Hardware and settings for ArmA

[Mr Sarkey 0]

Well Assassin the 8600 isn't exactly a high end card, you'd be better off with an 8800 series card.

[ubascouser 0]

windows xp

athlon dual core 6000+ windsor 3.1ghz

120gb hdd 7200rpm

ocz gold ddr2 2gig of ram

foxconn 8800gt 320mb oc

jeantech 700 w storm psu

jeantech phong 2 case

samsung syncmaster 931cw 19 inch TFT

Arma settings:

visability 2283

1440x900x32 16:10 wide 75hz

terain high

objects detail high

texture detail high

shading low

postprocess low

antistropic filtering normal

shadows normal

antialiasing normal

blood low

With these settings flying over sharani in a harrier i get between 30 and 75 fps

playing a large battle i get mid 20s and playing normal its a bout 40 to 50 fps

the only thing i hate is the lod bug i get and when the screen turns into a big mess of stars ive read about other people getting this with the 8800gts. I know its not a heat problem as at load it doesnt go past 66c, idle is 51c.Do any of you guys think it would be worth my while upgrading gfx i was looking at the ati 4850 but not sure if much differance also these people who say they can play it with all the settings to high and max view distance id love to see your rigs.

[fitzee 7]

Vista Ultimate 64-bit

core2quad 3.0Ghz

Nvidia 790 ultra motherboard

4 gigs DDR3 ram@1600mhz

Nvidia 9800GX2 (running arma in multi-gpu mode [sli] without problems)

Running Arma at 1680x1050 16:10 aspect ratio with all settings maxxed except medium AA and 3500 viewdistance.

Framerates are pretty much locked in with refresh rate, ultra smooth, except in some northern-sahrani forests(havent tried the low plants fix on this pc yet).

Dunno why so many people report problems with Vista64 and/or sli, works great here.

[The-Tim 0]

i might buy a laptop from the university, it has a c2duo 2.5ghz, 4gb's ram... so that must be acceptable for arma...

but the gfx card inside it is a Nvidia Quadro 160 .... it's comparable to the nvidia geforce 9300 GS....

Will it run arma? and at which settings...

I will still have my Normal pc, e6850 @ 3.6ghz and 8800gtx, but will only be able to use it in weekends.

[PuFu 4600]

That video card will not run arma properly. Maybe on low details. From what i can tell about arma, it really feels good only in powerful video cards presence.

[Infam0us 10]

i might buy a laptop from the university, it has a c2duo 2.5ghz, 4gb's ram... so that must be acceptable for arma...

but the gfx card inside it is a Nvidia Quadro 160 .... it's comparable to the nvidia geforce 9300 GS....

Will it run arma? and at which settings...

I will still have my Normal pc, e6850 @ 3.6ghz and 8800gtx, but will only be able to use it in weekends.

That GFX will be to weak unfortunately. You need to have at least above a *8** above the 7 Series card to run ArmA comfortably.

[jmc 0]

1 gig video ram = NO pauses,NO stutters,NO texture flashing

Yea!!!

Played with my Ati 4850-512 meg video ram and very high textures,shaders etc. and had bad pauses with harddrive

accesses when I viewed a new area or (turned around!.

My 1 GIG 4870 finally came in and it did what I had hoped for

*smooth*.

I'm not saying this will fix a loaded busy map.

I tested on an empty test map and started in the middle

of a town.

512 meg video ram... stutter,flash,pause on rotating

1 gig video ram NO stutter,flash,pause on rotating!

The 4870 is only a little faster then a 4850.

Not enough to make this kind of difference!

I am also now on a quad core, was on a dual core.

But both are 2.6 Ghz and ArmA only uses one core

anyway

So if your getting a new video card go for the Gig of memory.

jmc

[jmc 0]

Anyone tried the 1 and 2 gig Ati 4850 cards?

As in smoothing out texture pause/stutter etc.

Sure would be a fair bit cheaper then my 1 gig 4870.

thanks,

jmc

[gL33k 0]

1 gig video ram = NO pauses,NO stutters,NO texture flashing

Yea!!!

Played with my Ati 4850-512 meg video ram and very high textures,shaders etc. and had bad pauses with harddrive

accesses when I viewed a new area or (turned around!.

My 1 GIG 4870 finally came in and it did what I had hoped for

*smooth*.

I'm not saying this will fix a loaded busy map.

I tested on an empty test map and started in the middle

of a town.

512 meg video ram... stutter,flash,pause on rotating

1 gig video ram NO stutter,flash,pause on rotating!

The 4870 is only a little faster then a 4850.

Not enough to make this kind of difference!

I am also now on a quad core, was on a dual core.

But both are 2.6 Ghz and ArmA only uses one core

anyway

So if your getting a new video card go for the Gig of memory.

jmc

damn i tough it could improved a lot, but you confirm that. i need one

[hamis 0]

Well,i just changed from 4870 512mb to gtx280 1gb and stuttering is finally gone.So 1gb of vid memory is THE solution for stuttering.

[gL33k 0]

or texture on low  

edit: i just bought one ATI 4870 1GB uber cooler edition. (slient's one). i'm wondering how it will run .

[gL33k 0]

1 gig video ram = NO pauses,NO stutters,NO texture flashing

Yea!!!

Played with my Ati 4850-512 meg video ram and very high textures,shaders etc. and had bad pauses with harddrive

accesses when I viewed a new area or (turned around!.

My 1 GIG 4870 finally came in and it did what I had hoped for

*smooth*.

I'm not saying this will fix a loaded busy map.

I tested on an empty test map and started in the middle

of a town.

512 meg video ram... stutter,flash,pause on rotating

1 gig video ram NO stutter,flash,pause on rotating!

The 4870 is only a little faster then a 4850.

Not enough to make this kind of difference!

I am also now on a quad core, was on a dual core.

But both are 2.6 Ghz and ArmA only uses one core

anyway

So if your getting a new video card go for the Gig of memory.

jmc

wich catalyst drivers are you using

i just plug my powercolor 4870 1GB , and arma bug. "failed to create surface texture".

Is your windows vista x64? and have you got 4GB of ram enabled ?

[jmc 0]

Using 8.9 drivers. XPpro, 4 gig ram.

Oh yes, the 8.10 drivers just came out!

now I have to find a broadband connection.

I've seen the "failed to create..." problem but don't remember

the solution, had it myself once. A search should help.

Don't know about Vista tho. GOOD LUCK!

quote...

(wich catalyst drivers are you using

i just plug my powercolor 4870 1GB , and arma bug. "failed to create surface texture".

Is your windows vista x64? and have you got 4GB of ram enabled ?)

[umbr44 0]

Can anyone give me an estimate of what I could get out of the game with this system?

System 1 should be better, I know, but system 1 is 100 pounds cheaper, so it would be interesting to see how both sytems would handle this game...

System 1

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU Overclocked To 3.6Ghz Per Core

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 Motherboard

768MB XFX nVidia 8800GTX XXX Overclocked PCI Express Graphics Card

4 GB (4096) Corsair 1066Mhz DDR2 Ram

2 x 500GB SATA 2 7200rpm Hard Drive

22x Dual Layer SATA DVD +/- Rewriter

Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card

Corsair 750W Dual 12V SLI Ready PSU

System 2

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 CPU Overclocked To 3.6Ghz Per Core

512MB nVidia GeForce 8800GTS PCI Express Graphics Card Complimentary Upgrade To 512MB nVidia 9800GTX+ PCI Express Graphics Card

Gigabyte GA-EP35-DS3 Motherboard

Scythe Katana 2 CPU Heatsink & Fan

4 x 1GB Corsair 800Mhz PC6400 DDR2 Ram

500GB SATA 2 7200rpm Hard Drive With Silencer

22x Dual Layer DVD +/- Rewriter

Creative Labs X-Fi Xtreme Audio 7.1 Sound Card

Multi Format Card Reader

460Watt Dual 12V Rail PSU

[hamis 0]

I suggest system 1,but change nvidia card to Ati 4870 1 GB card.Under 1GB cards cause terrible stuttering,especially when zooming (scopes,binoculars).

[umbr44 0]

Is the ATI 4870 with 1gb better than the graphics card in system 1, or is it just the size difference?

[hamis 0]

I think Ati is somewhat faster.

[umbr44 0]

Ahhh, thankyou.

[hamis 0]

And nvidia has serious problems with drivers.I have gtx280 and asus mb and i can't play stalker cs or crysis.

[Hud Dorph 22]

I have a GTX280 and an Asus mb and have no problems with cs or crysis with any drivers...

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Hey, was hoping someone could give me a bit of direction since I'm not a PC guru.

I noticed things surfacing that are driving me to the point of deciding to purchase and build a new PC. While its not released yet and thus difficult to pin down exactly what it'll really require--I was hoping to have something that could handle both ArmA 1 & 2 preferably set to high. Right now here's what I run:

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

Processor: Intel® Core2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz

Memory: OCZ XTC 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz (2x1024MB)

Video Card: HIS Radeon X1650 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB

Sound Card: SB X-Fi Audio [1100]

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3

Motherboard: Intel DG965RYCK Socket 775 Motherboard

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

I want to try not going into the $3,000 USD range, but stay at around $2,000 USD if possible. Case, cooling and sound I can pretty much handle on my own, it's just the rest that tends to do my head in. I want to be able to play both high (I'm done playing at all low/normal settings and still lag). Is Vista necessary too? I'd like to avoid it if possible for the usual reasons. I'm looking for a really good gaming rig (I've given up on the look pretty cases and crap, especially since it'll be under a desk) and something that'll handle Photoshop really well too.

I appreciate any and all help/suggestions anyone could offer me at this time. Again, as far as ArmA 2 requirements I realize it can only really be speculation until its release and the community has had enough time to really see what it realistically needs to run great, but I'll accept suggestions either way. As long as it'll run ArmA high and handle ArmA 2 I'll be a happy man.

[kklownboy 43]

Just buy any new Nehelem( X58 express chipset) setup in December. ~$2000

OR buy a "P45" Intel chipset with a Dual Core 3ghz higher E8400, E8500, E8600.~ $1000

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Thanks for the input, I'll keep my eye out on prices.

[rowdied 44]

Hey, was hoping someone could give me a bit of direction since I'm not a PC guru.

I noticed things surfacing that are driving me to the point of deciding to purchase and build a new PC. While its not released yet and thus difficult to pin down exactly what it'll really require--I was hoping to have something that could handle both ArmA 1 & 2 preferably set to high. Right now here's what I run:

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

Processor: Intel® Core™2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86GHz

Memory: OCZ XTC 2048MB PC5400 DDR2 667MHz (2x1024MB)

Video Card: HIS Radeon X1650 Pro IceQ Turbo 512MB

Sound Card: SB X-Fi Audio [1100]

Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 3

Motherboard: Intel DG965RYCK Socket 775 Motherboard

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

I want to try not going into the $3,000 USD range, but stay at around $2,000 USD if possible. Case, cooling and sound I can pretty much handle on my own, it's just the rest that tends to do my head in. I want to be able to play both high (I'm done playing at all low/normal settings and still lag). Is Vista necessary too? I'd like to avoid it if possible for the usual reasons. I'm looking for a really good gaming rig (I've given up on the look pretty cases and crap, especially since it'll be under a desk) and something that'll handle Photoshop really well too.

I appreciate any and all help/suggestions anyone could offer me at this time. Again, as far as ArmA 2 requirements I realize it can only really be speculation until its release and the community has had enough time to really see what it realistically needs to run great, but I'll accept suggestions either way. As long as it'll run ArmA high and handle ArmA 2 I'll be a happy man.

What you have now is decent just upgrade your processor and video card to say a e8500 and a gtx 260 896mb and Arma should run fairly smooth.

Or, check http://www.newegg.com/ for pricing and build your own system for less than a $1000.

I built a friend of mine a sytem with E8400, 2g ram 8500, asus p5k se mb, 8800gt 1g ram vd, seagate 250g 7200rpm hd, 650w antec ps, and antec 300 case for less than $900 cdn a few months back. The same system I use to play arma and it runs smooth with most settings on high and a 3500 view distance.

Or wait like kklownboy says and get the Nehelem( X58 express chipset) setup in December.

Or just upgrade the processor and video card (like above)and you'll notice a HUGE increase in frame rates and wait until Arma2 comes out and do a major upgrade then.

[PTV-Jobo 820]

Ah brilliant feedback, much appreciated. I'll probably do like you said while keep an eye on prices/sales, and get a new card and better processor in the meantime. I try reading reviews on motherboards and stuff and I get a headache trying to figure out just what to buy--lol.

Thanks for the great advice guys, helped a lot.