FAQ: Guide to Rates, FPS, and Tickrate.
Posted: Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:03 pm
One of the most important features of gameplay is the overall smoothness of the game. Lots of times people notice their connections to certain servers become choppy; even to the point of un-playability. Its also noticeable that this choppiness varies from server to server; and will inherently lead you to believe that something is wrong with one of the servers.
Now I wont say always, but 99% of the time, this is false.
The problem of choppiness or "choke" as its known, is almost always related directly to the client side rates. specifically, "rate", "cl_updaterate", and "cl_cmdrate".
Let me explain:
Now, there's one other rate that you may have heard of called "ex_interp".
ex_interp by itself really doesnt do anything, but is good to adjust depending on your settings for your other rates. Generally, the higher your updaterate/cmdrate values, the lower your ex_interp should be.
For example, if you're one of the lucky few who can handle 100, 100, 20000; your ex_interp should be around .01. If you have more conservative rates like 50, 75, 15000; try ex_interp ~.05. As a rule, interp shouldnt be set lower than .01 nor higher than .1.
[Important] To set all these rates, use your ingame CS console. Current rate settings can be viewed by entering just the command itself. See this picture for an example.
Using the proper client rates will help you get the most out of your internet connection and improve your game. If you are having lag problems that dont appear to be rate-related, please preform a tracert and send it to us, as outlined on the "Trace" page in your control panel and here.
Now I wont say always, but 99% of the time, this is false.
The problem of choppiness or "choke" as its known, is almost always related directly to the client side rates. specifically, "rate", "cl_updaterate", and "cl_cmdrate".
Let me explain:
- cl_updaterate (Counter-Strike default is 20; most players use 75-100)
- cl_cmdrate (Counter-Strike default is 30; most players use 80-100)
- rate (Counter-Strike default varies)
Now, there's one other rate that you may have heard of called "ex_interp".
ex_interp by itself really doesnt do anything, but is good to adjust depending on your settings for your other rates. Generally, the higher your updaterate/cmdrate values, the lower your ex_interp should be.
For example, if you're one of the lucky few who can handle 100, 100, 20000; your ex_interp should be around .01. If you have more conservative rates like 50, 75, 15000; try ex_interp ~.05. As a rule, interp shouldnt be set lower than .01 nor higher than .1.
[Important] To set all these rates, use your ingame CS console. Current rate settings can be viewed by entering just the command itself. See this picture for an example.
Using the proper client rates will help you get the most out of your internet connection and improve your game. If you are having lag problems that dont appear to be rate-related, please preform a tracert and send it to us, as outlined on the "Trace" page in your control panel and here.