Help
1.Might not be in the correct forum, but I don't really know what the problme is to be honest
2. The nature of this post as I am in a hurry on a public computer
Skype is a Voice over IP program, I have a headset which I use to speak through, but I make the sound come out of my speakers rather than the headset.
CS:S is an online multiplayer First Person Shooter.
(Video Stress Test)Logged on to Skype, in a call== Average fps= 23.83
(Video Stress Test)Logged on to Skype, no call=== Average fps= 38.28
(Video Stress Test)Logged off Skype=========== Average fps= 38.55
(Gameplay on emtpy server)Logged on to Skype, in a call== Average fps= 17
(Gameplay on emtpy server)Logged on to Skype, no call=== Average fps= 30
(Gameplay on emtpy server)Logged off Skype=========== Average fps= 34
As you can probably tell from those average fps', I experience significant slow-down when in a call on skype.
My internet connection is 576kps.
When playing CSS, my ping/latency(the time, in milliseconds, it takes for information to be sent from my PC to the host server, and back to my PC again) is generally 40-70, and I find anything below 100 is acceptable.
When on a call in skype my ping rises (roughly) to about 40-90, so it doesn't seem to be my bandwidth being clogged up by a large data flow.
Only othe thing I can think of is RAM.
I have 512mb(509) DDR RAM (unsure what speed).(1.5Gb pagefile set as default)
However, looking at the processes in the TaskManager, I seem not be using all of this at all:
(NOTE: these were taken from a screenshot after I had minimized CSS-known here as hl2.exe)
IMAGE NAMECPUMEM.USAGE
taskmgr.exe023508K
Skype.exe19 21948K
firefox.exe00 1708K
aim.exe00 2316K
hl2.exe24103904
steam.exe00 12844K
qttask.exe00 168K
iTunesHelper.exe00 180K
jusched.exe00 52K
dslagent.exe00 144K
dslstat.exe00 688K
mHotkey.exe00 992K
msnmsgr.exe00 8516K
wanmpsvc.exe00 52K
nvsvc32.exe00 1692K
alg.exe00 576K
spoolsv.exe00 432K
explorer.exe00 7628K
svchost.exe00 440K
svchost.exe00 736K
svchost.exe00 8392K
svchost.exe00 1260K
lsass.exe00 1000K
services.exe00 1388K
winlogon.exe00 412K
csrss.exe00 2176K
smss.exe00 44K
iPodService.exe00 644K
System02 40K
System Idle Process53 16K
I have closed down the following processes to see if there is any effect, and noticed little or no improvement;
taskmgr.exe
firefox.exe
aim.exe
qttask.exe
iTunesHelper.exe
jusched.exe
mHotkey.exe
msnmsgr.exe
explorer.exe
iPodService.exe
I have also used EVERY performance related command variable of the 1800 cvars available in Half Life 2, with perhaps the rise of 3-5 fps when in a call on skype. I have done multple tweaking aswell, but these seem to have little effect, but even then only when I am not in a call on skype.
btw, sound from hl2.exe and skype.exe come through the SAME pair of speakers.
Whilst it isn't necessary for me to be in a call while playing CSS, it does help a lot as communicating with my clan members is key.
Really at an end here about what to do, it might be something simple that I am overlooking such as using the changing I/O devices used for sound, or there might not even be a 'fix', but my clan members run skype and CSS at the same time with little or no effects on gameplay.
Any help or advice is much appreciated as always.
EDIT: sorry about the spacing of my task manager readings, I tried to make it clearer to read, without much success
