How to fix Performance

[DeclaredEvol 10]

[steps to fix ArmA 2's Performance]

1. Start ArmA 2 or any other game you desire

2. Start task manager and minimize ArmA 2

3. Check to make sure not many un-needed processes are running

4. Those of processes running with higher priority than other's turn to normal or lower.

5. Then change the Affinity Rate to ALL cores

6. Then the biggest step is to make ArmA 2's Priority Rate Very High

"The reason for these steps is because ArmA 2 takes up more resources than the computer is native to giving. The priority rate is basically telling the computer how many resources you want the computer to give it. The higher the priority the greater your resources are being dedicated to this one process. Now, it may seem to some people that the more processes the worse the game will play. But in fact, that isn't totally true. The game would only lose a little bit of performance from that. And the game is only wanting more resources from the main computer it self, and not other processes."

Edited July 19, 2010 by DeclaredEvol

[sidhellfire 0]

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Instead doing what he wrote above, just make sure no other application/process is eating up your resources.

[DeclaredEvol 10]

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Instead doing what he wrote above, just make sure no other application/process is eating up your resources.

Incorrect sidhellfire, I made it so only Microsoft processes start up. Nothing else is running but ArmA2.exe etc. The priority of ArmA 2 must be set to Very High. Because the computer is most likely giving you little resources to play it. For those who are absolutely fine with this, I am probably sure you've already got it set up this way.

[mcarma 19]

Most of those normal system process aren't doing much most of the time.

---------- Post added at 08:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:09 PM ----------

Incorrect sidhellfire, I made it so only Microsoft processes start up. Nothing else is running but ArmA2.exe etc. The priority of ArmA 2 must be set to Very High. Because the computer is most likely giving you little resources to play it. For those who are absolutely fine with this, I am probably sure you've already got it set up this way.

Can you list the processes you did away with so we can try the same senerio? I have about 50 processes running.

[DeclaredEvol 10]

On my computer it seems to have trouble any how. I have a AMD Phenom ii x4 965, and it runs like a beast. There was nothing I did more than to set the priority to Very High in task manager. And it ran some of the most biggest battles you could put in-game. Probably some with over 1,000 AI. BTW, re-read what the steps are. And my reasons for the Priority Rate.

Edited July 19, 2010 by DeclaredEvol

[MavericK96 0]

I'd like to see some actual performance numbers from this versus not doing it.

[InFireBaptize 0]

i have tried all that, i found out that the best remedy is lowering your 3D resolution to 80% by doing that i put the other settings to high/very hight. except for terrain, PP,AA,AAA *low* VD 2040 *more than what i need* and i actually love the graphics better than 100% 3D.

[DeclaredEvol 10]

Well, originally I tried it without bumping the priority up and it was so bad I couldn't even play with about 20 bots haha. But I can imagine that there other ways to fix performance, but this is mainly dedicated towards memory usage and cpu. It really should help those of you who have great computers all around. But for the most odd reasons ArmA 2 wouldn't be running at the FPS rate it should. My rates we're around 10 or 15 and then when I put my priority up I got up to 30 to 40 or sometimes more frames per second. I advise that you try these methods, but if you want to see a video of me doing it first that would be fine. But none of the things I told you are going to harm your computer what so ever, the only thing it is doing is just telling what the computer needs to concentrate on.

Edited July 19, 2010 by DeclaredEvol

[ast65 10]

Isn´t that basically the same as "running as admin" under Win 7?

[DeclaredEvol 10]

Haha, what??? Running as Admin doesn't do anything concerning performance, maybe letting you control files etc. But I have already stated to reasons of setting your priority. Because the computer originally gives each process a limited amount of resources from your quad core and memory. And the higher the priority the more cpu and memory is threaded and optimized for the process you are wanting to run.

[LondonLad 13]

I use a freeware program called 'Game Booster' to shut down unneccessary services.

It's very simple to use, especially for the novice user.

URL: http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

[pauliesss 2]

Or you can check:

http://www.blackviper.com/

There you can find all services you can disable or set to manual but also services you should not turn off.

For example, Windows 7 Service configuration:

http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm

Windows XP x86 (32-bit) Service configuration:

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

[MavericK96 0]

I use a freeware program called 'Game Booster' to shut down unneccessary services.

It's very simple to use, especially for the novice user.

URL: http://www.iobit.com/gamebooster.html

I've used this program but I never saw any real performance increase in ArmA2. How much of an increase do you get?

[MJK-Ranger 0]

Another impotent thing to do is to disable your Antivirus for scanning your arma2/OA folders.(Real time scan) :)

[OrdeaL 10]

[steps to fix ArmA 2's Performance]

1. Start ArmA 2 or any other game you desire

2. Start task manager and minimize ArmA 2

3. Check to make sure not many un-needed processes are running

4. Those of processes running with higher priority than other's turn to normal or lower.

5. Then change the Affinity Rate to ALL cores

6. Then the biggest step is to make ArmA 2's Priority Rate Very High

"The reason for these steps is because ArmA 2 takes up more resources than the computer is native to giving. The priority rate is basically telling the computer how many resources you want the computer to give it. The higher the priority the greater your resources are being dedicated to this one process. Now, it may seem to some people that the more processes the worse the game will play. But in fact, that isn't totally true. The game would only lose a little bit of performance from that. And the game is only wanting more resources from the main computer it self, and not other processes."

Is there anyway to make so Every time you started OA it is still set to Priority Rate Very High instead of having to alt tab at the start everytime you play?

[Grizzle 0]

Is there anyway to make so Every time you started OA it is still set to Priority Rate Very High instead of having to alt tab at the start everytime you play?

There is a small program you can DL that will do this for you: http://www.prnwatch.com/prio.html

[bensdale 0]

Or use the arma launcher from CptArmA2 ;)

Direct download: http://arma2.paro-technology.com/

BI Forum thread: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=81060

you can set the Priority Rate under "start parameters"

Edited July 20, 2010 by bensdale

[OrdeaL 10]

Thanks for the program Grizzle worked a treat!

[5133p39 14]

Is there anyway to make so Every time you started OA it is still set to Priority Rate Very High instead of having to alt tab at the start everytime you play?

You can use the windows start command to do this.

[bensdale 0]

Or you can check:

http://www.blackviper.com/

There you can find all services you can disable or set to manual but also services you should not turn off.

For example, Windows 7 Service configuration:

http://www.blackviper.com/Windows_7/servicecfg.htm

Windows XP x86 (32-bit) Service configuration:

http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm

i have found a nice tool for the Win service configuration (smart utility):

http://www.thewindowsclub.com/smart-a-utility-for-tweaking-windows-7-vista-xp-services

the tool use the same settings from the blackviper page. Only one click and finish ;)

[Peonza 10]

Dont do any effect to me. Either with lots of AI, either without it. This may help if you have lots of trash running on your PC , sucking resources allready

[suma 8]

If your system is working properly, increasing ArmA 2 priority has no sense. System and background services are normally not using more than a few percent of CPU time, and given you have two or more cores and ArmA 2 is never using all of them 100 %, there should be no effect.

If you see any effect of increasing the priority (do you? Show the numbers), than it probably means there is some process eating way more CPU time than it should. You should identify such process from Task manager and uninstall or fix it.

There might be some effect on Vista or newer OS, as with it process priority affects not only CPU, but disk access as well, but again, background services should normally use disk very sparingly.

[bono_lv 10]

Just tested this method. Zero increase in performance. Even with forced V-sync off.

[MavericK96 0]

Just tested this method. Zero increase in performance. Even with forced V-sync off.

About what I expected.

Not to disrespect the OP or anything, but people should really post before-and-after results in the form of FPS numbers/screenshots/whatever to validate their claim with these snake-oil performance "boosts".

[DeclaredEvol 10]

Haha, well this might be because my computer automatically set ArmA 2 to a low priority. And wasn't giving anything to it, maybe you guys have enough resources to play the game already. But once I fixed it, I was able to go from 30-40 AI etc, to around 1,000-2,000 AI. Btw, after I posted a reply to Bohemia Interactive I had got a virus some how off of the website. And my entire computer can't find any .exe's now. So basically I am going to have to use Linux until I can get Windows 7 installed again. So if you guys are going to need at help doing things, I am not really going to be around.