Low CPU utilization & Low FPS

[daze23 1]

I concur. I'll be back once they've fixed their issues, unless they do it, their loss.

I imagine it's just because the servers haven't updated. but it is gonna get confusing if everyone's not on the same page...

[WingsOfDeath 19]

I noticed a frame boost on the Wasteland server I was just on...

[tremanarch 6]

I didnt notice an fps boost. not in MP not in SP

[daze23 1]

for announces:

Type: Public Alpha

Branch: Development

Version: 0.5.102980

* merges from Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead beta / Take On Helicopters

* tons of crashfixes

* some fixes

remember it might be more buggy / less stable for some ..

I still can't get into any MP games. as far as I can see, there's no way to check what version servers are running

I didn't notice any improvement in SP. the numbers looked the same. and maybe it's just my negative-nancy placebo, but the performance seemed more 'choppy'

[AmmokK 1]

Will try after new patch soon but so far my feedback:

So while running a decent machine i thought i would at least run fluid @ 45 FPS fixed on very high. Sadly this wasn´t the case.

I hit those 45 FPS only when looking at the ground and that´s about it, the other times i was somewhere between 15 and 25 with mixed settings high - ultra.

Yet the strangest part is the fact that while i tried to optimise my settings, the FPS didn´t change at all. High, very high, ultra, it didn´t matter. Only gain in FPS i got was when putting it on low. And even that only gave me about 5 FPS - mainly because of view range i guess.

Another interesting point was that in single player FPS seemed to be locked at 30 (which i had all the time, no drops there).

Hope this helps anyone to determine the "problem". Will give feedback after the patch again.

[asd123 1]

Don't bet on it.

Maybe not as soon as possible, but there's no way they'll release the full game/beta with such a major issue

[omegapex 1]

my PC specs are the following (it is a workstation, i work in cgi, it isn't a gaming rig)

i thought it could help since a lot of game server have Xeon cpu

Dual Xeon 3.07 GHz 12 cores/24 threads

48 GB ram

GTX Titan 6GB

SSD 120 GB

HD 2 TB black edition

as everyone else i tried everything, but still getting 20-25 fps on heli and bad fps in multi.

I get the same result in cpu and gpu % as most of the people here.

(i understand that 3.07GHz isn't enough for a game like this, even thu i run all game full most of the time)

I want to say that i am new to Arma and that it looks like an awesome game and i really hope, BI would find a solution.

I haven't been hyped for a game in a very long time.i enjoy trying different weather and time "alone" in editor just to appreciate the game on ultra and i have to say that it is stunning.

If BI cannot manage to fix i definitely wont go angry on them but it will be a great frustration.

[stk2008 14]

Ummm wierd

Just tested the new update and in the heli showcase mission I had zero GPU usage :O but still 15fps

What the hell is that about LOL please some one else check this 0% GPU usage ?]

Edited my post

Edited March 11, 2013 by stk2008

[Raklodder 1]

Ummm wierd

Just tested the new update and in the heli showcase mission I had zero GPU usage :O but still 15fps

What the hell is that about LOL please some one else check this 0% CPU usage ?

This is getting weirder by the hour.

[stk2008 14]

Did you all so check Rak dont just go by my findings we all need to double check LOL

But yeah I was wacthigng me GPU usage in heli showcase and it never moved maybe once or twice but stayed at 0% most of the time

[daze23 1]

I tried the heli showcase. my GPU usage was at the usual (disappointing) 30-60%

[Raklodder 1]

Did you all so check Rak dont just go by my findings we all need to double check LOL

But yeah I was wacthigng me GPU usage in heli showcase and it never moved maybe once or twice but stayed at 0% most of the time

Sir, yes, sir! I found absolutely zero performance improvements of any kind, sir!

Edited March 12, 2013 by Raklodder

[stk2008 14]

Damn just tested again and yeah was at 20-30% GPU and

40-50% CPU so nope still not fixed :(

[white 1]

Did you all so check Rak dont just go by my findings we all need to double check LOL

But yeah I was wacthigng me GPU usage in heli showcase and it never moved maybe once or twice but stayed at 0% most of the time

software video rendered by the cpu like the old days? ;)

[jaysmizzle 3]

Planetside 2: 2,000 players, large map, hundreds of vehicles @ 50-60 fps

ARMA 3: 40 players, large map, a few vehicles @ 20-25 fps

BI has no excuse.

[Raklodder 1]

Planetside 2: 2,000 players, large map, hundreds of vehicles @ 50-60 fps

ARMA 3: 40 players, large map, a few vehicles @ 20-25 fps

BI has no excuse.

They will probably blame us for not having two server CPUs running in our system.

[jaysmizzle 3]

They will probably blame us for not having two server CPUs running in our system.

Yeah, and what irritates me is that there's nothing I can do to make my pc run this game any better, at least not significantly better. Buying a more powerful gpu does virtually nothing. I have a quad core 3.4 ghz and that's as high as they come. The only people who are getting significantly better performance are those who are overlocking their CPU's to something over 4 ghz but that's a risk I'm not willing to take on my $1,000 pc. All I can do is hope that BI has the ability to improve the performance of their engine but looking at their history with ARMA 2, they apparently do not have that ability. Still, ARMA 3 is an amazing game and I'll have a great time with it, it's just irritating that I can't recommend it to my friends who have lower performing pc's because I know it'll run really crappy on their pc's and it's irritating that, with all the money I've spent on my pc, I have to play a game that sometimes only gets 15-25 fps.

[Raklodder 1]

Yeah, and what irritates me is that there's nothing I can do to make my pc run this game any better, at least not significantly better. Buying a more powerful gpu does virtually nothing. I have a quad core 3.4 ghz and that's as high as they come. The only people who are getting significantly better performance are those who are overlocking their CPU's to something over 4 ghz but that's a risk I'm not willing to take on my $1,000 pc. All I can do is hope that BI has the ability to improve the performance of their engine but looking at their history with ARMA 2, they apparently do not have that ability. Still, ARMA 3 is an amazing game and I'll have a great time with it, it's just irritating that I can't recommend it to my friends who have lower performing pc's because I know it'll run really crappy on their pc's and it's irritating that, with all the money I've spent on my pc, I have to play a game that sometimes only gets 15-25 fps.

Believe me when I say: I managed an 4, 5 and +5GHz overclock with my 2600k, and the results were only minor frames-per-second improvement (mostly ~3 or ~5) and note that the main issue remains, the utilization remains bad.

[AmmokK 1]

So i tested a bit again after the patch and - for me - it was better.

Still, i wasn´t satisfied so i went to the editor (you don´t get killed there^^) and tried every single setting until i found the 2 settings that were killing my FPS.

Object Quality

Terrain Quality

Setting these 2 to only high instead of very high/ultra doubled my FPS from about 20-25 to 45-50 or more with just a minor impact on visuals.

Most other settings are still very high/ultra (like eg. texture quality is on ultra, which is about the most eye candy setting anyway), view range is at 2600, object range same and so on.

Really glad i found those 2 killers - for me.

Try it out, maybe it will help some others as well.

[MavericK96 0]

Not that there isn't a plethora of information already, but I did some testing (with the latest developer patch even) on the Helicopter Showcase and I was getting:

~60-70% usage on Core 0, about 25-30% on all other cores

30% GPU utilization. Yes, 30%. On mostly Ultra settings.

Something is very wrong. This is a serious problem...ArmA 2 had utilization issues as well but it was nowhere near this bad.

One theory I have is that there seems to be no occlusion culling going on AT ALL. Because if you even look in the direction of a city or something with a lot of assets, even if it is many KM away (far out of your view distance) and not in your line of sight, you still get massive lag. But even then, if that were the case, my GPU should be working like mad. As it is, it is barely doing anything while my CPU putters along at around 50% overall usage.

Edited March 12, 2013 by MavericK96

[Insanatrix 0]

Not that there isn't a plethora of information already, but I did some testing (with the latest developer patch even) on the Helicopter Showcase and I was getting:

~60-70% usage on Core 0, about 25-30% on all other cores

30% GPU utilization. Yes, 30%. On mostly Ultra settings.

Something is very wrong. This is a serious problem...ArmA 2 had utilization issues as well but it was nowhere near this bad.

One theory I have is that there seems to be no occlusion culling going on AT ALL. Because if you even look in the direction of a city or something with a lot of assets, even if it is many KM away (far out of your view distance) and not in your line of sight, you still get massive lag. But even then, if that were the case, my GPU should be working like mad. As it is, it is barely doing anything while my CPU putters along at around 50% overall usage.

I get that feeling as well. If I'm behind a hill and look towards Agia Marina, or whatever that towns name is, I get the same FPS drop as if I was standing on top of the hill looking down on it.

[tremanarch 6]

there is occlusaon culling of mountains at least (shadow bug)

[Minoza 11]

Occlusion culling has nothing to do with the terrain not casting shadows on itself if that's what you meant.

[tremanarch 6]

when you have a hill in the back and only see your shadow floating in the air i think is because the hill isnt renderen... no?

[Tintee 10]

I do believe that some of you did not read or take onboard what i said earlier. Some seem to be running on ultra settings and not mentioning what amount of v-ram their gpu has. I`ll say it again... On ultra settings at 1920x1080 this game uses MORE than 3GB of video ram!

It does not matter what cpu or gpu core you have, if you do not have more than 3gb of video ram on the gpu, fps WILL suffer on ultra settings at any decent resolution.

If you want to do some testing then run gpu-z in the background and see what the max video ram usage is, then adjust in-game settings so that it is not maxing your 2GB cards out. This would be a good start to trying to figure out any other genuine problems with the likes of cpu usage etc.

btw, this is not a fault of the game. Just that you dont have the capable hardware to run all those large textures and AA settings. Weakest link in the chain and all that! Other games use similar amounts of v-ram when maxed.