How to Reduce Lag in Online Games

World of Warcraft

Playing online games is a very fun experience, but the game is only as good as your latency and the smoothness of it. Everyone hates lag, whether it's FPS(frames per second) lag or high and spiking ping, here are some ways to fix it.

Things You'll Need

• Maybe a little bit of money depending on your computer specifications

Instructions

1. For your client-sided issues, such as the smoothness and frames per second, you'll need to check up on your system's performance. Your computer is usually the prime determiner of how smooth the game plays unless the gameplay is server-sided. The best thing to do for games is to concentrate on a new video card. Using an integrated card is almost impossible for high-end games. Also think about the amount of RAM you have and your processor speed.

2. Moreover than your hardware issues, let's look at your operating system. Use my other tutorial on how to speed up your computer to reduce the amount of processes simutaneously running on your pc at once. If your computer is loaded with useless and ineffective virus software, instant messaging apps, etc, then this will slow down your game.

3. Defrag your hard drive and perform any other system improvement modifications. If safe for your machine, overclock your processor or your video card to make it run at a faster machine. Check my other article on how to overclock if you wish to do so. These will help your graphics problems.

4. As for your ping/latency problems, there can be a variety of issues. If you have used a poor internet provider, in my situation Comcast, then you may need to switch to something more reliable. Even if your download and upload speed is good, your latency may be bad. Turn off firewalls and make sure you're using the right ports for your games. If someone else in your house is downloading or uploading, this may also effect your games, so check that out too.