BrunoDerRabe

Did you try the msconfig trick on your system? Would be interesting, , if this workaround does help you. Have a look here please: http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73232&page=7 Easy to recognize the impact on the detected VRAM. Because my system is very different I can´t give you an advice of the value to set in the advanced startup options of the msconfig for the amount of RAM. Wich NVIDIA driver version do you use? Changing your memory settings in the CFG file to 1792MB doesn´t help, because it will be overwritten by the game. Intel Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz OC**************AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz 4GB DDR2-1066@933MHz**************4GB DDR2-1066 1 260GTX **************************2 260GTX in SLI X-Fi Xtreme Gamer*******************Onboard Sound Realtek High Definition Audio Asus P5N72-T Premium****************Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition********PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition Windows Vista 64 Ultimate*************Windows 7 RC1 64-bit ArmA2 (1.02), BIOS, drivers and OS are up to date

@ ethne Hi ethne, may I ask you wich PSU does the job in your TRIPLE SLI? Thank you :-) .... Arma2 is played here with Track IR and the resolution set at 1920*1200 - memory and GPU´s are swapped as needed between the 2 PCs Intel Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz OC**************AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz 4GB DDR2-1066@933MHz**************4GB DDR2-1066 1 260GTX **************************2 260GTX in SLI X-Fi Xtreme Gamer*******************Onboard Sound Realtek High Definition Audio Asus P5N72-T Premium****************Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition********PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition Windows Vista 64 Ultimate*************Windows 7 RC1 64-bit

Thank you for the info BigSlongsDaddy! Works fine, just for the sake of it I did compare the above with using the rename to crysis trick. Here in the arma folder I do keep now to arma2.exe ( one renamed to crysis.exe ), using the two for a direct comparision, without the need to rename again and again while comparing. Using two 260GTX in SLI with the driver version 186.18 nearly all settings maxed out, just keeping the view distance to 3860m , shodows and postprocess ``only`` on high, resolution 1920*1200, the optimisation on 125%, in my opinion the high gras in the swamp for example, looks more real with arma.exe renamed to crysis.exe, using the standard crysis SLI profile. If you want to check your grafic setting on a server feel free to use the 16AAB public server, while running the superpowers on it everything is maxed out ( to enable very high for landscape details view distance is set to 3860m again , terrain grid ( server setting ) is 10 (the maximum). Arma2 is played here with Track IR AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz 4GB DDR2-1066 2 260GTX in SLI Onboard Sound Realtek High Definition Audio Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi Windows 7 RC1 64-bit ArmA2 (1.02), BIOS, drivers and OS are up to date

Thank you, just want to save the people using 8 GB of RAM and having problems to get lost here in the estimated 130 or more posts.

@-s!Gm4- I do not understand why people refuse to use this workaround. Using ``only´´ 7680 MB of avaible 8192 MB is not such a big deal, on the bright side of it you can use the latest drivers with the latest enhancements. :bounce3: :bounce3: :bounce3:

Hi all, I understand that it takes some time to read all the posts here in this threat. I do see people still looking for help. Yes, the 8GB problem with the newer driverversions ( NVIDIA 186.18 ) still exists, just want to confirm that. Folks, I did spend lots of time with debuging this issue - and weeks ago I found invent the workaround setting the RAM in the advanced startup settings of the msconfig to the value of 7680MB - bringing the best results, as it is confirmed by other forumusers. Why not using this workaround for now? As a reminder, if you change the value of the RAM in your msconfig to 7680MB, don´t have a look in the msconfig after the restart, use the taskmanager instead. Check the total amount of total physical memory there. It might be around 6655MB, wich is O.K. . Using the NVIDIA 186.18 driver with altering the amount of RAM to 7680MB in the msconfig solves the problem and will give you best results in level of details and performance using 8GB RAM.

Please have a look into the post 8GB bug... limit your RAM to 7680MB in the msconfig might solve your problem.... http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?t=73232&page=9

After changing the limit of the memory to 7680 MB via msconfig, reboot, and DON´T check the amount you have choosen in the msconfig itself, you will always find some number there as you mentioned 3000 something, that´s just an suggestion by windows for a reboot with limited RAM( would fit 32Bit applications ) - better have a look into your taskmanager, the total amount of physical RAM is your point of interest. For me it counts 6655 MB. Wich is good. :bounce3:

You can try the trick to fool the NVIDIA GPU driver with renaming the arma2.exe into crysis.exe (it recognize crysis.exe has been started instead of arrma2.exe) wich doesn´t provide a SLI profile for arma2.exe yet - with the rename trick the driver will use the crysis SLI profile for the ArmA2 game if SLI is enabled. :cool:

The idea is to avoid the bug , but to use more than just 4GB of the total installed 8GB RAM while playing ArmA2 1.02 with the NVIDEA 186.18 driver as you might have to cope with while using other workarounds, if they work at all. On my Windows 7RC1 the peak of RAM for a good result to set in the advanced startoptions is 7680 MB. If you add more, the direction changes very soon and it will turn around into a disadvantage. As a result VRAM detection screws up. You DON`T have to change the value of VRAM in the ArmA2`s config. This is done by the game, depending on the amount of reported RAM. THe VRAM value in the test #detected localVRAM=2117459969# is the result of choosing the amount of 7680 MB in the advanced startoptions in the msconfig . With this setting the taskmanager reports after a reboot 6835MB total physical memory ( in the testresults above ). Because the detected localVRAM=2023088129 and nonlocalVRAM is 2147483647 in my config with above settings (7680 MB , taskmanager now shows 6655MB of total physical memory ) I am not going to change it soon. Depending on the choosen amount of RAM in MB in the advanced startoptions of the msconfig, the reported MB of total physical memory shown in the taskmanager will be different, this all is managed by the OS. The VRAM detection of the application ArmA2 1.02 depends on the above settings. According to them the amount of detected VRAM is reported to the config of ArmA2. That means you can check via the config (detected localVRAM=? after ending the game) if you have set an amount of RAM to start Windows Vista/7RC1 with, without spoiling the VRAM detection of your so loved game. Does the bug strike you at all? Did you check the VRAM in the config? For Nvidia users it depends on the driverversion. Please read last posts. Best you try it youself and please tell us the results. Detailed info about the used PC and ATI driverversion is always helpfull. @Desert Thanks mate, I have tried that all and more ;-) ... The -winxp parameter in the ArmA2 shortcut doesn´t work on this rig. I also wanted to narrow down the source of it. ---------- Post added at 11:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:07 PM ---------- @ Suma Thank you for the recognition. :bounce3: My pleasure.

THE SOLUTION 8GB on Windows7 RC1 NVIDEA 186.18 2 260GTX in SLI AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz were used for the test The reward of using the up to date NVIDEA 186.18 version with an higher amount of RAM is a performance increase and a better imagequality COMPARED to the driverversion NVIDEA 182.50 . msconfig 4096MB = shows after reboot 3071MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=924581888 msconfig 6144MB = shows after reboot 5119MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=1217781761 msconfig 7168MB = shows after reboot 6143MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=1754652673 msconfig 7424MB = shows after reboot 6399MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=1888870401 msconfig 7680MB = shows after reboot 6835MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=2117459969 msconfig 7804MB = shows after reboot 6779MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=2088099841 msconfig 7936MB = shows after reboot 6911MB in the taskmanager detected localVRAM=4911104= NOT GOOD With the value of 4069MB for systemstart via msconfig an amont of total 3GB physical memory only are shown in the performance tab of the taskmanager. With the value of 6144MB for systemstart via msconfig an amont of total 5GB physical memory only are shown in the performance tab of the taskmanager. With the value of 7168MB for systemstart via msconfig an amont of total 6GB physical memory only are shown in the performance tab of the taskmanager. With the value of max. memory for systemstart via msconfig an amont of total 8GB physical memory are shown in the performance tab of the taskmanager. It looks like that decreasing the amount of RAM via msconfig to a lower value than the installed 8GB makes sure that 1GB is hidden somewhere, and ArmA2 and the new driverversions team up correctly. With other games the 8GB is no issue, so I think the new drivers have seen a change somehow to handle the growing amount of Memory, but it and/or the OS change the handling of it with 8GB detected and on top of that ArMA2 delivers not the nessecery ignition to OS/ drivers as they desire like other games do. Time to see the mechanic ;-) ..... language="German"; adapter=-1; 3D_Performance=100000; Resolution_Bpp=32; Resolution_W=1920; Resolution_H=1200; refresh=60; Render_W=2400; Render_H=1500; FSAA=4; [manualy edited by me - with patchlevel 1.02 the standard value is 0 ( disabled )] postFX=2; HDRPrecision=8; lastDeviceId=""; localVRAM=1754652673; nonlocalVRAM=2147483647; detected VRAM with Nvidia 182.50 (8GB RAM; *msconfig value default*) = 924581888 detected VRAM with Nvidia 186.16 (8GB RAM; msconfig value 7168MB ) =1754652673 detected VRAM with Nvidia 186.16 (8GB RAM; msconfig value 7680MB ) =2117459969 Arma2 is played here with Track IR and the resolution set at 1920*1200 - memory and GPU´s are swapped as needed between the 2 PCs Intel Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz OC**************AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz 4GB DDR2-1066@933MHz**************4GB DDR2-1066 1 260GTX **************************2 260GTX in SLI X-Fi Xtreme Gamer*******************Onboard Sound Realtek High Definition Audio Asus P5N72-T Premium****************Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition********PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition Windows Vista 64 Ultimate*************Windows 7 RC1 64-bit ArmA2 (1.02), BIOS, drivers and OS are up to date

I did a fresh install of the game and had no issues wiith the update process. That was done with an Admin account. It became one of my habbits while using Vista and Windows 7 to change the compability within the files properties to RUN AS ADMIN In Windows 7 you have also the chance to change this option for all users with a few mouseclicks,,,, I do hope this solves your problem with the patch ... I had a look at this related post and I remembered that I did quite the same before patching on top of the fresh install : Quote: Originally Posted by Von_Paulus Are you all updating from German 1.01 (final) to 1.02? Yessir...I have tried updating 1.00 to 1.02 and 1.01 final to 1.02. This is the German version download. EDIT: I did get pretty far into patching by installing a fresh copy of 1.00, running the game...exiting, then installing the patch. If I dont run it at least once I get the error immediately.

an outtake of an earlier post: older driver version works fine [ 182.5 for Vista 64 and 181,71 ( Prerelease - WDMM 1.1) for Windows7RC1] After the nvidia GPU driver downgrade I always install the PhysX_9.09.0428_SystemSoftware from the driver package 186.18, no need to keep an older version. You will find the PhysX_9.09.0428_SystemSoftware from the prior 186.18 installation in: C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\186.18\International ( example from Windows 7 RC1 ) If you haven´t installed 186.16 on the PC before, you can start an installation of it , cancel it after the files were extracted on your harddrive. If you want to compare your arma2.cfg with this example look for it in: C:\Users\*username*\Documents\ArmA 2 You need to open the file with an editor to see these values. I have edited FSAA=0 to FSAA=4 to set the antialiasing value in the game to very high. The Render_W=2400 and Render_H=1500 are a result of me using the 3D resolution ( fillrateoptimization) of 125% for 1920*1200 in the gamesettings. The ingame postprocess setting of high is simular with postFX=2 . language="German"; adapter=-1; 3D_Performance=100000; Resolution_Bpp=32; Resolution_W=1920; Resolution_H=1200; refresh=60; Render_W=2400; Render_H=1500; FSAA=4; postFX=2; HDRPrecision=8; lastDeviceId=""; localVRAM=924581888; nonlocalVRAM=2143780864; Everytime the game shuts down the two last lines will be updated and overwritten. With 8GB RAM and some driverversions the driver interfears with the game in a bad manner and as a result the VRAM will be detected wrong and the ingamegrafics srew up. If you count only 8 digits in the localVRAM and nonlocalVRAM values nevertheless you running uptodate hardware you know the bug strikes again. Arma2 is played here with Track IR and the resolution set at 1920*1200 - memory and GPU´s are swapped as needed between the 2 PCs Intel Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz OC**************AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz 8GB DDR2-1066**********************8GB DDR2-1066 2 260GTX in SLI**********************2 260GTX in SLI X-Fi Xtreme Gamer*******************Onboard Sound Realtek High Definition Audio Asus P5N72-T Premium****************Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi Windows Vista 64 Ultimate*************Windows 7 RC1 64-bit ArmA2 (1.02), BIOS, drivers and OS are up to date @technologickill ---------- Post added at 03:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:45 PM ---------- technologickill, do you still own the bug on Widows 7 with GF 182.50 installed? If so I do recommend to use the driver 181,71 ( Prerelease - WDMM 1.1) for Windows7RC1 wich is mentioned in post above. I spent days with shoting this bug, but it is still kicking. :cool:

This 8GB issue anoying as hell, please get it fixed .... older driver version works fine [ 182.5 for Vista 64 and 181,71 ( Prerelease - WDMM 1.1) for Windows7RC1] After the nvidia GPU driver downgrade I always install the PhysX_9.09.0428_SystemSoftware from the driver package 186.18, no need to keep an older version. You will find the PhysX_9.09.0428_SystemSoftware from the prior 186.18 installation in: C:\NVIDIA\DisplayDriver\186.18\International ( example from Windows 7 RC1 ) If you haven´t installed 186.16 on the PC before, you can start an installation of it , cancel it after the files were extracted on your harddrive. Here a suggestion: Is there no way for example to implement a checkbox in the grafic options, to force the game to drop or ignore the VRAM check/driver info dialog .... then it would be possible to set up the game properly with the amount of <=4GB RAM or an older driver version wich works fine [ 182.5 for Vista 64 and 181,71 ( Prerelease - WDMM 1.1) for Windows7RC1], tick the box and add the rest of the RAM or update the driver? Certainly a 64 bit arma2.exe would be great to run the game as a native 64bit application. I am aware about the needed efforts to get this job done. If you want to compare your arma2.cfg with this example look for it in: C:\Users\*username*\Documents\ArmA 2 You need to open the file with an editor to see these values. I have edited FSAA=0 to FSAA=4 to set the antialiasing value in the game to very high. The Render_W=2400 and Render_H=1500 are a result of me using the 3D resolution ( fillrateoptimization) of 125% for 1920*1200 in the gamesettings. The ingame postprocess setting of high is simular with postFX=2 . language="German"; adapter=-1; 3D_Performance=100000; Resolution_Bpp=32; Resolution_W=1920; Resolution_H=1200; refresh=60; Render_W=2400; Render_H=1500; FSAA=4; postFX=2; HDRPrecision=8; lastDeviceId=""; localVRAM=924581888; nonlocalVRAM=2143780864; Everytime the game shuts down the two last lines will be updated and overwritten. With 8GB RAM and some driverversions the driver interfears with the game in a bad manner and as a result the VRAM will be detected wrong and the ingamegrafics srew up. If you count only 8 digits in the localVRAM and nonlocalVRAM values nevertheless you running uptodate hardware you know the bug strikes again. Arma2 is played here with Track IR and the resolution set at 1920*1200 - memory and GPU´s are swapped as needed between the 2 PCs Intel Q6600 @ 3.0Ghz OC**************AMD PhenomII 940BE @ 3.0Ghz 4GB DDR2-1066@933MHz**************4GB DDR2-1066 1 260GTX **************************2 260GTX in SLI X-Fi Xtreme Gamer*******************Onboard Sound Realtek High Definition Audio Asus P5N72-T Premium****************Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition********PSU Xilence 750W Gamer Edition Windows Vista 64 Ultimate*************Windows 7 RC1 64-bit ArmA2 (1.02), BIOS, drivers and OS are up to date

Thank you funkee for this very good post, would be nice to see Razorman to edit his last post regarding the CPU usage/ multicore usage , so forumuser don´t learn things wrong...:bounce3:

Not sure if it does help anybody with an ATI GPU X2/Crossfire: For SLI-Systems the workaround for now is to rename the arma2.exe into crysis.exe, so the system detects the crysis.exe running when you start the game and uses the appropriate gameprofile for SLI. Please tell me, if this works with ATI cards as well. Thank you.

here is some of the testing I did: Test PC 1: Intel Q6600@3,0GHz Asus P5N72-T Premium A-DATA DIMM 4 GB DDR2-1066 (Vitesta Extreme Edition)@867MHZ due OC of the CPU 2 NVIDIA 260GTX in SLI ( using the renametrick: changing arma.exe into crysis.exe ) 1920*1200 Saitek X52Pro Track IR 4 Pro Vista Ultimate 64 SP2 1.01 patch installed: 4 cores busy 90-70% 3GB of RAM is used runs smooth settings distance of view: 3902m fillrate optimization: 150% quality preference: very high advanced settings texture details: very high grafic memory: very high anisotr. filter: very high landscape details: very high object details: very high shadow details: very high post processing efects: very high ( just my personal taste ) resolution: 1920*1200 the framerate with above mentioned settings is about 20-22 fps, running from the green into a village drops it down to 17-19 fps for a few seconds and facing the ground while standing shows the max. with 28-29 fps, benchmarked with fraps in the first singleplayer mission the impact on the fps by changing the postprocessing effect from low to very high is on the testsystem to insufficient to be mentioned here in numbers The fps with 2 260GTX in SLI all settings on very high , 3902m , fillrate opt. 100% using the crysis SLI-profile: 25 fps changing the fillrate optimization to 150%: 24 fps and some visual enhancement ( recommended ) changing the fillrate optimization to 200% screws it up on this system Upgrading the RAM to 8GB did force me to use the older driverversion 182.5 to avoid the game detecting 256MB VRAM only, this happens with the latest WHQL 185.85 and Beta 186.08 drivers Using version 182.5 solves the problem for now. There is an impact on the performance by this upgrade, turning around looks more smooth now. Have a look at the screen please: Test PC 2: AMD Phenom2@3,6GHz Asrock K10N780SLIX3-WiFi A-DATA DIMM 4 GB DDR2-1066 (Vitesta Extreme Edition) 1 8800GTX ( latest GPU driverversion ) 1280*1024 Winows 7 RC1 1.01 patch installed: 4 cores busy 80-60% settings distance of view: 3858m fillrate optimization: 150% quality preference: very high advanced settings: texture details: very high grafic memory: very high anisotr. filter: very high landscape details: very high object details: very high shadow details: very high post processing efects: very high ( just my personal taste ) resolution: 1280*1024 very smooth 17-23fps I know smooth 17 sounds strange, but that`s the way it is - may be because of the 386bit wide memorybus and the 768MB onboard memory of the 88oo GTX. Easy to see that the high 1920*1200 resolution is the big impact on the framerate, all the data needs to flow through the PC`s bottleneck, whatever this might be...

renaming arma2.exe into crysis.exe is best for using SLI in the game at the moment here an info for all lads using 8GB of RAM in their gaming PC´s with Vista 64/Windows7 RC1 with ArmA2: the NVIDIA driver version 182.5 does the job ( not sure if working for Windows7 too ) ... some of the later versions might cause you new hassle ( ArmA2 will recognizes only 256MB VRAM )

What is this all about?    I do know Rambo in real life, he is the cind of person who would give you a pound instead of stealing it from you - and cutting your hand off if you would try to steal it from him. Get back to business please, this discussion is not usefull for anyone. Work together - to make the game better. Don´t start to dig the grave for this project, you might be the first in the pit, lol ....  greetings,  Raven

Sure a yes, and a message to BIS: if things are not going to be improved you can keep your copy of Queens Gambit and ArmA2 as well, I did intend to buy them,,,but ... Steam is a good example how it can be done. If you can`t do it on your own, talk to VALVE PLEASE!!!