What, exactly, causes 'lag'?

[Jubilant]

Alright, first time with this, so if this goes somewhere else, just tell me!

I have iTunes up for music while I work on things, and my brother whines that it 'lags up his game' even when I'm not really doing anything. He plays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Online multiplayer mainly, and tells me that 'people like ijji say that having iTunes up causes lag, and they know what they are talking about'. So I decided to find out. DOES iTunes cause lag on a 360 game of online COD: Modern Warfare 2?

 

[MurderousToaster]

Were you downloading something? If not, then no, it shouldn't be lagging him in the slightest. Downloading something will probably cause lag, but just having iTunes open won't.

Also: Congratulations on your first posts on the Escapist.

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

I believe it has something to do with bandwidth...I'm no tech person.

But iTunes shouldn't do anything unless you're downloading songs.

 

[SL33TBL1ND]

Normally lag and time-warping is caused by packet loss more than anything else. So your itunes shouldn't really affect it. (Was going to make an Itunes joke but decided against it).

 

[ethaninja]

As long as its not transfering files it shouldn't be lagging. Uploading and downloading can cause a drop in online performance.

 

[vector13578]

If you were streaming music (such as with youtube) or downloading a song it might cause lag (cause its using your bandwidth) but just having it open won't do anything. Unless he was playing on the computer then he might be able to say that its using resources (such as ram or cpu power for lack of better word atm) but him being on the 360, it won't be effecting him unless your doing whats in the first sentence.

 

[Hazz_11]

well im not a computer expert but if you pc is on and connected to the internet it will be taking up abit of your bandwidth so i suppose it would cause abit of lag but it would hardly be noticeable it all depends on your usage if your downloading, streaming videos or uploading stuff it will cause alot of lagg on you internet system

but also dont forget it works both ways he is causing you lag so kick him off the xbox lol =D

And welcome by the way

 

[azncutthroat]

Alright, first time with this, so if this goes somewhere else, just tell me!

I have iTunes up for music while I work on things, and my brother whines that it 'lags up his game' even when I'm not really doing anything. He plays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Online multiplayer mainly, and tells me that 'people like ijji say that having iTunes up causes lag, and they know what they are talking about'. So I decided to find out. DOES iTunes cause lag on a 360 game of online COD: Modern Warfare 2?

I think the primary cause of lag is when your bandwidth (connection) is clogged when transmitting and receiving too much info.

iTunes does not necessarily cause the lag, but the data the application sends and receives (i.e. updates, music/video downloads, streaming, etc.) over the same connection with your 360 causes the lag.

In other words, your connection likely cannot provide sufficient bandwidth space both your computer and 360 at the same time.

 

[sean.A7x]

no im always listening to itunes when playing online games and usually on the escapist, facebook and some other websites as well and my connections fine. downloading things will cause lag though

 

[LeonLethality]

Depends, ijji is all about computer games isn't it? they could mean it causes lag for your computer by too much shit going on at once but it wouldn't effect your xbox.

 

[azncutthroat]

Here's a wikipedia page for your conveneice: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lag#Lag_in_Multiplayer_Gaming

 

[Phoenix Arrow]

Ehh.
It seeming like your character is jumping across the screen is usually affected either by not enough available processing power or not enough bandwidth. Assuming he's playing an internet game and you're on different computers and you're downloading songs, you could be leeching the bandwidth. If you're not downloading stuff, websites like Facebook, YouTube and MySpace (if people still use it, I'm not cool anymore I dunno) have a similar effect. Typically, messengers don't make much of a difference though.
That or you need a better internet connection.
That or he's shit and looking for excuses.

 

[Jimbo1212]

Alright, first time with this, so if this goes somewhere else, just tell me!

I have iTunes up for music while I work on things, and my brother whines that it 'lags up his game' even when I'm not really doing anything. He plays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Online multiplayer mainly, and tells me that 'people like ijji say that having iTunes up causes lag, and they know what they are talking about'. So I decided to find out. DOES iTunes cause lag on a 360 game of online COD: Modern Warfare 2?

If you are downloading songs then it may cause lag, but seeing that the game is modern warfare 2, it will lag horrifically anyway due to technical reasons thanks to the game developers and this lag is completely unavoidable whether you are on itunes or not.

 

[LordCastle]

Most guys over at ijji are seriously dumb. I would know.

 

[tanithwolf]

Alright, first time with this, so if this goes somewhere else, just tell me!

I have iTunes up for music while I work on things, and my brother whines that it 'lags up his game' even when I'm not really doing anything. He plays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Online multiplayer mainly, and tells me that 'people like ijji say that having iTunes up causes lag, and they know what they are talking about'. So I decided to find out. DOES iTunes cause lag on a 360 game of online COD: Modern Warfare 2?

Having your computer on will take up a small piece of bandwidth, if your running itunes it will only cause your computer to use more bandwidth if you're downloading something. As long as you're not using the internet your computer should not be taking up any extra bandwidth. And even using the internet wouldn't even make too much of a difference unless you were uploading or downloading a lot of stuff. For example I could chat on the forums here and it would have minimum affect on my ping for xbox live. What is probably causing his lag is the broadband connection in your house itself, if he is using wireless to connect to your broadband, the further away from the router the worse the connection and finally he is not playing on a dedicated server, he is playing a game being hosted by someone else this nearly always results in a higher ping then normal or he is hosting the game himself which means he has to run the game for everyone on his connection.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Could be processor power, bandwidth, distance to source server, processor load, RAM overload, server lag due to over use

 

[Jubilant]

Alright, first time with this, so if this goes somewhere else, just tell me!

I have iTunes up for music while I work on things, and my brother whines that it 'lags up his game' even when I'm not really doing anything. He plays Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (Online multiplayer mainly, and tells me that 'people like ijji say that having iTunes up causes lag, and they know what they are talking about'. So I decided to find out. DOES iTunes cause lag on a 360 game of online COD: Modern Warfare 2?

If you are downloading songs then it may cause lag, but seeing that the game is modern warfare 2, it will lag horrifically anyway due to technical reasons thanks to the game developers and this lag is completely unavoidable whether you are on itunes or not.

The game designers? I don't understand. Also, I'm not downloading/uploading anything, just listening to my current music and I only have The Escapist, my own folder, and sometimes facebook open.

 

[Sonofadiddly]

Satan.

I know, low content post, but you have to admit it was funny.

I'll go now.

 

[Veret]

iTunes has a feature that allows you to access other music libraries in your network, play other people's songs on your computer, etc. If you are actively using that feature, it will cause some very serious lag. However, just having iTunes open shouldn't be using much bandwidth for anything, so you're good.

If you don't know the feature I'm talking about, then you're not using it.

 

[cheese_wizington]

Unless you are downloading something,no. It seems that your bro just sucks at MW2 and blames lag for it.

That or your connection sucks.