Will my PC Run this? What CPU/GPU to get? What settings? System Specifications.

[Shadow NX 1]

Nvidia runs this game better (especially when it comes to multi GPU) so why you would make a comment like 'if it must be Nvidia' is totally beyond me. AMD's drivers are plain awful and it's a shame because the hardware is really very good.

Scandalous isnt it. :p

All i said is if you want a Nvidia instead of a AMD / ATI then get the GTX570 which is a direct answer to the what card is enought to max out ArmA2 discussion.

Not more not less.

If Nvidia would have had a GTX560 with 2 GB Vram right at the launch i would have one of these instead of the HD6950 now.

Edited February 7, 2011 by Shadow NX

[bangtail 0]

Not really, especially since 2 and 3GB 5xx series are available.

Unless you are using multi monitor with high levels of AA and a res above 1080, 2GB plus is redundant.

Edited February 7, 2011 by BangTail

[Sleep 10]

Hello, people!

I'm really interested about getting into the Armed Assault 2 game, and moreover having no question about what CPU/GPU to buy (for me it's definitely should be 2500K/2600K with GTX 580).

But as I've been far from all these hardware stuff for a long time I have no any final idea of what is better to have as storing drive for the game (and OS also) since I've read about the SSD and RAM disks (Is it just a virtual DVD for game?). I don't even know does the game need constant DVD support or it is being installed completely on harddrive. So tell me please what the SSD disks are and how do they work with ArmA and OS. Is RAM disk better for ArmA? I guess decent IDE drive is somehow worse for the purpose? So finally what should I get for ArmA and OS?

And another question is about sound cards. Thinking of buying X-Fi Titanium. And I see those Fatal1ty and HD versions of it also. I don't need any extra.. ports, panels, remote... anything, just want a fast hi-end card. I guess they all based on the same chipset and differ just in design and extra panels. Maybe I'm wrong since Titanium HD has about the double price of simple Titanium. Oh and maybe you could advise some other gaming sound card?

I have a 2600k with the 580 1.5 gig, 8 gig of ram and run the game on ultra high all except pp is turned off (too blurry / bright). Im not using the ssd yet but so far I have close to 0 LOD issues unless i alt-tab for loooong periods of time.

You might want to wait on buying the 2600k tho bc of the recent recall. It is a bit of a thorn in my butt right now just thinking about it, alltho nothing has started going wrong yet. Its just the thought of it really.

cant say much on the soundcard

[lao fei mao 21]

@Sleep,

Have you ever tried set the viewdistance at 10KM,then make a 180 degree turn on the map ground?

[Impulse 10]

By the way I'm against any unnatural conditions like 10km range or other not really needed settings on max out. It could create another bottle neck which dosn't appear in normal conditions. And isn't it a possible situation when some H/W wouldn't have problem on all max out and another H/W having, meanwhile this dosn't mean the first H/W is better in normal conditions.

Closer to thread, optimal RAM speed (1333, 1600, 1800) is unclear for me. The rest found out answers.

[Sleep 10]

@Sleep,

Have you ever tried set the viewdistance at 10KM,then make a 180 degree turn on the map ground?

yep its laggy

[lao fei mao 21]

As far as my experience, A fast CPU is far more important than other stuff for playing AA2, I7 2600K has no prominent improve than i7 950, So I won't update my gear until the 2011 pin Sandy Bridge come out.

[Kenwort 0]

@Sleep,

Have you ever tried set the viewdistance at 10KM,then make a 180 degree turn on the map ground?

No lag on Takistan.. only on Chernarus.

xdws__a_Q_0

[-)rStrangelove 0]

No lag on Takistan.. only on Chernarus.

Nice video but doesnt count. You'll create the most stress on the game when you're on the ground, in a big city.

When flying the highest detailed LOD levels are not shown.

[Shadow NX 1]

Not really, especially since 2 and 3GB 5xx series are available.

Unless you are using multi monitor with high levels of AA and a res above 1080, 2GB plus is redundant.

Well the GTX560 so far arent availeable as 2GB variant, listed in a few Shops but not availeable yet.

About the 2GB itself being too much, well pretty much the same i was told when getting my HD4870 with 512MB instead of 1GB and today i really regret that as the card otherwise is pretty fine still but when the Vram runs over it gets nasty.

Point is to be secure for 2-3 years and be able to use high resolutions and often things like hi res texture mods and the like.

Btw, seems i switch to Nvidia anyway, after playing for a while the HD6950 definatly is too loud for me even with edited fan profiles , also it tends to make some whistle noises now and then so it goes back and will be replaced with the 560.

[Kenwort 0]

)rStrangelove;1852104']Nice video but doesnt count. You'll create the most stress on the game when you're on the ground' date=' in a big city.

When flying the highest detailed LOD levels are not shown.[/quote']

It's around 14 - 24 fps. Keeps jumping from low to high fps in big towns with 10k VD. Takistan & Chernarus.

Anyway.. why would anyone want 10k viewdistance on the ground :D I understand the 10k in air but on ground... that's just silly :)

[flattermann 12]

Btw, seems i switch to Nvidia anyway, after playing for a while the HD6950 definatly is too loud for me even with edited fan profiles , also it tends to make some whistle noises now and then so it goes back and will be replaced with the 560.

You got a twin-cooler edition of your HD6950? Otherwise I'd doubt that a 560 is noticeably quieter or softener

[cjph 0]

Just for info on the 6950 I switched from a 4890 to a 6950 last week (reference design, single fan XFX brand) and have not noticed any difference, though under load in the game it does seem quieter. (I think the system/CPU fans make most of the noise). Definitely cooler though, with a max of 76'C compared to a max of 82'C on the 4890.

Nice to be able to crank up the settings to all high, and several very high, with a slight increase in frames (I thought my CPU was a bottleneck so am not sure whether it is in my mind). All in all, am very happy with the 6950, which is not unlocked or using a 6970 bios (yet). Went for the card due to having three screens via a Matrox triplehead2go adapter, so next step Eyefinity.

[flattermann 12]

Went for the card due to having three screens via a Matrox triplehead2go adapter, so next step Eyefinity.

In case you don't know, a display-port monitor for eyefinity is not required, a vga-to-displayport adapter for a few quids is enough. This guy posted a vid on youtube:

[cjph 0]

Thanks for the info - I have seen various reports as well, and there are active mini DP to DVI adapters out there for £16, which is a few quid more than the typical DP to VGA adapters (prices seem to have dropped since last year). So I may simply go with DVI across the board.

[Shadow NX 1]

You got a twin-cooler edition of your HD6950? Otherwise I'd doubt that a 560 is noticeably quieter or softener

CGAX-69548F

Overall it seems rushed to me, like quickly made and thrown on the Market, looks like normally there should be some stickers on some parts but i dont care for the looks.

Also to me it seems the default fan profile isnt very well tested but even edited ones ( MSI Afterburner ) dont help that much when it comes under heavy load.

Hope was that it runs more silent and is cooler.

Yes it cools good but only in idle, on heavy load it spools up and is very noticeable being lot louder than system fans combined with a tendency to go up and down and the worst is it tends to make some shriek sound now and then and i have no idea why, doesnt happen when the FPS go too high like in the menue but in the middle of normal playing.

Tried soem Bad Company 2 and it looks gorgous but what does it help if the card gives you some loud shriek sounds every few mins.

Probably just one of the first batch that is broken, will send it back anyway.

Replacement will be a HD6950 in reference design if that is close to my old HD4870 which was barely heareable but i need to wait till a frieds PC arrive so i can try ArmA2 on it and listen how the card sounds.

Second option is one of the OCed GTX560, by default the cooler seems to be one of the best default designs on the market for years.

Yet to be future safe it will be a 2GB card and also it must be very silent so the Gainward Phantom will likely be the choice.

Edited February 10, 2011 by Shadow NX

[Leon86 13]

CGAX-69548F

Overall it seems rushed to me, like quickly made and thrown on the Market, looks like normalle there should be some stickers on some parts but i dont care for the looks.

Also to me it seems the default fan profile isnt very well tested but even edited ones ( MSI Afterburner ) dont help that much when it comes under heavy load.

Hope was that it runs more silent and is cooler.

Yes it cools good but only in idle, on heavy load it spools up and is very noticeable being lot louder than system fans combined with a tendency to go up and down and the worst is it tends to make some shriek sound now and then and i have no idea why, doesnt happen when the FPS go too high like in the menue but in the middle of normal playing.

Tried soem Bad Company 2 and it looks gorgous but what does it help if the card gives you some loud shriek sounds every few mins.

Probably just one of the first batch that is broken, will send it back anyway.

Replacement will be a HD6950 in reference design if that is close to my old HD4870 which was barely heareable but i need to wait till a frieds PC arrive so i can try ArmA2 on it and listen how the card sounds.

Second option is one of the OCed GTX560, by default the cooler seems to be one of the best default designs on the market for years.

Yet to be future safe it will be a 2GB card and also it must be very silent so the Gainward Phantom will likely be the choice.

with the shriek sound do you mean coil-whine?

[Hiikeri 10]

Some results from my tests in last week, it shows what CPU means this game:

Sandy Bridge RLZ!

Straight from Steam install, no game tweaks. Only Nvidia Control Panel optimized for Arma2.exe.

More testing results is coming..

---------- Post added at 10:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:51 PM ----------

Edited February 9, 2011 by Hiikeri

[Hiikeri 10]

Arma2:OA > Very High + 1920x1080.

It seems that OA is a little bit more GPU game than original Arma2, but just a little.

CPU is still the most precious thing. Must buy some day another 560Ti to the SLI, maybe then 100fps those settings! :coop:

It's fun to play Very High Settings that resolution.

Hail to the Sandy!

Intel i7 "Sandy Bridge" 2600k @5.0Ghz HT, nVidia GTX 560Ti @950/2500, 8Gb G.Skill DDR 1600Mhz, Intel SSD, W7U-64 SP1 RTM

Edited February 9, 2011 by Hiikeri

[Sevenz 10]

Thanks for those benchs result.

Could you say me please the exact settings including viewdistance you used for bm08 ?

Edited February 9, 2011 by Sevenz

[Hiikeri 10]

Thanks for those benchs result.

Could you say me please the exact settings including viewdistance you used for bm08 ?

Those are DEFAULT settings, so Very High defaults viewing distance are 3600.

[Sevenz 10]

Those are DEFAULT settings, so Very High defaults viewing distance are 3600.

Thanks i found out later,i was asking because i have similar specs and i was getting lower results.

I have closer results now.

I also noticed that the gain between 2600k stock and overclocked is not that great at least in the benchs.

I need to test more in game with lot of ai's to be sure of that.

[Shadow NX 1]

with the shriek sound do you mean coil-whine?

Not sure but i think no, so far when i read about it it was said that it happens when frames go too high suddently like when you switch to a 2D menue.

For me it happens under strong load but not always in the same places, in A2 it is very random, for example today i didnt even hear it once while in Bad Company 2 i had it several times in the first ( mainly in the sub base ) and second level ( right on the start already when the Vodnik attacks ).

Im unsure but could be the fans as it sounds mechanical.

[Leon86 13]

It's probably a part of the dc-dc circuitry on the gpu, play with vsync on if it bothers you. It's nothing to worry about but it can be annoying. My former card had the worst coilwhine if I used the gpu folding@home thingy. My current card also whines in the stalker menu.

A lot of games have a built-in framelimiter so you can play with vsync off and avoid useless 300 fps in a menu.

[Shadow NX 1]

Happens with V-Sync on or off.