Crossfire/SLI or dual GPU Card Arrowhead Issue (4870x2, 5970 etc).

[IndeedPete 1038]

Hm, doesn't work for me. Now the game doesn't use one GPU on 100% but two on 50% each. :rolleyes: So no framerate increase - still around 22... And still only 2 GB Ram in use and the CPU is at 50% load max. Oh, and i don't have sound anymore. :[

[Chill xl 10]

I managed to get crossfire going again, on arma 2, but not for Operation Arrowhead. :(

OA came trough Steam so i couldnt easily rename the exe but i tried the workaround using soft/hard links. Both without succes, the game worked using the name arma2.exe exactly like Maruk suggested. It's just that the profile doesnt kick in.

I have tried several clean installations of drivers and profiles, from 10.4 to 10.6. Not sure where to go from here for OA as i have tried it all as far as i know...

[MuthaF 10]

i can guarantee that CF works with Arma2OA.exe renamed to Arma2.exe, even devs said so already on forums.

As i said, i had OA 1.52, CAT9.4 and 9.6 prfiles under win7 and CF is definitely working with corresponding FPS increase

just to be sure again: dont use -winxp switch under win7, other than that i dont know what could be your problem :(

IndeedPete :

try the -maxMem=2047 -cpuCount=4 -exThreads=7 startup params, should ensure that arma2 uses maximum of your resources (also, notice maxmem limit, its 2GB no matter what you have (doesnt count filecache))

- if you GPUs are both in use and only 50%, that seems to indicate other bottleneck, or power saving in your GPU or the prfile doesnt work correctly for 5xxx series..

Also loosing sound is indicator of a bigger problem me thinks - maybe problem with your onboard shitty soundcard (drivers)? :)

Edited July 2, 2010 by MuthaF

[kyokujitsu 10]

doesnt work for me, my 5970 is running only on one gpu. cat 10.4 or 10.6 doesnt make a difference, crossfire only works if i start arma2oa with -winxp, arma2 works fine tho. also renaming didnt help...

[IndeedPete 1038]

Well, i'll just wait for the official profile then...

[Richey79 10]

Try the beta patch.

Fixed the problems with my 4870 x2.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?p=1667480#post1667480

[lizardmech 10]

Renaming the .exes doesn't work on steam games because of how they are launched. Sadly performance is fairly poor on my 5970 if I play OA as only one gpu is used. It's ATIs fault for not allowing users to force crossfire I guess.

[MuthaF 10]

i give up.

i retested again with my current save position in big city, these combinations:

Arma2 OA 1.52 (no CF)

Arma2 OA 1.52 ran as Arma2.exe (CF used, no FPS boost at all)

Arma2 OA 1.52 + BETA patch (no CF - sorry Richey79 [btw i test with GPUs utilization, not CF logo])

i guess yesterday's benchmark test were biasiad somehow compared to actuall gameplay..or i dont know :)

ALL of them has almost exact results: 22-32 FPS

Arma2 OA 1.52 + BETA patch ran as arma2.exe is the same

Also, why the heck with CF actrive my GPUs run at 50% each only? Now i got the same problem.. damn bugs

Edited July 2, 2010 by MuthaF

[AussieSausage 10]

hey can someone please help me

i got 2 5770's in Xfire right

Arma OA never uses the 2nd card, ive monitored it lots and my 2nd card NEVER hits 1%, the 1st sits on around 60ish

ive tryed renaming ArmA2OA to arma2, but i have OA via steam, and when changing the .exe, steam wont open the damn game

can someone please help me

sad sausage :(

[Chill xl 10]

I got CF running by adding the -winxp to the startup parameters and renaming the .exe with mklink to arma2.exe. However CF at the moment does not really help, it seems to run more or less similar fps only unstable.

Looks like i need to wait for the official profile. I'm expecting that CF in the near future will increase performance in OA for sure as it works already very well for A2.

[AussieSausage 10]

I got CF running by adding the -winxp to the startup parameters and renaming the .exe with mklink to arma2.exe. However CF at the moment does not really help, it seems to run more or less similar fps only unstable.

Looks like i need to wait for the official profile. I'm expecting that CF in the near future will increase performance in OA for sure as it works already very well for A2.

i cant change the damn .exe because steam wont launch it if i do :( :( :(:(

is there any word on an official profile?

this is giving me the shits

[hajimoto 10]

i can guarantee that CF works with Arma2OA.exe renamed to Arma2.exe, even devs said so already on forums.

I think it should be clear, the renaming method does not work with STEAM installed titles. The MKLINK method that I heard about, and tried, does not work either. The only way I can get the Crossfire Water mark to show (indicates Crossfire in use) is to add the -winxp option. Once this option is enabled mouse movement in the menus is horrible and there is no noticeable FPS change.

Has any STEAM user successfully enabled CF on their installation of OA? If so please detail your procedure so we can duplicate your success.

Hajimoto

[MuthaF 10]

Has any STEAM user successfully enabled CF on their installation of OA? If so please detail your procedure so we can duplicate your success.

Hajimoto

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=101615

[minimalaco 30]

Try the beta patch.

Fixed the problems with my 4870 x2.

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?p=1667480#post1667480

drivers ati ??? 10.4 - 10.5 or 10.6 ??

greetings

---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 11:29 PM ----------

thanks BIS! solved the problem with crossfire of ati 4890, now the game runs well, and no longer I have problem of rare pulls.

drivers ATI 10.4, I am going to try with the 10.5

[sethos 2]

drivers ati ??? 10.4 - 10.5 or 10.6 ??

greetings

---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was Yesterday at 11:29 PM ----------

thanks BIS! solved the problem with crossfire of ati 4890, now the game runs well, and no longer I have problem of rare pulls.

drivers ATI 10.4, I am going to try with the 10.5

Stick with the 10.4 - I feel both the 10.5 and 10.6s are very problematic.

[minimalaco 30]

Stick with the 10.4 - I feel both the 10.5 and 10.6s are very problematic.

agree, I remain with 10,4, thanks. and now to play!!! :D

[Joseph Archer 10]

Seems the Beta patch is doing a good job like the 1.50 - 1.52 patch may have done for me with a 5970. :-)

[hajimoto 10]

http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=101615

With all due respect, what does this link have to do with a STEAM user successfully implementing a Crossfire (CF) hardware configuration in ArmA2 Operation Arrowhead??

[SkyDice 10]

Is there any update on this from BIS? It'd be nice if ATI users didn't have to figure this stuff out for ourselves - we just want our game to work with a fairly common set-up! Crossfire on my 5770's makes the game run worse than a single card - there has to be some way of both ensuring that crossfire works *and* actually provides some increase, rather than making it worse, and for Steam users too!

[rexehuk 16]

Never had any issues with CF on the rig in my sig. Only thing I had to do once OA was installed was rename to "Arma2.exe" which can be a pain going back and forth.

ATI CATs = 10.4

Running game @

2048x1152 Resolution

2048x1152 3D Resolution

PP = OFF

AA = LOW

All other settings = VERY HIGH

View Distance 3.5-4k

FPS = 60 solid

---------------------------------------------------

ATI CCC Setting (Goto 3D Section & Click ALL)

SmoothVision HD: AA - Use Application Settings - Box Filter

SmoothVision HD: AF - Use Application Settings

Catalyst AI - Advanced

Mipmap Detail Level - Quality

Wait for vertical refresh (vsync) - Off unless application specifies

Adaptive Anti-Aliasing - Unticked

Triple Buffering - Off

Edited July 4, 2010 by rexehuk

[SkyDice 10]

Never had any issues with CF on the rig in my sig. Only thing I had to do once OA was installed was rename to "Arma2.exe" which can be a pain going back and forth.

ATI CATs = 10.4

Running game @

2048x1152 Resolution

2048x1152 3D Resolution

PP = OFF

AA = LOW

All other settings = VERY HIGH

View Distance 3.5-4k

FPS = 60 solid

---------------------------------------------------

ATI CCC Setting (Goto 3D Section & Click ALL)

SmoothVision HD: AA - Use Application Settings - Box Filter

SmoothVision HD: AF - Use Application Settings

Catalyst AI - Advanced

Mipmap Detail Level - Quality

Wait for vertical refresh (vsync) - Off unless application specifies

Adaptive Anti-Aliasing - Unticked

Triple Buffering - Off

That's just weird. I'm on a similar system:

Core i5 @3.6, 4G DDR3 @ 1333, x2 5770, Cat 10.4

and I get

1920 x 1200 Resolution

1920 x 1200 3D Resolution

PP = OFF

AA = OFF

Video Memory = Very High

All other settings = Normal

View Distance 1600 (default)

FPS = 20-60 variable (20's in heavily wooded/populated/rendered areas), texture pop in when using a single card. With crossfire I get stuttering, truly horrendous flickering in ARMA2 on light transitions (literally blinding), thick gradients on sunrise/set and other light-transitions and other minor graphical glitches. Crossfire in ARMA2 framerate has improved since the latest patch but I still get the blinding flicker, even after trying all the possible HDR settings; I daren't even try it for OA. Our systems are pretty similar, and my CCC is set virtually the same as yours too. How can it be so different? It's not the pc, it's barely a month old!

Can't rename OA as have Steam version, not tried it with A2. Can that really be it, just the renaming? I was convinced it was an ATI compatibility issue, but you're running at that level at stable 60, so I guess that theory goes out the window! :)

[hajimoto 10]

Never had any issues with CF on the rig in my sig. Only thing I had to do once OA was installed was rename to "Arma2.exe" which can be a pain going back and forth.

Rex - When you launch the game do you get the ATI CROSSFIRE X water mark that indicates CF activation?

I am on STEAM and unable to rename the .EXE as STEAM looks for the specific EXE. There is a way to make a dynamic link using a DOS command MLINK YOURGAMEDIRECTORY/ARMA20A.EXE YOURGAMEDIRECTORY/ARMA2.EXE

That will produce a dynamic link that is essentially what is needed to fool STEAM but for some reason it fails. I even used the MLINK /h option which literally produces a copy of the original .exe renamed to ARMA2.EXE

The only way i can get the watermark to show is to use the -winxp switch as a start up parameter. ARMA2 works flawlessly without the -winxp start up switch.

It is my understanding that the renaming of the .EXE is just to fool the catalyst drivers to think it is running ARMA2 and therefore you gain the CF support. Someone please correct me if I have that wrong.

I am at a loss here..... 36 FPS is just not acceptable.

---------- Post added at 12:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 PM ----------

Can't rename OA as have Steam version, not tried it with A2. Can that really be it, just the renaming? I was convinced it was an ATI compatibility issue, but you're running at that level at stable 60, so I guess that theory goes out the window! :)

If you right click on your ATI CCC icon in your task then left click on one of your card then left click on crossfire then tick the "Show CrossfireX Status Icon" show option, you will have a confirmation ICON show in the upper right hand corner of your screen if that title supports CF.

I have ARMA2 on STEAM and it launches fine and displays the CF Icon. As long as you have Catalyst drivers 9.7 and up you will have ARMA2 CF support.

Lemme know if this helps

[rexehuk 16]

Rex - When you launch the game do you get the ATI CROSSFIRE X water mark that indicates CF activation?

Don't need to. Without EXE rename FPS = 20-30, with EXE rename fps = solid 60.

Feel sorry for you buying the steam version for a game like Arma 2, I always avoid it when games have a highly customised nature. All I can say is have fun troubleshooting it :p

Also I saw you were talking about the -winxp parameter... I warn EVERYONE to NOT use it for Arrowhead to enable crossfire (yes it will enable it) as your FPS will be lower than when you started. You also should NOT be using the -winxp command for Arma 2 1.07 as it will revert the fixes from the patch and leave you with dire performance. Only way to enable crossfire properly with OA at the present time is to rename the exe until ATI or BIS support it automatically.

Edited July 5, 2010 by rexehuk

[sethos 2]

I'd kill for 60 FPS solid, renamed .exe, lowering a lot of the options to High and even Medium / disabled and I still won't break 45 in the benchmark. Poor optimization, that's for sure.

[rexehuk 16]

I'd kill for 60 FPS solid, renamed .exe, lowering a lot of the options to High and even Medium / disabled and I still won't break 45 in the benchmark. Poor optimization, that's for sure.

Might sound weird but I found this fix way back when A2 first came out... You should have two HD Audio devices.

Goto Device manager > Sound, Video and game controllers and disable any ATI High Definition Audio Device listed there (Assuming you're not using HDMI audio output).

Since A2 this has prevented some level of stutter... worth a shot if you see them enabled :).