one computer.