Wiki 1558 Posted December 25, 2011 hi guys. I have seen there is something about the memory allocator since the last patch, but I can't understand anything. I've already read this page http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/ArmA_2:_Custom_Memory_Allocator but still don't understand anything... What should I choose to make my computer use all of the memory/RAM from my computer? thanks for answers Wiki Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PuFu 4591 Posted December 25, 2011 there is no certain response to your question. You'll need to test it yourself. BUT be aware that memory allocators don't make your game use all your available memory, they just set how the available memory is handled by the game. You can read what a memory allocator does before anything else http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_management A2 is already LAA (Large Adress Aware). That said, it can only use up to 4GB. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wiki 1558 Posted December 25, 2011 I've tried each .dll file which were in the dll folder, but i didn't see any real difference between each of them... how can i really find out which .dll file I should take? or see the difference between each of them? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
.kju 3240 Posted December 25, 2011 use a benchmark (suite) to compare http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=114937 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
purepassion 22 Posted December 25, 2011 May I ask which one you think seems to be the most effective for you? I tend to use tbb4malloc_bi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 25, 2011 memory allocator mainly affects how well the program using it handles memory operations (allocations, freeing and so on) another factor is speed and total amount usage is just neglible factor note: i tend to use the TBB v4 one Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wiki 1558 Posted December 25, 2011 ok, thanks for answers. so, i'm gonna use it too and delete all the other ones from the dll folder. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
purepassion 22 Posted December 25, 2011 you don't have to delete them. Just add -malloc=tbb4malloc_bi or the one you choose, to your shortcut Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 25, 2011 ok, thanks for answers.so, i'm gonna use it too and delete all the other ones from the dll folder. why ? wth ... just read the description and use correct commandline parameter Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wiki 1558 Posted December 25, 2011 oh, ok. I read I could do it or delete them... "You can select an allocator by deleting other allocators from the dll folder " my bad... thanks for info Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 25, 2011 fixed that line to avoid more confused users :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
folgore_airborne 1 Posted December 25, 2011 my understandings of computing and electronics are very limited, but from what I've read in that wiki page about memory address it seems that 64bit OS handle more and better memory, right? Then, theoretically, it would be possible to make a patch to make A2 exploit all the potentials of 64bit OS? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 25, 2011 OA already does that , it's LAA aware and the 64bit OS can provide it with more memory faster Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PuFu 4591 Posted December 25, 2011 OA already does that , it's LAA aware and the 64bit OS can provide it with more memory faster what i think he means by "using all the potential of 64 bit OS" is having a 64bit binary ;) At least this how i read it...might be wishful thinking Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 25, 2011 not going to happen until 8-16GB is 75% world computer standard remember that 64bit coding often means use double sized variables thus you increase the default memory usage thus it has no point on just 4 or 6GB systems ... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
folgore_airborne 1 Posted December 26, 2011 yes Pufu, that's what I meant. Well 64bit OS is already becoming the standard now, as WinXP gets phased out and all computers (besides netbooks) are equipped with at least 4gb of ram and therefore with an x64 OS. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
PuFu 4591 Posted December 26, 2011 not going to happen until 8-16GB is 75% world computer standard That would also depend on what you mean by computer standard. You, as a game developer, don't look at office running computers, neither on workstations, but at the gaming oriented PCs (just by looking at the A3 minimum specs for instance), which indeed have an average of 4GB of ddr3 ram. remember that 64bit coding often means use double sized variables thus you increase the default memory usage thus it has no point on just 4 or 6GB systems ... I am well aware... BUT, most software running 64bit are NOT 64 bit exclusive. They still have binaries in 32bit. While i am agree that a step towards 64 binaries for the few that have at least 8GB of ram (my case with 16 and 24gb systems) is a bit far fetched, for a piece of software that relies heavily on a huge number of models and textures that needs to be cached from the HDD, it might actually be a improvements in term of performance. I know there are external applications able to create virtual disks out of ram and alike, but most of the ppl with plenty of ram have a good reason for that: they actually use software that take advantage of it, and can't use that as a fast SSD... Well 64bit OS is already becoming the standard now, as WinXP gets phased out and all computers (besides netbooks) are equipped with at least 4gb of ram and therefore with an x64 OS. That is simply untrue. While 64bit computers are on a rise, there are numerous computers with 4GB ram and 32 bit OS. Besides, winXP has a 64 bit version, which i have used prior to windows 7 for a good number of years. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
folgore_airborne 1 Posted December 26, 2011 That is simply untrue. While 64bit computers are on a rise, there are numerous computers with 4GB ram and 32 bit OS. Besides, winXP has a 64 bit version, which i have used prior to windows 7 for a good number of years. you're right but computers with 4 or more gbs of ram and a 32bit OS are not that recent and they hardly have an hardware that can sustain A2 and much less A3 with a better graphic quality than very low. Anyway this 64bit binary idea was just a wish for future games, since BI games are more hardware demanding than most others it would be a shame not to exploit all the advantages of an x64 computer, for those who have it. I didn't mean that the x64 binary should become the standard, but it would be great to make some kind of patch for x64 users. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
sthalik 10 Posted December 26, 2011 There's absolutely no need to create a 64-bit build, especially given how programmers are eager to cast pointer to int. In modern CPUs the 32-bit compat layer comprises no more than 2% of the CPU, and is very fast. The difference in instruction execution time is unnoticeable. Also, Dwarden's comment about "double-sized variables" is dubious. That only applies to pointers and other word-sized data. Textures are just byte arrays and 'int' still has its sizeof == 4. Only 'long' and 'intptr_t' etc. are affected of purely-integer types. Not like it matters, because A2OA doesn't have any need for such large address spaces anyway. Textures are limited by VRAM anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 26, 2011 because i'm in holidays mode i refuse to try find the papers on what problems coders face with 32 to 64bit transit yet the outcome for our engine was that it would mean significant memory usage increase in that light the 64bit build would for these who got 4-6GB of RAM end in negative result .... and since when ARMA stores just textures in memory :) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
vivadiga 10 Posted December 26, 2011 someone using windows7 allocator?share your impressions pls ^^ Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
folgore_airborne 1 Posted December 26, 2011 so, if there's no point in having a 64bit binary then things are fine as they are. Like I said, my understandings of computing are nearly non exixtent and was wondering if that was possible. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL1P 35 Posted December 27, 2011 I have 16g That i got for video editing. I run a system monitor on my other monitor when im playing sometimes I sometimes feel its a shame that i only use 3g of 16g and 25-35% cpu while playing Arma2oa Would be nice if that memory button in video options actually did something Like oooo look this system has 16g press button and it uses 14g Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dwarden 1124 Posted December 27, 2011 the game don't use just these 3GB but addressing rest of memory via OS ... please read the old dev blog about it http://www.bistudio.com/index.php/english/company/developers-blog/85-breaking-the-32-bit-barrier Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BL1P 35 Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) the game don't use just these 3GB but addressing rest of memory via OS ... please read the old dev blog about it http://www.bistudio.com/index.php/english/company/developers-blog/85-breaking-the-32-bit-barrier The blog was over my head a bit. basicly i look at my system monitor that tells me how much ram is A: Hardware reserved B: in Use C: modifed D: Standby E: free When I play arma2 it shows that about 3.5gig is in use / 4mb is hardware reserved / 1g is modifed / 2g is on standby and 9.#g is free (give or take a few .### numbers) Running 3 versions of arma2 at once did teh following Hard reserved = 4mb / In use = 5.1g / modified = 3.6g / Standby = 2.1 and free = 5.4g Edited January 2, 2012 by BL1P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
