PC Discussion Thread - All PC related in here.

[echo1 0]

Just to clarify: the monitor doesnt receive any signal (ie. power indicator blinks on/off) or does the image flicker? And it always turns on once windows loads, or do you have to reset a couple of times for it to show anything?

Try checking the monitor with a second PC/Laptop. I dont think that theres anything wrong with it, its sounds like its something with the computer itself.

[-Snafu- 79]

Just to clarify: the monitor doesnt receive any signal (ie. power indicator blinks on/off) or does the image flicker? And it always turns on once windows loads, or do you have to reset a couple of times for it to show anything?

Try checking the monitor with a second PC/Laptop. I dont think that theres anything wrong with it, its sounds like its something with the computer itself.

The image flickers on and off and the power indicator on the monitor but the two are never in sync. The image will flicker on then off and once it goes on again the power indicator will flicker on and off. Whenever I switch on the monitor itself it starts blinking on and off.

I'm not sure whats worng with it. As I stated in my above post the computer store tested it with my computer tower and they said it worked fine. Maybe they just got lucky.

[wex-q 0]

Since I will be doing more then ArmA on my new comp, and decided to wait a few months extra for cash to roll in, this is what I'll be getting:

Asus P5B P965 S-775 GbLAN ATX

Intel Xeon Dual Core 3070 2.66Ghz 4MB cache

Western Digital AV 320GB 8MB S-ATA/300

Asus GeForce 8800GTS 640MB

2GB DDR2 PC6400 800Mhz XMS2 Xtreme w/ heatsing

Zalman 600W-HP Silent PSU

...

Some other stuff.

Any input?

[echo1 0]

I'm not sure whats worng with it. As I stated in my above post the computer store tested it with my computer tower and they said it worked fine. Maybe they just got lucky.

Quite possibly. Bring it to a friends house or work or whatever and test it with another computer. Though if the image keeps flickering it could be a problem with the monitor. Try and test it yourself though, people in computer stores tend to be idiots from my experience

[Guest Ti0n3r]

I'm thinking about getting a new GFX card soon, just for ArmA. So I was wondering if there's anyone around here who has been able to run ArmA in 1024x768 with most of the settings maxed and still get a decent fps.

If so, what's your CPU, RAM and GFX card specs?

[echo1 0]

Intel Xeon Dual Core 3070 2.66Ghz 4MB cache

Why the Xeon?

@TiOn3r:

A good general purpose graphics card is the 8800GTS. However, different people have different experiences, some people are complaining that their top of the line cards have problems with ArmA. My two year old 6800GT seems to run fine at 1280x1024 with decent image quality. Seems theres a bit of luck involved

[wex-q 0]

It has advantages over the 'standard' CPU when running the computer as a server (I'm a PHP/mySQL dev), but also, I figured it would be good with ArmA since Suma had good framerates on good settings with his 2.8Ghz Xeon, whilst many on the forums complain about terrible framerates with the Core 2 Extreme, 8800GTX and several gigs of ram.

I might be wrong though

[Guest Ti0n3r]

That didn't really help ch_123. I want to hear peoples own experiences with running ArmA maxed out.

[echo1 0]

Wex-Q: The Xeon 3000 series and the Core 2 Duo are basically the same thing Wiki article They have all the same vital characteristics ie. Speed, cache, FSB. I doubt you would get any better performance from them compared to a standard C2D.

@TiOn3r: Sorry for misunderstanding. I think there are a few threads along the lines of what youre looking for in the ArmA troubleshooting/general section. Such as this one

[Guest Ti0n3r]

@TiOn3r: Sorry for misunderstanding. I think there are a few threads along the lines of what youre looking for in the ArmA troubleshooting/general section. Such as this one

Oh, useful. Thanks

[wex-q 0]

Wex-Q: The Xeon 3000 series and the Core 2 Duo are basically the same thing Wiki article They have all the same vital characteristics ie. Speed, cache, FSB. I doubt you would get any better performance from them compared to a standard C2D.

K. Well, changed my mind, and going to save a few buckaroos

Thx

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Hi, posting here again I'm thinking about getting a new card, like I said a few posts back. This is the kind of GFX settings I'd like to use;

Terrain detail: Low

Objects detail: Normal

Texture detail: Very high

Shading detail: Low

Post process: Low

AF: Disabled

Shadow detail: Low

AA: Disabled

Blood: High

View distance: 2000

Resolution: 1024x768

So, do you think I would get a smooth and playable FPS with a "GeForce 8600GT 512MB GDDR3, PCI-Express" together with a P4 @3.80Ghz & 1024 mb RAM? I myself have no idea how well it would run compared to my current geforce 6600.

[echo1 0]

I have a friend who runs FEAR at (near?) top settings with a 8600GT at 1024x768. However, at anything over that resolution these cards are meant to suck. Id recommend something a bit more powerful just to be sure.

[Guest Ti0n3r]

Running at anything higher than 1024x768 is not something I plan on so if the card sucks at higher resolutions that's fine with me

[echo1 0]

Ok, then the 8600GT is good to go. Be careful with the 512MB version, some versions use cheaper DDR2 RAM than the GDDR3 RAM found in all the 256MB versions. Its better to have a smaller amount of fast RAM than a large amount of slow RAM. I just checked with my friend - he runs FEAR with all of the settings maxed out at that res with absolutely no stuttering. He uses this model.

[Sc@tterbrain 0]

Well since it was whip-locked and a link was posted here. Yes it is possible to adapt an XBOX headset for use on a pc. The only way I know of is to rewire it with a USB plug.

The person I know who has done this sounds just fine on TS, so it must work well if done right....

[KeyCat 131]

Have a HW upgrade in the pipeline but still uncertain what graphics card performs best in ArmA. Out of the following three cards what would you guys recommend...

a) GeForce 7950GT - 512 MB VRAM

b) GeForce 8600GTS - 512 MB VRAM

c) GeForce 8800GTS - 320 MB VRAM

At the moment I don't care about DX10, my main concern is performance and compability with ArmA. Intend to run @ ~1280x960 4:3 with high/very high textures and shadows on medium/high (OS is XP Pro).

Been hearing some bad things about the 8600GT/GTS series so I wonder if the GeForce 7950GT - 512 MB VRAM still is the best/most recommended card for ArmA or have the latest patch/nVidia drivers changed that?

Appreciate any input and if backed up with experience/facts even more so

/KC

[echo1 0]

C)

The 8600GT/S are pretty bad if you want to play at resolutions higher than 1024x768. The 8800GTS is probably the best value for money card atm.

EDIT: MY advice on graphics cards tend to be quite general and not ArmA specific. The best place to find out whats the best card for ArmA is in the Hardware sections on the ArmA end of the forum, if you play games other than ArmA I'd recommend a 8800GTS regardless.

[KeyCat 131]

Thanks for your input ch_123. I picked a 7950GT 512 MB for my next upgrade since I know there will be no issues in ArmA. Intend to stick to Win XP Pro and DX9 for time being, if any "must have" DX10 only simulators releases next year I may pick up a 2:nd generation DX10 card then.

/KC

[Radnik 18]

Ok...I have dilema now

What of these two hardware will perform better for ArmA:

Intel:

CPU Core 2 Duo E4400 box

Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3

or

AMD:

CPU AMD ATHLON64 X2 5000+ AM2 DUAL CORE BOX

Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4

[wex-q 0]

E4400 - larger cache, the 0,6Ghz slower rate doesn't matter, also the Conroes are very overclockable and also cheaper.

Think it's the most futureproof of those two.

Ok, getting a laptop (cba to get a gamingcomp for ArmA):

Acer TM 7520

Basic specs

AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-58 2 x 512 KB cache - 1.9 GHz

2 GB (2 x 1 GB) DDR II SDRAM - 667MHz - PC2-5300

160 GB 5400 RPM S-ATA

ATi Radeon X2400XT 256 MB dedicated

Up to 896 MB shared

And the usual goods that comes with a laptop

Costs approx 977EUR.

Any input?

[Colossus 2]

I've gotten this error on Medieval II which doesn't seem to fade away. All I get when I try to open the game is "Protection error 103" (Yes, it's a legal copy). I've read on the EA forums that this is a Windows error, not a game error.

Has anyone experienced this error before?

[echo1 0]

Are you using any Disc emulation software such as Alcohol, Daemon Tools or Virtual Clone disk?

[Colossus 2]

No, this just happend randomly as far as I know. Nothing had been changed the day before this accured. I did however update Punkbuster, and have had problems with it ever since. But I don't see how that PB has anything to do with Medieval, or any other program, since it doesn't use Punkbuster.

[echo1 0]

Sounds like a game specific error. Are you using Vista? Some games dont work well with Vista, the original Medieval TW keeps crashing with my installation of it for one...