Radeon 7970 released - ARMA 2 Performance Gains

[kklownboy 43]

Wow.

@ChrisB; If you just wanting eye candie (which I run full blast) with small unit action, you can/will use less CPU. But Clutter is Clutter and VD is VD and it will only be better with more CPU. Heck if you only have a 13in Display you dont need a powerful Vidcard... So your point is taken in that "not everybody will play large complex missions". I play alot of different types/sizes of missions.So starting in the 4.2+ CPU speed means less issues. And i dont hold my vidcard back. Also lack of Vsync is poor IQ in my book.

FPS due to graphics starts at the resolution. As most folks who complain about FPS, have a Display that is too much for there card, and that usually means a CPU that is underpowered for what they think should be acceptable settings like 10kVD and AA on high.And its always on Cherno. "Or big clutter island"

Every part of your kit affects every part of your kit... A slow CPU hold up a fast GPU ect...

Edited February 17, 2013 by kklownboy

[chrisb 196]

@kklownboy: I see some of your points, not v-sync, I have to say;).

But yes, my point is anyone can have a great arma experience, you just have to cater for the type of game you want to play.

I play some huge campaigns, but they are split into playable missions, very easy to do in the editor. It allows me to enjoy the graphical side of arma whilst also keeping the ai intelligent at the same time. Makes the campaigns more interesting too, imo.

Any gaming pc 3ghz or above (even some below 3ghz) will have a great gaming experience, just plan out how your going to play the game. Balance your system out, keep it lean and clean, its really the only way to enjoy any pc gaming..

Remember, huge systems, doesn't necessarily mean huge performance..

[Dwarden 1124]

remember to use 13.2 beta 5 drivers with 7970 ... http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst132BetaDriver.aspx

[griffz 1]

arma2 is a game incredibly demanding for hardware.

CPU , GPU , SSD ...

[kklownboy 43]

remember to use 13.2 beta 5 drivers with 7970 ... http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/AMDCatalyst132BetaDriver.aspx

Beta #6 seems a bit better!

[Shadow NX 1]

For those interested what the outcome was for me:

Got the Asus HD7970TOP and the 3570K @4Ghz and the game runs extremely nice on all ( exept the uggly postprocessing ) Settings maxed including 8xAA.

So it seems the newer ( beta 13.2 v6 ) drivers do well in A2, also had no noticeable microstutters and no white dots in trees.

Combined with sweetFX the game looks incredible now.

[down8 30]

I join the 7970 club, ordered:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2058/1/

[griffz 1]

i experienced a huge performance boost with my 7850 2GB , coming from catalyst 13.1 to 13.2beta7. this improvement concern the "default" video memory settings.

with 13.1 drivers, the framerate would randomly drop making the game unplayable. with 13.2beta7 , problem is solved. 1.9GB Vram used , still running fruitly .

Edited March 5, 2013 by griffz

[d3lta 10]

I join the 7970 club, ordered:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/2058/1/

I'm too. Nice graphic card.

[kklownboy 43]

Decided to try some OCing in A3A, and set my MSI,Lightning to 1300z and 1550. Increased the voltage to 1.2+, played three hours, no crash!. 10fps more at my 1500p rez. Great cards.

[Dimaslg 10]

I got a new card yesterday, a Sapphire 7970 Vapor-X Ghz Ed. but i got some weird problem in arma2 i didnt have with the 560ti.

Turning the anisotropic filter to Very High fix it, but still theres something wrong with the textures.

Its all like dots, dont know how to describe it. Take a look at the screenshot at full size.

Im using the Catalyst 13.3 Beta3, does someone have similar problems with the card? Is it driver related?

Edited March 23, 2013 by DimasL

[icewindo 29]

I also have your last problem (7950 Gigabyte Windforce) . It's related to ATOC - if you disable it, the blocky areas should be gone. But the vegetation looks even more ugly that way imo.

I don't know how to fix it though (if fixable at all), didn't search around yet.

[Dimaslg 10]

Managed to fix it with the anisotropic filter, it can be any valor but hight, but know i see those square/dot textures i cant fix, just as you say, disabling that, but game looks horrible. Nos i have the same problem, white dots, with antialiasing + atoc in arma 3 :(

[icewindo 29]

Managed to fix it with the anisotropic filter, it can be any valor but hight, but know i see those square/dot textures i cant fix, just as you say, disabling that, but game looks horrible. Nos i have the same problem, white dots, with antialiasing + atoc in arma 3 :(

I have tried out a small workaround which I can live better with:

- set ATOC to only use on trees (for me, the effect is mostly visible on grass)

- set 3d resolution to 110% (this solves the ugly non atoc grass for me)

[FSF_TargetZero 10]

Same problems for me with Saphire Radeon HD 7970 3Go Dual-X. I got white dots in trees in ArmA 2, it's ugly.

Wasting hours to test ATI drivers ... and the best for ArmA 2 (and ArmA 3) is beta 13.2 v6.

But it still some dots in trees (but it's much better). Whats a shame for a 300€+ graphic card :(

[domokun 515]

Guys it has nothing to do with your Radeons but the way that FSAA is implemented in OA, or rather badly supported by Radeon 7XXX cards.

Simply disable AA (FSAA) & use SMAA (PPAA) instead.

If you really want eye-candy, try pushing all the other options to the max (except View Distance & Terrain Detail).

Then get out there and enjoy the game!

This post may help:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

[Dimaslg 10]

I managed to fix it, it was the way that drivers set as default the Anti-Aliasing mode, you have to set it as multisampling, simple as that. I leave a screenshot of how it looks, its a picture i got from google, my system is in spanish so this would make it easy for everybody. The option marked in the screenshot is not the correct, try with multisampling to fix it. That worked for me.

[papanowel 120]

I have some really strange fps drop with my hd7970 GE. If I watch a smoke, my fps drop to 2/5 fps... if I right click (to zoom), my fps drop from like 50 to 18. I'm using the latest driver (no betas).

Edited April 1, 2013 by Papanowel

[Stalhandske 1]

I managed to fix it, it was the way that drivers set as default the Anti-Aliasing mode, you have to set it as multisampling, simple as that. I leave a screenshot of how it looks, its a picture i got from google, my system is in spanish so this would make it easy for everybody. The option marked in the screenshot is not the correct, try with multisampling to fix it. That worked for me.

Ok, Thank you.

[icewindo 29]

Guys it has nothing to do with your Radeons but the way that FSAA is implemented in OA, or rather badly supported by Radeon 7XXX cards.

Simply disable AA (FSAA) & use SMAA (PPAA) instead.

If you really want eye-candy, try pushing all the other options to the max (except View Distance & Terrain Detail).

Then get out there and enjoy the game!

This post may help:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

SMAA looks good on still pictures, but once you start moving/turning it'll look pretty ugly and I notice the picture doesn't look so fluent anymore like with normal AA.

I managed to fix it, it was the way that drivers set as default the Anti-Aliasing mode, you have to set it as multisampling, simple as that. I leave a screenshot of how it looks, its a picture i got from google, my system is in spanish so this would make it easy for everybody. The option marked in the screenshot is not the correct, try with multisampling to fix it. That worked for me.

Thanks for the suggestion, will try it out.

[kklownboy 43]

@DimasL ; With my testing, Using "Over ride application settings" of the CCC and trying to get a large AA sample just isnt worth the hit. Using 8xAA or at least 6xAA in the "ingame" MSAA is better. Less of a Zoom hit, less blurry on the horizon etc..

@Domokun; FXAA and SMAA are both PPAA "Post Process Anti Aliasing". Both are inferior to MSAA (ingame AA). But work well enough in conjuction with the Post Processing effects in the game (PP), blur... but on their own they do not take care of all the jaggies and crawlies. Or did you mean FSAA as MSAA/ingame AA?

As for the grid/Alpha/dots/mesh etc. Higher Rez will reduce it. 6aa or 8aa in game will reduce it even more. The Pine trees tho can be a issue. ATOC will allow you to see into/thru the grass better because of the screen, and does help some to see through tree foliage. I think it reduces the quality for the tree model tho.. but it improves the grass.

ATOC is a big FPS hit and really can only be used with strong vidcards/systems. Well it is subjective when talking IQ, but thats is my opinion.

Edited April 11, 2013 by kklownboy

[domokun 515]

SMAA looks good on still pictures, but once you start moving/turning it'll look pretty ugly and I notice the picture doesn't look so fluent anymore like with normal AA.

Thanks for the suggestion, will try it out.

I agree that MSAA looks better than SMAA but MSAA also seriously impacts performance.

Moreover, at high resolution (I run at 1920x1200) the visual improvement isn't so remarkable.

---------- Post added at 14:53 ---------- Previous post was at 14:21 ----------

@Domokun; FXAA and SMAA are both PPAA "Post Process Anti Aliasing". Both are inferior to MSAA (ingame AA). But work well enough in conjuction with the Post Processing effects in the game (PP), blur... but on their own they do not take care of all the jaggies and crawlies. Or did you mean FSAA as MSAA/ingame AA?

As for the grid/Alpha/dots/mesh etc. Higher Rez will reduce it. 6aa or 8aa in game will reduce it even more. The Pine trees tho can be a issue. ATOC will allow you to see into/thru the grass better because of the screen, and does help some to see through tree foliage. I think it reduces the quality for the tree model tho.. but it improves the grass.

ATOC is a big FPS hit and really can only be used with strong vidcards/systems. Well it is subjective when talking IQ, but thats is my opinion.

This is another reason why I prefer PPAA to MSAA.

MSAA can also introduce unwanted visual artefacts (sparkling trees, problems with NVG).

For me there's no doubt that MSAA looks better than FSAA but FSAA and SMAA in particular, is more efficient, i.e. you get more bang for your buck.

So basically if your CPU/GPU allows you to run MSAA and AToC at high framerate and with no visual artefacts, then lucky you! Enjoy the eye-candy!

For the rest of us, I think that intelligent use of SMAA, HDR & Post-Proc is required.

Overall, I think what's more important to most people is:

a) sufficiently high framerates (30 or higher)

b) sufficient draw distance (1200 or higher for infantry, 2000+ for land? 3000+ for air?)

Edited April 12, 2013 by domokun

[Dwarden 1124]

can I get screens of the 'incorrect' SMAA / FXAA image in-game versus injected SMAA / FXAA ?

(still static scene, same content, so save mission for this)

Edited April 14, 2013 by Dwarden