Running Arma2 from SSD

[kklownboy 43]

needs a list of qualitative and quantitative differences between traditional and solid state drives.

Why?

120gb is a rip off.

well the 240GB is the sweetspot for performance. But if you only have a small allowance form your mom, any SSD would be a "ripoff?

[breeze 0]

I just got my second ssd drive giving me 300 gigs of this hard disk and it rocks I will never go back to regular disk drives again except to hold my data for storage.

[infiltrator_2k 29]

Just installed my OCZ Vertex II, whooooosshhhhh!!!! :D so so quick compared to my 7200 SATA II HDDs!

[sailindawg 0]

I'm running ARMA II, OA, PMC & BAF off a Raptor X RAID stripe array. Both Raptor X's are 10,000 rpm, 150 G drives. ARMA II performance / loading is excellent. Benching the Raptor stripe array, in read / write, they bench in the same ballpark as my 40 G Intel X-25V SSD that I use for a boot drive. I like my SSD that I use for my boot drive, but to purchase a SSD to replace my 300 G stripe array? Way too expensive for me. If you want nearly identical SSD performance for cheeep, consider a couple of Raptors to create a stripe array for your ARMA II partition.

I'd love to replace this array, but SSD prices need to drop seriously.

[ht-57 0]

10,000 rpm drives ain't cheap either, in fact the raptor is bout 200usd and the intel x52 is 200usd, albeit the x52 is only 80g. So why would you purchase a pair of 10,000rpm 150g optical drives for a game that uses 12g. For the price of a pair of raptors you could have a pair of ssd's, one for OS one for programs. IN sailndawgs case he just needs one more ssd, Keep the raptors for data storage. the x-25 80g is even cheaper 179usd ....149 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167031

Edited December 24, 2010 by ht-57

[bangtail 0]

Indeed.

If you are going to buy HDDs, you don't even need Raptors. WD 'Blacks' beat Raptors in some scenarios and are significantly cheaper.

For the same money you are obviously way better off with SSDs.

[sailindawg 0]

10,000 rpm drives ain't cheap either, in fact the raptor is bout 200usd and the intel x52 is 200usd, albeit the x52 is only 80g. So why would you purchase a pair of 10,000rpm 150g optical drives for a game that uses 12g. For the price of a pair of raptors you could have a pair of ssd's, one for OS one for programs. IN sailndawgs case he just needs one more ssd, Keep the raptors for data storage. the x-25 80g is even cheaper 179usd ....149 after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820167031

WOW......I paid somewhere's around $75 for each Raptor X. I purchased the drives from a private seller. At the time I bought my Raptors, the Raptor X's were around $150-$200 / drive. The Raptor X model was eventually replaced by the Velociraptors.

I have not looked at the 10,000 rpm disk pricing in a while, but look here. :eek: Comparing those prices, I'd rather buy a SSD! :D Better tech for the money. Not realizing it, I got one helluva deal with these Raptor X's!!

I had read this thread pretty well and since ARMA have realized that BIS'

game engine requires a very stout, low lag I/O subsystem. For this, a SSD or very fast stripe array is perfect. I thought I had found a very good performance / dollars spent solution comparing to a new SSD, but my solution only works best if you could find quality used drives as I was able to.

[killakaze 10]

I would like to get as much performance out of my pc as possible to run arma2 as good as i can, At the moment i have my intel x-25 80gb as a slave drive with Combined operations installed to it would i see more fps if i had my Operating system on that drive too? theres quite abit of work involved in reinstalling eveything and id be using up space on my ssd so id like to know before i commit to it?

Win 7 64, Q9550, 8gb ddr2, 285gtx 2gb.

[Tankbuster 1746]

I would like to get as much performance out of my pc as possible to run arma2 as good as i can, At the moment i have my intel x-25 80gb as a slave drive with Combined operations installed to it would i see more fps if i had my Operating system on that drive too? theres quite abit of work involved in reinstalling eveything and id be using up space on my ssd so id like to know before i commit to it?

Win 7 64, Q9550, 8gb ddr2, 285gtx 2gb.

Your system is similar to mine in many ways. When I built it, I put Win 7 Ulti 64 on my X-25.

After Combo Ops is on the SSD, plus a couple of choice mods, there's not much left and SSDs don't like being full. I've got 16GB free on mine and I try to keep it around that mark so some mods are loaded from the HDD. All other applications live on the HDD too.

You won't see more FPS from having the OS on the SSD, but you will still much quicker system start times.

It's hard for me to make empirical comparisons because when I built this machine, I also changed from Win XP to 7U 64, but I'm certainly happy with the result. Only a big ramdrive is faster but they are a bit of a faff. The Intel X-25 GB is simpler.

[breeze 0]

Windows should be the first thing on any ssd not games games yeah if you can fit them.

[Baff1 0]

Mine are exclusively for games mate.

I don't give a crap if Windows boots up 5 miliseconds faster.

It's the texture popping in ArmA I bought mine to address.

Any game that uses streaming technology loves SSD's.

[killakaze 10]

Thanks for your responses, i dont care if windows boots faster either but im concerned that having windows on a standard drive needing to access system files while playing could be a bottle necking and possibly causing micro stutters and other lag in the game.

[flattermann 12]

Thanks for your responses, i dont care if windows boots faster either but im concerned that having windows on a standard drive needing to access system files while playing could be a bottle necking and possibly causing micro stutters and other lag in the game.

Imho mainly DirectX data is adressed, and they are loaded with the game, so you should be fine.

[-)rStrangelove 0]

... causing micro stutters and other lag in the game.

Haha thats a good one. Actually we ArmA players buy SSDs so we only have micro stutters ingame. ;)

[SeaVee 10]

I was researching SSD drives at newegg and came across mention of this program recommended by a reviewer in his review of OCZ's Vertex 2 100GB SSD drive. It is from Paragon software, costs $20 and apparently is awesome for easily migrating the O/S and if wanted selected applications (i.e. Arma2) to the SSD drive - all in a live windows environment:

http://www.paragon-software.com/technologies/components/migrate-OS-to-SSD/

Excerpt from the newegg reviewer's comments on the Paragon software:

Paragon has a utility called "Migrate OS to SSD" for $19 and it clones live from Windows XP, aligning and adjusting the partition size. I did NOT need to reset SATA in the bios to AHCI ... which surprised me. This drive is FAST ... click - click - click. I'm one happy camper ..... so far

Paragon "Migrate OS to SSD" seems a worthwhile investment as ssds come down in price. Many people would try an ssd if they could preserve their current install. This software would do that as well as leave you with a complete backup ... your old drive. If OCZ was market smart they would include a copy of Migrate OS to SSD in special offerings.

From Paragon's website (link above):

Why try Migrate OS to SSD?

- Migrates Windows to larger or smaller storage devices in a single operation

- Supports any Windows since XP (including Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2)

- Automatically aligns partitions on the destination disk if necessary

- Automatically detects and copies MSR for succesful migrations of Windows 7

- Allows the user to exclude data during the process in order to fit the destination disk

- Processes locked (in-use) disks with MS VSS to migrate without rebooting Windows

- Includes Paragon's time-proven move/resize functionality

- Guarantees safety for the system and data.

****************

I'm likely to pull the trigger on an SSD drive soon and will definitely get this software to make the OS migration process easier. Will post my own findings here when I do.

Edited January 17, 2011 by SeaVee

[Tankbuster 1746]

I reckon the installation of a new hard disk is a fine time to start afresh with a brand new install of the OS. You'll likely get performance gains from doing that alone.

I actually went from XP to 7 Ulti 64 when I got mine and have never looked back. It's brilliant

[Rich_R 1087]

Bought a Crucial 256GB SSD, did a fresh install of Windows 7, ARMA 2, OA and the DLC's.

It seems like I've only picked up a few FPS in the upgrade. While it does appear that I have a lot less pop-in textures and less LOD issues....but does this sound about right to anyone who has upgraded to a SSD?

Any input would be appreciated.

[bangtail 0]

SSDs do not increase FPS.

The speed at which SSDs can load data should give developers more headroom in streaming situations but I don't think we are fully at that stage yet and it still doesn't affect FPS. ArmA 2 for example can feel smoother running on an SSD because the data is loading faster than it would of an HDD.

They do drastically affect loading times and they will somewhat alleviate the stuttering/LOD/Hitching issues.

1 or 2 FPS (in either direction) can be attributed to many things but an SSD is not going to be one of them.

I know Intel (among others) have tried to make a point that they speed games up but that's marketing for you.

If you are looking for FPS, the video card and processor are a good place to start, not storage devices.

Edited August 3, 2011 by BangTail

[Derbysieger 11]

Overall you don't get much more fps with a SSD. What it can do besides the points you listet is reduce stutter that doesn't affect the fps shown by fraps or whatever you use. When I moved Arma to my SSD it only gave about 2-3fps more (I guess because it could load LODs and textures faster) but the game felt much more responsive and that nasty stutter was (almost) gone. Also I could increase the viewdistance A LOT. Even 10k viewdistance on Chernarus is playable in small bombing/air2air missions

[Tankbuster 1746]

Bought a Crucial 256GB SSD, did a fresh install of Windows 7, ARMA 2, OA and the DLC's.

It seems like I've only picked up a few FPS in the upgrade. While it does appear that I have a lot less pop-in textures and less LOD issues....but does this sound about right to anyone who has upgraded to a SSD?

Any input would be appreciated.

Yeah, this was my experience too. Ignore Bangtail, he only posts in this one thread. :)

[bangtail 0]

Firstly, I post in many threads on this forum :D

Secondly, some people believe that SSDs increase FPS but the fact is that they don't and it's irksome that some people keep insisting that they do.

It serves only to mislead other users.

In ArmA 2, SSDs provide data at a faster rate than HDDs so the game feels smoother because there is less hitching etc.

Mustang said he bought a new SSD and performed a full reinstall of Windows 7 and ArmA 2, that is likely why the game is slightly faster (a fresh install is always a little zippier for a few weeks).

2-3 FPS could just as easily be the acceptable +/- that is inherent with ArmA 2 due to the fact that no benchmark run is ever exactly the same.

Edited August 4, 2011 by BangTail

[Derbysieger 11]

My SSD was about 4 months in use when I moved Arma 2 to it (must have been oktober/november 2009). What often happend with Arma 2 on the HDD was that in Chernogorsk or Elektrozavodsk I had horrible problems with LODs and textures not/slowly loading which brought the fps down to 1-5fps for a moment. This was completely gone (well some textures/LODs still didn't load at that time lol) after moving Arma 2 to the SSD. But the game was not as optimised back then as it is now. So I doubt that the impact of a SSD is still so dramatic.

Edited August 3, 2011 by Derbysieger

[MavericK96 0]

SSD for load times and LOD streaming is still a pretty massive difference, IMO. I don't think I could go back to regular HDD for ArmA2 now. :p

[Rich_R 1087]

I can see a difference with the LOD and yes it does seem smoother....unless I want to go to extreme overclocking and cooling, I'm pretty much as good as I'm going to get with Arma 2 (current rig I-7, SLI 570...etc)

But I appreciate everyone putting my mind at rest that I'm not missing something wityh the SSD.

[.kju 3244]

BangTail the PvPscene Benchmark Suite provides very consistent results.

People like you could use it to measure it in details.