Refresh Rate 60hz Makes Game Run Faster!

Hmmm I don't get it. I made the refresh rate to 60hz on the options of my game. and it made the ping and game run alot faster. well my graphics card is really bad. but my system meets the requirements for everything except for my graphics card. I was running my framerate at like 2-40 but now since i have changed my refresh rate to 60hz like it should of been in the first place. The game's ping is alot higher in the 30-60 range. also the game runs smoother too.
could this be because i changed my refresh rate?

Well, I don't think you really need 70Hz anyway, so yeah, It's possible. However in my case I have to have it at 70Hz, because at 60 my screen is blurry.

oh. yeah i just think its weird how it makes the game faster

I suppose its possible that forcing a higher refresh rate could put extra strain on a graphics card, if its not a very fast one to begin with. I've never heard of it happening though. What card is it, and do you get similar results in other games?

It could just be a quirk of Guild Wars programming, but glad to hear you were able to increase your performance so easily.

Okay here are my Laptop specs. yah I know its not a gaming one.

Connectivity

* Network interface
* 10/100 LAN, Bluetooth, 802.11b, 802.11g

* Dialup modem
* Yes

* USB ports
* 4

* Firewire ports
* 1

* S-Video
* Yes

* VGA
* Yes

* HDMI
* No

Display

* LCD technology
* WSXGA+

* Natural resolution (max)
* 1680 x 1050 pixels

* Diagonal screen size
* 15.4 inch

Drives

* Primary hard drive
* 100 GB

* Optical drive
* DVD-RW

General

* Dimensions (H x W x D)
* 356 x 265.5 x 38.7 mm

* Weight
* 2.8 kg

Graphics

* Amt of video RAM
* 256 MB

* Graphics hardware
* Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950

Memory

* Amt of RAM
* 1GB

* RAM type
* DDR2-667

* Memory card reader
* Yes

Processor

* Processor type
* Intel Core Duo

* Processor speed
* 2 GHz

Software

* Operating system
* Windows XP Professional

Sound

* Embedded stereo speakers
* Yes

That's a pretty high resolution to run a game at without a dedicated graphics processor (yours is integrated video), so maybe dropping the refresh rate freed up some extra video RAM for texture swapping or something. Still haven't heard of it happening, but it makes sense I suppose.

Yeah this will happen if you drop your refresh rate. Doesn't put as much strain on the graphics card, as has already been mentioned. With better graphics cards it isn't a problem, but my laptop does the same thing with lower refresh rates.

Basically, integrated graphics = fail. But you have what you have. And I'm cheap, so that doesn't help.

EDIT: Oh, you mean with network latency. No, it wouldn't really affect that so much. It would help your processor though, since it's not working so hard to process video along with the NIC. With a lower refresh rate, the processor will be allowed to work more on the network card instead of the graphics. It may make it less laggy on your end because of the graphics, but not on the GW server end.

No, because changing the refresh rate can have no effect on network latency at all! Latency is down to the conection and/or routing between your system and the GW servers.

I have noticed that sometimes Guild Wars will display incorrect ping readings if you're experiencing hardware-related lag. Specifically, this happens to me sometimes when I've first loaded into a town, and I have a few seconds as it loads everyone else's armor, and my ping indicator will go red and display anywhere from 2,000ms to 10,000ms ping depending on the duration of the pause--obviously an incorrect number for a fully-functioning 10Mb cable line.

Note that no actual network latency appears to be occurring, and it immediately drops to a normal ping number when everything is fully loaded. If the OP was having a lot of graphic and loading lag prior to changing his refresh rate, perhaps he was experiencing this phenomenon.

yeah. I just think its my video card. other than that the game could run awesome with a better graphics card...