Well, could not help myself, I have to put in my $0.02 worth. Badger, you are correct, but I think a bit more explanation is in order.
The window size, which Badger is talking about, can have an impact on performance, but there are several scenarios which can make it have an impact on performance.
First, understand that the "window size" of the TCP stack is used to allow data to come into (in the case of the receive window) your computer and be buffered in that window until your computer can process it.
Knowing that, it starts becoming clear, the performance of your connection as well as the speed of your computer is what determines how much of that window and how large that window needs to be.
As an extreme example, take a 200 Mhz PC with a very fast connection to the Internet, say a T1 (1.45Mb/s). The sliding window should be enlarged as data, especially for games, will not be able to get processed by the CPU fast enough, so a larger window will allow data to continue to come in while the CPU is busy messing with the current packet of data.
The converse of that is a very fast CPU (>500Mhz) with a 56K modem connection. The sliding window will have virtually no effect on the performance as the data will get processed faster than the computer could receive it.
So the sliding window can have a very high impact on performance, or none at all. If your computer is fast enough to process the data coming into it, then the sliding window will not have a chance to be used.
Keeping in mind, for games in particular, the CPU must not only digest the data, but take the appropriate action on that data, which means getting it displayed on the monitor, before acting on the next packet. So a slow video card can cause data to get backed up in the TCP rcv window.
Also, the amount of data for any given action has to be considered. General surfing requires enormous amounts of data to be passed between you and the Internet and the TCP rcv window will usually be used, no matter what type of connection your have.
In Aces High, and to HTC's credit, the game requires very little Internet data to run properly. So the sliding window size should have little or no effect on this sim, but for general surfing it has the potential to be very dramatic.
Oh, and the MTU size will make an impact on the performance of most Internet games. Notice I said most. I have tested 30 some odd Internet games for bandwidth utilization (i.e the amount of data they need for any given connection) and this sim is the most efficient game I have ever seen.
So, it is possible to optimize your computer for either general surfing, or gaming, or find a compromise between the two, but they both have very different data requirements, and place very different loads on your computer system.
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Roy "Skuzzy" Neese
President, AppLink Corp.
http://www.applink.netskuzzy@applink.net
