Differences between ping and latency

[LOUISSSSS]

not sure if this is different for every game but when i play cs:source, my ping would sometimes be 140ms and my latency would be 38.. can someone explain to me the differences between the two?

 

[Looney]

Ping is entirely network.. the time it takes to make the trip from your computer, to the other, and back. Latency takes into account your actual system performance. Latency is what people say when they say 'lag'. If you have good ping, but your system performance is slow, then you're going to get latency, and the information that your computer is handling, falls behind.

 

[fire400]

Originally posted by: Looney
Ping is entirely network.. the time it takes to make the trip from your computer, to the other, and back. Latency takes into account your actual system performance. Latency is what people say when they say 'lag'. If you have good ping, but your system performance is slow, then you're going to get latency, and the information that your computer is handling, falls behind.

fast computers with fast connections are Internet gaming-ready. there is a price for computers.

you may change your mind about console gaming and PC gaming as far as the Internet goes. and over time.. we'll see that the xbox 360 running more PC games at very good settings compared to what standard PC's can possibly handle. so as far as ping goes, an xbox 360 should cover the latency part rather well and make good headroom room for network activity transmitting via Internet.