Lag Issues

[Talitha]

I've been having a lot of lag issues with mabinogi recently. I'm not sure if it's a computer, internet, or server problem. I'm leaning towards computer, but I'm not sure how to fix it.

The issues-
- It seems like the frame rate stutters at times; gameplay will be smooth for a few seconds, then the video freezes for a second. Then it'll be fine, then freeze for a second.. And the cycle continues.
- The stuttering seems to get worse during demigod use or transformation. It also seems to get worse during the rain (but I just might be noticing it more then. XD)
- It takes an extremely long time to enter shadow missions. For instance, if I try to do 2 g10 semifinals back to back, I can expect a 20 second to 1 minute wait to enter the first one, and then a 2 minute+ wait to enter the second one. Generally, all that I see while I'm waiting is a black screen. I know it's not a server thing, because my partymates will be done with half the mission by the time I finish loading.. xD
- Sometimes I can dungeon and no stuttering will show up, while at other times, it does. As far as I know, I've done nothing different that would/could cause the stuttering to show up. I'll restart my computer, go straight into the dungeon, and half the time there will be no stuttering. The other half of the time, there will be.
- Going between multiple areas will cause the stuttering to show up (although I'm not exactly surprised by that). Going from Iria to Housing to Tara to Taill.. is a good way to purposefully cause the stuttering. 8D So is visiting ch 1 dunbarton and then trying to dungeon on another channel (Again, I'm not surprised).
- It's extremely hard for me to do g9 final battle. My comp tends to just freeze up during the 2nd part of g10 semifinal as well. The amount of enemies/people in the party seems to cause lag for me, so I tend to run around forever trying to smash stuff. The stuttering is very bad.

My computer settings-
3.3 gHz Intel Celeron D Processor
1.5 gb of RAM
NVidia GeForce 9500 GT
It's a desktop, running on Windows XP.

Internet/connection-
I've went to Speedtest.net and done the test to a server in California.
5.43mB is download speed, .4mb is Upload speed. Ping is 85ms. I've gotten down to below
50 ms though, when pinging nexon servers while playing Mabi. I have no problems healing,
loading skills, or any other things I tend to associate with server/connection lag..

What I have to done to try and fix it-
- All settings on Mabinogi are on the lowest setting. The only exceptions is that I do have robes on sometimes, and that I have the critical effect set to Light. Toggling the robes on will help reduce or eliminate the stuttering sometimes, but other times it won't.
- Bigger parties seem to worsen the stuttering at times.
- Restarting my computer will fix it sometimes, but other times it doesn't seem to help. It definitely helps the shadow missions load faster, but, like I said above, the stuttering will sometimes not be fixed.
- My graphics card is set to performance, not quality.
- I've read HalfSlashed's guide and done most of the fixes. The only one I haven't done is Ausologics BoostSpeed. I tried to do boostspeed, but couldn't get the serial numbers to work. I looked around and am using Advanced System Care instead.
- Game Booster has made g9 semifinal go from unplayable to playable. There is still a lot of stuttering involved, but I am able to actually attack stuff.
- I use Advanced System Care and Registry Booster at least weekly. I do a manual disk defragmentation and disk cleanup weekly. I do a scan with Avira and Spybot: Search and Destroy weekly. I've scanned my computer with AVG, AdAware, Spybot, and Malwarebytes Antimalware to see if maybe there was some program causing problems, but nothing's been found. None of the aforementioned programs run all the time except for Avira (and after running AVG, it was uninstalled).
- I started getting stuttering several weeks ago. I updated video drivers (no change in performance). Got a new Graphics card (no change in mabi performance, although my general computer performance sped up). Updated the new graphics card's video drivers (again, no change in performance). I know Mabi works better with old drivers, but.. I changed and am
still getting the same amount of stuttering. xD Updating the drivers didn't worsen the stuttering.
- Messing with the paging file and running Game Booster does help Mabi run better. The stuttering is still there at random times, however.

As far as I'm aware, I fulfill the recommended settings to play Mabinogi. I can deal with the stuttering being present during shadow missions in Tara and Tail. I'm even alright with it being present in Iria. When it starts invading the dungeons, though, it starts getting very hard to level.. and Mabi becomes very frustrating instead of fun.

My only two options left, as far as I'm aware is:
- Upgrade my RAM (There's one slot on my motherboard left open). I haven't done this yet because I'm honestly not sure if it will help or not. .-.
- Try mods (currently, only my music files have been altered~)

So.. any tips/suggestions on what to do? Or on what's causing it?

Thanks muchly for the assistance~

[Hiccup]

Some mods help with the lag. If using mods is a no-no, I'd suck it up and use it anyway. Making you play better and having a better experience is priceless. And no, you don't have to update every patch.

[hengsheng120]

do you run any other newer games that also stutter?

it's very unusual for you to lag in normal conditions on a 9500gt card

my notebook graphics (9200m) is 3 times slower than yours and i don't experience much lag.

[Anthony70]

I've been having like 1 minute freeze lags and I used to never lag at all. Was pvping and got easily camped.

[Talitha]

I tried that FFXIV demo thing that was supposed to tell if one's computer was able to play it. I did get a lot of stuttering during the movie, and my end score was in the 3xx range (Basically, my computer would be unable to play FFXIV). I also tried World of Warcraft a few weeks ago, but didn't experience any stuttering while I was playing. I haven't played WoW since (and have uninstalled it). I've been told that WoW would run on a high tech toaster, though, so.. xD

I used to have an integrated graphics card, which was upgraded into the NVidia card. Like I said, though, I didn't notice a change in Mabi's performance after the installation of the new card. I can access the NVidia control panel and such, so I assume it's hooked up correctly. (My husband installed the graphics card and helped me install the drivers; he's better with computers than I am).

[hengsheng120]

According to the specs you gave me, you should be able hit at least between 1k~2k on the FF XIV benchmark and run mabi at 150+ fps constantly in regular dungeons or empty areas. Since your husband can access your computer, you might wanna ask him to check out what's wrong with your computer. (If the graphics card is a 9500GT and you have everything else right, I'm starting to think that it's a hardware issue) It's severely under-performing.

[Talitha]

I asked my husband before I started the thread. He didn't know what the problem; his solution was to just get a new computer. 8D

It seems fixed for now, though. I did a google search for causes of underperforming hardware, and found that overheating was a cause for underperfoming. I downloaded a temperature program, and my computer was a little warm.. So we decided to try opening the case and have a fan blow into the CPU, to see if that would help. I haven't had any bad stuttering problems since. : ) With the fan running, Mabinogi is running as smoothly as when I first disabled Nagle eons ago~

I'm guessing that restarting was helping because less strain on the computer for a time, and the computer would cool down for a bit.

Thank ya'll so much for the help! Without the comment about underperforming, I wouldn't have thought to search about it. xP