CSS problems on dedicated server.

[Nemmeh]

Sorry for the long post, I am experiencing some problems with CSS on a dedicated server I purchased for our team. The server specifications are listed below.

 

Quad-Core Q9550

8GB Memory

(2) 500gb SATA in Raid-0

Windows 2003 x64 Standard Edition with all windows updates applied.

Windows Firewall temporarily disabled, no hardware firewall enabled at this point while troubleshooting this server.

Data Execution Prevention is completely disabled.

 

When joining any CSS server I create on the server CSS seems to lag badly. When you join the seconds begin counting down in the round and will bounce back and forth.. for instance between 45, 44, 45, 44, 43, 44, etc.. Additionally when firing a pistol you'll hear probably 35-40 shots from a 20 round clip because of the lag. Note that the COD4 server I have running on this machine works flawlessly, no lag, hiccups or anything. At this point all I have on this machine is (1) COD4 14-man private server and (1) CSS 10-man private server which isn't being used because of the lag.

 

I have the server configured as a 100tickrate, max_fps 500; I've switched the tickrate several times, max_fps to different values. I am running srcdfpsbooster as well.

 

If anyone has time, please connect to the server to see what I mean about the lag.

 

Connect 64.214.191.154:27015;password radium

 

I have re-downloaded the CSS files several times by using the hldsupdatetool. I ran through setting one up outside of TCAdmin and just used the shortcut with parameters to launch the server but encountered the same problem. Creating the server inside TCAdmin results in the same issues as well. I've tried standard and custom configs with no results.

 

To test whether I was doing something incorrectly, I ran through the same steps of downloading CSS via the hldsupdatetool and installed the game onto a separate dedicated server I have through another company and didn't encounter any problems. The only difference was the server specifications.

Dual-core Opteron 2.4ghz

2GB Mem

(2) 200gb drives No-RAID

Windows 2003 x64 R2 with Service Pack 2

Data Execution Prevention Enabled

 

Any advice is appreciated. If you are willing to help I will PM you tcadmin access so you can look closer at the configuration.

 

Thanks,

Brandon

[studeggle]

What investigation have you done of your network connection it can result in lag problems.

[Nemmeh]

The connection is fine, I and others have about 30-45ms latency. I've run a traceroute on the connection as well and nothing seems wrong. COD4 works perfect on the box, both lag and stability wise so I don't think it's connection related.

 

A bandwidth test from speedtest resulted in 35.5mbits/download and 12.8mbits/upload so it's got plenty of bandwidth.

 

Any other suggestions?

[ECF]

Place the COD 4 gameserver on it's own CPU/Core other than CPU0. This can be done in the service settings for theat game within TCAdmin.

[Nemmeh]

Can you elaborate on why I should change this setting? The COD4 server is running fine, if I disable it and just run the CSS server the same lagginess results on the CSS server so I don't believe it to be a resource problem. Even with the COD4 server running I still have 7.5gb of free memory and only consuming 1% of the cpu.

 

The actual physical computer is fine, just the CSS server that is running is the one with the problem.

 

Any ideas?

[ECF]

I was assuming that both games may be using the same CPU. Which is why I mentioned it. If they are happily running with minimal resources then I would check your rate settings and if there are any plugins running.

[Nemmeh]

No plugins and I've tried it at tickrate 33, 66, and 100; same result.

 

Anything else?

[Guest louise]

Run your server as console and see if your FPS is hitting the correct value

[kaosx]

try this

 

make a .bat file and use this and just edit the cmd line to your liking

 

You will also beable to see your fps as this will start it in console mode

 

cheers

 

@echo off

cls

echo Protecting srcds from crashes...

echo If you want to close srcds and this script, close the srcds window and type Y depending on your language followed by Enter.

title srcds.com Watchdog

:srcds

echo (%time%) srcds started.

start /wait srcds.exe -console -game cstrike +map de_dust +maxplayers 16

echo (%time%) WARNING: srcds closed or crashed, restarting.

goto srcds

[Nemmeh]

Thanks for the suggestions, I tried the bat file approach as kaosx suggested. I'm hitting 900fps but noticed it will bounce between 700-900 every few seconds; is this normal or should it stay at 900fps? This is with me using the +max_fps 1000 parameter on the command line.

 

It seems I have the same problem on this server.

 

I'm beginning to think it's something either driver or hardware related because I don't have this issue from another dedicated server that I have through a different company.

 

Any further advice?

[Admin-Nation-Servers]

Try it with the parameter +fps_max 0

[Nemmeh]

Tried it, no joy. same problem. I'm requesting some help from the server provider to see if they have ideas; It's kind of out of bounds on what they cover though but I hope they can lend some help.

[Admin-Nation-Servers]

I think the problem may be the os Windows 2003 x64 R2 with Service Pack 2

 

You may need 2008 server do achieve 1000 fps stable.