ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues

[MissionCreep 12]

Benchmark results =/= Campaign FPS

Engine sucks or optimization, or both...

If you have an anti-virus running, try disabling background or scan-on-access and see if performance improves.

[Antonoo 10]

You are correct, what are your benchmark results? (Benchmark 1 & 2 from ArmA2)

ARMA 2 BENCHMARKS - :

Benchmark 1:

Average FPS 30

Benchmark 2:

Average FPS 11

Settings:

1680x1050

View distance 2500

No Post processing or AA.

Very high on all.

____________________________

Benchmark 1:

Average fps 34

Benchmark 2:

Average fps 12

Settings:

1680x1050

View distance 2500

No post processing or AA

Shadows normal

Objects, terrain, textures high.

[KillSh0t 10]

Dont really bother even trying to play OA anymore.

Got tired of the ridiculous amounts of lag, hard core CTD always when the games seems to get good it crashes...just all around problems....

Went back to ARMA2 using a mod launcher and not having to have STEAM running in the background...All settings turned on High (or higher) and no problems after hours an hours of playing.

IDK maybe OA/CO having to use STEAM is whats causes me so many problems, whatever it is, I'm just happy A2 runs so smoothly er id be stuck playing COD black ops er some other stupid game lol!

[Leon86 13]

Very high on all.

In that case, no wonder it runs like that.

[Antonoo 10]

In that case, no wonder it runs like that.

My point is im running at an FPS which I get when I run at normal on operation arrowhead.

Arma 2 highest: 30 fps

arma 2 operation arrowhead medium: 30 fps

Dats what I ment

[domokun 515]

Such a difference is hardly surprising as you cannot directly compare the settings in OA vs those in A2. OA includes several advances in its 3d engine that result in it being more resource-intensive. So how about lowering some of your settings slightly?

For example:

1680x1050

3d res = 100%

View distance 2500

Post processing = low

AA = low

Shadows high

Objects, terrain, textures normal

And try using Oktane's NoBlur mod (enables Post-processing but significantly reduces the performance hit).

[Antonoo 10]

Thanks for the answer domokun still got the weird performance issue. My rig is good enough to play ETW at highest settings likewise NTW and almost Shogun 2 total war. All these games are the equilivant or more CPU intense than Arma 2.

My settings ive used on Arma 2 OA is:

No post processing or AA what so ever.

All on normal.

1280x800 with 100% 3d.

SO I cant really lower anymore it will look to awfull.

Edited March 6, 2011 by Antonoo

[Leon86 13]

I run at:

1920x1080

2000 visibility

aa off

low objects detail

high shadow detail

post very low

rest on normal

get about 50-ish fps. on benchmark 1 and 08 mission. your system should be sortof on par with mine (I have q6600 on 3.3 and gtx260). On that res your performance should be better than mine.

[Antonoo 10]

Yeah its just that arma is so shitty optimized.

[c0nse-0n3r 19]

Yeah its just that arma is so shitty optimized.

While the game could use more optimizing no doubt, there's also very few games with the scale, features and calibur of ARMA.. no suprise it beats up rigs

There might be some issues with your hardware/setup or faulty gear as ive got a lower spec system, mostly same settings @ 1920x1080 and besides the odd stutter in heavy combat she runs pretty nicely.. certainly playable

(I have q6600 on 3.3 and gtx260)

What kind of cooling you run Leon? was looking into clocking my q6600 soon

[Antonoo 10]

No its just shitty optimized.

My clan mate has got 4gb ddr3 ram, a intel dual core processor at 2,6ghz, a nvidia 9600GT and he runs operation arrowhead at max settings.

My system is THREE times better atleast and I run it at the lowest.

[svarun 16]

How can I make Arma 2 Combined Ops playable on this rig:

Intel Core2 Duo E7200 2.53 Ghz

3Gb Ram

Ati Radeon HD3600

Windows 7 32-bit

[Leon86 13]

What kind of cooling you run Leon? was looking into clocking my q6600 soon

A scythe mugen. I can run my q6600 on 3.6 with it and keep temps under 70 degrees, but I prefer 3.3 on lower voltage so my fans dont have to run faster when watching a 1080p movie.

My q6600 isn't a very good one if you look at speed and required voltage but they're hard to kill :D even ran some benchmarks on 3.7Ghz @ 1.5V. Probably not very stable but you dont really want to do extensive stresstesting with those kind of voltages anyway.

when running on 2.8 Ghz I can run my q6600 on 1.15V (on load) vcore, I guess you could even cool that with the stockcooler.

---------- Post added at 01:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:55 PM ----------

No its just shitty optimized.

My clan mate has got 4gb ddr3 ram, a intel dual core processor at 2,6ghz, a nvidia 9600GT and he runs operation arrowhead at max settings.

My system is THREE times better atleast and I run it at the lowest.

He probably has a higher tolerance for low fps.

---------- Post added at 01:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:56 PM ----------

How can I make Arma 2 Combined Ops playable on this rig:

Intel Core2 Duo E7200 2.53 Ghz

3Gb Ram

Ati Radeon HD3600

Windows 7 32-bit

A better gpu will go a long way. Even a 50eu secondhand ati 4850 will improve performance a lot.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Leon86

[Alex72 1]

He probably has a higher tolerance for low fps.

Definatelly. I cant run maxed and enjoy it. Im running most of the time 1600x900 with most to high and some to normal.

But 11 fps for Antonoo does not sound right. Will have to get back to you on that and see what is wrong. The game is not that badly optimized. ;)

[Leon86 13]

Antonoo can you copy the settings I used a couple of pages back and run the benchmarks?

[Antonoo 10]

Ran Arma 2 Benchmark 2 on theese settings:

1680x1050

Highest all.

______________

1680x1050

Lowest all.

______________

1280x800

Highest all.

______________

1280x800

Lowest all.

______________

I ran each benchmark twice and on ALL of theese I got 12 or 14 fps.

System again:

Vista 64-bit

DDR3 Ram 6gb

Nvidia Gigabyte OC Gtx 460 1gb

Amd Phenom II x4 3,0ghz

EDIT:

Leon ran your specs on EO8 and got a whopping 72 FPS!! Thats the highest ive ever gotten. But... Benchmarks doesnt accurately simulate playing online because online I get lower fps as soon as I am in a town with some AI.

And again.. I can play most games on high with my setup. The most CPU intense ones atleast such as Napoleon Total War.

Edited March 13, 2011 by Antonoo

[Leon86 13]

Well with those settings I think you'll get an acceptable fps online as well. And arma2 benchmark 2 is much more straining on your system than total war, arma simulates in much greater detail, ballistics on every bullet, whether ai sees you/ other ai etc.

[Antonoo 10]

Okey so it is unplayable for me then. I think that game developers just forces you to buy a new gaming pc every year is shit.

Cant play online nor singleplayer to much activity.

[kevaskous 10]

Okey so it is unplayable for me then. I think that game developers just forces you to buy a new gaming pc every year is shit.

Cant play online nor singleplayer to much activity.

Your cpu @ 3ghz is a huge bottleneck for this game. Until they multi thread AI calculations (single threaded now) it will remain that, that one core gets pegged out and then starts to drag the game down the gutter. OC that beast, it will Oc quite well, anything less then 4 I'd be kinda surprised if you have relatively fair cooling. That will yield quite the improvement.

[Leon86 13]

depends on the mission. Online your cpu doesnt have to calculate any ai. Just render them.

[domokun 515]

Antonoo: I feel your pain but you should be able to run the A2 at respectable (25+ fps) framerates. So here are a few tips:

1. ensure you're running the latest beta (78927 IIRC)

2. defrag your hard drive

3. install GameBooster to help you disable unecessary services whilst you're playing A2 (its free but watch out for the optional toolbar)

4. disable AToC (edit ArmaA2OA.cfg and set AToC=0)

5. run A2 & try these video settings

1680x1050

3d res = 100%

View distance 1500

Post processing = Disabled (install Oktane's NoBlur mod and you can enjoy "Low" at almost not performance hit)

AA = Disabled

Anisotropic = Disabled

Shadows = High

Texutres, Objects & Terrain = Normal

Let us know if that works.

---------- Post added at 12:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:48 AM ----------

Your cpu @ 3ghz is a huge bottleneck for this game. Until they multi thread AI calculations (single threaded now) it will remain that, that one core gets pegged out and then starts to drag the game down the gutter. OC that beast, it will Oc quite well, anything less then 4 I'd be kinda surprised if you have relatively fair cooling. That will yield quite the improvement.

Indeed, A2 like most sims is heavily dependant on CPU speed.

So overclocking your CPU should offer you significant gains.

If you're not an experienced overclocker then take it easy:

a) Increase the CPU multiplier (if you have a Black Edition) and/or the memroy's FSB (Front Side Bus) in small (5-10 Mhz) increments via the BIOS

b) Avoid raising the CPU voltage unless REALLY necessary

c) Keep a close eye on your CPU temps

Provided you're careful overclocking your CPU relatively easy but don't expect a miracle either. Here a rough guide of what you can hope to achieve:

No sweat: 3.2 GHz

Standard: 3.4 Ghz

Good: 3.6 Ghz

Lucky: 3.8Ghz ?

Incredible: 4.0 GHz??

Here's an decent blog from AMD on overlocking a Phenom II x4

Edited March 14, 2011 by domokun

[kevaskous 10]

Indeed, A2 like most sims is heavily dependant on CPU speed.

So overclocking your CPU should offer you significant gains.

If you're not an experienced overclocker then take it easy:

a) Increase the CPU multiplier (if you have a Black Edition) and/or the memroy's FSB (Front Side Bus) in small (5-10 Mhz) increments via the BIOS

b) Avoid raising the CPU voltage unless REALLY necessary

c) Keep a close eye on your CPU temps

Provided you're careful overclocking your CPU relatively easy but don't expect a miracle either. Here a rough guide of what you can hope to achieve:

No sweat: 3.2 GHz

Standard: 3.4 Ghz

Good: 3.6 Ghz

Lucky: 3.8Ghz ?

Incredible: 4.0 GHz??

Nah not really 4+ is pretty common place with a Ph2. Provided he has a decent mobo and cooling to go with.

[Leon86 13]

I have another suggestion, threaded optimisation -> off. It might have solved some mysterious massive stutter problem when lots of ai became active. edit: nvm, still have that, guess its a gpu prob.

If this was what you meant by "unplayable" I totally agree.

Edited March 14, 2011 by Leon86

[c0nse-0n3r 19]

A scythe mugen. I can run my q6600 on 3.6 with it and keep temps under 70 degrees, but I prefer 3.3 on lower voltage so my fans dont have to run faster when watching a 1080p movie.

...

when running on 2.8 Ghz I can run my q6600 on 1.15V (on load) vcore, I guess you could even cool that with the stockcooler.

Thanks for that. Just pondering my options..

I'm running a stock q6600 right now @ 2.4ghz and its feels wrong not to clock it to at least 2.8, still deciding whether to upgrade the stock cooler though

ARMA runs great for me @ 1920x1080 and medium/high settings, but im not fps picky either.. curious to see what a CPU boost can do :cool:

my temps get high 50s under heavy load, so ive got a few safe degrees to work with but not much.. might see how 2.8 goes

but i'll likely just spring for new cooler when the $ is there

[SGT John Basilone 10]

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it at this point: Is there a way to set the Terrain details setting to "very high" when distance visibility is set to 10.000? Maybe in the config file or so? The reason I am curious about it is that I can set everything to very high ( playing CO) but not the terrain and I do like the long view range a lot at the same time. Thx for hints!:)