Security tailored to online gamers.

I have a buddy who is an on line gamer. He races cars on the internet. F1 and Nascar type cars and doesn't want anything that will interfere with his gaming. He uses NOD32 v2 for security and that's it. Not even a router because using one has proven problematic in the past. I think he could use a little more security but I'm not a on line gamer. I am sure there are people who play demanding online games here at Wilders who could offer suggestions. I would really like to limit responses to gamers and the more on line types the better.

Thank you.

 

I'm an online gamer, and Avira Premium Security Suite does the job.
The firewall doesn't affect ping/network performace, and does a pretty good job for inbound protection on high settings (that I'm aware of.)

 

Maybe you can convince him to get D-Link's gaming router, the DGL-4100. Its very good from what I read.

For a software firewall, LooknStop works well for gaming. Ive played online FPS games and it didnt slow me down.

 

The ideal would be everything that lower the performance should be turned off, that means all resident scanners (AV, AS etc.) and also the software/hardware that are watching your network traffic. But since we all who plays online have to use a network connection (logical isn´t it ), the minimum should at least be a firewall with low latency (low ping values). Example on low latency firewalls could be D-Link DGL-4100, DGL-4300 or Win FW, LnS etc. The purpose of using a low latency firewall is obviously to filter the packets as fast as possible, without loosing the "quality" of the filtering. I myself have a rather fast machine and therefore also keeps my AV/AS activated. Don´t know what else to say in this subject Hammer, since much of the online gaming experience is about maximum performance.

Edit: I suppose he´s already running in a limited user account? If not, then that´s a low impact security layer to recommend.

/C.

 

Hello,
I play quite a lot of games. My gaming rigs configurations are limited to software firewall in one case and software firewall + anti-virus in another case... that's it. The choice is extremely important, I must say, because it can mean one hell of a difference in latency and such.
Mrk

 

Hi, I'm a hardcore gamer as well GRAW, GRAW 2, Battlefield 2

Most issues with online gaming relate to ping. Hardware & software Firewall and routers have little to no impact on most games from a ping point of view. The default configuration on your NIC is also fine (messing with it could dramatically slow things down... However playing on an over crowded LAN or Internet Segment (Cable) could kill the joy as these fluctuate too much from a performance perspective. (DSL networks mostly use individual pipes to the backbone practically eliminating that problem). Also LAG while on a game server could be related to the network segment routing via the backbone or the server own pipe being over stacked.

Keep in mind that your game only transmits a very small stream of data, a tiny little fraction of your network controller's capabilities... Most modern quality nic have a built in processor instead of a software processor and thus offloading your main processor and reducing response time.

As for primary CPU Processing, since the Video card is activating it's own built in 3D engine during play on most current high end games the main cpu is offloaded and only a few apps will request cpu cycles (high priority only). Meaning AV's and Anti spyware are not actually interfering at all. It is a bit different when playing older 2D games since much of the processing load is shared... Just make sure you have a decent cpu and enough memory has not to forced to share those resources.

What I have just said is not true if you are using an integrated GPU (built into your main board) instead of a PCX card. As you would be sharing memory and thus reduce resources available for 3d processing. Also integrated GPU's share a greater load with the Primary processor CPU.

What you have to watch for are applications that scan the disk during game play, as it will increase IO and thus create lag... So maybe use the pause function of your Anti virus or anti spyware for the duration of the game play. (Be careful as many new Trojans are now exploiting online games).

Also learn to tweak your video card so it isn't maxed out in order to create a balance between good performance and eye candy!

Defragment your hard disk before and Between games... Fragmentation slows down game components from loading during heavy disk access such as loading new virtual environments creating lag.

About 40% of gamers who contact me to optimize their setup are actually slowed down because they play games that where designed for a newer hardware platform than they currently have. Always keep your Rig above minimum required specs.. Keep this in mind where tweaking... This will help you not reorganizing everything needlessly.

 

Get rid of your NIC... It probably has a software processor instead of a built in chip. That would kick up performance a lot more. Cheap nics are made to use the CPU to handle processing, more than likely the real culprit.

 

My Son's setup

Security setup
- behind a D-link 635 router (with Nat + SPI) wire connected (other PC's are wireless),
with QoS engine enabled and high priority allocated to his IP address, allowed to use max 3MB of 4.2 MB bandwith
- Microsoft Defender real time with scan option unselected
- Avast 64 bit free with forward checking of Web, P2P, I-mail (high sensitivity) and the
standard shield set to only check at writes (no execution, no read control)
- Sana Security Primary Response Safe Connect
- Vista64 with LUA in quiet mode, signed driver required enabled, Windows firewall disabled
- haute secure for dodgy browsing

Gaming rig
- 6420 dual core @3,2 Ghz (FSB@400=1600Mhz)
- team 4 GB @ 960 Mhz
- 2x160GB HD (WD) set at Raid 0, write cache enabled
- 8800GTS OC to 608 - 1410 - 900

Same setup on XP32 with TreathFire (earlier CyberHawk Pro) for PRSC and GesWall for HauteSecure and older Nat router (no SPI) hardware FW, has kept him malware free for the last three years (off course on older PC Athlon 3900).

Regards K

 

Hello,

I have no problem, mate. Everything flows like Amazon. I was saying in the general case of ... where it might be the case. If anything, my traffic flows beautifully ... touch wood and such.

The limitation of choice is not because I cannot play otherwise. Oh no. It happens to coincide. But for someone who intends to play online games, with let's say McAfee anti-virus or SpySweeper anti-spyware, I'll say good luck.

The choice of a firewall and anti-virus might lead to gaming, but it could also be vice versa. If you are lucky - or smart - you might make the right choice anyhow.

Thinking about it, it seems only logical that good software is usually also a light software.

Cheers,
Mrk

 

Thanks to all who took the time to reply.