Operation Arrowhead performance optimizations/comparisons

[jonneymendoza 10]

i just got a 480gtx today and i must say i am happy with it. i ran a few benchmarks and i got an average of 56fps with every settings on its highest. i achieved this by disabling HT and OC my cpu i7 920 to 3ghz. made a massive difference from 39fps to 56fps just by doing the above.

---------- Post added at 06:46 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:46 AM ----------

nope.

This is strange, i did another benchmark yesterday with the exact same settings and this time i am only getting 49fps? at first i was getting 35!!! This is because in my shortcut target i had -cpucount 7 and -threads 8. i disabled and removed that and got 49fps. couldnt get it to run at 56fps anymore which was very very strange.

i then disabled v sync manually and it diddnt make much difference. i checked to see if my cpu OC and HT is disabled and it is. whats bizare is that when i downloaded cpu-Z, it was showing me that my cpu is running at 1.8ghz?? yet the BLCK is set to 150(visible from both bios and cpu z) to make my cpu run at 3ghz..

[MavericK96 0]

This is strange, i did another benchmark yesterday with the exact same settings and this time i am only getting 49fps? at first i was getting 35!!! This is because in my shortcut target i had -cpucount 7 and -threads 8. i disabled and removed that and got 49fps. couldnt get it to run at 56fps anymore which was very very strange.

Likely because cpuCount=7 is not what you want to use, you want cpuCount=4. And exThreads=8 is invalid, you probably want exThreads=7.

i then disabled v sync manually and it diddnt make much difference. i checked to see if my cpu OC and HT is disabled and it is. whats bizare is that when i downloaded cpu-Z, it was showing me that my cpu is running at 1.8ghz?? yet the BLCK is set to 150(visible from both bios and cpu z) to make my cpu run at 3ghz..

Regarding this, it's likely that you are using SpeedStep or whatever Intel calls it, that throttles back your CPU when you're not utilizing it fully. Try running a program like prime95 on all cores and then see what CPU-Z says. You can also disable SpeedStep in the BIOS, but it's nice to use for power consumption and heat purposes.

[jonneymendoza 10]

Likely because cpuCount=7 is not what you want to use, you want cpuCount=4. And exThreads=8 is invalid, you probably want exThreads=7.

Regarding this, it's likely that you are using SpeedStep or whatever Intel calls it, that throttles back your CPU when you're not utilizing it fully. Try running a program like prime95 on all cores and then see what CPU-Z says. You can also disable SpeedStep in the BIOS, but it's nice to use for power consumption and heat purposes.

so cpuCount=4. and exThreads=7 should give me a boost again with HT off?

[MavericK96 0]

so cpuCount=4. and exThreads=7 should give me a boost again with HT off?

That's correct, though if HT is off the cpuCount=4 may not affect anything, but it's worth a shot. Also, if you are using the beta (which you earlier said you weren't, but you might give it a try), it automatically sets those parameters for you with a quad-core. ArmA2 1.07 already implements this as well.

[DAS-Problem 10]

im just in a bad mood ...

Edited July 24, 2010 by DAS-Problem

[jonneymendoza 10]

im just in a bad mood ...

so???

[max power 21]

so???

I think he probably went off on a rant and then edited his post after some sober second thought.

[Jacky60 10]

Please send AMD driver team messgae to fix crossfire for Arma 2 OA

http://www.amdsurveys.com/se.ashx?s=5A1E27D27E29B0E3

[frogblastvent 10]

The audio started to cut out while playing arma2. It is 2 speaker plus sub that was connected to the RL audio jack. The usb for the speakers was plugged into another computer and the two computers shared the speakers for years no problem.

I switched the plugs so the pc now has the usb plug and the mac has the audio jack. Everything is fine now even with 128 channels. It is a usb 3 plug so it provides more power.

The interesting thing is my fps went up a few fps. And the screen has less jerkyness. It is not at all that jerky to begin with.

After reading about audio problems other people were having in games they tend to find that getting a audio pci card helps with fps on slower cpus.

[Jacky60 10]

Increased virtual memory size from 10 to 20GB as per hardware spec on box. 10gb on vertex 2, 10gb on WD 500 7200 rpm. Now all is good.

Suggest increase virtual memory (remember this game can often only address 1.5 gb system memory therefore virtual memory on 2 or 3 drives helps or appears to). Only 2 fps between 10.3's and 10.7. All very high apart from shadows =high -view distance 3000-54fps. 1500- 58fps. Increasing page file

[Pranne 10]

Is somebody out there which machine performs one day ok, and the other day it is stuttering, despite no changes in the startup parameters?

I have this problem and i think it has do to with my CPU...??

I can see right after launching the game in the start sequences with the menu in the foreground...if the scenes are running smooth, its ok, but sometimes it is stuttering every 2-3 seconds....strange thing.

[katdogfizzow 13]

I was having some studdering too... cpuCount=4 and exThreads=7 with force vsync off seemed to do the trick. Thanks

Running very smooth now

Memory (RAM): 12280 MB

CPU Info: Intel® Core i7 CPU 930 @ 2.80GHz

CPU Speed: 2804.8 MHz

Display Adapters: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285

Screen Resolution: 1920 X 1200 - 32 bit

Motherboard: ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6X58D PREMIUM

[Qxs 10]

OA DEMO only: Discovered I'm CPU limited!

AMD OverDrive Util: reduced the CPU multiplier dopped my fps by a comparable ratio.

(Athlon x2 5000+ 2.60Ghz)

It also shows my ATI 5750 1GB running at 30% when I'm running ~20-25fps (DEMO, Desert, Generated city 100 buildings, large spacing, 7v7: 1 Player + 13 AI - fun battle actually)

I also confirmed this by underclocking the ATI card using the Catalyst Overdrive util...

lol... so I guess I'll be CPU shopping soon.. =D

The real interesting question is if I had the CPU power, could I push ~80fps out of this ATI card... or would I simply discover a different bottleneck... assuming the math works that way.. which it probably doesn't..

Would LOVE to hear from 5750 or 5770 owners, what is your GPU doing in the following:

Activity in ATI Overdrive (after a quick alt-tab to catch it before it drops back to 0%)

AMD Overdrive util

[Mudkip 0]

^^

I had a similar system, Athlon X2 5000+ and 9800 GTX+. My CPU was a huge bottleneck too, I overclocked the CPU to 3.2 GHz and gained a huge FPS increase.

Then I upgraded to an Athlon X4 635. Now my GPU is a bottleneck, there is no framerate difference between the CPU at 2.9 GHz and 3.4 GHz.

[MavericK96 0]

Athlon X2 5000+ is an old CPU, so this isn't really surprising.

You ideally want like 3.5+ GHz for this game, quad-core if possible.

[miles teg 1]

I have a quad-core and an older computer with AMD Athalon 4000+ dual cores, less memory, and an older 8800FT video card. That old computer runs OA faster for some reason.

So something is definitely screwy with OA. Yeah I did the CPU code stuff and all that.

At any rate, I'm happy playing it on the old computer however the main problem I'm having is that the game will run smooth as butter for like 3 missions, but then the frame rates gradually start to decrease and decrease until its unplayable even on the smallest map and simplest mission done on the mission editor. It's like there is a memory leak or something. Because of this I can't play MP games online without first rebooting my computer (which clears it up).

Any ideas why it might be doing this? I had this problem with stock ArmAII but only after like 20 missions or so.

So something's definitely changed in OA. Very frustrating.

I'd really like to recommend OA to friends but can't until these issues are taken care of.

[recon 7185 10]

Ok so I recently returned my AMD setup and built the following...

i7 930 @ 4.11ghz

6 gigs ddr3 1600

gtx 480

x58 LE mobo

WD Caviar Black 500gig

1920x1080 resolution

Windows 7 64bit

Can I run this game on very high? What kind of tweaks do I need to make to do it if I can? And does anyone else here have a similar setup that can tell me what they are getting. I am thinking of taking off the shelf and trying it on my new system...

[jonneymendoza 10]

Ok so I recently returned my AMD setup and built the following...

i7 930 @ 4.11ghz

6 gigs ddr3 1600

gtx 480

x58 LE mobo

WD Caviar Black 500gig

1920x1080 resolution

Windows 7 64bit

Can I run this game on very high? What kind of tweaks do I need to make to do it if I can? And does anyone else here have a similar setup that can tell me what they are getting. I am thinking of taking off the shelf and trying it on my new system...

Yea I have a similar pc and I get 30-70 fps else with everything set to its highest except view distance at around 2k and pp on low as it looks crap on high.

[recon 7185 10]

Yea I have a similar pc and I get 30-70 fps else with everything set to its highest except view distance at around 2k and pp on low as it looks crap on high.

Ye postprocessing looks terrible on high. Is your fps that you gave me in single player or multi? Also, do you have hyperthreading and what version are you using? Thanks

[ast65 10]

I don´t get it... I think the game (especially OA) looks fantastic with pp on very high.

[MavericK96 0]

A lot of people just aren't a fan of the overall "blur" effect. Makes it sort of hard to discern targets in the distance, for me anyway.

[recon 7185 10]

So I installed it and I get about 42 fps on the first few missions and about 34 in the mission in the city that you run into the sniper in the begining. Settings are all vhigh except aa on low, shadows high and pp low. 2400 view distance with 1920x1080 resolution. Are these normal framerates with a gtx 480? Detailed rig is a few posts above.

[MavericK96 0]

Sounds about right. In the campaign you're always going to get some slowdown.

[Albert Schweitzer 10]

So I installed it and I get about 42 fps on the first few missions and about 34 in the mission in the city that you run into the sniper in the begining. Settings are all vhigh except aa on low, shadows high and pp low. 2400 view distance with 1920x1080 resolution. Are these normal framerates with a gtx 480? Detailed rig is a few posts above.

Sounds pretty okay. However what counts is not the average Framerate. This is always painting the wrong picture of the overal perceived performance. You should concentrate on the lows/valleys of FPS. If your Frames sometimes drop down to an unacceptable low then this would be a reason to change something. (sometimes even 20FPS can feel acceptable)

Just as a recommendation: I dont think shadows on high is necessary. I would rather trade more AA for it. Most people also have pp disabled. Also viewdistance could be reduced by 400-600 metres for infantry missions. But in the end this is your personal decision and only depends on your likings.

One final note: the way you set the mouse settings also has a tremendous impact on how you perceive the performance. I put floating, head shaking and mouse flatting (are these the correct terms in english) to zero!

Edited August 5, 2010 by Albert Schweitzer

[puzzola 10]

Hi, I messed up with the config file and now have to choose some settings.

I would like to know the relevance of this parameters

language="Italian";

adapter=-1;

3D_Performance=48387;93750

Resolution_Bpp=32;

Resolution_W=1280;

Resolution_H=1024;

refresh=75;

Render_W=1280;

Render_H=1024;

FSAA=2;

postFX=1;

HDRPrecision=8;

lastDeviceId="";

localVRAM=1064247296;1073741824

nonlocalVRAM=1543073792;123076608

winX=16;

winY=32;

winW=1280;

winH=1024;

winDefW=1280;

winDefH=1024;

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1000;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=3;2

Windowed=0;

I installed the game (ArmAII only) on two OS on the same machine.

The red values are detected on XP pro 32 bit, The others are common or related to Win7 enterprise 64bit.

I made some benches but did't appreciate difference.

What then if I fix refresh rate at 60?

I prefer Xp for better FPS, with 7 I gain quik loading and maybe less stutter.

Then in default config, I have reder 1440 x 900 (but I have 5:4 LCD display).

I would like to set manually the bold values if they make some difference.

Any suggestion?

Thanks

Edited August 6, 2010 by puzzola