Is it really that hard to run smoothly?

[Churrsauce 10]

Hello there,

Sorry if this thread seems a tad pointless. But is this game really as hard to run as soooo many people say it is? Im expecting my new pc soon and theres no other game i want to play more then arma 2, but as each day passes i seem to be getting this horrible feeling like "Nooo the pc is not going to be good enough" or "Nooo you'll have to play with everything on low and itll look like one fugly motherfuggler". Looking through the 'Will my PC Run this? What CPU/GPU to get? What settings? System Specifications.' thread has given me mixed feelings. I read one page and get all excited because someone has a pc with specs not as good as mine and is running it as smooth as silk and then i get cut down on the next page because someone with a super computer is complaining about how horribly optimized the game is. Its pathetic how worried this makes me...but geesh, this game looks so god damn fun!!!!

These are the basic components i know will be part of the pc, im only a kid and while I like to think i know alot of pcs, im just taking stabs in the dark 99% of the time.

# 2.66Ghz Intel Core i7-920 processor

# 6GB DDR2 Ram

# 2 x PC Partner Radeon HD4850 1Gb DDR3 (Crossfire) 2GB Total

# Windows 7

# 20 inch monitor

Its the best my parents can afford with interest free and generous finance deals. I wanted to build one...but what the hey it doesnt look to bad! :). I was feeling pretty good about it until i started reading poor motherboards bottlenecking performance etc. so im just worried all over again lmao.

Im starting to think that perhaps im just reading up to much on this game. Hell you should see how many 'arma 2 tweaking guides' are in my bookmark folder. Now when it comes to high frame rates and running games smoothly on my current rig, well lets just say sollitaire nearly blows it up lol. Ive evolved into accepting 10-20 fps so if i can even get that on arma 2 ill be happy!.

Now there are alot of people out there (Hell im one of them now) who make threads about pcs not being able to run this game. But i want to hear from all you folkes who are currently running this game just fine and cant get enough! It looks badass! Maybe i just need to shut the hell up and wait until i get my pc. (Dont use that quote against me to often please.) Soo lets start jotting down all the positives just to make feel good!! Baha.

[[frl]myke 14]

I don't think you have to worry about with these specs. But i'm wondering why you've choosen a Crossfire setup with 2 HD4850. I would have recommended a single HD5850. Comparable in price & performance with your choice but without the problems a Crossfire setup can bring up (micro-stuttering). And it doesn't have 2GB Vid Ram although they're physically there. As both GPU's has to render the same screens, both needs the same data and they can't share it so they have to keep both exactly the same dataset in memory. So it is redundant and usable memory is still 1GB (which is enough anyway, just let hanging the smartass out :p).

About your concerns of low performance and reading about peoples complaints...well, it's always a question of what they expect and how properly theyr system is set up.

If you expect 50FPS+ with everything on very high and viewdistance 10km, well then you'll be disapointed. But if you can be happy with playable framerates and Normal+ settings and a moderate viewdistance (between 2 and 3km, no need to look farther than you can shoot) you should be satisfied with your chosen system.

[Churrsauce 10]

I don't think you have to worry about with these specs. But i'm wondering why you've choosen a Crossfire setup with 2 HD4850. I would have recommended a single HD5850. Comparable in price & performance with your choice but without the problems a Crossfire setup can bring up (micro-stuttering). And it doesn't have 2GB Vid Ram although they're physically there. As both GPU's has to render the same screens, both needs the same data and they can't share it so they have to keep both exactly the same dataset in memory. So it is redundant and usable memory is still 1GB (which is enough anyway, just let hanging the smartass out :p).

About your concerns of low performance and reading about peoples complaints...well, it's always a question of what they expect and how properly theyr system is set up.

If you expect 50FPS+ with everything on very high and viewdistance 10km, well then you'll be disapointed. But if you can be happy with playable framerates and Normal+ settings and a moderate viewdistance (between 2 and 3km, no need to look farther than you can shoot) you should be satisfied with your chosen system.

Thanks for the reply, about the 4850's: I had to settle for a factory built pc from a store here in New Zealand just because my parents needed the interest free and financing. So i pretty much just have to put up with what they give me. And compared to all the other systems available from such stores, its the best i could hope for. I know some online stores offer support for such things but its just easier for my parents to do it this way and considering they would be happy with a $800 notebook, i cant complain ;). Yeah while 50 fps sounds nice, im not expecting anything like that. Like i said ive adapted to low fps so im pretty sure itll be all good. Again, thanks for the reply :).

Edited January 3, 2010 by Churrsauce

[cm. 10]

Yes, defiantely go for a single 5850 rather than crossfired 4850's. Will greatly simplify your setup and you won't have all the random CF issues.

[celery 8]

Double GPU is always a waste of money compared to a better single card.

[jw custom 56]

That rig is very similar to mine and it runs perfectly(WinXP 32Bit SP2).

Also notice that Win7 could cause problems for ArmA 2 though some people doesn't seem to have them!

[Churrsauce 10]

Thanks for all the info. Tis a shame i have to settle for the xfired 4850's, but oh well, i think ill survive ;). Once the warranty has passed (1 year i think) theres nothing stopping me from opening the case and chucking in a new video card. (Well, i dont think there is.)

[TimRiceSE 10]

you should try talk to the store, they would probably be happy to change the package for you a little bit and get a 5850 instead of 2x 4850's

[Inkompetent 0]

Heck, I'm running at a single ATI HD4850 1GB and I have quite decent graphics settings (3000m view distance, PP and AA off, medium or higher on everything else), usually staying at 25fps or more, and I'm at a far older system than you have (Core2Duo E6750@2.8GHz, 2GB DDR2 RAM, WinXP Pro 32bit). Even though it'll be the bottleneck of your system it hardly stops ArmA2 from playing well, even if you don't get Crossfire to work like you want it to :)

[sic-disaster 311]

Note though that when running custom maps your fps will generally be higher then when you are on Chernarus, the official map.

And there sure are some great custom ones, like Isla Duala in Africa, Panthera in Slovenia, Podagorsk, Japahto etc etc. which all look terrific, and have better performance to boot.

[gabe_ruckus 5]

That rig's comparable to my laptop, and I don't have any problems with Arma2. Even chernarus runs pretty smoothly with a 2750 meter view distance, so you should be fine. Nice thing about it being a desktop is you could always swap out the video cards when your budget allows.

[Herbal Influence 10]

Here - a far less ambitious rig runs perfectly smooth ... so what.

Maybe it's the guilty conscience that hinders Intels to perform how they could. ;-)

[TimRiceSE 10]

Here - a far less ambitious rig runs perfectly smooth ... so what.

Maybe it's the guilty conscience that hinders Intels to perform how they could. ;-)

No offense, but why do you keep posting shite about intel every possible opportunity? AMD Fanboy?

[-RIP- Luhgnut 10]

No offense, but why do you keep posting shite about intel every possible opportunity? AMD Fanboy?

maybe because intel is notorious for intentionally downclocking their processors and locking them down through the bios on factory built boxes.

[Zipper5 74]

Fanboism for Intel vs AMD is something I never thought I'd see on this forum. Guess 2010 will be a year of firsts.

[TimRiceSE 10]

Luhgnut;1533582']maybe because intel is notorious for intentionally downclocking their processors and locking them down through the bios on factory built boxes.

my point was more about how its pretty irrelevant for this topic.

[Churrsauce 10]

Woot, confidence achieved.

Hmmm, I think they actually order the pc in from the factory tomorrow so perhaps there's a chance that they'll get me a 5850 instead, hopefully they're still feeling some Xmas spirit :). Thanks again for all your replies.

P.s. Oh and sorry if it sounds stupid but if I was going to ask the store for a 5850 what one should i ask for? There seems to be endless variations so if someone could give me an idea of a good one? Cheers. (Oh, it's got to be round the same price as dual 4850's, but it looks like most of them are:). )

Edited January 3, 2010 by Churrsauce

[TimRiceSE 10]

pretty much any 1gb Radeon 5850, theyre all reference design atm - afaik, so are practically identicle.

[Churrsauce 10]

pretty much any 1gb Radeon 5850, theyre all reference design atm - afaik, so are practically identicle.

I'll just ask em for a 1GB Radeon 5850 :).

Ty Ty

---------- Post added at 09:56 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:16 AM ----------

Another question sorry,

I'm wondering whether or not I should get the 5850 or the 4890? The 4890 looks like a bit of a beast and I've been reading around that it performs on par with the 5850 in arma 2. I'm really no expert though so I'm not to sure.

[TimRiceSE 10]

http://www.hardware.fr/medias/photos_news/00/27/IMG0027091.gif

According to that, 5850 is between 10% (lowest settings) to 50% (highest AA settings) faster than 4890 in ArmA2. That answer the question? :) The 4890, being last generation, will be cheaper than 5850 though.

[Churrsauce 10]

http://www.hardware.fr/medias/photos_news/00/27/IMG0027091.gif

According to that, 5850 is between 10% (lowest settings) to 50% (highest AA settings) faster than 4890 in ArmA2. That answer the question? :) The 4890, being last generation, will be cheaper than 5850 though.

Looks like that does answer the question. Thanks. Just reading about all these problems with arma 2 and crossfire and just crossfire in general means I'll definately be asking to change card. Looking at prices in $NZD the 5850 is around $450 which is just a tad more then 2x4850 's. Thanks for the advice!

[Yoma 0]

If you try launching Arma 2 through my tool, does it tell you to disable hyperthreading?

If it does: disable hyperthreading in bios. You'll be amazed.

[thedudesam 10]

Na this game runs fine, and as far as im concerned it's optimized very well considering how good it looks.

I have a 4870 and it runs fine.

[Churrsauce 10]

Na this game runs fine, and as far as im concerned it's optimized very well considering how good it looks.

I have a 4870 and it runs fine.

Cool, sounds good.

[Nazul 10]

How much are you(they) paying for that in NZ? Just curious to compare with AU prices.

Wish my parents would buy me something :P