game is broken again after latest update (I need a dev to look at this)

[kremator 1064]

One little tip guys, although you probably know it already, set your shadows to high/very high, as this is offloaded onto the GPU rather than the CPU.

When playing in an MP environment you are dependent on the skill of the mission builder to optimise scripts so that lag is not created. In a very heavy script environment it may effect graphics FPS, even though the scene is not very complicated.

[spanishsurfer 58]

When you state your FPS are getting worse, is this with regards to multiplayer or singleplayer?

I have a custom rig with similar specs to yours and Arma 3 FPS have only INCREASED with every update. There is something wrong with either your software or hardware.

[spangg 0]

Hi,

Just another tip to try to help:

You said 1st thing was arma after win install. Try and update your windows and drivers etc and try again. It really sounds like some specific to your system so give it a go. Fresh win is nogo w/o the updates.

Let us know of your finding, we may all learn from it.

Edited December 18, 2013 by spangg

[bruhmis 10]

@Kremator, I have tried every combination of graphics settings possible. they all yield the same 20 FPS unless I turn sampling down to 50% and everything else as low as it can go then I get 40-50. as JungleNZ and I have stated, the game retains identical graphics settings during the update process, so even if shadows were on low that still wouldn't explain anything.

@SpanishSurger, all testing is done on single player official bohemia missions.

@spamgg, a windows reinstall is what I tried to make the game work. this has happened 3 times in the past and this particular instance has been happening since the latest stable build was released. I only reinstalled windows 3 days ago.

[bruhmis 10]

does anyone know what normal cpu usage would be for this game? I just tested mine and it was between 35-40% across all 8 cores. no idea if that's normal or not.

edit: I made an error when testing my cpu usage. turns out those statistics were wrong and my actual CPU usage is between 87-95% constantly. even in the main menu with -nosplash -skipintro in the commandline(meaning the game isn't rendering anything aside from some UI and a blue background), I still get about 80-85% total cpu usage. that's the overall usage of all 8 cores. seems abnormal to me.

Edited December 19, 2013 by Bruhmis

[kremator 1064]

@Bruhmis there is really something going wrong with your PC then, as Arma3 will NOT use anything like that kind of CPU usage. Check other programs/utilities that are running, especially antivirus.

[bruhmis 10]

@Bruhmis there is really something going wrong with your PC then, as Arma3 will NOT use anything like that kind of CPU usage. Check other programs/utilities that are running, especially antivirus.

it was arma using all of those resources though, I looked at my performance monitor. I never have anything running. I don't use any antivirus and I just did a reinstall of windows. the only things running were the game, steam, skype and nvidia stuff. if my computer was the problem other games would be affected. none are, I've tested many.

[spanishsurfer 58]

Sounds like a software/driver problem in there somewhere. Have you updated your directx drivers recently? Have you overclocked your PC? Have you tweaked any BIOS settings? Do you have any other devices connected/plugged into your MOBO?

FYI, this is not a DEV issue...something on your PC is interfering with Arma.

[ratszo 17]

Sounds like a software/driver problem in there somewhere. Have you updated your directx drivers recently? Have you overclocked your PC? Have you tweaked any BIOS settings? Do you have any other devices connected/plugged into your MOBO?

FYI, this is not a DEV issue...something on your PC is interfering with Arma.

Maybe motherboard drivers defaulted back to generic?

[smokedog3para 365]

Got to agree that frames have halved for me too and also some guys from our gu.

our server was on the dev build I got 60fps mac got 120fps when our server had to revert back from the dev to the stable build i then got 30fps mac got 60fps it halved when the new update came out I thought good I would get back my 30fps that had been good in the dev build but no its still the same 30fps what happened in the devbuild between the pre stable update and the devbuild.

The question to be asked did all of the optimisations actually get in the stable or are we missing something here as pre stable release the dev build was running good after the stable build was released we now have bad fps in MP and SP.

[bruhmis 10]

@SpanishSurfer if it's a software problem then it's steam related. I did a fresh windows installation then installed the latest non-beta nvidia drivers. the chances of those drivers being corrupted/not installed correctly in the exact same way twice in a row are 1 in a million. if it was the drivers themselves we would be hearing many reports from many people. so that's ruled out.

I reflashed my bios after the windows installation as well, in addition to setting everything to fail safe defaults and using the clear CMOS jumper pins. I also tried experimenting with different settings such as turbo boost, 'Cool & Quiet' etc.

nothing is overclocked and being that I just reinstalled windows and arma 3 itself, the first time setup installed all prerequisites including direct x.

@Ratszo read above

@smokeDog3PARA I'm absolutely positive that what's causing this has nothing to do with the actual contents of the updates. rather it's a result of the updating process itself. this has happened numerous times for me and half of them were caused by an update that changed almost nothing.

[ratszo 17]

"@Ratszo read above"

I did.

No mention of motherboard drivers.

What's the mobo make & model?

[bruhmis 10]

"@Ratszo read above"

I did.

No mention of motherboard drivers.

What's the mobo make & model?

by read above I meant the text directly above that line which reads "I reflashed my bios after the windows installation"

full specs are in the op. mobo is Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 (revision 1.1)

[ratszo 17]

by read above I meant the text directly above that line which reads "I reflashed my bios after the windows installation"

full specs are in the op. mobo is Gigabyte 990FXA-UD3 (revision 1.1)

AMD Chipset Driver (include chipset \ sata raid driver)

OS:Windows 7 64bit: version v8.982..., size 232.90 MB..., Date 2012/10/24.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3996&dl=1#driver

[bruhmis 10]

AMD Chipset Driver (include chipset \ sata raid driver)

OS:Windows 7 64bit: version v8.982..., size 232.90 MB..., Date 2012/10/24.

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=3996&dl=1#driver

I made the mistake of downloading that instead of LAN drivers when I reinstalled windows. that installer isn't applicable to my computer.

[ratszo 17]

I made the mistake of downloading that instead of LAN drivers when I reinstalled windows. that installer isn't applicable to my computer.

So..., what is the chipset driver? Generic windows?

[bruhmis 10]

So..., what is the chipset driver? Generic windows?

not sure if windows installed that or something else for it but there's no way for me to install different chipset drivers without going out and buying an AMD gpu.

[ratszo 17]

not sure if windows installed that or something else for it but there's no way for me to install different chipset drivers without going out and buying an AMD gpu.

Gah..., been years since i flashed my bios.

As i remember:

--flashed bios.

--re-installed Manufacture's (amd) chipset drivers.

--possibly re-seated my nvidia card into its slot for it to be recognized.

Suggest you go post over at this forum:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1023100/official-gigabyte-ga-990fxa-series-owners-thread-club

800+ pages of pure ga-990fxa-series love. Ask 'bout flashing..., chipset..., nvidia gpu....

Good luck!

[kklownboy 43]

http://www.techpowerup.com/158534/new-windows-7-bulldozer-patches-available.html

Also you can install drivers manually. You dont need a AMD GPU to install MB drivers. You can unpack the driver set then point the device manager to the correct driver.

If you install GPUz you can see if your using the full PCI-e Lanes for the slot your card is in. I would blame Nnvdia( Forceware?) for your poor fps, but would need more info on what and how you do Win 7 installs/updates.

[bruhmis 10]

I'm pretty sure I said somewhere that I already have the hotfix, and I had it before this ever started too. grateful as I am that people are trying to help me, there is no reasonable way for hardware to be responsible for the problems I have. hardware either dies or it doesn't. your CPU can't have a bad week then magically recover, that's not how it works. other people with drastically different hardware have had the same issue, and it's not static. it comes and goes at its own leisure, that is not a hardware issue.

I've began to realize through more thorough testing that the game is beginning to repair itself, so to speak. all official bohemia campaign missions are still completely unplayable as are many community missions that had flawless performance before. however, several showcases have increased in performance without any input from me. in addition, certain specific community missions are also increasing in performance from one day to another. I realized that the performance was changing without significant troubleshooting, so I made a point not to change anything with the game and continue testing each mission every day. a couple have gotten worse, and some have gotten much better. I can now run certain missions at a solid 60 FPS basically maxed out, but in the editor I can't break 45 on medium-high.

[nuxil 2]

hardware either dies or it doesn't.

Thats not entiery true. example if a chip is dammaged by static electricity, it can seems to be working fine for some time. and all of the sudden stop working. it can actually take years before it stops working. but normalt you should notice odd behavoure of your hardware when this happens. same could happen by termal dammage.

i can understand your frustration. i have been frustrated myself many many times on this game.

anyway i dont know if this been suggested before. (im to lazy reading all the posts :p) . but have you tried to remove your profile and create a new one, dont know if it will help but its worth a try.

exit game delete all files in.

C:\Users\YOU\Documents\Arma 3\YOU.Arma3Profile

C:\Users\YOU\Documents\Arma 3\YOU.vars.Arma3Profile

C:\Users\YOU\Documents\Arma 3\Arma3.cfg

or in C:\Users\YOU\Documents\Arma 3 - Other Profiles if thats where your profile is.

start game again and fix your graphical settings to wanted settings.

anyway. have a nice x-mas,

Edited December 24, 2013 by nuxil

[bruhmis 10]

I've tried removing absolutely everything arma-related to the best of my abilities then reinstalling the game and letting it generate completely new config files, profiles etc. I even tried doing it in a new directory to see if that helps.

what would actually cause static electricity damage? getting zapped when you touch a USB port or something like that?

[nuxil 2]

what would actually cause static electricity damage? getting zapped when you touch a USB port or something like that?

usb's are normaly grounded. so chance is like winning in lotto. normaly static electricity dammage is caused by inporper handeling of your hardware.

Ie. puting your hands in and touching components inside your pc when your not grounded to the pc or not used a antistatic mat / link when mounting components.

[ratszo 17]

Static discharge is a problem in very dry and/or very high altitudes.

If you get static shockes touching door-knobs, petting your dog, etc. yeah, it's a problem.

At sea level, high humidity, not so much.

[bruhmis 10]

Static discharge is a problem in very dry and/or very high altitudes.

If you get static shockes touching door-knobs, petting your dog, etc. yeah, it's a problem.

At sea level, high humidity, not so much.

there was a lot of static in the room where my PC is for a while, I actually destroyed my mouse just by touching it because of all the static. anyway, whether that somehow caused damage to my parts or not doesn't matter now. I bought a new motherboard and I'm buying an I7 in the next few days. the game could get pretty slow even before this issue so I'm just going to give in and buy intel.