Serious graphics problem

[Ka3ak 10]

So here is the deal. The graphics in the game won't render, even on very low setting, making the game absolutley unplayable. The game looks like Quake 1 but worse. Things are blocks, models wont render, foliage looks like green peices of cardboard put on a toothpick. Like some kindergartener's bs diaroma.

So here is the thing, its obviously a hardware issue on my end, but I am not the most PC savvy guy in the world, so I do not know if it a RAM issue or a graphics card issue, or w/e else. Here are specs. Note: my computer runs contemporary games like CoD4 and Empire Total War.

Here is what I have

2.0 Ghz Processor

ATI Raedon (cutting edge three years ago, at office comp now so cant look at it)

4 GB RAM

I'll post pics and other specs later when I get home from University. Hopfully this info will give you an idea though. Also if ARMA2 is running good for you, tell me what specs you have (I am in the market to replace my 3 1/2 year old laptop anyways).

Edited August 5, 2009 by Ka3ak

[Kenjineering 10]

Your computer would have been nice 3.5 years ago, however we all know the rate at which new technology becomes redundant.

Is your computer a duo core?

How much ram is there in your video card? I am guessing less than 256MB?

Which operating system? Windows Vista? Windows XP?

How much are you willing to spend on a new computer?

EDIT: Btw, I get fairly good performance (most of the time) with Arma2 with Terrain detail:Normal..Object detail:High... NO Anti-Aliasing (the nifty interpolating stuff that smooths out step like rough edges on objects)... and the rest on Very High.

FPS average 25-45 in campaigns (Guess).. Problems for me are in large cities where I would get 18-25ish FPS + some of the problems you described. All my other games run at highest settings without a problem.

People with weaker machines than mine have gotten much better performance than I have with ARMA2.

If I recall correctly, one guy had this machine:

core i7 920 @2.66ghz

Nvidia GTX 285 1GRAM

6 Gig DDR3 (DDR3 is the fastest ram at the moment and there are several different speeds within its category to choose from)

Windows XP

and he reported Benchmarks of 56 FPS! However, this is most likely attributed more to the fact that ARMA2 likes XP over other operating systems.

If you do end up using ARMA2 as a comparable benchmark when selecting computer hardware, just keep in mind that its performance seems to vary even amongst those people with similar set-ups.

Edited August 5, 2009 by Kenjineering

[sinsro 10]

This is obviously a problem with the game, and not related to the age of his hardware.

I got the exact same problems, with a state of the art PC:

Windows 7 64 bit/ build 7600

Geforce 9800 GX2, driver version 190.40

8GB RAM

Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q9300

Graphics is all messed up, missing textures, trees are shown as bunch of squares. Framerate is smooth though.

I play a lot of high end games on my computer, on the highest settings, and ARMA2 is the only one that has any trouble, so its clear this is caused by bugs in the game. Very disappointing :(

[Lovehandles 10]

Well there's something wrong with the graphics thats for sure. Don't know who's to blame to be honest.

[Viral.BadKarma 10]

i beleive the search term is "8 gig ram". Sorry I'm lazy, but there should be a parameter you have to add to "fix" the issue.

[sinsro 10]

I found it. If you have 8GB RAM, you need to add the -winxp parameter when launching, now it works well.

[frag85 10]

and he reported Benchmarks of 56 FPS! However, this is most likely attributed more to the fact that ARMA2 likes XP over other operating systems.

i wouldn't say ArmA2 likes xp over other OS's. when i run ArmA2mark i get mid 6000's in Win7, and mid-high 5000's in XP. thats around a 15% performance boost using 7. neither is tweaked in any ways, just straight out fresh installs of the game and OS's.

i would never expect a lap top, especially one that is several years old to play arma2. i had a 3.6ghz pentium 4 running arma@15-20fps in coop and 20-30fps in optimized TvT, and it jumped to 80-100 all around when i built a new system with a core i7 for ~$850. i never even tried to install arma 2 on my old system. any quad or a really fast dual core with something like a 4850/GTX260 will handle arma well if you don't mind a desktop.

Edited August 6, 2009 by frag85