STEAM performance troubles and how mitigate them

[EmirSc 10]

To close the steam in-game overlay you can terminate the proces SteamOverlay_UI, (i think i was like that) the process only appears when you open a game, after you close it the in-game overlay will be deactivated for all you steam games, to enable it just restart steam.

just disable it from the game options.

[Sneakers O'Toole 2]

this seems quite ironic given that arma3.exe will not trouble your processor very much anyway.

[Sixgears2 1]

Even though ArmA 3 does a horrible job at using my entire CPU or even half of it at that I have noticed that steam kills my frames. Basically I get locked at 30 frames unless I'm staring into the sky or the ground. Disabling everything in Steam did not fix the issue. Only by ALT-Tabbing then ending the task was I able to get those frames back. I wonder if the non steam distro simply gets better performance overall.

Another thing to point out is the fact that this is random. Sometimes steam doesn't cause the lag at all and other times it reams me.

Make sure you disable VSynch and post processing since they have a massive effect on ArmA 3's performance and provides no discernible benefit if you aren't capturing footage.

Steam idling in the background really shouldn't affect the game's performance unless you're running with very low-end equipment. My guess is that Steam was updating or synching something as you played and this resulted in your frame drops. If that's the case, the good news is that it usually only takes a few minutes and then you're back to normal. The bad news is that if simple updates are crushing your performance like that you probably need a new CPU (or overclocking software for your current one).

Good luck!

[Dwarden 1125]

you can use vsync fine with renderframesahead set to 1, plus you get rid of the tearing (try do fast turn), which is normal without vsync , anyway this thread isn't about Arma's performance but how migitate issues with STEAM performance bugs

[mariodu62 5]

Play with steam in offline mode and you aren't disturb...

[Sixgears2 1]

you can use vsync fine with renderframesahead set to 1, plus you get rid of the tearing (try do fast turn), which is normal without vsync , anyway this thread isn't about Arma's performance but how migitate issues with STEAM performance bugs

My point was that the performance issues he pointed out were likely not due to Steam.

[fred41 42]

Play with steam in offline mode and you aren't disturb...

Steam offline mode is (currently) not working with A3Alpha multiplayer since 0.55.103923, at least for me :(

... not sure if this is a bug or intentionally implemented ?

[Dwarden 1125]

Steam offline mode is (currently) not working with A3Alpha multiplayer since 0.55.103923, at least for me :(

... not sure if this is a bug or intentionally implemented ?

intended ... :) that's no bug ...

[WalkerDown 1]

What do you mean? That we cannot run our servers anymore?

Edited April 17, 2013 by WalkerDown

[[evo] dan 79]

I guess that means they might be ready to release the dedi server files then.

[Dwarden 1125]

yes , but that's not to be discussed in this thread ... dedicated server has own sticky in administration section ...

[Dwarden 1125]

added some notes for Avast antivirus users (might be handy even for other AV) : http://forum.avast.com/index.php?topic=116952.0

[eymerich 11]

you can use vsync fine with renderframesahead set to 1, plus you get rid of the tearing (try do fast turn), which is normal without vsync , anyway this thread isn't about Arma's performance but how migitate issues with STEAM performance bugs

someone could explain to a mortal what does Dwarden said?

I would truly thanks him for the tips but i really didn't get it :confused:

[Dwarden 1125]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing

[eymerich 11]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screen_tearing

Thank you very much Dwarden.

[cambo9903 10]

I click on ARMA 3. The addons and etc load. I wait, my screen goes black then back to normal and ARMA 3 still does not pop up! It says it is still running in the background?:mad: :confused:

[Dwarden 1125]

totally unrelated to this thread ...

[griffz 1]

is Steam overlay / stuff , a top priority performance related problem ?

*smile*

[t4nk83 10]

I just turned off Steam Overlay In game, it is done through the options settings in Steam.

What I have noticed:

With or without steam overlay enabled, I am still getting 20- 50 FPS. Steam is a SDP (Software Distribution Platform), and most games have little quirks about steam when they are first released. And most developers do handle them quite fast, because the Steam guys also put pressure on the game's developers. I have complete faith that Bohemia will find the solution and implement it, if not 1 or 2 patches down the road.

My main concern is the low framerates I am getting with my hardware. My system is only 14 months old:

Core i7-3820 @ 4.0Ghz

Kingston HyperX 1600Mhz CL9 16GB DDR3 RAM

256GB Crucial M4 SSD

Gigabyte GTX 680 2GB DDR5 256-bit PCI-E 3.0 Video Card

Asus Sabertooth X79 Motherboard

Windows 8 Professional x64

My system should be more than enough when comparing it to the recommended requirments of the game itself. But anything below 30 FPS the game tends to bog down and just become unplayable.

[muhman 10]

Hello. I've just registered after a session of Arma3.

How can you ever release a game that doesn't work? It's lagging the whole time.

It's absolutely no fun to play. I'm glad that I got the beta because otherwise I would have wasted 50€ on this crappy game!!!

[Game__On 10]

wait, there are "steam performance" issues ?

I had no idea lol .

I think arma 3 has a bit of a bigger performance issue. Can we get a sticky to resolve those as well please ?

[phlps 10]

Hello! After the last steam crash ArmA3 servers people cant join the game more than 100 players in one server(steam limit is 99 players atfer it crashed at 19.12.2013) . The players after 100 have a black screen and all. Previously people played on our servers is from 120 players to 150 players. Our plan is to play games up more to 200 people.

So, we need it that you in a short time fixed this problem with new steam limit.

Thx a lot!

Edited December 22, 2013 by phlps
added more inforamtion

[nkey 35]

Hello! After the last steam crash ArmA3 servers people cant join the game more than 100 players in one server(steam limit is 99 players atfer it crashed at 19.12.2013) . The players after 100 have a black screen and all. Previously people played on our servers is from 120 players to 150 players. Our plan is to play games up more to 200 people.

So, we need it that you in a short time fixed this problem with new steam limit.

Thx a lot!

we have such problem on two different servers - http://arma3.swec.se/server/data/58339 and http://arma3.swec.se/server/data/39042

also, looks like other server exprience same problem, for example: http://arma3.swec.se/server/data/40222

[phlps 10]

Problem with Steam (99 players) limit is solved. Steam support gave us answer with step by step solution the problem.

irrelevant:

Please complete the steps below to refresh your configuration files for Steam:

Exit Steam.

Please open Internet Explorer, Safari or Firefox and type

steam://flushconfig then press Enter. (If asked to allow this website to

open a program, please click 'Allow' or 'OK')

When prompted by Steam to reset your configuration, please click 'OK' to confirm.

Once done, login to Steam and re-test the issue.

If you have multiple installation folders for games doing this process

will remove them. You will need to add the folders again in Steam so

that your games will appear as installed.

In order to add the folders please do the following:

1. Open Steam

2. Click Steam > Settings (Preferences on Mac)

3. Navigate to the 'Downloads' tab

4. Click the 'Steam Library Folders' button

5. Click on 'Add Library Folder' and add the directory that contains your games

6. Click 'OK'

7. Restart Steam

If the issue persists, make sure your network is optimized for Steam:

Title: Troubleshooting Network Connectivity

Link: http://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1456-EUDN-2493

Please follow all suggestions in this article, even if your network appears to be functioning correctly.

But we still testing. If you have any problems with connection send message to Steam support.

Edited December 28, 2013 by Dwarden
irellevant solution

[Dwarden 1125]

99 players issue was completely unrealted to the solution STEAM support gave you ...

it was masterserver/serverside issue not client and it's already re-solved by Valve