NVIDIA video card(s) owners read here!

[-DirTyDeeDs--Ziggy- 0]

Going from 14 to 16 FPS is a 15% improvement.

mork calling orson, come in orson :rolleyes:

14 to 16 is a 8.7% increase ;)

[metalcraze 290]

metalcraze - I really think you need to try a fresh install of Arma2. Copy your folders and your config files, then do a full unistall. Then do a re-install and install the patch & beta patch. Then boot it up (with no mods) to see if flying plane works properly again. ArmA2 can have conflicted files when swapping hardware as it may keep settings from the old card that aren't compatible with the new card. After you've confirmed everything works OK, then start adding mods back on.

Did all that. Flew A-10 in vanilla - same "receiving..." screen + halt issue.

Tried to see if it's at least playable on the ground. Started Warfare 8 vs 8 vs 8 on Chernarus with 40 cities and rebels set to very high (as you can see it's a one stress test) and let it run for an hour. Then after there were enough events going on on the map I bought BMP-2 and did a ride through the map - about 20 km, passing Chernogorsk and Elektrozavodsk as well. Everything seemed to be fine for 30 minutes while I was doing this (of course framerate never went up above 25 FPS but that's predictable) but about 1 km beyond Elektrozavodsk I've tried to access menus. The game halted - then started working again - I clicked another menu option - it's halted - then started working again - clicked another option - it halted and then crashed to desktop. One of the last strings in the crashlog is "ErrorMessage: Out of memory (requested 2 KB)." and there are literally tons of errors like "Cannot create video memory surface DXT5" and "VB Lock failed, D3DERR_NOTAVAILABLE" all over the log.

This is very frustrating - I never had any of that with 4850. I so hope it isn't an issue with my GTX260 (BFG seems to be an OK manufacturer).

Although when testing the videocard with 3dmark06 everything worked fine in 3D but by the end of the "demo" the credits had a weird corruption with text being white and leaving the trail (it didn't affect 3D background or framerate and there weren't any artifacts you'd expect with overheating - temperatures weren't high either)

Edited March 28, 2010 by metalcraze

[jpinard 10]

metalcraze - those temperatures you posted are actually really good for the video card, so it's definitely not that - unless it's mis-reporting the temps.

What happens if you loop the most intense 3dMark test?

How do you set this scenario up?

Started Warfare 8 vs 8 vs 8 on Chernarus with 40 cities and rebels set to very high (as you can see it's a one stress test) and let it run for an hour

I'd like to try the same thing and then see if I get a slowdown or weirdness too. I have random crashes but always assumed it was my Saitek X52 Pro since most of the time I crash when exiting the control options panel.

Also, what crashlog are you reading (and how do I access it). I should double check mine and see if I get a similar message. If you just got your card you should be able to exchange it and BFG has a very good warranty - but it would stink to have to RMA it and go without for a while. Worse, if it's not the video card after all it would be more frustrating.

I'm still a little new to Arma so if you can help me do the same things you are that'd be great (and I'd learn a bunch while trying to replicate your problems). Which drivers did you settle on? I'm stickign with 196.21 until they get the bugs fixed with 197.xx

[dontknowhow 33]

This is very frustrating - I never had any of that with 4850. I so hope it isn't an issue with my GTX260 (BFG seems to be an OK manufacturer).

very interesting. I am a few issues, and the more I look at it, the more I think my 9800 plays a role.

Looks like nvidia has some work to do

[metalcraze 290]

What happens if you loop the most intense 3dMark test?

gotta try that, but I ran all 6 tests for 2 times and it worked like a charm.

How do you set this scenario up?

It's the new thing to come with 1.05 patch. Just start a multiplayer server and then there will be a "When Diplomacy Fails" mission in the Chernarus "folder". It's a 3-side warfare mission akin to Dogs of War.

I was surprised that after an hour my Phenom still could handle such load and the game was playable (apart from Chernogorsk and Elektrozavodsk)

Also, what crashlog are you reading (and how do I access it).

I'm under XP so there the path goes like "documents and settings\NAME\Local Settings\Application Data\ArmA 2" - and there you have your logs.

If you just got your card you should be able to exchange it and BFG has a very good warranty - but it would stink to have to RMA it and go without for a while. Worse, if it's not the video card after all it would be more frustrating.

I'm planning to do some World In Conflict tests with it - the game is very demanding and uses lots of hi-res textures - so if the vcard will work fine there - it's definitely ArmA2's fault (or driver's)

I'm still a little new to Arma so if you can help me do the same things you are that'd be great

The "receiving..." screen bug is always 100% of times there for me when flying a plane over Chernarus for some time (usually after 2 minutes)

Update:

I've tried to see if unlocked cores on my CPU may be at fault (and also if PSU provides enough power - with 2 locked cores CPU uses almost 1.5+ times less wattage) - even though my CPU absolutely showed no problems whatsoever during almost a month with 4850

So I locked 2 cores back. Problems went nowhere - in fact bugs became even worse:

http://i39.tinypic.com/2qlg1l5.jpg

After that all 3d things in ArmA2 were replaced by white screen. But it was the first time I've tried to boot AA2 with memory already set to "Default".

The Warfare crash seems like a separate bug, because I wasn't getting receiving screens - and the game doesn't crash with them just halts. According to logs when "Receiving..." bug happens nvidia driver crashes or something and also PhysX hardware acceleration gets disabled.

I've also noticed that the bug happens most of the time near Elektrozavodsk (and also Chernogorsk but less often) where the game needs to push many hi-res textures into the videocard memory.

So it can be two things. ArmA2 or faulty videocard (both of which are a real pity).

(Exception code: C0000005 ACCESS_VIOLATION at 0091E193

graphics: D3D9, Device: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260, Driver:nv4_disp.dll 6.14.11.9107

obviously it tries to put data in the same place where another data is already located in the videomemory)

I'll see what World in Conflict tests will show in the evening.

Edited March 29, 2010 by metalcraze

[jpinard 10]

SeaVee - I did the tests the same as you can recorded no increase in fps. What mods do you use?

[metalcraze 290]

Hmm I've tried World In Conflict - there were some artifacts and crash at first but then I found out that with AA on it happens on 8800GTX - as GTX260 has basically the same architecture I've tried turning AA off - and the game worked fine with great framerate on all max for nearly 3 hours including the mission where I encountered problems before I got tired of it.

So probably it's only AA2 issue.

[dontknowhow 33]

Hmm I've tried World In Conflict - there were some artifacts and crash at first but then I found out that with AA on it happens on 8800GTX - as GTX260 has basically the same architecture I've tried turning AA off - and the game worked fine with great framerate on all max for nearly 3 hours including the mission where I encountered problems before I got tired of it.

So probably it's only AA2 issue.

Let me get this straight: you turned anti aliasing off and then it worked?

[Alex72 1]

I had some episodes last night while testing around. Might be related to the 197.13 cause i encountered a couple of episodes where FPS went down to slideshow for a second or so everytime it happened. No more AI but me and my team (5 units total). Clean island. Very weird.

Other than that i also got 1 episode of the colors getting all screwed up and i cant read the text in the options. Blocky colors isntead of text and the world is totally messed with color. This happened to my 8800GTS as well so its nothing new. Has been around since ARMA 1.0.

[WillaCHilla 10]

@metalcraze:

I played World in Conflict since the beginning and my previous machine got a 8800GTX. There were no problems with enabled AA since the release of the game for me (got no problems at all for this game and also for Arma2 with the card).

Probably its more a driver/hardware issue then a problem by Arma2.

[metalcraze 290]

Let me get this straight: you turned anti aliasing off and then it worked?

In WiC - yes.

http://www.massgate.net/read.php?28004,92757

Yeah it's an officially acknowledged issue with 8800 architecture and WiC

(b) In game after 2-5 mins, crash usually preceeded by gfx artifacting

Which is how it was for me - the solution was to turn off AA which I did and it seems to have helped.

Other than that i also got 1 episode of the colors getting all screwed up and i cant read the text in the options. Blocky colors isntead of text and the world is totally messed with color. This happened to my 8800GTS as well so its nothing new. Has been around since ARMA 1.0.

I didn't have that up until I got gtx260. But that's exactly what I've encountered. At least it doesn't seem like my hardware is screwed which would be a pity.

Edited March 30, 2010 by metalcraze

[WillaCHilla 10]

mh-okay-never heard about this problem, but then youre probably right. Anyways, now you are able to play Arma2 without problems so far and thats the more important thing. So-have fun!! :)

[Imofexios 10]

Hello.

I got arma2 and i get on first stress test average 20fps but it is slower on some points.

I got 220GT which is 512mb

Amd 64 x2 with 3800+ and 2g memory

So question is can i make it run smoother to maintain the 20 or maybe more fps

in all situations and still have somewhat enjoyable graphics?

Oh and gpu is overclocked slight.

[forteh 11]

Hello.

I got arma2 and i get on first stress test average 20fps but it is slower on some points.

I got 220GT which is 512mb

Amd 64 x2 with 3800+ and 2g memory

So question is can i make it run smoother to maintain the 20 or maybe more fps

in all situations and still have somewhat enjoyable graphics?

Oh and gpu is overclocked slight.

Youre going to be bottlenecked by both the cpu and gpu, unfortunately I dont think youre going to get much more fps without upgrading both.

If you get a better gpu you will be able to increase the details (but not the view distance) but you will get similar fps. If you upgrade the cpu to a very fast dual core then your gpu will likely be bottlenecking.

My old system was A64x2 4400 @2.55ghz, 9600gt and 3gig ram, I got 24fps and 9fps in benchmarks 1 and 2 respectively on vanilla arma2 1.05.

I upgraded to a gtx260 216 and the fps only went up by 2 or 3 (but with an increase in graphical quality) because the cpu was bottlenecking.

I replaced the A64x2 with a core i3 530 @4ghz and its now giving 50fps in benchmark 1 and 24 in benchmark 2.

To be brutally honest you need to replace all the major components to properly run arma2 :(

My old rig was more powerful than yours now and I couldnt squeeze any more fps out of it, the sp campaign was playable but some parts slowed right down to less than 15 fps.

[pryskn@ 10]

hi, im thinking to get new drivers 197.13.

Anyone get any issue with this drivers?

I have Q6600,EX38-DQ6,GTX 260,Win7 64

[forteh 11]

Using the 197.13 drivers on my GTX260 216 without any problems, running winxp though.

[metalcraze 290]

I've tried running ArmA2 at Win7 with 185.85 drivers, so far so good apart from mad HDD thrashing in Elektrozavodsk. Looks like newer winXP Nvidia drivers need some work

[nikiforos 450]

I use Nvidias 196.21 drivers. Im not sure they are the best but still there is a jungle out there and I m not sure what to choose :confused:.

[MJK-Ranger 0]

Hi.

Anyone tested the "new" Nvidia driver v.197.45?

Thanks

[Alex72 1]

^^ Yep im running them on my GTX275 and i cant say i seen any difference. Not better or worse. Temperature seems normal as well. At least on my system.

[Dwarden 1125]

latest for Vista and 7 are 197.55

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_197.55_whql.html

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_32bit_197.55_whql.html

also i updated the first post with some possible troubleshoting for these who get crashes (point 5).

[MavericK96 0]

latest for Vista and 7 are 197.55

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_197.55_whql.html

http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_32bit_197.55_whql.html

also i updated the first post with some possible troubleshoting for these who get crashes (point 5).

Thanks for the update! It helped me and hopefully it can help others with the same issue.

Also, it's worth mentioning that the 197.55 drivers only support the GTX 480, and specifically only add support for 4-way SLI.

[sweep 10]

Hi.

Anyone tested the "new" Nvidia driver v.197.45?

Thanks

yes, having major issues. Constant crash to desktop, even once the Aram2.exe task is ended; it continues to run and causes havoc.

Last night I played for 3 hours and thought it was the best ever.

Today it lasted 10 minutes, and crashed while I was in the multi-player lobby.

This is following a full format and reinstall of everything in light of issues when it first came out.

2cpu 6700@2.66hz

3.00 GB Ram (not sure why it says that, I have 4 GB)

Windows XP Service Pack 3

PNY 9800 GTX+

w/197.45

Cannot recommend 197.45 for Arma2, but I'm going to keep trying.

RPT:

=====================================================================
== C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2\arma2.exe
== "C:\Program Files\Steam\steamapps\common\arma 2\arma2.exe" -mod=@CBA;@ACE;@ACEX;@ACEX_SM
=====================================================================
Exe timestamp: 2010/04/19 05:00:30
Current time:  2010/04/23 16:55:23

Updating base class Turrets->Turrets, by x\ace\addons\c_vehicle\config.bin/CfgVehicles/BMP2_Base/Turrets/
Updating base class MainTurret->MainTurret, by x\ace\addons\c_vehicle\config.bin/CfgVehicles/BMP2_Base/Turrets/MainTurret/
Updating base class Turrets->Turrets, by x\ace\addons\c_vehicle\config.bin/CfgVehicles/BMP2_Base/Turrets/MainTurret/Turrets/
Updating base class MainTurret->MainTurret, by x\ace\addons\c_vehicle\config.bin/CfgVehicles/AAV/Turrets/MainTurret/
Exe version: 1.05.62017
41.328 (0) XEH: PreInit Started
46.745 (0) XEH: PreInit Finished
0:00:52.463 (0:00:00.467) [x\cba\addons\common\init.sqf:4] MISSINIT: missionName=intro, worldName=utes, isMultiplayer=false, isServer=true
54.315 (0.567) XEH: PostInit Started
56.654 (0.967) XEH: PostInit Finished
0:00:56.671 (0:00:00.967) [x\cba\addons\versioning\versioning.sqf:5] : cba_versioning_versions=["#CBA_HASH#",["cba","ace","acex"],[[[0,3,1,94],-1],[[1,0,10,342],-1],[[1,0,10,227],-1]],[[0,0,0],0]]
[b]VB Lock failed, E_OUTOFMEMORY[/b]

The last adjustment I can make is something I have a question about.

In the first post it states:

4b.

Alter RenderFramesAhead in ARMA2.cfg

My Arma2.cfg appears as:

language="English";
adapter=-1;
3D_Performance=93750;
Resolution_Bpp=32;
Resolution_W=1920;
Resolution_H=1200;
refresh=60;
Render_W=1920;
Render_H=1200;
FSAA=0;
postFX=2;
HDRPrecision=8;
lastDeviceId="";
localVRAM=522194688;
nonlocalVRAM=527433727;
Windowed=0;
winX=16;
winY=32;
winW=1920;
winH=1200;
winDefW=1920;
winDefH=1200;
GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;
GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=4;

am I just supposed to add? -

Alter_RenderFramesAhead=1;

Is there something in my .cfg that is making this crash like crazy?

[MavericK96 0]

My Arma2.cfg appears as:

language="English";
adapter=-1;
3D_Performance=93750;
Resolution_Bpp=32;
Resolution_W=1920;
Resolution_H=1200;
refresh=60;
Render_W=1920;
Render_H=1200;
FSAA=0;
postFX=2;
HDRPrecision=8;
lastDeviceId="";
localVRAM=522194688;
nonlocalVRAM=527433727;
Windowed=0;
winX=16;
winY=32;
winW=1920;
winH=1200;
winDefW=1920;
winDefH=1200;
GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;
GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=4;

am I just supposed to add? -

Alter_RenderFramesAhead=1;

Is there something in my .cfg that is making this crash like crazy?

I think it's referring to this part:

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;
GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=4;

Try changing those to 1?

Also, your non-local VRAM seems low. Mine is set (automatically by Arma2.cfg) to about double my local VRAM. You could try manually setting it to double what it is now and see if that helps at all. Also, check your page file settings in Windows and make sure you have that set up correctly.

[Alex72 1]

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=4;

Yes change to:

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=1;

Should give you "faster" handling. Also check the NVCPL Maximum Pre Rendered Frames. Set it to different values. I found on my own system "2" is best in combination with above setting in ARMA2.CFG. If i set it to "1" in NVCPL it gets too jerky and super super light handling so its a bit too much for me personally.

And ofcourse you have crashes with a 9800 GTX+ (512MB) and running that resolution. Its your PC that cant handle the game and thus crashes. Turn resolution down or buy more powerful video card. I have 896MB VMEM and even i crash when i turn resolution up too high. You need a much beefier card with more memory to run 1920x1200. At least this is my experience with ARMA and HW. Test it.

Edited April 24, 2010 by Alex72