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

[Leon86 13]

See link for my settings.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/mukremin/settings.jpg

Well i would like to overclock my CPU, but i dont know how. Could you provide me assistance? And i am worried about the heat, i bought this fan, will it be enough?

http://www.mycom.nl/Product/Koeling-Processor-Koeler/Zalman-CNPS7000CCU/213647

I am not sure if it fits into my case, i will have to try that. Its still in package.

You can probably find tutorials and information on voltages and temps here

[sw1 10]

See link for my settings.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/mukremin/settings.jpg

Well i would like to overclock my CPU, but i dont know how. Could you provide me assistance? And i am worried about the heat, i bought this fan, will it be enough?

http://www.mycom.nl/Product/Koeling-Processor-Koeler/Zalman-CNPS7000CCU/213647

I think that's quite a weak cooler, yet none the less it's better than stock so you should OC to 3.6 ghz or more without any trouble.

[t1bbo 10]

Hi Arma Community!

I am mega excited as my PC is being built as we speak.

Can I ask the never ending, age old question about whether you think i will get a good FPS/good experience with my rig, and what settings I can expect to be able to play up to?

Really looking forward to getting into Arma - i used to play Operation Flashpoint on the old Xbox (!) and I loved it. Bought the Xbox 360 just because I heard operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising was being made - what a let down - I got to 7th in the world on that, but the replayability was minimal, so here I am, moving stuff around in my gaming room ready for my rig to arrive in a couple of weeks!

I am new to everything, as it says in my sig. So any help about voice chat options, how to instal patches, what servers are the best, etc. etc. would be MUCH appreciated.

I hope to become an active member of the community and i look forward to playing with as many of you as possible!

Cheers

T1BBO

[Nicholas 5]

Welcome T1BBO! As you found out, the new Operation Flashpoint games are nothing like the original, that is because they are not made by the same people who made Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis (PC) and Operation Flashpoint: Elite (Xbox).

But luckily, you've found the ArmA series. Bohemia Interactive are actually the people who made the original Operation Flashpoint you speak of. Because of ownership rights to the name "Operation Flashpoint" (Codemasters owns the name "Operation Flashpoint") Bohemia Interactive was unable to continue the series with the same name. But ArmA is pretty much exactly like the old OFP, but improved so much. It even uses the same game engine that the first OFP used, it has progressed so much now (Real Virtuality). I suggest you read this article written by the CEO of Bohemia Interactive.

That was just a little history lesson for you. :P

And it looks like your PC setup will be pretty good. Welcome and have fun!

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

I'll PM you a set of English manuals for ArmA II and ArmA II: Operation Arrowhead. I'll also PM you a keyboard layout with all the default controls for each game.

Edited July 7, 2011 by Nicholas

[pendragonuk 0]

See link for my settings.

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/mukremin/settings.jpg

Well i would like to overclock my CPU, but i dont know how. Could you provide me assistance? And i am worried about the heat, i bought this fan, will it be enough?

http://www.mycom.nl/Product/Koeling-Processor-Koeler/Zalman-CNPS7000CCU/213647

I am not sure if it fits into my case, i will have to try that. Its still in package.

As has been said, that CPU cooler is weak, built to be silent not for good cooling. Currently the best CPU air cooler on the market is the Noctua NH-D14. I fitted one yesterday to my PC, you can see the pictures here It runs cool and quiet at a stable 25% overclock, giving me 10-15fps in the benchmarks.

[Nicholas 5]

I put this heatsink/fan on my PC a while ago. I put it on my Phenom II X6 1100T on Tuesday and I have yet to see my CPU go above 35°C.

Even after playing ArmA II for a long time(3 hours), it never went above 29°C. It's a pull/push fan system. And it works great, as the air flows right through with my current fan setup. But the room I am playing in is also quite cool. I have AC set to 70°F(21.11 °C). But I believe that this room is somewhere around 62°F(16.67 °C) - 68°F(20 °C).

Here is a sketch of my current setup. Note that the arrows point in the direction that the air is flowing.

PC Sketch

Edited July 8, 2011 by Nicholas

[sgt gul 0]

Oke so its not a good cooler, but surely better then the standard i now have.

But i am scared to shit when it comes to overclocking, any good advice on what program to use and how to do it? And can i still use my original cooler? Because i now have the side cases open because its warm, its much more noisy now but i have put an ventilator next to my case. The temp stays under the 40 now.

is this a good cooler then?

http://www.mycom.nl/Product/Koeling-Processor-Koeler/Zalman-CNPS10X-Flex/258415

choose one from the list please, which one should be enough for cooling when i overclock?

http://www.mycom.nl/Productgroep/Processor-Koeler/25326

Edited July 7, 2011 by Sgt Gul

[Leon86 13]

I'd go for the hyper 212 plus, a big "mugen style" cooler.

If you overclock the cpu it's best to just use the bios, only program you need is a stresstester and something to monitor temps, like occt.

as for overclocking advice try the link 6 posts back. Overclocking a phenomII black edition is pretty easy as you only have to set the vcore and multiplier.

[sgt gul 0]

So Leon, these coolers are supposed to fit into any case right? So i dont need to worry about it not fitting into my case?

In any case i should overclock when i buy the 212plus cooler?

i searched the previeus posts and cant seem to find the link to overclocking cpu :S

Edited July 8, 2011 by Sgt Gul

[Leon86 13]

You can probably find the height of the cooler somewhere. Probably 160 mm or so, just measure your case.

overclocking link

[sgt gul 0]

Thanks for the link, i dont understand a single word of it. Maybe i should bring the pc to a specialist or something. Dont think i can do it myself, to much confusion.

[Leon86 13]

well, I've overclocked a phenomII before, pretty easy, go in the bios set the vcore on a value slighly over the default (you can see it with occt, should be about 1.3 or something). Then you can set the speed with the multiplier, phenom II's have a base frequency of 200 mhz, and you have a multiplier of 16, getting you 200*16=3200 Mhz. If you put the multiplier on 17 you're running on 3400, 18 3.6 etc.

If it's unstable (test with occt or prime95) you can either increase the vcore, increasing temperatures or lower the multi agian. Might want to try disabling "cool 'n quiet" as well.

I wouln't let someone else overclock my system, and I doubt a specialist compu shop would do it as it technically voids warranty on the cpu.

[domokun 515]

Sgt Gul : good advice from Leon.

a) Your settings: good choices but I can recommend a couple of improvements:

a1) Vid mem : normal -> default : this usually offers better performance and/or less artefacting (black/white flashing triangles)

a2) Shadow detail : normal -> high : this forces shadows to be calculated by the GPU and not your CPU (generally higher performance)

a3) Post-processing : Low : good but are you running Oktane's noBlur mod? Basically it disables nauseau-inducing blur effect and offers increased performance. If you're running OA 1.59 grab it here:

http://www.506th-pir.org/scripts/oktane/noblur/

a4) Edit A2's config file (something like My Documents\ArmA2\Arma2OA.cfg), find AToC=7 and change it to AToC=0

b) overclocking - first off, don't worry too much about overclocking. These days its very difficult to fry your CPU due to the in-built safety mechanisms (CPU will shutdown if too hot). CPUs are rated to operate at VERY high temperatures (90+° C). Now I don't recommend this but don't be alarmed if your overclocked CPU reaches 50 or even 60°. Normally it shouldn't increase by more than a few degrees over its current state.

c) overclocking with your current HSF - Zalman's CNPS7000CCU although quite old isn't a bad HSF. So before spending your hard-earned euros, I'd suggest you see how far you can get with your CNPS7000CCU. If you prefer to spend your euros and be safer goto d).

d) replacing your HSF - Leon is right; Coolermaster's Hyper 212 offers excellent value for money (you can get bigger and better HSF but they'll cost double, if not triple and for not much more benefit). As Leon suggested, if you want this HSF, check that you have at least 16cm of height between your motherboard and the cover of your case. When removing and installing HSF be careful, ensure your work is as dust-free as possible, static electricity is to be avoided at all costs (simply ground yourself by touching the case) and spread a very thin layer of CPU paste evenly on the base of your new HSF. Then attach it carefully but firmly.

e) The Golden Rule in overclocking is METHOD. That means note your default settings, then increase gradually, noting every step. That way if you encounter instability or even a crash, you can easily roll back.

f) The first port of call is your BIOS. You can usually access by pushing the F1 or DEL when your PC starts up. Look in the menus for a setting called CPU multiplier (or something like that). It should be already set at "16". Increase it by 1 (to 17). Find the Cool'n'Quiet setting and disable that. Now exit your BIOS, saving your changes (usually F10). Reboot your PC. Enter Windows and stress-test your overclocked CPU by running OCCT. This will stress your CPU by forcing it to continuously calculate massive mathematical operations. Your CPU will get hot, very hot. Probably hotter than you've ever seen it (hotter than OA). Don't worry, let your PC take it. If there is a minor problem then the program will detect a miscalculation and alert you. If there is a major overheat then the CPU will automatically shut down. Let OCCT run for 30 mins or so. If after that time your PC is still running fine then reboot re-enter the BIOS and increase the CPU multiplier again. Then re-run another OCCT test. Keep repeating until your CPU fails OCCT. When this happens, re-enter then BIOS and increase the CPU voltage by the smallest possible margin. Now re-run OCCT. If it fails again. Repeat the CPU voltage increase again. Re-run OCCT. If it still fails then you may have reached the limits of your CPU. If it works, then try again at increasing your CPU multiplier.

My guess is that your CPU is a Phenom II X4 955, so it should go something like this :

16x200 (3.2GHz) @ 1.35V = OK

17x200 (3.4GHz) @ 1.35V = ??

18x200 (3.6GHz) @ 1.35V = ???

19x200 (3.8GHz) @ 1.35V = ????

20x200 (3.8GHz) @ 1.35V = ??????

If this sounds long, rest assured it isn't. I'm just detailing it to you to reassure you. All in all it should take less than 2 hours. Where most of that can be spent doing other things - drinking beer ;) enjoying the sun...

This respected site provides an idea:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2754/6

Even AMD has a page on how to overclock this CPU:

http://blogs.amd.com/play/2009/04/22/overclocking-101-with-the-amd-phenom-ii-x4-955-black-edition-processor/

There's even a few videos out there showing how simple it is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p7HB9OMJSs

After overclocking your CPU, you can of course overclock other aspects of your PC (Northbridge, Memory, etc.) but they don't offer such massive improvements. If you're a beginner, best keep that for another day ;)

Edited July 8, 2011 by domokun

[sgt gul 0]

Wow! Thanks man, both of yous. This will sure help, so its just setting a different parameter in bios and keep watching it and do it step by step. Doesnt seem that hard after reading the posts, but the orange cooler isnt plugged onto the cpu yet. Its still packed, i plan to give it back and i allready ordered the other one, that Leon mentioned. I will be getting that after the 15th because its out of stock. Should i wait for that? or just go Overclocking with the default cooler at this moment?

[Leon86 13]

You can overclock with the standard cooler but watch the temperatures, dont up the voltage much, it has a much higher influence on the temperature than clockspeed. If it gets unstable and you have to up the voltage I guess you'll have to wait for your new cooler.

[domokun 515]

Again great advice from Leon.

Defo swap the CNPS7000CCU for the Hyper 212 (provided you have 16cm clearance) given its the same price

Not sure if the Hyper 212 comes with thermal paste. If not, I'd order some.

I look forward to hearing how you get on!

Edited July 8, 2011 by domokun

[sgt gul 0]

Do i need to put thermal paste before i overclock? or is that only the case when i change the cooler?

[Leon86 13]

The default cooler probably has some heat transfer plaster or something on it, otherwise your cpu wouldnt really stay cool, unless you got lucky with a very flat cpu/cooler.

All aftermarket coolers I've ever seen had some thermal paste with them. If it doesnt every computer shop has it.

[sgt gul 0]

When i bought the new CPU and cooler with it, it had some of it. Its been almost a week now, dont think another layer of paste is needed?

[Leon86 13]

a lot of people use way too much paste, it's only to fill up the gaps, the metal to metal has much more conduction. Agian, read the cooler manual when installing so you know how much paste you want to use.

[sgt gul 0]

I am going to start to overclock just one step and see how it goes, i havent changed the cooling. its the standard one i got with the new cpu.

[NeMeSiS 11]

I am going to start to overclock just one step and see how it goes, i havent changed the cooling. its the standard one i got with the new cpu.

I have never, ever, not once in my life considered to change the cooling because is was going to overclock. You may not reach the same clockspeeds, but its just as 'dangerous'.

[sgt gul 0]

i am lost in the BIOS, cant seem to find the part where i higher the cpu with one step from 16 to 17.

check picture of bios, which one is it?

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/mukremin/bios.jpg

[NeMeSiS 11]

i am lost in the BIOS, cant seem to find the part where i higher the cpu with one step from 16 to 17.

check picture of bios, which one is it?

http://i151.photobucket.com/albums/s147/mukremin/bios.jpg

I assume its CPU ratio. I think i have the same BIOS, and under 'AI overclocking' you should also have some predefined OC profiles which work neatly if you dont want to play with the settings yourself.

You can also change the FSB. (FSB×multiplier=frequency)

AFAIK, 200×10=2000 would give better results than (for example) 100×20=2000, but i cant remember why and i its harder to get it stable that way.

[sgt gul 0]

So i just need to adjust a setting under CPU ratio?