[bobdafob]

okay so i bought counter strike source about a month ago and for about two weeks now i have been getting lag spikes occuring every 10-15 minutes that last about 2 minutes each time. this is not my internets problem because i have tries hosting and it also has lag spikes so it makes no sense. My internet speed is average and my computer is actually great for gaming. My specs are...

I am running Windows 7
2.60 GHz Processor
RAM 8GB (7.75 Which are usable)
64-bit Operating system

Basically, ive tried everything possible to fix it that i know of and i've had no luck. if anyone can please tell me a way i can fix these lag spikes i would greatly appreciate it. Btw, i think it might be a Windows 7 problem??? im not sure though. help!

[Lister192065]

Lets start with the basics:

Are you running an antivirus or p2p programs in the background as these are known to use system resources and bandwidth, if so then disable them.

Is Steam downloading an update in the background? if so, disable it.

What are the settings in your config.cfg file for the following:

• rate
  
• cl_updaterate
  
• cl_cmdrate

The defaults for these settings are:

• rate 20000
  
• cl_updaterate 101
  
• cl_cmdrate 101

The average setting (for most players is:

• rate 18000
  
• cl_updaterate 60
  
• cl_cmdrate 60

But you can play around with them, generally RATE is set between 15000-20000 and CMDRATE + UPDATERATE are the same as your average FPS, so 80FPS would give CL_CMDRATE 80 + CL_UPDATERATE 80.

A good place to start with the UPDATERATE + CMDRATE is 30 and work up to 250 and see which value gives you the best results.

Hope that helps.

[freakwizard]

In addition to what Lister said. Check if you have any Messenger Clients or Ingame Chat Clients open. Sometimes Ingame Chat Clients like Xfire could download patches and files in the background and cause lag spikes.
Messenger Clients could hog up memory as well.

EDIT: You should also probably check your computer for viruses. I had this exact problem once and it was due to some weird virus that was slowing down my internet and my computer and weird times for like 2 minutes and then repeated every 15 mins. It's probably a virus issue you need to get checked. Because with 8GB RAM and CSS requiring only somewhat 512MB it should run very smoothly even with other programs on.