XP-pro versis W7

[Annubis 10]

Hi there. Just brought a copy of arma and would like to know from those who have played it on both xp and w7 wich one it plays best on. I have a powerful computer but Id like to get the fastest from it thats possible and I have a copy of w7 coming. Should I install that and play it on that or stick with xp for now? Thanks.

[Thirdup 0]

64 bit?

[Annubis 10]

No just the regular one from amazon. The 64 is the special one for more ram I think? I was told to avoid that as it doesn't do for games very well.

[Alex72 1]

From what Quertz said after heavy testing:

1) Selecting the best OS

I have tried Win7 in 64bit/32bit, Vista in 64/32 bit, and XP in 64bit/32bit. In terms of performance, ARMA 2 works best with XP32 - here's the ranking (from good to bad):

1) XP 32bit

2) XP 64bit

3) Win7 64bit and 32bit (no big difference)

4) Vista 64bit and 32bit (no big difference)

ARMA 2 seems to make no use of the increased capabilities of an x64 bit OS - it is a pure 32bit application. Running a 32bit application in a 64bit Windows in theory should not cause significant performance hits (thanks to WOW64), but in case of ARMA2, it does actually cause issues. This is most true for what I call the "smoothness" of the game: In 32bit, there was less stutter (i.e. if you make a 360 degree turn, it was a smooth turn without hiccups).

In terms of framerates, XP beats all other Windows versions, and 32 bit comes out best.

Whole thread (RAMDISK): LINK

EDIT: Running Win7 32bit myself with good results.

Alex

Edited October 19, 2009 by Alex72

[grub 10]

I use XP pro at the mo (word). Runs like a dream.

Was thinking win 7 will be similar. From what I've read people with similar specs to me are finding it great.

4gb 1066 RAM kit

AMD Phenom II Quad Core 3.2ghz

Gigabyte 790FX-UD5P (2XPCIE)

Sapphire ATI HD4890 Vapor 1gb

[volkov956 0]

I have it installed a dual HD setup (XpWin7)Win 7 does seem to run about the same but with a small loss of perf but on vista it runs marginally worse.

But once I introduce 64bit of XP/Vista/Win7 performance and stuttering issues arrise heavily

[Thirdup 0]

This is disappointing. My 8800GTS just went tits-up the other night.

I was going to grab a 5870 for grins (I've never owned a game rig that wasn't powered by nVidia). I was gonna toss Win7 on the machine Friday (from what I gather, XP doesn't support the 5870) and I was gonna go the Win7 64 route.

Now I'm stumped as to what to do.....

[yanquis 10]

?? the same stuff?

btw did arma 2 fry your card? i am sorta convinced it killed my 4850 lol

[Thirdup 0]

btw did arma 2 fry your card? i am sorta convinced it killed my 4850 lol

I updated to the 191.07 drivers.

Rebooted.

Launched ArmA.

Launched Domination on LAN.

Opened the teleport menu.

Lockup.

Hard re-boot....and garbled characters at the boot screens.

Windows won't load with the video drivers installed.

I cleaned the drivers out (CleanSweep, yada-yada). Same issue. Popped in a backup drive. Same issue. Even with no drive connected at all, the boot screens are messed up.

I re-flashed the mobo, cleared the CMOS, re-loaded all the chipset drivers. No joy.

Pulled the card and took it to a shop to bench. Guy said it's history.

I wouldn't say that ArmA fried it (more the damned nVidia drivers IMO). But yeah, it fried with ArmA running......

:(

[Alex72 1]

Im on 8800GTS wich i overclock slightly and running RivaTuner to set the fan to 100% constant as i play.

I never installed the 191.07 though, and wont now until i hear its safe...

Too bad on your card mate. That sucks noodles. :(

[jw custom 56]

I never installed the 191.07 though, and wont now until i hear its safe...

I'm using 191.07 and it's all dandy. I didn't notice any difference going from 191.03 to 191.07 so it's not like your missing anything, thats my experience :)

[Rainmanrainman 10]

I installed Windows 7 yesterday, I got it early, thanks PC World!

Anyway my thoughts are. Why install 32 bit when most people have 64 bit capabilities? Win 7 installed a treat and found all the 64bit drivers needed automatically from Nvidia, Creative even for the Cannon printer, all 64bit drivers nicely installed. My system now recognises all my RAM.

I upgraded from XP, I didn't go down the vista route. I used it at work and it was very annoying. Win 7 though is a revelation. Very smooth.

The original question; does ArmA2 work with Win 7 64bit. Yes, it works a treat. I can't tell if it's any 'better' but it's no worse. I have always had a good experience with ArmA2 though. I have settings on high and the usual 'post process' off. My rig isn't anything super but it runs this game a treat.

Begs the reason for anything other than a dual core for gaming, but that's another topic......

On a side:

I get a WIn 7 experiance score of 6.4 which pretty good.

Processor - Core 2 E6850 3 GHz running at 3.4 GHz - 6.4

Memory - OCZ 4 GB- 6.4

Graphics - 7.2

Gaming graphics - GTX 260- 7.2

Primary hard drive - 7.3

The Win 7 experience is given at the lowest score not the average, not sure why. The score max is 7.9.

The hard drive is a Samsung SSD which I'm only running the OS on. I don't see the point in putting games on it unless you want to see shorter load ups.

Windows boots to desktop in 38 secs and shut-down is around 8 secs.

Should you buy Windows 7, yes. ArmA2 runs well with no problems. Put it on an SSD even if it's the only upgrade you do this year! Oh, and if your processor supports it, use 64 bit!

[shataan 1]

"Why install 32 bit when most people have 64 bit capabilities?"

I agree. Now we are all wondering why this game doesn`t support the 64 bit O/S capabilities.

[Rainmanrainman 10]

Maybe the next generation ArmA will utilise 64 bit. I think with the Windows 7 release more people will choose to install 64 bit. Developers, game, need to realise this though.

[wasserkool 1]

I am using Win 7 64 bits on a VERY VERY MESSED UP SYSTEm and works fine with no crashes except some slowdowns. How messed up is my system? How about changing video cards and a completely different motherboard w/o reformat haha

[logion 10]

This is disappointing. My 8800GTS just went tits-up the other night.

I was going to grab a 5870 for grins (I've never owned a game rig that wasn't powered by nVidia). I was gonna toss Win7 on the machine Friday (from what I gather, XP doesn't support the 5870) and I was gonna go the Win7 64 route.

Now I'm stumped as to what to do.....

I bought a 5850 unknowing that ATI isn't planning on releasing their drivers for windows XP.

I found the folowing drivers however:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/ATI-Catalyst-9.10-Beta--Windows-XP-%2832|64%29-download-2389.html

It works ok, but I suggest switching to windows 7 in the near future because I believe that the drivers for Windows 7 will be better than those for XP and that this will make the balance tilt in favor of windows 7 performance wise.

[mrcash2009 0]

Im on 8800GTS wich i overclock slightly and running RivaTuner to set the fan to 100% constant as i play.

I never installed the 191.07 though, and wont now until i hear its safe...

Too bad on your card mate. That sucks noodles. :(

have 191.07 WHQL in XP32 (see sig) and it runs very nice, was also reluctant becuase I stayed with the early driver that was safe (cant remember rev number now) .. tested all my same settings and used the village sweep mission which I know had some FPS issues all round, runs alot smoother and thats also with mods thrown in too.

On topic I have dual boot vista32/xp32 and ive now stuck with XP32 to play, runs better and chugs less.

Edited October 20, 2009 by mrcash2009

[qwertz 10]

Why install 32 bit when most people have 64 bit capabilities?

Because ArmA 2 (and most other games) is 32bit, there is overhead for the emulation that causes a 2% (in theory) and more than 2% (in reality) performance hit.

On top of that, ArmA 2 is DX9, which needs again to be emulated by a DX10/DX11 native OS.

Don't get me wrong, I love Win7 x64 as my main rig, but I boot into XP32 for ArmA2.

[bangtail 0]

Because ArmA 2 (and most other games) is 32bit, there is overhead for the emulation that causes a 2% (in theory) and more than 2% (in reality) performance hit.

On top of that, ArmA 2 is DX9, which needs again to be emulated by a DX10/DX11 native OS.

Don't get me wrong, I love Win7 x64 as my main rig, but I boot into XP32 for ArmA2.

Win 7 even has CrApple worried (which is why they rushed out Snow Lettuce early).

It really is the best OS that MS has EVER released (I still remember my first experiences with NT 4.0 giving me the same elation) but 7 is far more advanced, obviously.

Eth

Edited October 21, 2009 by BangTail

[Rainmanrainman 10]

It is a good edition, a great edition in fact!

I loved the way I was sat prepared with all my driver disks and Nvidia drives ready to install from my USB stick. What happened, Windows 7 found all the 64 bit drivers for me and installed them!! How frigging excellent is that! I haven't had to install any drivers, cool.

Not only does windows update check for it's own OS updates but checks for all other drivers too.

This is just one thing however after tweeking, ( I have an SSD for the OS), I can boot to desktop in 30 secs, anyway, this is by the by as sleep mode works!

Yes, sleep mode finally works. The system shuts down and just powers the memory, about 1.5 watt (a small bulb). This means a shake of the mouse and a desktop apears in 2 secs, literally.

After coming from XP this is amazing.

[jw custom 56]

After coming from XP this is amazing.

I'm happy with XP it does all i need, and when i don't use my computer i simply shut it down and then it doesn't consume power :p

[Rainmanrainman 10]

Ah, but it does!

Check your power monitor on your PSU!

[jw custom 56]

Ah, but it does!

Check your power monitor on your PSU!

I don't have any 'power monitor' on my PSU. When i shut my pc down the PSU fan stops, i guess it's off then :)

[Yoma 0]

I shut it down and toggle the current off, so it doesn't consume anything at all ;-)

[Rainmanrainman 10]

Tight gits....................:D