New Lag Problem :(

Hey all!

Ive been an active player of Guild Wars for ages now, and ive never had any hard- or software problems whatsoever with the game (apart for parent-interruption... dunno if that counts)

However, recently, my GW has brutally been shot with TONS of lag (7fps maximum).

For the info, im running an Asus F3JP laptop with an ATI x1700 graphic card and Windows Vista Ultimate. Ive never had this graphical problem before, even putting the game to lowest doesnt change anything

Ive also done the full GW reinstall (twice) + graphical card driver update to no avail.

Before someone asks, it is NOT an overheating problem or anything like that (i dont even think its hardware-based), as Half-Life 2 and other big games run flawlessly at maximum graphics >_<

The problem therefore only concerns GW My addiction! I know, you might say "stfu, get off GW and have a life", but i'd like it to work non the less

Thanks for any suggestions, and i'll answer any question!

[aotd]

Well, if it ran alright before, and now you have terrible FPS, your system must have changed.

On the software side:
What have you installed recently?
Have you done recent virus & spyware scans?

On the hardware side:
Are you really sure it's not heat?
(Because the other possibility is a failed component...)

Yes, im sure its not a hardware problem

After reinstalling/updating drivers/reinstalling drivers etc, i fully updated Vista to SP1, but thats all ive done. Of course, GW is still lagging like crazy

Also, done a few virus/spyware scans and even a FULL ram check - all negative, so i guess no problems on that side.

Anyone have any ideas?

The obvious difference between HL2 and GW is that you are playing GW on-line. The lag is most likely caused by your connection. This can be related to various things.

The various network drivers on your computer may be boinked.

Your ISP may be stretching it's bandwidth over too many users.

There could be a bad router anywhere between you and the GW servers.

----

I've had times in the past, while playing TFC, where I would get horrible lag to some servers and not others. It would usually clear up on it's own. It's interesting to note that I recently read an article about how the rise in streaming video is causing some internet backbones to choke. Remember, you're not the only person sending and receiving packets.

He (she?) said he was getting 7FPS. That's not a connectivity problem.

Nope, as I said, its not a connection problem.
Its a graphical problem

Anyone else have any ideas?

/uninstall Vista

better : get rid of Windows, and run GW on Debian

Okay, It's not practical to tell him/her things like ''ditch windows, get a new laptop'' etc.

My laptop has an ATI Radeon X1400 and it plays Guild Wars with 30-45FPS average.

However when I was getting my laptop replaced after it broke, they gave me a loner with Vista on it - Guild Wars on that had some odd problems.. so I think it *is* Vista related but there should be some kind of hotfixes or settings you can change to get it running normally again.

I'm kind of bad with ATI cards though so I don't really know what to say about it.. maybe try disabling the Aero theme and all the other Vista goodies to see if it helps, disable Firewall?