I can't seem to shake in game lag no matter what settings I try or drivers I update. It's fine until I connect to a server. I've also tried to verify integrity of game cache in Steam and nothing helps. Any ideas?

I am running Windows 7 64-bit
Radeon HD 5770 1GB
8GB RAM

Before I upgraded I was using the my Nvidia 460 and still had to find the right mixture of graphic settings but when I did it helped the most. However, after I upgraded my mb and power supply it runs like a top at the hightest settings. So that could be a similar issue with yours. My old power supply was enough to run the card but not really give it the power it needed I guess. For a simple fix I would go to the BO forum and click on the sticky "black ops helpful info" It has several items to look at and try to get your setup to its optimal settings. For me it was a change settings and try it out before I found were I needed to be. Good Luck.

this help me

The last permanent fix is actually in your registry (WINDOWS VISTA AND WINDOWS 7 ONLY).  The registry has a setting that limits the amount of outbound packets being sent at any one time, obviously conflicting with your choice to send as many packets as you can to the server to register your actions faster and result in more millisecond-twitch kills.  Vista/7 caps network traffic at 10 packets per second, which is much lower than the 100 we desire from cl_maxpackets.  Here's how to remove that cap:

1) Hold the windows key and press the " r " key.  This will bring up a run dialogue
2) Type "regedit.exe" in to the run dialogue, and open up the registry editing program by pressing "run" or hitting "enter"
3) Navigate through the folders to this address:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Multimedia\SystemProfile\
4) Right click on the file "NetworkThrottlingIndex"
5) Change the value from 10 (or whatever it currently is) to "FFFFFFFF" in hexadecimal
6) Restart your computer

Thanks. I'll give this stuff a try this weekend

I tried the registry fix and no dice.  

What is a good free registry cleaner?

I'm now going through the steps in the black ops helpful info.

This stinks!

I've used CCleaner from www.cnet.com.

If you find a fix post it and let everyone know.

GOA.Luke*BK*

I did just about everything short of spending more money or reinstalling the game and it seems a little better. Definitely not as good as it once was so I see a few more deaths than normal coming my way.

I have a few more ideas....

Thanks Everyone!