ArmA 3 System Requirements

[Fergal 10]

I'm looking up upgrade my CPU, Mobo and RAM with Arma III in mind but also for now so I can play Iron Front properly.

My Phenom II X4 always struggled with large numbers of AI units in Arma II and now Iron Front.

Will Arma III take advantage of multiple cores (6 or 8 or more?) or any game for that matter? Some internet people say games will never use more that 4 cores, but I don't know how true that statement is.

Money isn't that big an issue, but I'd rather not spend more than I have to. Everything I do on my PC my current CPU handles no problem, so it's only really for Arma or any future CPU intensive game I'm upgrading.

Current specs:

Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz

4GB DDR3

Geforce GTX 570

Here are some options, what would you choose?

AMD FX-8150 8 Core 3.6GHz: €183.70

ASUS M5A78L, Sockel AM3+, ATX : €59.15

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €289.82

Intel Core i5-3570K 4 Core 3.4GHz : €212.12

ASRock P67 Pro (B3) Sockel 1155, ATX : €74.46

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €333.55

Intel Core i7-3770 4 Core 3.4GHz : €283.17

ASRock P67 Pro (B3) Sockel 1155, ATX : €74.46

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €404.60

[BinaryCode64 1]

I'm looking up upgrade my CPU, Mobo and RAM with Arma III in mind but also for now so I can play Iron Front properly.

My Phenom II X4 always struggled with large numbers of AI units in Arma II and now Iron Front.

Will Arma III take advantage of multiple cores (6 or 8 or more?) or any game for that matter? Some internet people say games will never use more that 4 cores, but I don't know how true that statement is.

Money isn't that big an issue, but I'd rather not spend more than I have to. Everything I do on my PC my current CPU handles no problem, so it's only really for Arma or any future CPU intensive game I'm upgrading.

Current specs:

Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz

4GB DDR3

Geforce GTX 570

Here are some options, what would you choose?

AMD FX-8150 8 Core 3.6GHz: €183.70

ASUS M5A78L, Sockel AM3+, ATX : €59.15

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €289.82

Intel Core i5-3570K 4 Core 3.4GHz : €212.12

ASRock P67 Pro (B3) Sockel 1155, ATX : €74.46

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €333.55

Intel Core i7-3770 4 Core 3.4GHz : €283.17

ASRock P67 Pro (B3) Sockel 1155, ATX : €74.46

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €404.60

Intel Core i7-3770 4 Core 3.4GHz : €283.17

ASUS M5A78L, Sockel AM3+, ATX : €59.15

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Motherboards are not that important. The i7 cpu will get you ready for the next few years. 8gb ram for 46.97 euro sounds excellent. But make sure your motherboard has the required space for it. Is it 4 x 2gb ram or 2 x 4gb? Big difference.

Decent hardware sites:

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/

http://www.tomshardware.com/

[oldbear 390]

I am not an expert, but from what I have read here and there and what I have experienced myself with the 4/5 configurations I have played Arma2 with I assume that the "...games will never use more that 4 cores" statement is right.

Arma III will probably take advantage of 4 cores.

Don't be fooled by the so-called 8 cores from AMD FX-8150, in fact this CPU is a 4 cores with 2 modules in each core.

Either the Core i5-3570K or the Intel Core i7-3770 is a good choice.

I will suggest you bought the cheapest one and a SSD with the money saved. (I am using 2 SSD on my rig one for System, one dedicated to Arma2)

Edited June 3, 2012 by Old Bear

[Fergal 10]

Is it 4 x 2gb ram or 2 x 4gb? Big difference.

2 x 4GB. Motherboard has 4 slots so can go to 16GB down the line but I don't see a need for 16GB ram on a personal computer.

I will suggest you bought the cheapest one and a SSD with the money saved. (I am using 2 SSD on my rig one for System, one dedicated to Arma2)

I have a SSD already but one for system and one for Arma / games sounds interesting. My 120GB SSD is big enough for Win 7 + a couple of games. With zero seek times is there that much of a benefit of having Arma on a different SSD?

I'll forget about the AMD so it's between the i5 and i7. No point in regretting the choice down the line to save a couple of euro, so I'll go with the Core i7-3770

[BinaryCode64 1]

2 x 4GB. Motherboard has 4 slots so can go to 16GB down the line but I don't see a need for 16GB ram on a personal computer.

I have a SSD already but one for system and one for Arma / games sounds interesting. My 120GB SSD is big enough for Win 7 + a couple of games. With zero seek times is there that much of a benefit of having Arma on a different SSD?

I'll forget about the AMD so it's between the i5 and i7. No point in regretting the choice down the line to save a couple of euro, so I'll go with the Core i7-3770

Been looking into SSD tech and are you sure its safe? Especially when putting your operating system on it? I suspect you have a second operating system on your HDD?

[oldbear 390]

SSD is as safe as all rest of the paraphernalia you get in the box. Since I use SSDs, more than 1 year ago, I have killed 1 Maxtor 100GB, 1 P7P55D-E Pro, 1 Seasonic SS-750 KM and 1 XMS3 2Go Corsair in various incidents ... and my small 80 GB Intel SSD is still working, I had to reload 7 four times, I use Intel SSD Toolbox on a regular basis and well ...

I had many doubts about SSDs years ago, but atm, those products are mainly mature ones.

I am using 2 SSDs a bit by accident, because there is not enough room on the 80 GB Intel SSD for System AND all the mods and addons I am testing/using, so I had bought a 2nd one -a Crucial M4 128- and due to laziness it has been more easy to let Seven alone on the small one and dedicated the new one to BI games.

Edited June 3, 2012 by Old Bear

[PuFu 4600]

I'm looking up upgrade my CPU, Mobo and RAM with Arma III in mind but also for now so I can play Iron Front properly.

My Phenom II X4 always struggled with large numbers of AI units in Arma II and now Iron Front.

Will Arma III take advantage of multiple cores (6 or 8 or more?) or any game for that matter? Some internet people say games will never use more that 4 cores, but I don't know how true that statement is.

Money isn't that big an issue, but I'd rather not spend more than I have to. Everything I do on my PC my current CPU handles no problem, so it's only really for Arma or any future CPU intensive game I'm upgrading.

Current specs:

Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz

4GB DDR3

Geforce GTX 570

Here are some options, what would you choose?

AMD FX-8150 8 Core 3.6GHz: €183.70

ASUS M5A78L, Sockel AM3+, ATX : €59.15

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €289.82

Intel Core i5-3570K 4 Core 3.4GHz : €212.12

ASRock P67 Pro (B3) Sockel 1155, ATX : €74.46

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €333.55

Intel Core i7-3770 4 Core 3.4GHz : €283.17

ASRock P67 Pro (B3) Sockel 1155, ATX : €74.46

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Total : €404.60

safest move would be to wait for he after-e3 alpha before making a call. If 100Eus is not a problem for you, i would go for the i7 instead of i5. Just more raw power ;)

[oldbear 390]

Of course I have nothing against the Intel Core i7-3770, I just bought one in my main rig rebuild ^^

[Horus 83]

@Fergal listen to what PuFU said.... wait for A3 alpha and if you have problem to have satisfying FPS first try to OC that CPU to 4GHz.

[kernriver 4]

I have a question about graphics card.

I have GeForce GTX275 896MB, what possible DX11 features would I be missing? (if there will be dx11 support)

Intel Core i7-3770 4 Core 3.4GHz : €283.17

ASUS M5A78L, Sockel AM3+, ATX : €59.15

8GB-Kit G.Skill RipJaws-X PC3-10667U CL7 : €46.97

Motherboards are not that important. The i7 cpu will get you ready for the next few years. 8gb ram for 46.97 euro sounds excellent. But make sure your motherboard has the required space for it. Is it 4 x 2gb ram or 2 x 4gb? Big difference.

...

That CPU won't go into that socket.

[tremanarch 6]

What do you guys think has more impact on FPS in ArmA III based on your knowledge on ArmA II:

CPU or GFX?

[Leon86 13]

What do you guys think has more impact on FPS in ArmA III based on your knowledge on ArmA II:

CPU or GFX?

CPU, if you have a scenario with lots of soldiers and vehicles all over the map the cpu has to work hard. The gpu only has to work for the things that are actually on screen, if it doesnt manage you can always reduce settings a bit and fps will recover. CPU has to work at everything that's happening beyond visual range as well.

safest move would be to wait for he after-e3 alpha before making a call. If 100Eus is not a problem for you, i would go for the i7 instead of i5. Just more raw power ;)

I would advise to just get an i5 3570K with a Z77 board, no game really benefits from hyperthreading, even in video transcoding the benefit is only 30% or something and that's a pretty ideal situation. Even battlefield 3, which multithreads really well doesn't gain more than a couple % form hypertheading and for some causes the well known stutter it caused in the early arma 2 versions.

Performance per core and number of real cores is important, the 3570K is near the top in that league and is great value.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Leon86

[Munkee(GBR) 0]

I too am really excited and can't wait for Arma 3 which has got me researching for an ideal PC spec in readiness.

I really want to be able to enjoy Arma on high visual settings and from what I've read, there are a lot of things to consider, but as far as I can tell, there are two major factors; AI drain on CPU = low frame rates and insufficient power and speed of GPU and RAM to give smooth texture and LOD display at high draw distances with high settings. I personally like post process and AA as they add to the immersion.

AI drain

Because I like smooth gameplay and lots of AI, I will need a great CPU. To that end and considering what I've read, I've pretty much decided to wait for Intel's new CPU architecture for the clock speed and caching speed increases, March to June 2013 for the Haswell CPU and March to June 2014 for the Broadwell CPU.

GPU

A high end GPU or two in SLI, but more importantly I aim to set up a big Ramdisk with SSD to alleviate texture popping and LOD drawing issues.

I'm sure a current i7 set up will deliver great results, but because the AI causes such low FPS, I'm gonna hold out until 2013/2014, by which time I suspect further patches will have been released to further optimise gameplay.

I think trying to buy a machine prior to the release of the new CPU architecture in a years time could be a bad move as (a) existing CPUs should have dropped greatly in price as new CPU architecture is available (Haswell) and (b) why spend out on a top of the line CPU now when you can wait a year (6 months after Arma 3 released) and get a better CPU when the Haswell is released.

If anyone is interested in the forthcoming intel chips, google "intel roadmap" or "intel tick tock"

[ruhtraeel 1]

I would advise to just get an i5 3570K with a Z77 board, no game really benefits from hyperthreading, even in video transcoding the benefit is only 30% or something and that's a pretty ideal situation. Even battlefield 3, which multithreads really well doesn't gain more than a couple % form hypertheading and for some causes the well known stutter it caused in the early arma 2 versions.

Performance per core and number of real cores is important, the 3570K is near the top in that league and is great value.

I would be wary of getting an i5 3570k over an i5 2500k. Intel cheaped out on thermal compound, which according to Wikipedia makes the Ivy Bridge processors run 20 degrees hotter than Sandy Bridge ones, which means less overclock.

[CameronMcDonald 146]

Lap the shit out of it, apply some aftermarket compound and an aftermarket cooler. Problemo solvedo.

[nikiforos 450]

Guys do you think I need any upgrades on my current system?

i5-2500k ( 4.2 ghz)

GTX 570

DDR3 1600 4GB 2x2GB

PSU 650 w corsair

HD Western digital 1tb , 7200 rpm , 64 mb cache

[maddogx 13]

Guys do you think I need any upgrades on my current system?

i5-2500k ( 4.2 ghz)

GTX 570

DDR3 1600 4GB 2x2GB

PSU 650 w corsair

HD Western digital 1tb , 7200 rpm , 64 mb cache

Looking at the specs Damu posted in the other thread, you should be fine with that. Don't upgrade until you've seen the performance in the Alpha. ;)

[Leon86 13]

Guys do you think I need any upgrades on my current system?

i5-2500k ( 4.2 ghz)

GTX 570

DDR3 1600 4GB 2x2GB

PSU 650 w corsair

HD Western digital 1tb , 7200 rpm , 64 mb cache

might wanna get another 4GB ram, very cheap, maybe get an extra 8. It helps, especially if you use "sleep" instead of "shut down". Windows uses all the memory to preload stuff you acces regularly.

[nikiforos 450]

What difference will more ram memory do? I mean ARMA uses only limited ram memory. I use win 7 64 but have no advantages for that.

[maddogx 13]

What difference will more ram memory do? I mean ARMA uses only limited ram memory. I use win 7 64 but have no advantages for that.

Well, remember that the operating system and applications, background processes etc. need memory too. When the memory required by all those applications approaches the limit of your RAM, Windows will begin storing some of it in the swap file, which is located on the hard drive and thus much slower to read/write from than RAM.

Now consider that programs like Firefox can easily use a gig of RAM (checking my task manager right now I see it using ~800MB), and other apps can also be pretty RAM hungry. Add it all together and even 4GB RAM can be insufficient when the game needs ~1,5GB or more. So unless you always make sure to close everything else before running the game, you may find data being stored on your HDD, resulting in stutters.

Personally, I recommend 8GB RAM for hassle-free gaming.

[BinaryCode64 1]

Personally, I recommend 8GB RAM for hassle-free gaming.

8gb is indeed enof for a good experience. But considering its so cheap at the moment. You might want to consider going to 16gb. Then you wont have to think about improving onto 8gb in 2-3 years. Or just wait and get it cheaper then.

[nikiforos 450]

Wow thank you very much for all detailed info guys. I appreciate it.

[mr. bravo 17]

Also, a good amount of RAM is needed if you're planning on streaming or recording your Arma-gaming. It's getting more and more common these days, so I thought I'd throw it out there :P

[ProfTournesol 956]

May i suggest this topic being a sticky ?

[Ctalkep 1]

"OS – Windows 7 / Vista

CPU – Intel Core i5 or AMD Athlon Phenom X4 or faster

GPU – Nvidia Geforce GTX 260 or ATI Radeon HD 5770, shader Model 3 and 896 MB VRAM, or faster

RAM – 2 GB

HDD – 15 GB free space

DVD – Dual Layer compatible

DirectX® – 10"

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/05/19/arma-3-system-requirements-revealed/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

"Very, very smoothly. A frame counter wasn’t visible, so don’t interpret this as scientific, but I felt I was running at 50-60+ frames throughout the demo. Bohemia was running a Core i7 at 3.2 GHz and a single GTX 580. Not low-end equipment, certainly, but I wouldn’t call that exotic, either."

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/arma-3-e3-hands-on-preview-8-questions-answered/?ns_campaign=article-feed&ns_mchannel=ref&ns_source=steam&ns_linkname=0&ns_fee=0

Hope this helps.