Hardware and settings for ArmA

[Prydain 1]

Thank you for that mate.

Whould you recommend somewhere to buy it from and I have no cule on computer assembaly. Could I get a 'safe' copy of Windows from, say PC world, should I get XP or Vista?

I would still prefer pre-built as I am useless when it comes to computer assembaly.

[Guest RKSL-Rock]

Thank you for that mate.

Whould you recommend somewhere to buy it from and I have no cule on computer assembaly. Could I get a 'safe' copy of Windows from, say PC world, should I get XP or Vista?

I would still prefer pre-built as I am useless when it comes to computer assembaly.

Those prices are from www.eBuyer.co.uk

Dont get Vista, you'll regret it.  Right now there are a lot of issues with it as a gaming platform, just look in these forums for people that have problems running arma on vista.

PC world or any other decent retailer should be able to supply you a copy.   www.eBuyer.co.uk

will sell you an OEM XP Home version for about 50 QUID(ish).

If you want a pre built system just make sure its got a decent CPU and Graphics card in it.  Also, you’ll want the capability to upgrade the memory.  ArmA will run on 1gb of RAM but 2gb is far smoother.

[Prydain 1]

I know this is alot to ask for but if I buy the seperate items that you have suggested, would you help me build the computer?

What I am looking for is safety, If I turn on the power and the thing frys, I will explode!

Is there any pre-built systems you would recomend?

[Comradesniper 0]

There are some places on the interwebs that let you specify custom parts for the computer.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

These guys do this, as a place to start looking at least.

[tool831 0]

I haven't received my game yet, im ment to get it mailed in a package with another game but haven't got it... So simple question can i run Armed assault pretty well? at least graphics on high or even more?

---------------------------

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)

CPU: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.00GHz

CPU Speed: 3.00 GHz Performance Rated at 5.40 GHz

RAM: 1021.8 MB

HDD: 149GB

Graphic card: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS

DirectX Version: DirectX9

Sound card:Realtek High Definition Audio

---------------------------

I was trying to find the system requirements on other sites couldn't find them.

[maddogx 13]

I haven't received my game yet, im ment to get it mailed in a package with another game but haven't got it... So simple question can i run Armed assault pretty well? at least graphics on high or even more?

---------------------------

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)

CPU: Intel® Pentium® D CPU 3.00GHz

CPU Speed: 3.00 GHz Performance Rated at 5.40 GHz

RAM: 1021.8 MB

HDD: 149GB

Graphic card: NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS

DirectX Version: DirectX9

Sound card:Realtek High Definition Audio

---------------------------

I was trying to find the system requirements on other sites couldn't find them.

Looks like you should be able to run ArmA pretty well, but not with graphics set on high. I think you'll need to set most things to around low to medium. Depending on your framerate, you might need to set post processing to very low and antialiasing to off. I'm not sure about your ideal view distance settings, but I think you'll be fine if you stick below 1.5km. Also, try walking through a large forest. If your framerate drops too badly, you might need to set shading details to very low. Otherwise keep it on low.

That should keep your framerate enjoyable. And don't worry - ArmA still looks great on medium.

[Prydain 1]

Hey Gents, almost ready order the parts, just need a card, what is better out of these two?

512MB GEFORCE 8600GT PCI-E

512MB RADEON X1950 PRO PCI-E

Thanks for the help too.

[maddogx 13]

Hey Gents, almost ready order the parts, just need a card, what is better out of these two?

512MB GEFORCE 8600GT PCI-E

512MB RADEON X1950 PRO PCI-E

Thanks for the help too.

I'm normally an NVidia fan, but in this case go for the ATI card. The 8600GT sucks. Badly.

[Prydain 1]

Hey Gents, almost ready order the parts, just need a card, what is better out of these two?

512MB GEFORCE 8600GT PCI-E

512MB RADEON X1950 PRO PCI-E

Thanks for the help too.

I'm normally an NVidia fan, but in this case go for the ATI card. The 8600GT sucks. Badly.

I thought they were both similar? I actually thought that the 8600GT would be better.

Any major differences?

[tool831 0]

Looks like you should be able to run ArmA pretty well, but not with graphics set on high. I think you'll need to set most things to around low to medium. Depending on your framerate, you might need to set post processing to very low and antialiasing to off. I'm not sure about your ideal view distance settings, but I think you'll be fine if you stick below 1.5km. Also, try walking through a large forest. If your framerate drops too badly, you might need to set shading details to very low. Otherwise keep it on low.

That should keep your framerate enjoyable. And don't worry - ArmA still looks great on medium.

Thank you for that. Ill hold you to it that it still looks great on medium.

[hit-man 0]

for the few ATI-users to compare:

As a quick benchmark, i choose the "main-menu-movie" which uses the game-engine (correct me when i'm wrong) and ran the FRAPS-fps-benchmark always two times for 2 minutes each:

max fps: 79

avg  fps: 61,258

Then i did a lot of testing and the only improvement came with

-turn off all background processes (e.g. Antivir etc.)

-turn off Catalyst-Control-Center

-"Catalyst AI" on "advanced" = full

>   max fps: 89

>   avg  fps: 72,917

____

main-settings:

Cat 7.5

1024x768 @ 85Hz

Current VPU                   648,00

Current MEM                   702,00

ARMA:

Qual.Pref. normal

View 981

terrain normal

object d. normal

texture d. normal

shading low

postproc low

Anisitr. f. low

Shadows low

AA low

blood disabled

! Using the ati-tray-tool, i was confirmed that my 256 Megs are used a 100% and i'm sure with some more, the performance could slightly better. So if anyone looks for a new videocard, it's strongly recommended to buy one with 512MB or more v-ram!

[maddogx 13]

Hey Gents, almost ready order the parts, just need a card, what is better out of these two?

512MB GEFORCE 8600GT PCI-E

512MB RADEON X1950 PRO PCI-E

Thanks for the help too.

I'm normally an NVidia fan, but in this case go for the ATI card. The 8600GT sucks. Badly.

I thought they were both similar? I actually thought that the 8600GT would be better.

Any major differences?

I can't really say much about the exact differences, but basically the 8600GT is more like a cheap entry to DX10 than anything else. It is a pretty weak card, and is even outperformed in some games by the 7600GT.

Whenever a new line of video cards hit the shelves and are already dirt cheap you should be suspicious of them.

[Prydain 1]

I have my dad getting the graphics card and he asked me wether I wanted a X1950XT or a X1950, assuming they are different, what should I get?

I don't have AGP, only PCI-E and PCI (I assume thats the reason they are named differently).

And what of the GEFORCE 7 series, are they better than their ATI competition?

[hit-man 0]

I guess the "X1950" is the "X1950PRO". Then you should choose the "X1950XT" with more Shaders.

Better buy a PC-magazine with a Videocard-ranking...

[memnoch 0]

On the topic of microphones.

Can anyone recommend a good Bluetooth microphone for used with ArmA/VBS2? I have seen a good one on the Logitech site but it only appears to be available in the US at the moment. If you go to the UK site it isn't there. Amazon UK states a lead time of 4 to 6 weeks!

Logitech US

I wanted something like this rather than a bulky headset. Are there any others that might fit the bill of a similar construction/quality?

[nubbin77 0]

My brother's video card died.

I currently have an 8800GTX.   I am going to buy him a replacement card, either a 8800GTS or HD2900XT.  

Keep in mind the following - Arma is virtually the only game we play.  I know the benchmarks show the nvidia cards better then ATI's right now, however, no reviewer ever dares to benchmark Arma.  There are instances where the 2900 is actually better then the GTS.

Is there anyone that has experience with both of these cards in Arma?  Here's the way I see it and please let me know if I am mistaken about any of these assumptions:

Pros for 2900

* visual quality - no haze in the distance

* stupid crash bug I have with the 8800GTX (I recently found the perfect combination of settings where this seems to be eliminated...but everytime I think its gone, It seems to pop up.  Right now I'm on 1.5 full days of not crashing).

* new driver seems better?

*  is the color better?  I used to use Digital Vibrance with my Nvida cards.  They disabled that now and I feel that my colors are washed out.  Are they better (or controllable) on the 2900?

Pros for 8800GTS

*  Cheaper

*  Better performance in most games

I considering buying the 2900 and giving my brother the 8800GTX - I know that sounds crazy, but Arma is really the only game I play, and if the perfomance difference is neglible - I'd rather have the improved image quality.  Am I insane?  Am I overlooking anything obvious?

EDIT: If nothing else, could someone with a 2900 provide their experiences with it?

[wamingo 1]

Sorry to cut in, but I'm wondering, has anyone attempted to find the difference in performance between Dual Channel and Single Channel memory in ArmA?

Most games benefit little or none as far as I can tell from benchmarks, but arma is not like most games so it made me wonder. Dual Channel essentially improves the memory bandwidth and if arma is memory intensive this might prove to be something significant?

[Mr Sarkey 0]

It'd be interesting if anybody actually used Single Channel Mem nowadays . As Dual seems far more efficient ..

[ArmaVidz 0]

It'd be interesting if anybody actually used Single Channel Mem nowadays   . As Dual seems far more efficient ..

Anyone only using one stick of RAM is running single channel

Dual channel is a %5-%7 gain in performance. RL difference is minimal with the new CPU's these days. Athlon2500+ days the DC DDR seemed to make a big difference.

[Prydain 1]

Which is better out of these processors.

AMD Athlon64 5600 Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor

or

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz LGA775 Processor

[evilfury 0]

Core 2 duo.

[Money 0]

Maybe this is the best place to ask. I plan on upgrading my CPU from an AMD 3700+ to a AMD x2 6000+

Can anyone tell me from experience if there would be much performance gain in ArmA?

It's my understanding that some games are allot more CPU intensive than others.

[ArmaVidz 0]

Maybe this is the best place to ask. I plan on upgrading my CPU from an AMD 3700+ to a AMD x2 6000+

Can anyone tell me from experience if there would be much performance gain in ArmA?

It's my understanding that some games are allot more CPU intensive than others.

Anyone thinking of buying a new CPU that is either Athlon 5600+/6000+...buy an Intel Core2Duo.

I love AMD but this Intel Core2Duo e6600 makes a huge difference compared to the 6000+. <span style='color:red'>Keep in mind I've overclocked my core2Duo to 3.02Ghz, 400Mhz more than stock.</span>

However, AMD has just slashed the prices on the Athlons so you might be able to get a 6000+ for sub $100CDN, which means you are saving $159 +/- which means you can put that money into a better video card - which also helps heaps.

[wamingo 1]

If I'm not mistaken the AMD 6000+ sucks a lot more watt's than the core2duo 6600 and the c2d is superior in all benchmarks I've seen. So it may be a bit cheaper now but the price difference will be narrowing in by every minute you have it on.

Intel's expected to lower prices too at end of july. So maybe wait 2 weeks and see. After that I'm not sure we'll see more significant price cuts until several months from now. I could be wrong though.

I've also been an AMD fan for 5 cpu's in a row but the c2d's seem like a rather better deal at this time.

[Money 0]

Thanks for the input guys.

Yes the E6600 beats 6000+ in dedicated CPU tests

but in 3D tests the 6000+ beats the E6600 in around half of them.

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/charts....7%2C565

I have been looking at the Intel mobos and I cant find any that have four slot support for DDR2 without costing a bomb.