Radeon 7970 released - ARMA 2 Performance Gains

[kklownboy 43]

Sorry about thread-resurrection. Figure this is very specifically on topic, though.

I have a 7970, using 12.8 driver pack, and get the foliage shimmer and sparkle on trees & grass - mostly when using NV.

I installed the CCC (reluctantly) and enabled High Quality in AI Catalyst but it didn't help me. I had to disable AA from within ARMA2OA to get rid of the sparkly trees.

Could anybody who's resolve this (denco or Froggyluv?) share any more tweaks or better driver versions? Particularly if you got rid of the sparkle and still had AA working.

Best solution found:

http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/arma2.cfg#ARMA_2:_Operation_Arrowhead

Alter arma2oa.cfg

Turn on FXAA

FXAA=15;

FXAAsharp=6;

vsync=1; //I found less stutter with Vsync enabled. This is nice and easy to alter through Video Settings -> Advanced, anyway.

If you have arma2oa 1.61 or newer you'll have to use the other configs (PPAA).

No shimmer or sparkle here with NV. Can get a HDRish shimmer on grass at certain light conditions.. My CFG is setup thru the game, no extra settings edited in.

HDRPrecision=32

AToC=7

FSAA=6

PPAA=2

PPAA_Level=2

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1

Vsync is always on (cant stand tearing)

AF is VH, as all other options except ,VidRam-default, and PP- VL.

My CCC settings are;

AA to App-setting, but with EdgeDetect(12x)

AF is unchecked, and set to 16x

Tess= app-setting( doesnt matter in OA)

Cat AI= High Quality

AA Mode is Multi, but i do use Adaptive, and SSAA. But they will be a big FPS hit and look really nice (I use them with lower resolutions).

Game looks awesome.

Oh i set the color saturation in the CCC to 180

7970@1070/1400 clocks

12.8Cat

Display is @ 1280/1024 upto 2048/1536 depending on Map. Usually 16/12 for heavy trees,20/15 for Takistan.

[grimwald 24]

Thanks for extra info kklownboy. I am running ARMA2OA v1.60, so PPAA is not available. Perhaps v1.61+ fixed this issue for 7970 by using PPAA? For now I'm happy with FXAA settings (FXAA=15; FXAAsharp=6; in arma2oa.cfg) and normal post-processing. Looks very nice thanks to the fantastic color palette this game uses. HDR I run on normal. All this at 1920x1080. In combination with 20GiB RAMDisk I get very nice performance but I'm very sensitive to any micro-stuttering at all.

On ATI's CCC: this is a vindictive piece of software. When I removed CCC it automatically removed every other piece of ATI software, including the base driver - how mean is that! So that has put them in the bad books with me. At least it was thorough and installing driver-only went okay.

Not particularly on-topic: It might be my imagination but after installing ACE (latest stable release) the game became perfectly smooth.

Edited August 30, 2012 by Grimwald
syntax

[domokun 515]

Thanks for extra info kklownboy. I am running ARMA2OA v1.60, so PPAA is not available. Perhaps v1.61+ fixed this issue for 7970 by using PPAA? For now I'm happy with FXAA settings (FXAA=15; FXAAsharp=6; in arma2oa.cfg) and normal post-processing. Looks very nice thanks to the fantastic color palette this game uses. HDR I run on normal. All this at 1920x1080. In combination with 20GiB RAMDisk I get very nice performance but I'm very sensitive to any micro-stuttering at all.

On ATI's CCC: this is a vindictive piece of software. When I removed CCC it automatically removed every other piece of ATI software, including the base driver - how mean is that! So that has put them in the bad books with me. At least it was thorough and installing driver-only went okay.

Not particularly on-topic: It might be my imagination but after installing ACE (latest stable release) the game became perfectly smooth.

How come you haven't updated OA to v1.62?

By sticking with 1.60 you're missing out a a year's worth of bugfixes, tweaks and new features.

[chrisb 196]

Not particularly on-topic: It might be my imagination but after installing ACE (latest stable release) the game became perfectly smooth.

Its becoming more smooth with each tweak they (BIS) and mod makers do. But @domokun is right, you are missing out by not having 1.62, and right upto the latest beta imo.

[BasileyOne 10]

What is weird for me is after flushing the memory (shift+num- flush), memory usage shows less than 800mb on msi afterburn and then rise up to 2gb gtx 680 limit then performance gets worst, so i have to flush every 10 minutes!

maybe someone will make add-on to automate such process ;-P

server-side add-on/config/preset would b handy ;)

[grimwald 24]

I don't do betas unless it's so interesting that it's the only way to get a taste (like CryZone 23 for example). That's just my preference.

I did update to 1.62. Being new to ARMA2 (but an OFP fan from before there was a GOTY edtion) I actually didn't realise v1.62 was out!

It made it a lot better, however I haven't tried out PPAA, yet. ;)

[grimwald 24]

v1.62 installed and I decided on FXAA with Sharpening at high. This looks nice and works a treat. In testing I get about 55fps with view distance ~2600metres, res: 1920x1080 (UI and 3D), and very high all details, HDR normal, vid-mem @ default, post processing on normal. The colour-palette and detail at these settings is gorgeous. Best times to show this off is transitioning through dusk or dawn.

[chrisb 196]

v1.62 installed and I decided on FXAA with Sharpening at high. This looks nice and works a treat. In testing I get about 55fps with view distance ~2600metres, res: 1920x1080 (UI and 3D), and very high all details, HDR normal, vid-mem @ default, post processing on normal. The colour-palette and detail at these settings is gorgeous. Best times to show this off is transitioning through dusk or dawn.

Just interested, I have a 7970 sat in a machine waiting for A3 to be released, not used it at all yet. I am expecting reasonably high fps from the card and setup. So basing it on a2 for now, could you tell me where your getting 55fps, is it in built up areas, wooded, countryside or desert.

I get very good fps with my a2 machine running a 2gb 5850 toxic card, of course it’s the mission design that also helps fps (make my own), but was thinking of comparing. Also is your pc a dedicated gaming pc or used for other things as well, it’s a dedicated gaming pc I have waiting and the same with the one I use for a2, get really very good results with nothing weighing things down, lean and clean..:)

[grimwald 24]

My machine is mixed use, yes. I have all kinds of things installed and running in the background. My FPS testing and figures was on the southern shore of Namalsk island where it's lightly wooded with some buildings, a lit train signal, and a few AI about the place at dusk. I got the FPS figure from the diag_fpsmin scripting command that I put in an action as part of my debugging tool within the mission I'm making (STALKER Co-op with some persistence). I also have Vsync enabled so that might be capping it. With Vsync disabled I got some tearing. Mods that might affect FPS: ACE, ACEX, JSRS, CBA. I'm sure you can get higher with tweaking but the important thing for me is no texture pop and a decent view distance when on the ground. I think you can reasonably expect to get the same or better FPS than me since I only focus on good visuals, & getting rid of stutter, texture pop, and lag, not total FPS: there's likely more tweaks for FPS boosts than what I'm using.

Spec's:

i7 3770K

32Gb DDR3 @ 2400Mhz

ARMA2CO + All Mods running in a 22Gb RAMDisk (SuperSpeed LLC)

Windows swap file on a 4Gb RAMDisk (DataRAM)

System drive is a SSD (OCZ Agility 3, 120Gb) but I haven't checked disk activity on this whilst playing.

Just found out that Catalyst 12.9 is available (I'm on 12.8). That may increase FPS a bit, too.

[chrisb 196]

I'm making (STALKER Co-op with some persistence). I also have Vsync enabled so that might be capping it. With Vsync disabled I got some tearing. Mods that might affect FPS: ACE, ACEX, JSRS, CBA..

Yes, interesting, I run a 2000vd usually on the ground, but use ’IVD’ so can open up the view if there is less going on, for this pc (a2) I have my settings here at the moment. I would think the average frame rates should be around the same, maybe a little more as I have vsync disabled, don’t get much tearing as in Namalsk the fps would not go much higher than 75 or so, mainly around the 50ish average, small skirmish type missions.

I run quite alot of mods/addons, inc islands around 200 I would think (150ish islands), but obviously islands are only running if they are running, rest are mixture, inc all the usual ace/acex cba.

Not sure if this is where you were, eerie place of a night time. Using 'dfs_FPScounter'..

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/706/arma2oa2012092612251167.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/545/arma2oa2012092612255051.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/832/arma2oa2012092612295713.png/

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/811/arma2oa2012092612301499.png/

Great island 'Namalsk', dismal in a good way..

Thanks for the input. :)

[kklownboy 43]

...

I get very good fps with my a2 machine running a 2gb 5850 toxic card, of course it’s the mission design that also helps fps (make my own), but was thinking of comparing. Also is your pc a dedicated gaming pc or used for other things as well, it’s a dedicated gaming pc I have waiting and the same with the one I use for a2, get really very good results with nothing weighing things down, lean and clean..:)

Your 7970 is more than your two 5850s. I can run my 7970 at 2048/1536 with all VH(PP is low during daytime VH at nite). Cherno will of course have lower frames due to clutter etc. But being in the 50fps with 3k VD on most* light clutter* maps is doable.But falling into the 30s in certain areas(very playable).

19/12 is that much easier. And i use my current box for everything. 1366@4.0 , SSD.

Edited September 26, 2012 by kklownboy

[chrisb 196]

Yes, I got it put in my new a3 pc as it had really good reviews and the 5850 (just the one 2gb) has been a terrific card for a2, so thought I would stay with ati/amd, not really bothered either way, card wise, have been looking at the GTX 690, but will see when a3 comes along. Although, wish the 7970 were double the performance of my 5850 and not more or less the same. However, it could be that my a2 pc (5850) is a dedicated gaming pc, as will the 7970, perhaps that’s why my 5850 performs so well, not much to think about other than the game.. Haven’t played a2 in the thirties for a long time, even on Chernarus, but that’s because I make the missions to suit the pc. :p

Not saying the 7970 looked to be performing badly it doesn’t, good fps at high settings is a plus, especially if your using it for everything else pc related..:)

Still, provided it is as reliable and performs as well, no better, than the 5850 I won’t moan, well, not too much. If it doesn’t perform, probably be the 690 that goes in later on..;)

[kklownboy 43]

with my 7970 i use 2.7g~ Vram Have had it up to 2.8+. thats when its a big game. I play MP but do use the SP editor. I find i use much more VRAM in MP. Host my own or Online. Not sure what you mean about your 5850s. A 7970 is more than both(alot). But if FPS is the only measure well... IQ filters its no contest. A 690 or even two 7970s/680s would be great, bar the typical CF/SLI issues.

Also the 12.9B with the 12.9cap1 over the top of the 12.8 are solid in this game.

[chrisb 196]

Not sure what you mean about your 5850s..

Yes, what I meant to say was that my cpu has less to think about, therefore perhaps taking a lot more strain from the game, might be helping my 5850 perform better, who knows..

Anyway, hope for great things from the 7970 when a3 appears..:)

[Bee8190 10]

Anyway, hope for great things from the 7970 when a3 appears..:)

Or the good'ole waiting game could pay off again :p

If it's anything to go by (usually seems so) this looks tasty -

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-gpu-oland-8800-radeon,17643.html

[Nicholas 5]

This is why I usually wait to upgrade after my most anticipated game comes out. Usually upgrading my PC before a game comes out makes me regret doing so.

[kklownboy 43]

Or just upgade when you can. Its not rocket science. Its just $$$. Biggest badest kit will run best. Right now the current CPUs can OC to 4.4 np, and the 680 or 7970 can max it out, just not at Vysnc. Next gen should get you Vysnc @ 1400p...

[chrisb 196]

I was excited, what can I say :D

I didn't need to see that 8*** series:bounce3:

Come on Arma 3.....

:)

[grimwald 24]

I see it like cars. As soon as you buy one and drive it off the lot it loses a third of its value! :-D

HD8*** series? Wow. The only thing I'm regretting about my 7970 is that I it's not the ASUS DirectCUII Top edition (no units in stock anywhere when I was ready to buy) with its uber-quiet fans.

[OL 0]

Apparently there are new AMD drivers coming out today for the Radeon 7xxx cards that will improve performance for a lot of games. Not sure if ARMA II is one or not...

[domokun 515]

Yup I'm being prompted to upgrade my 12.8 Cats to the 12.10 for my 7850 (currently OC to 7870).

But to be honest I have no trouble with the 12.8 so unless there's some significant gains I'll prolly leave it...

So any testimonials?

[kklownboy 43]

using the 12.11B4, and the 12cap1. Nothing broke, all is working fine, maybe 2fps more but thats not reliable. Biggest gains are supposed to come from lower resolutions? I installed right over the top of my 12.9B.

[BasileyOne 10]

generally 7970 decent card.

just not "fat enough" to feed recent DirectX11.1 games. in complex scenes/light it need little more rasterzation speed[which is gradually/notably improved, but still lower than on NV], reduce latency of GPU exec/sheduling and polishing driver code[3rd-party stuff in driver look[and perform]ridiculouly poor/dangerous].

also dependency on deprecated .Net 3.5 make it suffer, but AMD anounced movement to .Net 4.5 after Win8 rise/start being sold. and after they evaluted[horay !!]benefits/speedups.

from "small blood"/low-cost improvements, generally, putting 6Gb/4Gb onboard in necessity and really minimum, required by modern games. RAM is cheap as dirt and save LOT of PCIe banwith and sw/fw overhead, latency.

p.s.

off presently software[and to be exact software engineers and software developers mentality and experience, PoV/Values], rather than hardware.

in HW context it was memory, but recently[4 yrs]chipset start becoming seriously bottlenecking factor.

present mainstream[not HPC]chipset easily saturated[on real-loard, not "just games"] by ONE 16x high-level GPU or GBASE-T NIC[let alone chances to get 10-GBASE-T working conditions/breath], or serious number of USB3.x devices or 802.3ac/802.3ac wireless NIC's[even without 8x8x8[or speedier] MIMO setup], so even without[suggested/expected/presumed]COMBINATION of any kind of [very usual/ordinary]components/connections/traffic/load, CPU chipsts scewed/hang :[

generally WDDM 2.0 and WDDM 2.1 will bring some serious improvements,and memory vendors keep rising[but ridiculously slow. and majority of modules sold is based on 4yrs old crappy chips]RAM speed/clocks, reduce latency and etc, but CPU vendors never ever anounced improving poor chipsets, whose start becoming serious yrs ago.

also some vendors lack of internal[within CPU communication]performance/caps, with hit multi-core versions severely :[

and software development lock-down cause similary-designed/comparable chips perform differently :[ shame on devs[including MS]using ICC "crapware".

Edited October 27, 2012 by BasileyOne

[Shadow NX 1]

Hope i dont get slapped by the Mods over resurrecting this but before i open a new topic i rather use this one as it fits pretty well.

So i am currently in the planning phase of a new PC with Focus on ArmA2,3 and a few other things like Skyrim.

Overall i like to mod and looking at how quickly i can fill my HD6950DCUII 2GB ram i think 3-4GB Vram are needed.

Other than that i play on 1980x1080 res with no extra monitors and stuff.

So currently im between the 3Gb Asus HD7970DCUII and the 4Gb Asus GTX670DCUII, both cost equally yet especially A2 seems to benefit more from the 7970 while in other benchmarks i see both cards perform relative similar in most other games.

On the other hand these are often doen on older A2 versions or with older drivers so things might have changed a lot since then.

I use AMD since years because it was always a Price/Power question for me, yet switching to Nvidia also is tempting because a few extra features here and there a tiny bit better Filtering.

Lots of Power on both cards, 7970 seems especially A2 friendly, GTX670 seems to deliver overall 10fps less in A2, yet when i read about GTX670 users get like 35fps in Cherno it freaks me out spending so much money if the benefit is very slow in A2.

So please help me out guys, HD7970 and GTX760 users, what settings do you use, how do the frames look? Whats your rigs setup?

Heres what mine is supposed to look like:

OS: Win8Pro 64Bit with Classic Shell or Win7Pro 64Bit ( Not 100% happy with Win8 atm )

CPU: Core i5 3570K @ 4.x Ghz with a Thermalright Macho HR-02

GPU: 3GB Asus HD7970 DCUII or a 4GB GTX670

PSU: BeQuiet Dark Power Pro 650w ( from old PC )

MB: ASRock Z77 Extreme4

Ram: Corsair Vengeance 2x8GB

Sound: Asus Xonar

Harddisk etc: 128GB Crucial C300 SSD for OS and A2 and a 500GB Samsung Spinpoint F1 HDD ( both from the old PC )

Case: Fractal Design Define R4 Black

[grimwald 24]

If I had to recommend a solution based on what you're asking, ShadowNX, I'd say a DirectCU-II 7970. 4Gb VRam is very hard to use - you'd have to try.

If you don't often succumb to TL;DR --> I've used the Gigabyte Super OC 7970 3Gb and the Asus Direct CUII GTX670 2Gb (current card). The NVidia has a nicer "light blending" but the 7970 feels less hampered by complex scenes. The main thing is that a very quiet cooler is put in place. My GA-SOC-7970 was just too loud for me to put up with because I didn't realise what 42db of noise actually sounds like! I also play a mod called Stalkersoup and that uses more VRam than ARMA2 + a bunch of mods, maxing out at 1488Mb. I doubt anything except a super-collection of 2048x2048 textures would push over 2Gb, and even then the NVidia will take some system RAM if it's required.

Edited February 14, 2013 by Grimwald
clarity