ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues

[DeclaredEvol 10]

Terrain Detail is tricky because it does make a large performance difference, but it also makes a MASSIVE difference in visual quality. Basically if you go below High (IMO) you are getting into territory where everything looks like flat dirt carpet.

I've put mine on very low for a while now, and its a little ugly like plastic on the ground but its not so much of a noticeable thing under combat :)

[domokun 515]

I entirely agree with all of you, i.e. if you can afford it set Terrain to High.

But I also think that Normal is a good compromise between billiard tables with cardboard cut-outs and 30+ fps

These tweaks might help you improve your visuals and/or framerates:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

[simcardo 792]

Terrain Detail is tricky because it does make a large performance difference, but it also makes a MASSIVE difference in visual quality. Basically if you go below High (IMO) you are getting into territory where everything looks like flat dirt carpet.

Chernarus still looks great with Medium setting, although the Desert indeed looks flat!

and one question: Did disabling shadows improve preformance that much? might sound like a foolish question, but my standard FPS is like 13 - 20, with or without shadows.

[MavericK96 0]

Chernarus still looks great with Medium setting, although the Desert indeed looks flat!

and one question: Did disabling shadows improve preformance that much? might sound like a foolish question, but my standard FPS is like 13 - 20, with or without shadows.

I didn't notice much, if any, performance hit by maxing out Shadow Detail, but YMMV of course.

[domokun 515]

Simcardo: try the tweaks outlined in the following post:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

And let us know how you get on

[simcardo 792]

Ok, thanks. But my setting is pretty much lower than that actually.

Visibility is 1600

Interface: 1152x864

3D res: 960x720

Texture: High

Vid Memory: High (when i set it to default, the game runs slower)

Anisotropic: Disabled

Anti Aliasing: Disabled

Terrain: Normal

Objects: Normal

Shadows: Normal

Post-Proc: Off

VSync: Off - Isn't VSync that thing that limits Frame Rate? I thought disabling it makes it faster?

The Dynamic View distance did Help, but it sets the VD to 200 or something, i can barely see anything :(

The Grass mod helps a little :D

and well actually 15-25 framerate is still playable. But it's just not smooth enough.

--------------

Somehow i realize that the DVD made it slower, since it have to change view distance everytime i use the scope!

Edited June 27, 2012 by Simcardo

[seba1976 98]

How many units are on the map while you get that frame rate?

[Malzie 1]

I have been interested in getting this game and downloaded the demo to try the game out. I went through the training in the OA demo and the game played flawlessly. I then began the first mission and enjoyed the scenery and the helicopter fly in to the LZ with again not a single hiccup in the fps. Landed and started heading towards the mission objective and was doing fine with again, no fps drop. However, randomly my FPS dropped to like 4 and would not change no matter how low or high I set the graphics. While I am fairly certain my computer hardware is on par with the what is needed, I am not sure what I can do to actually get the game to run smoothly. I want to purchase the game so that I can play the DayZ mod, but I do not want to purchase a game that I cannot enjoy on its own.

Specs:

GPU: Radeon HD 6950 flashed to same specs as HD 6970 CCC Version 12.3 (yes I know 12.4 is the newest but it does not overwrite the version number so I am not going to update until 12.5)

CPU: Intel core i5 @ 2.67GHz

PSU: 850 Watt

Ram: 8 gigs

OS: Windows 7 64bit

By the way, I am on a fresh install of Windows, and the power supply is less than a week old. I can run every game on high everything without even the smallest of problems. While I do realize Arma II is a resource hog, my system should not be having this much problems running the game. And one would think there would be at least some change in the FPS when settings are changed.

Please help! From what I saw in the training, the game seems awesome!

[simcardo 792]

How many units are on the map while you get that frame rate?

It's pretty much the standard frame rate. Playing the Campaign or Single Mission no matter how much units I still get that low frame rate.

Do i need to upgrade my rig?

Spec:

Intel Core 2 Duo

2GB Ram

Nvidia GeForce 9400GT

Windows 7 Enterprise 32bit

500GB Hard Disk Drive

[Oxigeon 1]

First of all sorry for my bad english.

I have downloaded the free version of ArmaII because I first want to try the game of it will works on my machine.

But when I do the first training mission the game is very laggy when i smooth with my mouse. When I push the up key the game do a little while before it runs. What can I do to make the performence better. I put al the settings on the lowest.

My System:

Acer

X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz

Memory: 2048MB RAM

Hard drive: 630GB

Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 7650 GS

I play under Windows 7

[domokun 515]

Ok, thanks. But my setting is pretty much lower than that actually.

...

The Grass mod helps a little :D

and well actually 15-25 framerate is still playable. But it's just not smooth enough

Can I suggest to try the following changes:

Texture: High => Normal

Vid Memory: High => Very High or Default

3D res: 960x720 => 1152x864 (always try to run Interface & 3D res at your monitor's native resolution)

If you want to be sure that a setting has a beneficial effect, benchmark your machine using the game's built-in benchmarks. The E08 benchmark is prolly the best one, failing that use E01 but avoid E02.

Personally I think that your machine is the bare minimum.

I think that you're lucky OA runs at all.

Your video card and CPU seem particularly weak.

By the way, I am on a fresh install of Windows, and the power supply is less than a week old. I can run every game on high everything without even the smallest of problems. While I do realize Arma II is a resource hog, my system should not be having this much problems running the game. And one would think there would be at least some change in the FPS when settings are changed.

@Malzie: welcome to the community. While your rig is good, I seriously doubt that you'll get good framerates (>30fps) by pushing all the settings to max. Especially in situations where there are a lot of AI (certain missions field 100+ AI). Reducing a few key settings and the game will still look good but play a lot smoother:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

First of all sorry for my bad english.

I have downloaded the free version of ArmaII because I first want to try the game of it will works on my machine.

But when I do the first training mission the game is very laggy when i smooth with my mouse. When I push the up key the game do a little while before it runs. What can I do to make the performence better. I put al the settings on the lowest.

Your CPU and GPU look fairly weak so, short of upgrading them, try these tweaks:

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?85124-ArmA2-OA-%28low%29-performance-issues&p=2081466#post2081466

Edited June 28, 2012 by domokun

[simcardo 792]

From most benchmark i got average FPS like 13 - 16.

with Textures: Normal, Vid Mem Very High (a bit faster than high) and 3D Res 100%

Will upgrading RAM to 4GB help?

[MavericK96 0]

Upgrading RAM would help, as would upgrading your video card. Frankly, the whole machine needs an upgrade.

What speed is your processor running at?

[Lewatywa 1]

In the beggining I would like to say hello to all of you. I've registered couple minutes ago but I am a quite long quest. I have a really big problem. My Arma 2 CO started to run very laggy... My computer is not very super duper good but i used to play arma in 30-40fps and now it's 10-20. I am running vista and my specs are:

-CPU - AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+ 2,6@3,0,

-GPU - Gigabyte GA-M52L-S3,

-Motherboard - Asus EN9600GT (not overclocked but i can do it),

-Harddisk - Seagate Barracuda 250 GB.

And here is my arma2OA config:

language="Polish";

adapter=-1;

3D_Performance=80000;

Resolution_Bpp=32;

Resolution_W=1440;

Resolution_H=900;

refresh=75;

winX=16;

winY=32;

winW=800;

winH=600;

winDefW=800;

winDefH=600;

Render_W=1440;

Render_H=900;

FSAA=0;

postFX=0;

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=80;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=3;

HDRPrecision=8;

lastDeviceId="";

localVRAM=523829248;

nonlocalVRAM=805068800;

vsync=1;

AToC=0;

FXAA=0;

Windowed=0;

PPAA=0;

PPAA_Level=0;

And my profile config:

version=2;

blood=2;

singleVoice=0;

anisoFilter=3;

TexQuality=3;

TexMemory=4;

soundEnableEAX=1;

soundEnableHW=1;

useWBuffer=0;

tripleHead=0;

shadingQuality=0;

shadowQuality=3;

maxSamplesPlayed=128;

class Identity

mouseSensitivityX=1;

mouseSensitivityY=1;

floatingZoneArea=0;

teamSwitchOffsetX=0;

teamSwitchOffsetY=0;

headBob=1;

sceneComplexity=300000;

viewDistance=1599.6248;

terrainGrid=12.5;

volumeCD=0.47572982;

volumeFX=1.2329378;

volumeSpeech=1.8180544;

volumeVoN=0;

vonRecThreshold=1;

gamma=1;

brightness=1;

fovTop=0.97500002;

fovLeft=1.5599999;

uiTopLeftX=0.20833331;

uiTopLeftY=0.15000001;

uiBottomRightX=0.79166669;

uiBottomRightY=0.85000002;

IGUIScale=0.69999999;

Could someone help me and improve my Arma 2 CO perfomance?

[MavericK96 0]

So you had good performance before on the same machine but not now? What changed?

[Lewatywa 1]

I dunno. Maybe it's because of mods, or having CO. Before I bought OA arma2 seemed to run faster. And I have modified shortcut adding extthread CPUcount and so on. Maybe that is the problem? I was searching for clues and I was just adding them to arma. I've changed my arma 2 profile cfg several times and nothing have changed. I can have all at minimum or maksimum it doesn't matter arma 2 runs horrible. As I said before I know that I don't have so good computer but for god sake even battlefield 3 runs better and looks better on my pc.

[seba1976 98]

@Simcardo: Like others said, what's your processor speed, and how much VRAM you have (your video memory).

Edited June 28, 2012 by seba1976
@Simcardo added.

[Snake Man 407]

My Arma 2 CO started to run very laggy... My computer is not very super duper good but i used to play arma in 30-40fps and now it's 10-20. I am running vista and my specs are:

-CPU - AMD Athlon 64 x2 5000+ 2,6@3,0,

-GPU - Gigabyte GA-M52L-S3,

-Motherboard - Asus EN9600GT (not overclocked but i can do it),

I have AMD X2 7750, same motherboard as you, 4gb ram and ATI Radeon HD 4850. For years I ran ArmA 2 fine with it with all the fancy antialiasing, postprocessing etc settings disabled or low. But now after the v1.60 patch came out, somehow it runs much slower and missions which I could previously play fine with a bit low FPS are now in single digit unplayable FPS then.

I don't know, maybe I goofed up something in my win7 64bit that causes it, but I start to think somewhere in v1.60 patch cycle enough was changed on the code to make the engine more CPU demanding...

I can run small missions with only little or perhaps "normal" amount of AI just fine and Takistan or other user made light terrains help of course. Chernarus and 100+ AI is too much for this hardware.

[Lewatywa 1]

Yeah. Maybe this patch is the problem. Or graphics card driver. In Arma's 2 benchmark I've 26fps, the second one 6 (where the fight is), and in OA 26 fps too. I've forgot the names. When I'm making some missions in the editor I've 40-60 fps( depending on map). I made mission where convoy is heading to Fallujah hospital for POW's and is attacked by takistani guerillas. In the editor mission is running fine, in single player worse but it's still playable about 20-30 fps. And when I host a game my fps falls to 10. I play sometimes with my friend and he is the only one who join my game.

[simcardo 792]

@Simcardo: Like others said, what's your processor speed, and how much VRAM you have (your video memory).

Well it's an old Computer so yeah it's slow..

CPU: Core 2 Duo 2.33 GHz

Video mem: 1GB

Okay, before i change my OS to Win 7, (XP) ArmA 2 runs faster on High setting.

Now i set everything to medium, lower the view distance, vid mem High (in Very high i'm getting a lot of stutters instead)

and now i got a pretty smooth preformance, of around 20 - 28 sometimes 30 +. so thanks for your help everyone ;)

Edited June 29, 2012 by Simcardo

[seba1976 98]

I have AMD X2 7750, same motherboard as you, 4gb ram and ATI Radeon HD 4850. For years I ran ArmA 2 fine with it with all the fancy antialiasing, postprocessing etc settings disabled or low. But now after the v1.60 patch came out, somehow it runs much slower and missions which I could previously play fine with a bit low FPS are now in single digit unplayable FPS then.

I don't know, maybe I goofed up something in my win7 64bit that causes it, but I start to think somewhere in v1.60 patch cycle enough was changed on the code to make the engine more CPU demanding...

I can run small missions with only little or perhaps "normal" amount of AI just fine and Takistan or other user made light terrains help of course. Chernarus and 100+ AI is too much for this hardware.

I know its complicated, but you won't regret it: run the game on XP (64 bit if you can). I'm not generalizing (though perhaps I should) but for older hardware like yours it's an impressive improvement. Dual boot is your friend. There's something with the code that runs faster in XP.

[khaki 10]

Here's my current rig

AMD FX 4100 Rurboclocked to 3.8 GHz

ASUS M5A97 EVO Mobo

AMD ASUS 5670 1GB

8GB Mushkin memory

Playing online with mods ( ACE, ACRE, Islands, sounds, guns, etc.) in missions like Domination or MSO usually results in around 20-25 frames per second for me. Is this normal for what I'm packing or is there something going on? Thanks in advance :D

[MavericK96 0]

I know its complicated, but you won't regret it: run the game on XP (64 bit if you can). I'm not generalizing (though perhaps I should) but for older hardware like yours it's an impressive improvement. Dual boot is your friend. There's something with the code that runs faster in XP.

Good advice, except XP 64-bit sucks in a lot of ways.

[seba1976 98]

Good advice, except XP 64-bit sucks in a lot of ways.

Probably, but it's ideal for Arrowhead.

[Sweeps28 1]

I just bought my computer about a year ago and just recently downloaded Arma 2 from steam. Im trying to play the DayZ mod and when I launch the game it loads up fine, but in game it runs so slow and choppy. I even put it at the lowest setting. I was just wondering if my CPU is suppose to handle it or if I can upgrade it somehow. My specs are

Windows 7

Intel Core i5-2300 CPU@2.80 GHz

Installed physical memory 6.00 GB

Available memory 4.17 GB

nvidia GeForce 405

I downloaded updates for my graphics card and that hasnt seem to have done anything. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you