ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues

[MavericK96 0]

Typically when the machine reboots immediately after an overclock, it means the overclock failed and the computer crashed. Are you using stock cooling? If so, don't even bother overclocking until you get a better cooler on that CPU.

Also, I would recommend looking into upgrading your video card. I've got 2 GTX 280s (similar to yours) in SLI and, while performance is overall decent, it still will slow down to sub-30 FPS at times. With one card I can't imagine getting decent framerates without using medium settings (it looks like you are using mostly Very High, which is too much for one GTX 285).

As far as nVidia settings, you may want to change the Texture Filtering - Clamp to Allow or whatever the other setting is. I think Clamp is a "better detail, worse performance" kind of thing IIRC. Also, changing the filename was only helpful for SLI before there was a profile for A2/OA, but there is now so there's no reason to do so. Plus you're not using SLI anyway.

A faster CPU will definitely help somewhat, but once you get up to the ~3.0 GHz range you should be okay.

EDIT: Research shows that with a decent aftermarket cooler you should be able to hit 3.0-3.2 GHz easily with that Q9400, possibly even 3.5+ if you tweak and push it enough. I wouldn't go too crazy unless you know what you're doing, though.

[Atkins 10]

Well, comparing your specs to mine:

I have a PhenomII 955 clocked at 3.6GHz, 4GB ram and a 4870. I play on medium-high settings with an FPS of 25-30 and i am usually CPU limited, and my CPU is better than yours.

Unless your videocard is crap your CPU is the linit, get used to it.

Might I inquire what cpu usage did you have when you got 25-30 fps with Phenom 955?

I just upgraded to PII955 from a C2D E6750 only to see zero improvement in FPS. C2D was using both cores almost 99% all the time. PII is using all cores around 20-60% and the crappy fps follows yet again.

What the f**k is wrong with this game?

[sammole 10]

Hey Guys,

I just built a new system that I thought would slay even ARMA2, sadly I am wrong.

Phenom X6 @ 3.3ghx

16gb DDR3 Ram @ 1600

Ati HD 6970 2gb

1TB HDD

60BG SSD

Now all i have done is chosen very high, and let the game set its own settings, all i have changed is the 3d res = 1920x1080.

Benchtest 1 gives me 40 fps.

Is this normal for a rig like this?

Thanks - Sam

[pendragonuk 0]

Hey Guys,

I just built a new system that I thought would slay even ARMA2, sadly I am wrong.

Phenom X6 @ 3.3ghx

16gb DDR3 Ram @ 1600

Ati HD 6970 2gb

1TB HDD

60BG SSD

Now all i have done is chosen very high, and let the game set its own settings, all i have changed is the 3d res = 1920x1080.

Benchtest 1 gives me 40 fps.

Is this normal for a rig like this?

Thanks - Sam

Yes m8, Our setup are comparable and that's what I get. The biggest improvement you are likely to see would overclocking your CPU. I'm running at 4GHz now and it gave me an extra 10fps on the benchmarks. 10fps is a massive jump with this game.

Try messing with the settings a little to see what's what.

I get between 50 and 60 fps on the benchmarks with these settings. For regular game play I normally turn down the Anisotropic filtering and the Anti-aliasing. Sometimes the Post processing effects cos the make me feel a little sick. I might get another 5 fps by dropping those two. One thing to watch is the view distance, There are few days when in the real world where you can see for 5k and if your boots are on the ground you don't need to see that far. Pull back on the view distance if frame rate is dropping.

Most importantly overclock you CPU!

[domokun 515]

Good advice again from Pendragon. I'd just add:

1. Tweak your video settings:

Viz: 3600m

Tex: High

Vid mem: Default

Anio: High

AA: High

Terrrain: High

Objects: High

Shadows: Very High

HDR: High

PP: High

2. Edit your arma2oa.cfg and change AToC=7 to AToC=0

3. Install Oktane's noBlur mod

4. defrag your HDD

5. minimise your services

6. overclock your CPU

These settings should allow you to enjoy great visuals AND fluid framerates.

[NeMeSiS 11]

Might I inquire what cpu usage did you have when you got 25-30 fps with Phenom 955?

I just upgraded to PII955 from a C2D E6750 only to see zero improvement in FPS. C2D was using both cores almost 99% all the time. PII is using all cores around 20-60% and the crappy fps follows yet again.

What the f**k is wrong with this game?

You may inquire whatever you want, however i wont be able to answer this question within the next 2 weeks since i am not at home. ;)

I can hazard a guess though: On those occassions, probably 1 core at ~100% (Because of AI), the others at not full usage.

[sammole 10]

Ok so i have the 1100t Black edition Phenom, and i have the corsair H70 water cooling kit attached. How do i overclock? and is it safe to do?

thanks guys.

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 PM ----------

Hey guys, thanks for all the tips, i change all my settings and stuff and not a whole lot changed.

I have the 1100t Black edition Phenom 2 X6, does anyone have any experience in overclocking this? and how to?

Also i have the Corsair H70 CPU water cooling system, so hopefully i can get some more speed out of it, thanks again guys.

Sam

[pendragonuk 0]

Ok so i have the 1100t Black edition Phenom, and i have the corsair H70 water cooling kit attached. How do i overclock? and is it safe to do?

thanks guys.

---------- Post added at 02:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:10 PM ----------

Hey guys, thanks for all the tips, i change all my settings and stuff and not a whole lot changed.

I have the 1100t Black edition Phenom 2 X6, does anyone have any experience in overclocking this? and how to?

Also i have the Corsair H70 CPU water cooling system, so hopefully i can get some more speed out of it, thanks again guys.

Sam

We will also need to know what motherboard you have... General rule of thumb is that CPU should be good for 4GHz easy. Don't go over 1.5Volts! you will fry your CPU. That water kit is crap by the way but there you go it's too late now. You need three times that size rad 360mm x 60mm thick to do the job properly with water. Anyhow it will cool your CPU you might have to run the fans a bit fast. Fast + loud!

Check out the link in my sig to see how I did it... AMD 1090t @ 4GHz on air

[sammole 10]

yer i worked it out, overclocked to 4ghz no worries at all.

So with overclocking im getting about 40-50 fps, starting to wonder, is anyone playing the campaign at 60+? with high settings?

And thats odd, water cooling got great reviews from everywhere i looked ;) editors choice material, but their it is, to late now :D.

[pendragonuk 0]

yer i worked it out, overclocked to 4ghz no worries at all.

So with overclocking im getting about 40-50 fps, starting to wonder, is anyone playing the campaign at 60+? with high settings?

And thats odd, water cooling got great reviews from everywhere i looked ;) editors choice material, but their it is, to late now :D.

Congrats on the 4GHz overclock,

Very few people get high fps with this game, many pages have been devoted to the discussion. Basically it boils down to two things, Visual clutter and CPU run cycles. The CPU has so much to do that the GPU on your graphics card is hanging about twiddling it's thumbs waiting for the next chunk of data to process. Visual clutter can cause even the most powerful g/cards to it's knees. My system runs 120fps in the rural areas of Zargabad will sink to less than 30fps in the town near the blue mosque. That's on an empty map with no AI, fill it up with AI and it will bring my computer down! Well at the "high" settings I have it at.

Water cooling is good at moving the heat away from the CPU. However that's only half the problem, you now have to get the heat out of the water. It can be done with a 120mm rad but only if you move a lot of air through it.

Give this a watch, this guys knows his water cooling...

You have to be aware the a lot of reviews are paid for doing the review....

[reconteam 19]

Well it's time for a computer upgrade for myself. What would it take to run OA on high settings (with a smooth FPS) on a 1920x1200 monitor? Not just empty maps either, large firefights and all of that.

I've already got an I7 920 so I probably won't swap that out, but I'm considering everything else.

[sammole 10]

Phenom II X6 1100t Black Edition

Ati Radeon 6970 2gb

16 GB Corsair Vengance 1600mhz Ram

ASUS Crosshair V Forula Motherboard

Thats the system that im running and i cant get decent FPS in battle, so not sure what you need to build.

Since this is the first gaming system i have built, should i have someone optimize all the settings? BIOS etc? coz if im to be honest im sorta of dissapointed with its performance, not just in ARMA but in other games also, Fallout New Vegas etc.

[HomerPepsi 10]

Hi guys, I'm getting very unstable framerates with my pc.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.4ghz

8GB DDR3 Ram

ATI 6950 2GB unlocked to 6970

Usually on all highest settings, maintains 20-22 fps. Fluctuates to 60 fps and down to 12fps

[pendragonuk 0]

Hi guys, I'm getting very unstable framerates with my pc.

AMD Phenom II X4 965 @ 3.4ghz

8GB DDR3 Ram

ATI 6950 2GB unlocked to 6970

Usually on all highest settings, maintains 20-22 fps. Fluctuates to 60 fps and down to 12fps

The simple answer is to drop the settings. I mean if your computer can't handle the game at the high settings drop them. Sorry if this sounds blunt but WTF

The short answer is your CPU is not powerful enough, AMD quad core MHz for MHz is 15% less powerful than the current crop of Intel's. If you were running one of the quick i5's overclocked to over 4GHz you would be running the game at 60fps, but your not... Sorry bought the wrong hardware for ArmA Or... you could just drop the settings and enjoy the game.

---------- Post added at 10:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:35 PM ----------

Well it's time for a computer upgrade for myself. What would it take to run OA on high settings (with a smooth FPS) on a 1920x1200 monitor? Not just empty maps either, large firefights and all of that.

I've already got an I7 920 so I probably won't swap that out, but I'm considering everything else.

Good luck m8 that computer has not been built but there are a few things you can do to help yourself along the way.

As you have an i7 disable hyper-threading the BIOS

Run Windows and the game off a fast SSD (one of the 6GBit ones)

The Graphics card should be a single GPU with lots and lots of on-board RAM (ASUS Matrix GTX 580 may be?)

System RAM doesn't need to be more than 6GB but blindingly fast (2000MHz Plus) Currently smaller kits overclock better than the big ones. High quality 6Gb kit would be nice match for you i7.

A very good quality motherboard, (over $250)

Nice $200 buck PSU from Corsair

A very big Heat Sink for the CPU Noctua D14 is the current king of the hill

Very big very well ventilated case (Silverstone Raven RV03 would be a good one)

Overclock the balls off the CPU! No less than 4GHz with luck you may get a stable 4.2GHz

And don't forget a nice shiny new legit copy of Windows 7 64bit to round it all off. I don't hold with pirated copy's of Windows, it's cheap, and if your going to spend that much on a rig don't sully it with ripped off stuff.

Anyhow do all that and you might get close to your goal. However I still think even with all that you are still going to get stutter and frame rate drop at completely max settings on a large server with all hell breaking lose around you.

This game just dose not run quickly. I really think that BIS need to start printing that on the box. That or hide the advanced settings in a config file so people will be happy when the game runs at "max settings" on their $600 Dell. Leaving the more advanced settings for those that have a history with the game and understand that it's a simulator and not CoD

---------- Post added at 10:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:05 PM ----------

Phenom II X6 1100t Black Edition

Ati Radeon 6970 2gb

16 GB Corsair Vengance 1600mhz Ram

ASUS Crosshair V Forula Motherboard

Thats the system that im running and i cant get decent FPS in battle, so not sure what you need to build.

Since this is the first gaming system i have built, should i have someone optimize all the settings? BIOS etc? coz if im to be honest im sorta of dissapointed with its performance, not just in ARMA but in other games also, Fallout New Vegas etc.

We have very similar computers. Not sure quite why you have 16Gb or RAM I have never seen more than 4 GB of my 8GB used but anyhow that's not the point... Have you overclocked your CPU? it's good for a rock solid, stable 4GHz, run a nice cooler on it and it can also be quiet. The afore mentions NH-D14 with do nicely. Do you have a SSD fitted? It will make a big difference to how windows behaves and you see an improvement with ArmA as well.

I'm not sure what he problem is with other games. Most main stream games these days are console ports and can be run well on a cheap Dell. I have not played Fallout but most other games I play it's simply a case of whacking you all the settings to max and sitting back and enjoy the fireworks. I picked up Alien v Predator in a Steam sale a few weeks back. Max settings it runs as smooth as silk. Heck turn on Vertical sync just so my hardware doesn't over run and stress out too much. (the fans on my 6870's are like little leaf blowers damn loud :rolleyes: )

You might need to find a really good forum and ask there. As you have the ASUS Crosshair try the RoG Forum. Those guys know what they are about...

[MavericK96 0]

Good luck m8 that computer has not been built but there are a few things you can do to help yourself along the way.

As you have an i7 disable hyper-threading the BIOS

Run Windows and the game off a fast SSD (one of the 6GBit ones)

The Graphics card should be a single GPU with lots and lots of on-board RAM (ASUS Matrix GTX 580 may be?)

System RAM doesn't need to be more than 6GB but blindingly fast (2000MHz Plus) Currently smaller kits overclock better than the big ones. High quality 6Gb kit would be nice match for you i7.

A very good quality motherboard, (over $250)

Nice $200 buck PSU from Corsair

A very big Heat Sink for the CPU Noctua D14 is the current king of the hill

Very big very well ventilated case (Silverstone Raven RV03 would be a good one)

Overclock the balls off the CPU! No less than 4GHz with luck you may get a stable 4.2GHz

I'm not sure I really condone this advice on the whole. I mean, sure, you can spend a ton of money and get good performance, but it's really not necessary to.

Take a look at my rig and settings; I get 30+ FPS at almost all times (sometimes it will dip when zooming quickly or whatnot, but it's always playable) and I have the same processor as the poster asking for advice. Overclocking to 3.8+ is a great performance boost for ArmA2, and with the 920 should be relatively easy if you're using a decent air cooler (I'm using a Vigor Monsoon III LT, but there are probably cheaper/better ones out there currently). Saying "at least 4 GHz" is misleading, because C0/C1 stepping (initial batch) i7 920s often won't do 4 GHz (mine almost does 3.9 but becomes unstable). If you have a D0 stepping 920, the likelihood of hitting 4 GHz is a lot better. Disabling HT is a good step as well, since if you use the machine primarily for gaming, you will see zero performance boost (sometimes even a negative result) from using HT.

As far as video card, the OP did not say what he was using, but I'd say the more VRAM, the better. If you've got the money, the GTX 580 3GB is a good choice. Otherwise, something like the 2GB Radeon 6950 or 6970. Then again, I am running two GTX 280s, both of which can be acquired for less than $100 apiece used these days, and I get great performance, so it's definitely possible to get decent performance on a budget.

Memory-wise, getting 2000 MHz+ memory is really not necessary. I doubt you would see more than a 5% increase in performance going from 1600 to 2000, if that. Sure, benchmarks will make 2000 look a lot better, but in the real world you're going to see little to no difference, and 2000 MHz DDR3 still commands a fairly high price point, whereas 1600 is rock-bottom right now. (I just picked up an additional 6GB kit for $45 from a third party (the RAM was brand-new in packaging, though)) 6-8 GB is plenty for ArmA2, probably even more than you need but if you consider other programs running and Windows Vista/7 it's nice to have the extra.

One thing that was not mentioned is the addition of an SSD. To me, besides overclocking the CPU, this was one of the biggest performance increases in ArmA2, not only in terms of load times but LOD loading as well.

Overall, without your other specs it's hard to say, but with an i7 920 you definitely don't need to spend a ton. Probably what is holding you back is video card or HDD.

[pendragonuk 0]

I agree with what your saying but he wants 60FPS when he's in the middle of a big battle! You and I know that 30fps is more than acceptable for a simulator but like a lot of people he is applying regular fps shooter rules to ArmA. There is no way I would be happy playing Call of Duty Black ops or Battlefield bad company 2 and anything less than rock solid 60fps (v-sync on) or over 100 with V-sync off. The point I was trying to make is even spending £2000 buck (£1500 quid) on a balls out top notch system are you going to get 60 fps in the middle of a battle with lots of AI in ArmA, That computer simply has not been built!

It's like the guy complaining about his system not being able to run a good frame at max setting, Well No S**t Sherlock no one can! Drop the settings to the point that the game runs well and looks OK. I have mine so at it's lowest it's above 25fps. That is in the middle of a battle with lots of AI. Now this means that walking the hills in Tackistan then yea she is chugging along at over 120fps. In the middle of Zargabad I'm lucky to be doing 30fps! Even then if I have been playing for several hours I have to leave the server and restart the game to regain my lagging system. When I first built my system I came to the forum thumping on about "how come my system doesn't max this game" well I have learned, done a lot of reading and a lot of testing.

I just wish people would be a little more realistic with their expectations. Simulators don't run at high frame rates. In fact I'm not sure that fps is the correct measurement of performance with simulators like ArmA.

Anyhow this is what works for me:

PS: I have recently learned that Morphological AA filtering make the game look lush :bounce3:

[sammole 10]

Thanks alot for the advise guys, i dont feel so dissapointed now since most people are the same boat as i am.

Cheers for the help Pendragon, but just remember, and you said it yourself, when you built YOUR new system, u came on to these forums doing the same thing ;)

Neways guys look forward to seeing you out there. And cummon on OPTIMIZED ARMA 3.

Cheers.

[pendragonuk 0]

Thanks alot for the advise guys, i dont feel so dissapointed now since most people are the same boat as i am.

Cheers for the help Pendragon, but just remember, and you said it yourself, when you built YOUR new system, u came on to these forums doing the same thing ;)

Neways guys look forward to seeing you out there. And cummon on OPTIMIZED ARMA 3.

Cheers.

Sorry m8 if I came on a little strong, but sometimes it's a bit like a broken record when I was first here thumping on I was told in no uncertain terms. Now I'm dishing out the sad news. Thing is don't get despondent about it the game, it's great faults and all. Once you get hooked by this game the problems and issues melt away and you just don't see them any more. The first time someone comes to save you or stops to pick you up it genuinely feels great. When your team gets something done by working together you just smile. No game has the depth of game play and no games challenges like ArmA. Don't let a little thing like "normal" system settings get in the way of a great game...

[MavericK96 0]

Yeah, Pendragon is right, you don't need 60+ FPS for the game to be fun. 25-30 feels plenty smooth and playable to me.

[Blackwell55 10]

Just installed Arma 2 on my rig and its looking and running very sad. FPS 22 and ugly.

Here is my rig. What to I need to to to improve looks and performance.

Mainboard : EVGA 132-CK-NF78

Chipset : nVidia nForce 680i SLI SPP

Processor : Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 @ 2666 MHz

Physical Memory : 8192 MB (4 x 2048 DDR2-SDRAM )

Video Card : Nvidia Corp NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX/9800 GTX+

Hard Disk : WDC (250 GB)

DVD-Rom Drive : ATAPI DVD A DH20A4H ATA Device

Monitor Type : Acer P243W - 24 inches

Operating System : Windows Vista Home Premium Home Edition 6.00.6002 Service Pack 2

DirectX : Version 10.00

Windows Performance Index : 5.6

Thank you.

[UKWFMental 10]

My current setup is:

AMD x4 955BE,

Ati Radeon xfx 6870 BE 1GB

8GB 6400 DDR2 Ram

Windows 7 64Bit,

With ingame settings set to High, AA (and that other thing ive forgotten set to off) and vsync disabled.

When playing any of the single player elements I get incredible fps 60-120 fps when flying about etc.Game looks lush and great.

But when in multiplayer it starts off at around 30 fps, lowering down to 19-25fps when in towns and then seems to stick or be capped at 25/26 fps.

My question is this normal for my setup? Changing any of the settings to low etc makes no difference whatsoever.People i speak to ingame say they get 40+ fps etc with poorer cpu and graphics card .Does anyone have any suggestions why I am having this problem?

[pendragonuk 0]

My current setup is:

AMD x4 955BE,

Ati Radeon xfx 6870 BE 1GB

8GB 6400 DDR2 Ram

Windows 7 64Bit,

With ingame settings set to High, AA (and that other thing ive forgotten set to off) and vsync disabled.

When playing any of the single player elements I get incredible fps 60-120 fps when flying about etc.Game looks lush and great.

But when in multiplayer it starts off at around 30 fps, lowering down to 19-25fps when in towns and then seems to stick or be capped at 25/26 fps.

My question is this normal for my setup? Changing any of the settings to low etc makes no difference whatsoever.People i speak to ingame say they get 40+ fps etc with poorer cpu and graphics card .Does anyone have any suggestions why I am having this problem?

If you read a couple of the posts above your you might get an idea of what to expect.

Pointers: Overclock your CPU as fast as she will go and still be stable. As you have a nice ATI G/Card have a look at the AMD driver settings and turn on the "Morphological filtering" Turn AA off but Antistropic on to max.

These are my settings and I'll be honest it would appear they we are getting very similar results. Out in the back of beyond I'll get 130fps, in the woods 60fps in town 40fps in a battle 25-30fps Sometimes online when it's getting bad it will drop below 25fps. Some of this may be the server you are playing on lagging due to the complexity of running the AI. Some of it is that you are running a lot of AI.

(set your screen rez and 3D rez to match your monitor)

I have just finish playing a single player mission called Martyrdom in Zargabad. There are quite a few AI in this mission but at no point did the frame rate drop below 40fps. It was very playable... and that is sort of the point with ArmA, you don't need super high fps like you would in other shooter games.

[UKWFMental 10]

Many thanks for your reply Pen. Tried those changes but with no success. Think it probably is my cpu/memory holding me back. Guess its time to upgrade at the end of this month, think I will get an intel i5 cpu and board and some ddr3 memory. Got about 45-50 fps in the bf3 alpha but with a new upgrade should do even better.

[pendragonuk 0]

Many thanks for your reply Pen. Tried those changes but with no success. Think it probably is my cpu/memory holding me back. Guess its time to upgrade at the end of this month, think I will get an intel i5 cpu and board and some ddr3 memory. Got about 45-50 fps in the bf3 alpha but with a new upgrade should do even better.

The best thing to do is try not to get hung up on the performance and enjoy the game. Set it up so it never drops below 30fps and then never check again...

[UKWFMental 10]

The best thing to do is try not to get hung up on the performance and enjoy the game. Set it up so it never drops below 30fps and then never check again...

yeah if I could get a steady 30 fps i would be happy. Just insurgency maps are just unplayable for me. Theres like this cap at 26, drops down to 17 when moving in villages, but never goes above 26 fps. Changing any of the ingame settings from low/off to very high makes no difference, still stays at 26 fps. Its weird, just no idea whats causing it.