I completely fixed my artifacting / ctd problem... but there is a drawback, need help

[-=JackHorner=- 10]

I was getting constant crash's to the desktop, and a lot of artifacting recently after like ten minutes of game play.

I fixed the problem by switching from default video memory usage in game to very high... no more crashes, no more artifacting... the only problem is that now I get the stuttering, and it takes a while to load textures... with default memory selected everything was silky smooth and everything loaded instantly at around 40 fps.

my gfx card is a gtx 295 with two gpu's on the card and I think a total of 1792 megs of on card ram. I'm pretty sure each gpu has 896 megs, please correct me if im wrong.

I'm running win vista 64, with 12 gigs ram and a 256 gig SSD drive.

click to view

this is my arma2.cfg...

language="English";

adapter=-1;

3D_Performance=-4194304;

Resolution_Bpp=32;

Resolution_W=2560;

Resolution_H=1600;

refresh=60;

Render_W=2560;

Render_H=1600;

FSAA=0;

postFX=1;

HDRPrecision=8;

lastDeviceId="";

localVRAM=2137456640;

nonlocalVRAM=2137456640;

I'm curious if there is a way to tell ArmA2 exactly how much ram to use on my card? Because if I set it to default I am positive it tries to use more than I have, and then it artifacts and crashes.

If I could just sort this out my game would be running beautiful and would be very enjoyable. So please if you have any suggestions I would be very very happy.

I really don't want to have to run this game on the very high video memory setting :(

thanks everyone!

[tcp 10]

I don't know about Nvidia, but for ATI the video memory is not doubled on dual GPU cards, it's mirrored. So even if the card has 896 x 2, its still only 896.

localVRAM is how much RAM is on the video card.

938475520 should be set (896MB-1MB)

nonlocaVRAM is how much system RAM windows sets aside.

It's a much lower value, mine is

123076608 (117.37500 MB)

I have a 1GB ATI 4890, but you should let the game set nonlocalVRAM because I don't know how to figure out how much Windows sets aside.

Make sure you check the temperatures on your Vid Card, artifacts is not a good sign. It's either overheating or incorrectly overclocked.

[-=JackHorner=- 10]

Thank you tcp for helping me. Unfortunately im still out of luck here :( It seems no matter what memory setting I change in the game (low, normal, high, very high, and default) my arma2.cfg file stays the same and shows...

localVRAM=2137456640;

nonlocalVRAM=2137456640;

which means that any number I paste in the file has no impact on how arma2 uses my video memory.

To test this I set my in game memory setting to very high... which never crashes or artifacts.... then I went to my cfg file and pasted the number you gave me (938475520) into it... I then set the file to read only... I went and played the game. I got the same stuttering and slow texture loading... the game never crashed...

then I turned off read only and set my in game memory setting to default.... played the game and it artifacted and crashed.

then I entered the number you gave me again, set the file to read only.... tried playing the game and it artifacted and crashed :(

So this all tells me that I have no control on how the game uses my memory other than by changing the settings in game to low, normal, high, very high, and default... and default is detected incorrectly by the game :(

I cant believe the game doesn't detect my card right, and that I have to use a lower memory option in game, with stuttering and slow loading gfx :(

I really hope Bi is going to address this in the next patch.

Anyway thanks for your help man, if you think of anything else I might be able to do let me know.

[jw custom 56]

Here's some things that have helped other people:

Try the other Video memory settings, Normal to High

Forcing off Vertical Sync

Disable PhysX

-maxmem=2047

-winxp

Disable HT

Set Maximum pre-rendered frames = 8

Try beta patch 59025(or was it 59210 that had better performance, not sure!) -> http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php

It's worth a try if you haven't already tried them.

Edited October 23, 2009 by JW Custom

[.kju 3245]

Set Maximum pre-rendered frames = 8

=>

to 1!

Make sure to have single monitor display active.

[jw custom 56]

Set Maximum pre-rendered frames = 8

=>

to 1!

Make sure to have single monitor display active.

Read somewhere on the forum that setting this to 8 could increase performance. Mine is set on 8 dunno wether it has improved performance or not but ArmA 2 is running very nicely on my box :)

[maddogx 13]

Make sure to have single monitor display active.

He has a GTX295. I've read that only multi-display mode gets the most performance out of those cards. ;)

[liquidpinky 11]

I was getting constant crash's to the desktop, and a lot of artifacting recently after like ten minutes of game play.

I fixed the problem by switching from default video memory usage in game to very high... no more crashes, no more artifacting... the only problem is that now I get the stuttering, and it takes a while to load textures... with default memory selected everything was silky smooth and everything loaded instantly at around 40 fps.

my gfx card is a gtx 295 with two gpu's on the card and I think a total of 1792 megs of on card ram. I'm pretty sure each gpu has 896 megs, please correct me if im wrong.

I'm running win vista 64, with 12 gigs ram and a 256 gig SSD drive.

click to view

this is my arma2.cfg...

language="English";

adapter=-1;

3D_Performance=-4194304;

Resolution_Bpp=32;

Resolution_W=2560;

Resolution_H=1600;

refresh=60;

Render_W=2560;

Render_H=1600;

FSAA=0;

postFX=1;

HDRPrecision=8;

lastDeviceId="";

localVRAM=2137456640;

nonlocalVRAM=2137456640;

I'm curious if there is a way to tell ArmA2 exactly how much ram to use on my card? Because if I set it to default I am positive it tries to use more than I have, and then it artifacts and crashes.

If I could just sort this out my game would be running beautiful and would be very enjoyable. So please if you have any suggestions I would be very very happy.

I really don't want to have to run this game on the very high video memory setting :(

thanks everyone!

The card is in essence Sli and your actual RAM is really only 896MB, it is how SLi is unfortunatly and a lot of people get caught out with thing you add the two together.

They basicaly run in parallel and not series.

[Bulldogs 10]

Read somewhere on the forum that setting this to 8 could increase performance. Mine is set on 8 dunno wether it has improved performance or not but ArmA 2 is running very nicely on my box :)

Setting to 8 usually makes gameplay smoother at lower frame rates, the down side being that it can introduce input lag (slight delay on keystrokes/mouse movement)

[Deadfast 43]

Read somewhere on the forum that setting this to 8 could increase performance. Mine is set on 8 dunno wether it has improved performance or not but ArmA 2 is running very nicely on my box :)

It really comes to down to your computer. Simply the best tactic is to experiment to see which setting fits your PC the best :)

[-=JackHorner=- 10]

Here's some things that have helped other people:

Try the other Video memory settings, Normal to High

Forcing off Vertical Sync

Disable PhysX

-maxmem=2047

-winxp

Disable HT

Set Maximum pre-rendered frames = 8

Try beta patch 59025(or was it 59210 that had better performance, not sure!) -> http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php

It's worth a try if you haven't already tried them.

Thanks for the help. I have tried all of those things unfortunately. :(

As a last option I am thinking of rolling back my nvidia drivers to an earlier release. This artifacting / crashing problem didn't seem to happen as much with those.

He has a GTX295. I've read that only multi-display mode gets the most performance out of those cards. ;)

Yes that is true, the card runs the game at absolute max settings and resolution at around 40 fps and looks stunning on that setting.

The card is in essence Sli and your actual RAM is really only 896MB, it is how SLi is unfortunatly and a lot of people get caught out with thing you add the two together.

They basicaly run in parallel and not series.

Are you sure? Everywhere I have looked they say that there are in fact two sets of 896 megs of ram on the card. 896 megs for each gpu.. It kind of makes sense considering no one would buy a high end card that only had 448 megs of ram when running two displays at once. I could be mistaken, but everywhere I have looked it says theres two sets of physical ram on the card for each gpu.

Edited October 23, 2009 by -=JackHorner=-

[Akilez 10]

AFAIK the SLI system does not add the memory together but operates in a master/slave arrangement where each card does half the work. Each card (or GPU system on a single slot solution like 9800GX2/GTX295) is responsible for rendering half of the 3D image so it is not correct to add the memory together.

So while what you read is correct in that there is two sets of 896MB on that particular card it should be looked at like only one set is working at a time which is why you shouldn't add the numbers together. It is 896MB twice not 896MB times two = 1792MB. I hope that makes sense but bottom line is to not add the numbers together.

Best of Luck

[-=JackHorner=- 10]

AFAIK the SLI system does not add the memory together but operates in a master/slave arrangement where each card does half the work. Each card (or GPU system on a single slot solution like 9800GX2/GTX295) is responsible for rendering half of the 3D image so it is not correct to add the memory together.

So while what you read is correct in that there is two sets of 896MB on that particular card it should be looked at like only one set is working at a time which is why you shouldn't add the numbers together. It is 896MB twice not 896MB times two = 1792MB. I hope that makes sense but bottom line is to not add the numbers together.

Best of Luck

alright thanks for the info, ill keep it in mind when bi fixes the memory settings or gives us an option of defining it manually. :)

Also I got the game working again, Ive been playing all night without a single crash or an episode of artifacting. I turned my memory to default so that I get super smooth texture loading and just turned my texture details to high instead of very high. It doesn't look to bad, and it doesn't crash!!!! I'm pretty happy.