ArmaHolic ArmA 2 Optimization

[Masterfragg 10]

Specs: ASROCK AM2NF3-VSTA | AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE 3.2GHz | Sapphire HD3850 AGP (Latest Cats) CCC | Corsair - TWIN2X4096-6400C5 4 GB |Samsung 2232BW 22" LCD | X-Fi Ultimate Gamer (5.1) | LiteOn DH20A4P DVD-RW | Saitek Cyborg Evo Joystick | M$ Windows XP Pro SP3

Like I say, if it was CPU that was the main worker here then the rest of my system shouldn't really matter... but it does and I know that I need to change my mobo / gfx card to get the best from gaming.

Thanks for the reply mate, Yeah I see your point with the CPU. Although gotta admit didn't know they still made mid/high end AGP graphics cards I thought it was dead!

Learn somethin' new every day.

I'm most probably going to head down the CPU path to be honest as it's the most affordable upgrade I can do and it'd help with general processing power.

[pauliesss 2]

Yes Paul, i started playing Arma 2 with 186.18 too, roll back to 182.06 and it helps, check post in previous page..

Thanks, I am going to test it now..:)

[Masterfragg 10]

Right I've made my mind up, sadly the day has returned where I decide to leave Arma until patch 1.1-something.

Armed Assault was unplayable for me until the later patches so it's quite possible that BIS have made the same mistakes this time round.

Rather than put myself out of pocket I'm just going to refuse to play the game, I'm giving it to a friend who CAN run it so he doesn't have to fork out for the game. That £29.99 that's been taken away from BIS should teach em!! :D

I'll keep an eye here to help with anything that I can but as of now I'm classing Arma2 in the same league as S.T.A.L.K.E.R SoC.

That is...Unplayable for the general public until futher notice unless they own super computers (UotGPUFNUTOSC for short....sort of) I say this because sadly the optimization of this game is just downright terrible and it turns out AMD CPU's are generally the ones that suffer (Because AMD are...well crap nowdays)

Hopefully by 1.08 it'll be fixed...again...like in arma 1...

I just don't understand it sometimes why make a game and only aim it at the people that have untold £/$ to spend on a computer?! Still frustrations aside I know in time it'll be fixed.

Semi-good job BIS... Fix it like you did with Armed Assault and you'll make me a life long dedicated BIS phreak!... I really don't wanna have to settle with OFP2 (Because I have bad feelings that it'll suck)

Sorry if I come across like...As an arse or anything but it's just frustrations.

A mix between my dedication to AMD not paying off and BIS screwing things up slightly*

Masterfragg

*Saying they screwed it up is just me venting sorry about it but I have to get this stupid frustration outta my system. I'm just highly disappointed that I won't get to play this effing awesome game.

[Fox '09 14]

Yeah, it's too bad not everybody can play it.

Sadly, you have to read this thread to make it run smooth. :(

[Masterfragg 10]

Yeah, it's too bad not everybody can play it.

Sadly, you have to read this thread to make it run smooth. :(

Yeah, but hey huge amount of respect to you Fox you're here helping people!

I just wish my tests had come up with some useful information other than "I can't run it *Crys*" lol

To be honest I'm still trying to talk myself out of spending money I haven't got on a CPU hehe

Or overclocking it into OMGZ TIS GONNA BLEWWW ;)

But hey, this game must be worth all the effort right? If not smack me...Smack me hard...

[Fox '09 14]

hehe.

Don't count your chickens before they are hatched..

Do a bit of overclocking hehe.

Don't give up hehe.

[aphex187 10]

Sorry if I come across like...As an arse or anything but it's just frustrations.

Don't worry m8 there is nothing worse than loving a game to find that it is basically unplayable, atm mine is running not too bad but in all it looks total arse! You find that you are fannying about with settings and viewing forums to get it running ok than actually playing the bloody thing and that there is where the frustration comes in!

Hope you get it sorted soon bud! :cool:

[101_Proof 10]

9500GT is not what I would consider "decent" for 1680 x 1050 res.

With a Q6600 @ 3.3 and a 9800GTX+ I was able to get decent frames with low/medium settings.

I found nice increases from 2.8 - 3.4 (3.4 just a tad 2 hot for my taste)

Upgraded to a gtx925 and exe rename and I now can run 1920 x 1200 with most on high and 4K view distance and 125% fillrate.

There are some missions that are very fps heavy, second on in town for example, but the rest run very smooth.

Tried different drivers etc ?

CLosed down all unneeded background apps / tasks ?

what 3dm 06 are you getting with current setup, I used both 3dmark and Arma2 Benchmark after each change and could see the results improving in both.

So having a system that's well above the minimum requirements only allows me to run the game at minimum settings? I dont get it. I was hoping to get some tips on what I could do for my current system to optimize the game because I cant afford any upgrades right now. Thanks.

[Fox '09 14]

hmmm Well, if you have done all of the optimizations it should run jolly good.

"minimum" requirements are not to be followed.

Minimum just means your computer can run it. Does not mean it can run it smoothly.

Recommended means you can run it at low to medium with ok FPS.

[Masterfragg 10]

Ok, I'm back already lol.

Sorry but, every fiber in my being refuses to quit like I did last time.

I'm currently re-hashing my own version of windows vista on my other computer.

Basically making my own install disc (Legit version used don't panic I am no pirate) with all the useless features and drivers cut out.

Managed to get the install disc down to 800mb.

This is going to be a bare bones test, literally no unneeded services will be active no unneeded programs and nothing else installed.

Arma2 will be installed on both the OS HDD and a spare HDD to test performance gains.

Wish me luck fellas.

I'm also going to re-read through this threat and re-re-read the optimazation tips!

I'll post back soon

[Fox '09 14]

i wish u luck bawb

(UR NEW NAME IS BAWB, DEAL WITH IT)

[adom23 10]

ah ive decided ... off back to project reality.. at least for a little bit!

Shall still be keepin tabs on here tho!

Altho im now on win7 .. whats the chances it will run lol

[Masterfragg 10]

i wish u luck bawb

(UR NEW NAME IS BAWB, DEAL WITH IT)

Bawb? AWESOME!!!

Anyways I've installed the new Vista 30 processes on install with a 388MB Memory usage.

Lets try and cut those services down shall we?

Back soon

[adom23 10]

Haha...PR doesnt appear to work at all for me nemore.. back to arma2!

I was gone long!

:P

[goose4291 11]

Currently Running:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5450 @1.66GHz

RAM: 2 GB

OS: Windows XP (32 Bit)

Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GS

Sound Card: Conexant High Definition Smart Audio A2

Any help to increase FPS would be greatly appreciated :)

[Fox '09 14]

Bawb? AWESOME!!!

Anyways I've installed the new Vista 30 processes on install with a 388MB Memory usage.

Lets try and cut those services down shall we?

Back soon

WAOH

lol that's not much at all.

Service pack 1?

edit:

cool bawb

[Masterfragg 10]

Ok I've tested 2 drivers so far and I shall continue to edit this post.

I'll state my system specs once more.

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 6000+ @ 3.11ghz (AM2)

RAM: 2GB (2x1GB Sticks) Corsair Dominator @ 1066mhz

GPU: Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTX+ 512MB XFX

Sound: Realtek (Pile of crap) HD Audio Device outputting 5.1

All tests will be done on a mission included in the retail package "Counterattack"

GPU Drivers tested:

178.13_geforce_winvista_32bit_international_whql

Average FPS 23

Min FPS 17

Max FPS 32

182.50_geforce_winvista_32bit_english_whql

Average FPS 19

Min FPS 14

Max FPS 25

178.24_geforce_winvista_32bit_international_whql

Average FPS 20

Min 10

Max 44

This is all done on a fresh install of Vista 32-bit OS

Services tweaked for max performance

33 Start up Processes

Desktop at 1024x768

All Vista visual effects DISABLED

Nvdia PhysX DISABLED

I shall continue to test drivers throughout tonight (it's currently 4AM) and later tomorrow night.

Hopefully we'll find the best performing driver although as always...Don't expect a mircle driver that gives 60fps.

Hope this post helps someone out there.

**Edit**

I am currently downloading EVERY WHQL driver released by Nvidia since 178.13 to the very lastest drivers. (Using Driversweeper in safe mode don't panic) So expect...A very very tired man to post back reporting a great load of sod all soon!!

**Edit**

@FOX

Nope SP2, I had to intergrate SP2 onto this disc due to my hardware being finicky with anything BUT.

Odd really...If I install Vista Minus SP2 it won't let me install SP2 and/or audio drivers.

---------- Post added at 02:05 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:58 AM ----------

Currently Running:

Any help to increase FPS would be greatly appreciated :)

Sadly mate, I've got another computer here with a faster Core 2 Duo 4GB ram and a 8600GT 512MB and there is absolutely no way Arma2 runs on my computer so...Sorry I know this doesn't help much but I'd suggest steering clear of laptops if you can help it.

A fresh format may help and you never know tweaking the services MAY

help but I'm doubtful.

What sort of FPS do you get at the moment? and post your config files if you can

Edited June 29, 2009 by Masterfragg

[Fox '09 14]

Try the 190's drivers from Guru3d.com

[Masterfragg 10]

Try the 190's drivers from Guru3d.com

I had tried the 190's before and to be honest absolutely terrible for me.

I dropped FPS by about 5 on Arma2 and about 40 in Warcraft (Took me down to about 30 in Outlands)

Right half the list downloaded I'll do a test with the 190's again though for the list.

Night all

[=Spetsnaz= 0]

is this possible for arma 2 demo?

[Fox '09 14]

duno.

but

FFS its comming out in 20 hours.

[jake01 10]

Been playing the STEM version of Arma 2, using a GTX 295/ Q6600 @ 2.7 ghz, and was wondering if anyone possibly viewing this thread has done a successfull config tweak, and wouldn't mind a newb copying their settings for increased performance. Really looks interesting but i have no clue how to go about tweaking it myself from scratch.

[Alienfreak 0]

Its a shame that this thread with this formatting became sticky.

Its a pain to read. Its almost impossible to find anything in your post...

[ahmedjbh 0]

if you want the best os, i made 6 partitions and tested xp32 stock and slipstream, xp64 stock and superior and win 7.

xp64 superior is by far the best, commit charge is around 170mb, everything is instant, arma2 runs smoothest on this.

[=Spetsnaz= 0]

is it possible to optimize for the arma 2 demo?