Hello first i would like to share my system specs.
Windows XP professional
504 Mb ram
Intel Pentium 2.80 GHz.
500 GB HDD
I don't know anything about the graphics card. Anyway I play Minecraft with the render distance on short and the graphics quality on simple or whatever it's called. When it comes to the FPS what would i want. Which is best, max fps or performance? Occasionally i use Optifine what should i configure in its settings? Even without optifine its still playable. With or without there is still occasional lag. Please don't say "JUST GET A NEW PC"
I too have crappy computer. I have found a few methods of reducing lag:
1. Optifine (as you said you're working with)
With Optifine, what I do is turn off all animations that I can live without (I keep lava, Nether portal, fire, and flame. everything else is off.), you want it set to "Max FPS," your render distance fairly close (this is dependent on how laggy your minecraft is. personally, I set it to "short+48," which is one step below "normal," turn smooth lighting down (I have found I get much less lag on heavily-modded servers with that set to ~50%) turn off "smooth biomes" and "swamp colors," if you are using a texturepack other than default, turn off random mobs, set "connected textures" to "fast," turn off clouds, sky, stars, depth fog, fog, weather (or set to fast if you need/want rain/snow, or if you play on a server with weather enabled) and any other processes you can bare to turn off. If you aren't sure whether a certain setting will affect lag, hover your mouse over it and a little dialog box will appear and tell you what that setting does.
2. Minimize your mods.
Every mod you install adds new lines of code for the game to read. if, for example, you install 20 mods that add new ores, you're going to find a good amount more lag than in vanilla. I have found Forge on it's own creates a large amount of lag, so if possible, don't use Forge (of course, if you've got a mod that requires Forge, you either don't use that mod or endure the extra lag.) Note: I have found Millenaire mod creates obscene amounts of lag in both single and multiplayer, so if you're using that mod and lagging, you'll have to uninstall it (unless of course the server you're playing on has it installed, in which case, you'll have to live with the lag or nag the server admins to have it removed (This is NOT recommended unless you have good standing with/are the admin(s)))
3. Use a smaller texturepack
This one can be problematic. there are numerous texturepacks that claim to be 4x4, 8x8, or even 2x2, but many of them aren't truly that resolution. in other words, For example, if the texturepack creator colored a 16x texturepack with 2x2 pixels in one color making it look like an 8x8 this won't do any good because the game will just render 2x2 pixel spaces the same color. meanwhile, if it is a true 4x, 2x or 8x texturepack, it will really be 4 pixels by 4 pixels per block, not 16 pixels by 16 pixels that look like 4x4.
If you can find a texturepack that is a true low-resolution, it should reduce lag for the same reason that a 32x texturepack creates more lag than a 16x texturepack.
4. Play on a server
This is one thing I have found immensely useful. when you are playing singleplayer Minecraft, your computer has to do tons of processes such as loading chunks(on of the most problematic functions,) and keeping track of mobs. By joining a server, the server will deal with mobs and chunks and whatnot; your computer is left with the job of rendering, and sending information to the server, and some other processes, and for users with crappy computers, this can make a big difference.
5. Avoid complex redstone
This is a big one if you work with redstone a lot. When you have redstone torches, repeaters, and pistons changing states rapidly, you will experience lag as your computer has to keep track of what state every block/item is in, and you will see even more lag if you're looking at these devices. Now, if you're using a mine cart to create a clock generator (pulsating redstone) you will see much more lag than with an old-fashioned torch/repeater clock generator, as the game has to render an extra entity AND the redstone devices.
So in short, minimize your redstone madness.
6. Relog fairly often
This one isn't terribly good as you lose game time doing so, but if you get some really nasty lag you should do this. by closing your singleplayer world and reopening it, Minecraft will be forced to reanalyze all the information on the world save, as well as reload every chunk. This is like rebooting your computer in how it fixes issues. In multiplayer, disconnecting and reconnecting from the server will allow the server to save the player file, plus any issues with syncing between the client and the server will be instantly fixed.
7. Reboot your computer
If all else fails, reboot your computer. I personally have found that I lag after having my computer turned on for ~10+ hours, likely due to background processes starting and ending over that period of time, and rebooting your computer will fix this issue. As with any troubleshooting: reboot your computer and try again.
I too have crappy computer. I have found a few methods of reducing lag:
1. Optifine (as you said you're working with)
With Optifine, what I do is turn off all animations that I can live without (I keep lava, Nether portal, fire, and flame. everything else is off.), you want it set to "Max FPS," your render distance fairly close (this is dependent on how laggy your minecraft is. personally, I set it to "short+48," which is one step below "normal," turn smooth lighting down (I have found I get much less lag on heavily-modded servers with that set to ~50%) turn off "smooth biomes" and "swamp colors," if you are using a texturepack other than default, turn off random mobs, set "connected textures" to "fast," turn off clouds, sky, stars, depth fog, fog, weather (or set to fast if you need/want rain/snow, or if you play on a server with weather enabled) and any other processes you can bare to turn off. If you aren't sure whether a certain setting will affect lag, hover your mouse over it and a little dialog box will appear and tell you what that setting does.
2. Minimize your mods.
Every mod you install adds new lines of code for the game to read. if, for example, you install 20 mods that add new ores, you're going to find a good amount more lag than in vanilla. I have found Forge on it's own creates a large amount of lag, so if possible, don't use Forge (of course, if you've got a mod that requires Forge, you either don't use that mod or endure the extra lag.) Note: I have found Millenaire mod creates obscene amounts of lag in both single and multiplayer, so if you're using that mod and lagging, you'll have to uninstall it (unless of course the server you're playing on has it installed, in which case, you'll have to live with the lag or nag the server admins to have it removed (This is NOT recommended unless you have good standing with/are the admin(s)))
3. Use a smaller texturepack
This one can be problematic. there are numerous texturepacks that claim to be 4x4, 8x8, or even 2x2, but many of them aren't truly that resolution. in other words, For example, if the texturepack creator colored a 16x texturepack with 2x2 pixels in one color making it look like an 8x8 this won't do any good because the game will just render 2x2 pixel spaces the same color. meanwhile, if it is a true 4x, 2x or 8x texturepack, it will really be 4 pixels by 4 pixels per block, not 16 pixels by 16 pixels that look like 4x4.
If you can find a texturepack that is a true low-resolution, it should reduce lag for the same reason that a 32x texturepack creates more lag than a 16x texturepack.
4. Play on a server
This is one thing I have found immensely useful. when you are playing singleplayer Minecraft, your computer has to do tons of processes such as loading chunks(on of the most problematic functions,) and keeping track of mobs. By joining a server, the server will deal with mobs and chunks and whatnot; your computer is left with the job of rendering, and sending information to the server, and some other processes, and for users with crappy computers, this can make a big difference.
5. Avoid complex redstone
This is a big one if you work with redstone a lot. When you have redstone torches, repeaters, and pistons changing states rapidly, you will experience lag as your computer has to keep track of what state every block/item is in, and you will see even more lag if you're looking at these devices. Now, if you're using a mine cart to create a clock generator (pulsating redstone) you will see much more lag than with an old-fashioned torch/repeater clock generator, as the game has to render an extra entity AND the redstone devices.
So in short, minimize your redstone madness.
6. Relog fairly often
This one isn't terribly good as you lose game time doing so, but if you get some really nasty lag you should do this. by closing your singleplayer world and reopening it, Minecraft will be forced to reanalyze all the information on the world save, as well as reload every chunk. This is like rebooting your computer in how it fixes issues. In multiplayer, disconnecting and reconnecting from the server will allow the server to save the player file, plus any issues with syncing between the client and the server will be instantly fixed.
7. Reboot your computer
If all else fails, reboot your computer. I personally have found that I lag after having my computer turned on for ~10+ hours, likely due to background processes starting and ending over that period of time, and rebooting your computer will fix this issue. As with any troubleshooting: reboot your computer and try again.
Windows XP professional
504 Mb ram
Intel Pentium 2.80 GHz.
500 GB HDD
I don't know anything about the graphics card. Anyway I play Minecraft with the render distance on short and the graphics quality on simple or whatever it's called. When it comes to the FPS what would i want. Which is best, max fps or performance? Occasionally i use Optifine what should i configure in its settings? Even without optifine its still playable. With or without there is still occasional lag. Please don't say "JUST GET A NEW PC"
1. Optifine (as you said you're working with)
With Optifine, what I do is turn off all animations that I can live without (I keep lava, Nether portal, fire, and flame. everything else is off.), you want it set to "Max FPS," your render distance fairly close (this is dependent on how laggy your minecraft is. personally, I set it to "short+48," which is one step below "normal," turn smooth lighting down (I have found I get much less lag on heavily-modded servers with that set to ~50%) turn off "smooth biomes" and "swamp colors," if you are using a texturepack other than default, turn off random mobs, set "connected textures" to "fast," turn off clouds, sky, stars, depth fog, fog, weather (or set to fast if you need/want rain/snow, or if you play on a server with weather enabled) and any other processes you can bare to turn off. If you aren't sure whether a certain setting will affect lag, hover your mouse over it and a little dialog box will appear and tell you what that setting does.
2. Minimize your mods.
Every mod you install adds new lines of code for the game to read. if, for example, you install 20 mods that add new ores, you're going to find a good amount more lag than in vanilla. I have found Forge on it's own creates a large amount of lag, so if possible, don't use Forge (of course, if you've got a mod that requires Forge, you either don't use that mod or endure the extra lag.) Note: I have found Millenaire mod creates obscene amounts of lag in both single and multiplayer, so if you're using that mod and lagging, you'll have to uninstall it (unless of course the server you're playing on has it installed, in which case, you'll have to live with the lag or nag the server admins to have it removed (This is NOT recommended unless you have good standing with/are the admin(s)))
3. Use a smaller texturepack
This one can be problematic. there are numerous texturepacks that claim to be 4x4, 8x8, or even 2x2, but many of them aren't truly that resolution. in other words, For example, if the texturepack creator colored a 16x texturepack with 2x2 pixels in one color making it look like an 8x8 this won't do any good because the game will just render 2x2 pixel spaces the same color. meanwhile, if it is a true 4x, 2x or 8x texturepack, it will really be 4 pixels by 4 pixels per block, not 16 pixels by 16 pixels that look like 4x4.
If you can find a texturepack that is a true low-resolution, it should reduce lag for the same reason that a 32x texturepack creates more lag than a 16x texturepack.
4. Play on a server
This is one thing I have found immensely useful. when you are playing singleplayer Minecraft, your computer has to do tons of processes such as loading chunks(on of the most problematic functions,) and keeping track of mobs. By joining a server, the server will deal with mobs and chunks and whatnot; your computer is left with the job of rendering, and sending information to the server, and some other processes, and for users with crappy computers, this can make a big difference.
5. Avoid complex redstone
This is a big one if you work with redstone a lot. When you have redstone torches, repeaters, and pistons changing states rapidly, you will experience lag as your computer has to keep track of what state every block/item is in, and you will see even more lag if you're looking at these devices. Now, if you're using a mine cart to create a clock generator (pulsating redstone) you will see much more lag than with an old-fashioned torch/repeater clock generator, as the game has to render an extra entity AND the redstone devices.
So in short, minimize your redstone madness.
6. Relog fairly often
This one isn't terribly good as you lose game time doing so, but if you get some really nasty lag you should do this. by closing your singleplayer world and reopening it, Minecraft will be forced to reanalyze all the information on the world save, as well as reload every chunk. This is like rebooting your computer in how it fixes issues. In multiplayer, disconnecting and reconnecting from the server will allow the server to save the player file, plus any issues with syncing between the client and the server will be instantly fixed.
7. Reboot your computer
If all else fails, reboot your computer. I personally have found that I lag after having my computer turned on for ~10+ hours, likely due to background processes starting and ending over that period of time, and rebooting your computer will fix this issue. As with any troubleshooting: reboot your computer and try again.
Wow thanks this is a big help!