Arma 2 extreme lag, all of a sudden (Arma 2 Free related?)

[DementedFool117 10]

Ok, I've already posted something SIMMILAR but not exactly same, about my concerns with the Free Version;

First of all I play on a couple Servers that are populated by alot of Players with Arma 2 Free lately; not saying Arma 2 Free is messed up (PBO and coding-wise), but it started JUST with Arma 2 Free coming out.

I could play Arrowhead btw, but nobody plays it besides the "All Tactical, no fun at all"-Types, and sure, I want to play tactical, true, but if you get kicked/penaltized for leaving formations/not staying behind squadleaders and stuff, or picking the wrong loadout, that's no fun.

The maps played are Warfare, Evo and Domination, and CTF, and others, and the lag has pretty much ever been in the game, ever since I first got the game (me and a Friend were the first ones who got the game and already made a MP map at Day 1, European Release Date, so I play this game kinda long), but all of a sudden the LAG is just getting extreme?

I'm getting a steady 45 Frames.

The Servers I play on are private and (from those 3 I know of) a cheap quadcore, a Dual Core and a Single Core, Mhz strength I dunno, but the Servers are all still pretty much "undersized", only the Quadcore one ran a bit smoother, but it's gone for 3 days straight now.

My Question is (I'm also asking myself):

Will an "undersized" Server cause that Lag which makes the Game unplayable when the Server is almost full (30/40 People playing)? When only 6 People play, it (IT meaning the SERVER) seems to run perfectly stable, with only minor lag.

Logic says:

I may be wrong, but isn't it that even though the Server is not actually "playing the game", it is still "running the game" or "simulating" the game, and therefore NONETHELESS HAS to match the REQUIREMENTS to play stable and steady???

So, I am just "thinking" (in I fear that I am right about it) if I were to get a old P3 with 2 gigs of Ram, and would manage to install Arma 2 on it and host a dedicated server, it would be the same outcome, and as soon as there is "much action" on the Server, it will lag too.

I played on a friends Server too, that had a neat quadcore and loads of Ram (16GB or more), and never gotten any lag, sadly, that Server was just up for a Week.

Also, my computer system is strong enuff to handle Arma 2 or Arrowhead, so dont worry, I played Crysis too, HAHA, so it is NOT my system, because everybody starts screaming "LAG!" when the lag strikes.

[[frl]myke 14]

The server is controlling every AI that is not under players control.

It is common that a lot of scripts are running serverside only.

For correct collision handling and such it also has to load and calculate objects.

So yes, although the GPU might be a cheap onboard solution, the rest surely would has to meet the recommendations as given on the game box. In fact the server is running the game nearly equal to what SP is, but additional it has to manage network traffic aswell.

[DementedFool117 10]

Thanks Myke;

yeah, just as I suspected, its mostly a hardware problem; I also asked because planned on hosting a own Server for a couple of my buddies every now and then (you know, some weekend carnage or something), nothing 24/7, but seeing the lag on all these underpowered machines, I'd have to spend a fortune to get a decent new PC to use as a server.