-TwK-Danny

As explained earlier, it only works in XP. Microsoft didnt want this for Vista and now Win7 because the games themselves are supposed to have vsync options. But in BIS case, they decided to force it hence this thread. I am on Win7 and setting vsync to "always off" does nothing in terms of framerate, its locked at 60 wherever i look.

ArmA2 forces both Vsync and tripplebuffering - so no one need to "learn how to use tripplebuffering". Besides, tripplebuffering adds to lag so this is pointless. ATi users cannot change "max frames to render ahead" without installing third party software, wich could conflict with the regular control panel. Since Vista (means Vista and Windows 7), microsoft decided that games must have control over vsync. Therfore, forcing vsync off in ATi cards does nothing for ArmA2. Nvidia are better in this and with hacks allow the disabling of vsync, even in Vista+7 (set to force off). Still, this is only ONE brand of cards. All this means Bohemia Interactive MUST make this possible. They must add this as a choise in options, some people hate tearing, some hate mouselag.. but it is still OUR choise and not Bohemias.

I use a smaller one - always have when playing the opflash/arma games even though i never use it for any other games.

You all have 8 GB of RAM, and the game doesnt like it as far as i remember. You need to go to a shortcut for the game, and edit the target. At the end of the target, add a space and write -winxp. Ie make it look like this: "D:\Program Files (x86)\Bohemia Interactive\ArmA 2\arma2.exe" -winxp (just as someone said a couple of posts above).

Armed Assault got a patch that improved performance by as much as 100%. A patch, released a year+ after the game first was released. Thats a year of hearing bullshit explinations of why the game runs bad (again, mostly on these forums) - but in the end, it was finally fixed by a patch. The performance in ArmA2 is broken, bugged, and not optimized the slighest at this very moment when it comes to the campaign-missions. (mind you own made missions run good, even when i have lots of AI in them). There are also clear and obvious performance issues with Vista and Windows 7 compared to XP. Only patches can fix that, and yes it is poor optimization and nothing else.

Only a graphicscard upgrade is needed. You have a QuadCore wich is very powerful. 4GB of RAM is also plenty (ArmA2 at maximum uses 2GB). However, the Geforce 8600GT is a really weak card. This is the only part of your PC that needs an upgrade. If you are used to nvidia, and do not want to change brand.. i suggest you check out Geforce GTX 275 cards, or even GTX 285 cards. If you dont mind changing brands, ATI Radeon HD4890s are a tad cheaper and perform the best in ArmA2. http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2009/05/ArmaA2-GPUs-1280-normal.png As you can see in that chart, the 8800GT is about twice as fast as your current 8600GT. And theres a pretty big diffrence between those and the 4890s/GTX285s. EDIT: Though as suggested above, the game suffers from low performance on virtually any computer out there and your best bet would be waiting for patches.

You made sure to get the 64bit version of Windows 7 right? Here is a directlink to the nvidia drivers you should install right away. http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_190.38_whql.html

I would agree with the poster who suggested Windows 7 64bit RC for free until windows 7 is released. That way he wouldnt have to buy an OS (vista) that is replaced in october 22nd by Windows 7. As for performance, try keeping "Terrain detail" at normal (gives a pretty good performance boost. Object detail at normal will also boost performance without any major loss in imagequality. Anti Aliasing (multisampling) should be off or low for decent performance really. Rest of the settings dont do much to performance on higher end cards (at least my HD4890 was not affected at all), so you could just put those at veryhigh without worrying too much.

Dont you look outside these forums? This game gets so much shit because it doesnt run properly. The performance in the SP campaign is nothing short of terrible. http://www.pcgameshardware.de/screenshots/original/2009/06/ArmaA2-CPUs-1280.png and here with the latest patch http://www.pcgameshardware.com/screenshots/original/2009/07/ArmA2-v102-CPUs-1280.png Reviews are showing that powerful GPUs coupled with Core i7 CPUs still only achive 30fps.. at 1280X1024 with normal details. HD4890s with Core i7s! Cool story.

If Crysis Warhead runs great (28-45fps on _all_ levels including ice ones) on my PC, i do NOT expect ArmA2 to run with 5-15fps on LOWEST settings looking uglier than Operation Flashpoint (some campaign missions). This is not right, no matter what. I have a HD4890 1GB.. Im sorry but if i get 5-15 fps, then ArmA2 should not have been released - or al least they should have provided minimum specs that state you need to wait a couple of generations of CPUs/GPUs just to play it on lowest settings.

I actually had this problem yesterday. I restarted the game and it never happend again. I played 1hour of crysis to make sure its not my GPU having problems. Try using the flush command, ingame hold shift while pressing minus (-) then just type "flush" and your screen should turn black for some seconds. Try not using the "default" option for video memory, and keep the setting one step higher than texture detail. For example if you use normal textures, have video memory set to high (i think the game defaults to this). Also try reducing agp aperture size to 256 (was it at 256 you had problems?). Do you have the latest legacy drivers? Catalyst 9.3.1? Get them here: http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx

Cryengine did it, but only in 32bit mode with high or veryhigh textures. Mind you, at least crytek offer a 64bit version of their game that disables any texturestreaming whatsoever - wich fixes this for good. And their textures/shadows never flickered close to what ArmA2 is doing.

You forget some small facts people should actually consider when enabling vsync. One of those being that vsync can infact reduce performance by up to 50%, it doesnt just limit the fps. If in a game, with vsync enabled and you have a 60Hz monitor, you come to a scene (ingame) where your computer can only achive 58fps, then you will only get 30fps due to vsync. This is unacceptable for anyone. Of course if BIS did this exactly, people would call them idiots as nobody wants 30fps when they can have 58fps (or anything between 31-59fps) especially in a game demanding as this. So what BIS has done to fix this is to also force tripplebuffering. This allows them to force vsync without those fps drops. This is why ArmA2 has fps capped to your refreshrate, but still can have any fps in between without issues (eg people with 60hz monitors can still have stable 47fps ingame). This is, however, why we have this thread open. Tripple buffering uses more video memory, aswell as introduce inputlag (aha!, mouse lag!). So while BIS wanted to fix an annoying issue (tearing), they did it at the expense of playability and gameplay - unacceptable.

Well i have texture loading bug aswell btw and found nothing to help. Every setting on low, using a sniper to zoom in and then go out of zoom makes surrounding textures (and shadows) flicker and load while im looking at them. Tried maxmem 2047, aswell as -winxp with no diffrence.

The setting you are looking for is called "Flip Queue Size". Setting it to 8 might improve performance, but will delay mouse/input movment.

"Default" video memory setting actually reduce ingame performance. If you load up the editor and place yourself randomly at some places, check fps with fraps, and then change back to "veryhigh" (without moving) youll notice a few fps boosts (4-5fps boosts).

The post process option is bugged. For example, i can set it to very high, reboot the game, and load a map and you can tell the edge-AA for example is compleatly disabled. You have to set it to disabled, and back to veryhigh to make it look as veryhigh would do in the first place every single time you start the game. Yes, its sad how bugged this game is -.- J.Warrick, try starting the game, set post process to veryhigh and then back to disabled and click apply/ok. It *should* disable the motionblur. As for your fps issues, this game is not actually optimized the slightest. They actually force vsync+tripplebuffering in this game, the most demanding game on the planet. Thats how unoptimized this crap is. This + the fact that they seem to have forced mouse smoothing aswell is what causes your mouse to lag behind - wich is normal for everyone (with skill) to notice.

Note however that for example the ATi control panel cannot do anything about vsync for arma2. Even when you set it to "always off", vsync is still active in arma2. Basicly BIS need to: 1. disable vsync and tripplebuffering 2. disable any mousesmoothing 3. disable any mouseacceleration or else the mouse will stay laggy.

I think you need to run the game with the -winxp command the second you run with 8GB.

I just do not understand BiS sometimes. This game is the most demanding game on the planet - who is the idiot who came up with forcing vsync and tripplebuffering ON? Disabling both options would improve performance, reduce video memory usage AND give us a functional mouse. Very much needed when it comes to demanding games. Do you have any idea what would happen if Crytek had forced Vsync in Crysis? People always say "Crysis handles low fps well" and that its playable even with fps around 20-25. This is simply because the mouse is 100% responsive. In ArmA2 I suffer with mouselag even when im running around with 60fps (wich, again, is max due to the vsync). This is unacceptable! So why arent BiS responding to us? Dwarden? Someone? As for mouseacceleration and mousesmoothing.. if those two are actually enabling in the game then i can promise you that BiS do not have a single gamer in their crew.

ATi owners cannot disable Vsync. Force Vsync off does nothing in our control panels. People say its possible with thirdparty control-panels and enabling some tweaks for vsync, but why should i have to go through that when a game should have the option instead? And yes i agree, mousesmoothing, tripplebuffering and Vsync MUST be optional to use, its rather sad to see a game released in this state. PS. Operation Flashpoint had other issues with mouse aswell. For me it could not detect small mouse movements (like bioshock pre patch). You could take your mouse from one side of the mousemat to the other without the game noticing any movement.

hi guys, like most of you guys, i suffer from mouselag aswell. For me, mouselag is the biggest gamebreaking problem for any game. And the lag in ArmA2 is really bad and kills the game. First specs; HD4890 1GB AMD X2 4400+ 4GB RAM My mouse is the lachesis, running at 1000Hz (1ms lag, compared to normal 8ms on other mice). I tried 500Hz and default 125Hz only to notice slightly more lag. As we have concluded already, specs has nothing to do with the mouselag, its game design. The only way to fix the mouselag is for BiS to actually fix it by enabling two options ingame. The mouselag comes from the forcing enabled vsync aswell as tripple buffering in the game, by BiS themselves. Its what causes everyone to have mouselag, nothing else. BiS thought they were wise to eliminate screen tearing, but that is never wise at the expense of mouselag in a FPS. Nor should they take the liberty of deciding stuff for us. Valve has, for left 4 dead, enabled both ways - vsync off, or if you want, in options, you can enable both vsync and tripplebuffer. Thats what BiS should do aswell. When i spawn myself in the editor i run at 60 fps capped (due to vsync), and i still have massive amounts of mouselag (just like in the video posted by OP) - so fps does not matter. If you have any openGL game (halflife1?) you can try this yourself. Start the game and move the mouse abit. Then go to your GPU-controlpanel and force both vsync and tripplebuffering ON. Youll notice even in old games such as half-life 1, with 100fps, that the mouselag is unbearable with those two options forced on.

Meh, i uninstalled the game for now and will patiently wait for them to make it playable on vista.

Hello all I wanted to share a few issues im having related to the Vista OS. I had this issue with both my X1800XT TOP (X1800XTPE) and my new HD2900XT. And with both cards, in Win XP, the game works perfect (although i dont have XP atm). The issue is making the game totally unplayable. Its like it goes into slowmotions and fastforward all the time. When i see an enemy run i see him running fast and slow, fast and slow - impossible to hit. You can load up the editor and spawn in a forrest. Then go into 3dperson and just strafe - youll notice you character is moving really wierd. I know Vista isnt very mature but all games ive tried run equal or better than XP (e.g. stalker runs MUCH better in Vista). And i know a patch (1.08) was just released but it didnt fix my issue. Thanks for reading

Yeah i get that too sometimes, i tried forcing WinXP compabillity mode and havent gotten a crash yet. Try if it works for you. I still think its sad that its totally unplayable atm...