Hardware and settings for ArmA

[raedor 8]

This thread is for discussions about which hardware will result in which performance with which settings.

Please do not open further threads discussing hardware/performance aspects.

[thaFunkster 0]

Shader Model>>>>

Hi, for those of you who are already playing ArmA, Does running with a Shader model 2 card, like the X800 result in any lower quality visual effects compared to running in shader model 3? If so, any chance someone can post some screen shots for comparison sake?

Thanks.

[neildood 0]

I have settings set from left to right in advanced mode;

1280x1024 @85hz       View Distance 1200

Very High          High

Very High          Off

Normal              Very High

Normal              Low

Low

AMD 3800+ @2900Mhz

7900GS @660/1640

2 gigs of ram

7200rpm IDE

Framerate im getting is 30-60, just got it running and looking good.

One thing i dont understand is why when seeting AA to Very high, why do i get better performance??

Also noticed that from changing shadows from low to high there is no noticable diffrence

[frederf 0]

I have AA turned all the way off (since I think it looks great there) but if AA high is same/better performance then I'll try that next time in the game.

[goodguyswearblack9 0]

I'd like to know what you guys suggest the optimized settings are for my PC until I get a better one. Thanks!

P4

2.54 GHz

1024 MB RAM

ATI Radeon X1300

[psycosmos 0]

Shader Model>>>>

Hi, for those of you who are already playing ArmA, Does running with a Shader model 2 card, like the X800 result in any lower quality visual effects compared to running in shader model 3? If so, any chance someone can post some screen shots for comparison sake?

Thanks.

'

I didn't notice any difference in Visual effects by forcing lower Shaders, alltough I've only used pretty low settings anyway, where it might not stand out that much.

One thing i dont understand is why when seeting AA to Very high, why do i get better performance??

Also noticed that from changing shadows from low to high there is no noticable diffrence

Just a guess: Is the AA still on if you set it to very high? It's possible that it uses too much ram on such settings and the card might turn it off, resulting in a perfomance boost compared to lower settings.

The shadows are different, if you move into the shadow of a tree and watch how it shows up on your body on low settings, there's a sharp border between light and dark and no detail to the shadow further in. If you do the same at high settings, the shadow is much more detailed, showing the holes of the foliage where light can pass through. (did that observation in the demo)

I'd like to know what you guys suggest the optimized settings are for my PC until I get a better one. Thanks!

P4

2.54 GHz

1024 MB RAM

ATI Radeon X1300

I would try and set everything to very low/off except for textures (set to low) and shaders (set to low too). That's because very low textures make for horrible bushes and the shaders improve terrain further away alot, also they add much to the appearance of the game overall, even on low settings (very low meaning they're off, at least it looks like). If that leads to an unplayable experience, pray for your new pc and set everything to very low.

If it's a 128 MB modell of the card, assure you use less than 128 MB of that memory, because using more and therefore using the pc's ram for graphics data too, might cost you some precious fps.

You can also get a bit of a boost by lowering the settings for "Texture Preference" and "MipMap Detail Level" in your drivers options (located somewhere around: right click on desktop>properties>3D). If you're there, assure that V-Sync is turned off too.

If you have a CRT, stand somewhere in the woods and compare the fps of different resolutions, use the lowest resolution you find acceptable (resolution wise, not fps), maybe improve it a bit by setting AA on low or medium, it will soften up the rough picture you get quite a bit and hopefuly cost you less fps than the gain through the lower Resolution (if it doesn't, leave AA off).

Now for myself:

Athlon XP 2800+, 256MB Radeon x1600 pro, 1536 MB Ram and similar out of date parts. Playing with framerates between 15 fps when it really gets bad like in dense woods and up to around 50 fps in actionless dessert Areas (the one that is).

Resolution 1152 * 864, Settings everything very low, except Textures (low due to 256MB card), Shaders (normal), Anisotropic filtering (normal) and AA (normal). I would like to turn on shadows, but the 5-10 fps off are too much when playing the borderline playable anyway :) instead I'll wait a bit for a nice DX10 machine.

[PKC 0]

Athlon XP 2400+

1gb Ram

Nvidia 7600GS 256mb AGP

Normal settings on terrain/objects/textures.

Low post processing though i don't notice a difference in FPS with it on high.

Normal AF filtering, no AA.

15 minimal FPS is heavy areas, generally though it's above 25.

[smellyjelly 0]

How does the performance in the demo compare to the retail version?

[Shashman 0]

Good question, as I'd like to buy it tomorrow

[neildood 0]

Just a guess: Is the AA still on if you set it to very high? It's possible that it uses too much ram on such settings and the card might turn it off, resulting in a perfomance boost compared to lower settings.

Yea AA does switch on, if i go to medium-low i have worse framerates.

If i go to max i get loverly AA and good frames (wierd)

[goodguyswearblack9 0]

Thanks!

[twisted 128]

the simple act of changing AA ingame can double frame rates. hell knows why. try it using fraps. load a map. then go to options and change AA setting up or down. then watch frame rates climb. at least it does this for me on my 8800GTS 320MB.

[Barnaby2007 0]

Gents

in the last few posts there is talk of increasing settings and yet getting better FPS.

Can I have a bit more info on that please.

Also in the last post it says changing AA in game can double your FPS.

What is meant by AA.

Do you mean ArmA itself but changing in game setup???

Thanks

[MS_CombatMedic 0]

Being an old Ghost Recon player, system requirments were never to far out of reach, however, my current system is as old as Ghost Recon - I am shoppping for a new PC in order to play Armed Assault on - As I would like to be able to be mobile, I want a laptop. I came across a great deal from Dell on the following Laptop:

Inspiron 6400

Comes w\ Windows Vista, but I am going to change it XP

Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2060

1GB DDR2 SDRAM

120 GB HD

256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 Hypermemory

DVD burner

$800 USD

My question is, will it run the ARMA?

[neildood 0]

Gents

in the last few posts there is talk of increasing settings and yet getting better FPS.

Can I have a bit more info on that please.

Also in the last post it says changing AA in game can double your FPS.

What is meant by AA.

Do you mean ArmA itself but changing in game setup???

Thanks

AA= Anti Aliasing, you change it in game using advanced video options.

It seems when you put it up on Very High some people (like me) get better frame rates than with it set to low.

[Barnaby2007 0]

Ahh of course Anti Aliasing thanks Neildood

I also thought that lower settings on anything made for better FPS but seems not.

I'll give my settings another tweak then

[Jack-UK 0]

Being an old Ghost Recon player, system requirments were never to far out of reach, however, my current system is as old as Ghost Recon - I am shoppping for a new PC in order to play Armed Assault on - As I would like to be able to be mobile, I want a laptop. I came across a great deal from Dell on the following Laptop:

Inspiron 6400

Comes w\ Windows Vista, but I am going to change it XP

Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T2060

1GB DDR2 SDRAM

120 GB HD

256MB ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 Hypermemory

DVD burner

$800 USD

My question is, will it run the ARMA?

I dont think the GFX card is up to it im afraid...

If you want to play ArmA dell usually allow you to upgrade parts of your laptop. If you can afford it, get a better GFX card, hopefully it will run it.

Obviously desktops are better for performance, you get much more for ur money But they aren't for everyone! Good luck getting a decent laptop

[VitaminS 0]

HI, can you give me the advice? I have those components in my computer - Celeron D 2,8 GHz, RAMM 1,5 GB 400MHz, VGA: HIS Radeon excalibur 9600 256 MB/128 bit AGP 8x, HDD 160 GB SATA I. Is it good for normal playing of Arma ? Thank you. Peter

[jfri 0]

Could some one tell me what are the stated system requirements for Armed assault? I'm unable to find this info?

Then after stating the minimal and/or recommended requirements could you also tell me the real requirements?

Are my system up to it?

Athlon 64 3200+

1 Gb 400 MHz DDR RAM

NVIDIA 6600GT 256M DDR3

Win XP home

Of course I wan't to use the enhanced graphics but I can think of making some comprimises with the settings

[smellyjelly 0]

I have almost the same specs as you jfri, except I have an AMD64 3000+. I can run the demo with most settings on low, but with textures on normal. It still looks good though.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2047/aasettings2cp2.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/494/aasittingbridgegg8.jpg

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/5436/aawatershootingyi3.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/5401/aamountainshootingda6.jpg

The only problem is that the settings are limited in the demo. As far as I know, the view distance slider does nothing. I also had to force AA 4x from the control panel because the in game settings didn't seem to do anything either.

But the fps remains high enough most of the time. Be sure you update you Video Card drivers, and Directx. When I enter large forest then I notice a tiny bit of slowdown. Big cities also used to slowdown my computer, but I haven't checked after updating the software.

[King_snuggleton 0]

I apologize in advance if this is innapropriate to the topic or category of this section of the forum.

I am sorry I am not a whiz enough at computers to determine this myself but I was wondering if you could tell me how my comp would run (if at all) ARMA.

9600 radeon atlantis video card.

1.5 gigs of ram

intel pentium 4

cpu 2.4ghz 2.39ghz

If any more info is required please let me know.

I will be playing this on single player only if that matters.

[chriscooper1982 0]

I have Pentium D 2.8ghz

2GIG DDR2 Ram 400mhz

512 ATI Radeon x1300

and the game on medium is still rubbish, also I find the game completely rubbish its bugged to F>>>K I am very Dissapointed in it.

[FlyFisher 0]

AMD Athlon XP 2800+

1.00 GB of RAM

XFX GeForce 6800 GS/XT (AGP)

I can play with a good performance and quality !!! here my settings:

1024 x 768 x 32  @ 4:3 normal 75 Hz

Visibility: 1200

Terrain: Very High                  Antistr.Filter: High

Objects: Very High                 Shadow: Disabled

Texture: Normal                     AntiAliasing: Very High

Shading: Normal                     Blood: High

PostProcessing: Low

Thanks

[jfri 0]

I have almost the same specs as you jfri, except I have an AMD64 3000+. I can run the demo with most settings on low, but with textures on normal. It still looks good though.

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/2047/aasettings2cp2.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/494/aasittingbridgegg8.jpg

http://img128.imageshack.us/img128/5436/aawatershootingyi3.jpg

http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/5401/aamountainshootingda6.jpg

The only problem is that the settings are limited in the demo. As far as I know, the view distance slider does nothing. I also had to force AA 4x from the control panel because the in game settings didn't seem to do anything either.

But the fps remains high enough most of the time. Be sure you update you Video Card drivers, and Directx. When I enter large forest then I notice a tiny bit of slowdown. Big cities also used to slowdown my computer, but I haven't checked after updating the software.

If I understand you correct you have an identical graphics card as me? I'm sure the video card is the most critical part for performence in a game like this.

According to the pics you set the sliders rather low. But maybe the retail game has better performence than the demo?

[jfri 0]

AMD Athlon XP 2800+

1.00 GB of RAM

XFX GeForce 6800 GS/XT (AGP)

I can play with a good performance and quality !!! here my settings:

1024 x 768 x 32  @ 4:3 normal 75 Hz

Visibility: 1200

Terrain: Very High                  Antistr.Filter: High

Objects: Very High                 Shadow: Disabled

Texture: Normal                     AntiAliasing: Very High

Shading: Normal                     Blood: High

PostProcessing: Low

Thanks

Has your video card DDR3 memory?