jpinard

I have 5 HD's. But you're correct that information is definately relevant. I'll add to my system secs in my first post.

Yes, you've got to turn the view-distance up to 6000+ before you start to see any meaningful separation in _FPS_6 on my rig. The HeloTest is by far the most comprehensive. Skimming treetops at a decent clip for 2 minutes, then the latter stage moves into a small battle. Just enough to force the AI to think, deal, the graphics get pushed not by blowing by trees but by the special effects of fire, smoke, explosions, the close formation firing Helos, and vocal cues. The Jet-Test skims along the whole of Chernarus at high subsonic and supersonic speeds, then tops it off with a little hill-top target practice for the AI at the end. This is perfect for really pushing the new thread-streaming algorithm BI is using. With both tests being 4 minutes you get a very good frame-check and a meaningful average fps.

Link fixed: http://www.jeffpinard.com/ArmA2_Benchmarks_1.xls Few more notes: * Reason there are x's for several categories is because Armamark sets its own view distances, so re-testing with 6000m range is redundant, and I hadn't designed the jet test yet for older betas. * There are observational notes in the far right columns highlighted in orange. * No mods were loaded or tested. * Link for those without Excel (image): http://www.jeffpinard.com/Arma2%20Benchmarks.jpg Thanks Maverick. Hopefully BI and others can use data. I'll continue to update the spreadsheet as beta patches come out if I remain healthy. :)

It's taken me a while, but I've finally completed a comprehensive testing & analysis of the beta upgrade path. 50+ hours and includes every Benchmark available including two of my own. Links and demonstrations further below. All tests were completed in duplicate or triplicate. Since there's such a major limit on picture size here in the forums, the only screenshot of the data I can provide is blurry & reduced, but is just to give you an idea of what's included: Here is the full spreadsheet in standard Excel format: http://www.jeffpinard.com/ArmA2_Benchmarks_1.xls The Excel spreadsheet data is divided into 4 parts. * Lines 1-16 are the individual tests - distance @3500m * Lines 20-25 are the individual tests - distance @6000m * Lines 29-35 are the averages & this is the data that counts - distance @3500m * Lines 37-39 are the averages for the 6000m distance. once again, this is the data you want. * I outlined the most important data points in red. * All tests performed with all graphic settings maxed out (FSAA & AF both set to Very high). * Screen resolution set to 1920x1200. * View distance set to 3500m, latter tests include 6000m as well. * Responsiveness tested running around a massive 300 person battle defense & assault. Versions Tested: * v1.05 * Beta v63826 - Old video card * Beta v63826 - current HW * Beta v70313 * Beta v70313 -exThreads=3 * Beta v70951 * Beta v71275 -exThreads=7 * v1.05 (distance=6000) * Beta v70951 (distance=6000) * Beta v71275 -exThreads=7 (distance=6000) Benchmarks & abbreviations used: * Scenario Benchmark 1 (Bench 1) * Scenario Benchmark 2 (Bench 2) * ArmAllMark 1.0 (Test One, Two, Three, Four, Five, OFPMark) * Chernogorsk City FPS 6 (C6 ave, min, Highest, Lowest) * jpinard Helo Test (H frames, H Time, H Min, H Max, H Avg) * jpinard Jet Test (J Frames, J Time, J Min, J Max, J Avg) To see how my Helo bench test works click here: To see how my Jet test works click here: To download both tests click here: http://www.jeffpinard.com/jpinard%20ArmA2%20Benchmark%20Tests.zip I created the extra tests because it didn't feel like any of the synthetic tests pushed every aspect of the game. Please read the Youtube description for more details. In summary, each beta I tested has generally improved performance most notably when looking at 6000 meter distance. Supersonic jet performance is amazing in this build. The current beta has the greatest increase in speed but there are 2 major problems: 1. I've experienced Game hangs I've never seen before while the missions are loading in ArmaMark and Chernogorsk City (C6_FPS_6). The lock-up rate was quite high at 33%. 2. Sound is cutting out worse in this beta than in any other build I've tested. Beta v70951 was by far the best at managing massive amount of sound properly. System Specs: * Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz overclocked to 4.3 GHz stable * Asus P6X58D Premium Motherboard BIOS v.0703 * G.Skill DDR3 2000 in Triple Channel Mode - 6 Gig * NVidia GeForce GTX 480 Driver v197.75 * PCIe Titanium Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatality * Planar PX2611W 26" widescreen LCD * Win7/Boot drive on 80 Gig Intel X25M SSD * ArmA2 installed by itself on second 80 Gig Intel X25M SSD

Question, questions questions! * Is there a benefit to purchasing "Combined Operations" vs. the expansion pack alone (for those of us with ArmA2 already)? Or will the final installation look identical between the two? * Also, I'm a little curious about ArmA1 now too. That has Sahrani in it correct? Has anyone done a total conversion to run it in ArmA2? If so that may be worth purchasing as well, maybe even a Megapack that combines it all. * If the ArmA1 campaign & missions have been converted to work in ArmA2 will it also work in ArmA2:OA? * Why isn't Combined Operations available from Sprocket? * If either game is ordered from Amazon and we select next-day air, will we get it on launch day, or does Amazon still take a long time to get new stuff? Cheers :)

Is there a way I can force a Blackhawk to land in very tight confines under enemy fire? I've spent the last 5 hours trying every combination of waypoint & orders in the editor, but right now they just circle until they inevitably get shot down. Once out of every 20 runs they will land. If possible I'd like to do this without writing a special script, but if not that's OK. Thanks! :)

"Your Destination" - is that a waypoint you've named? Thanks for the help all. :)

Can someone chime in and help explain something? I have a full-page spreadsheet of beta data from the last month and I need to make sure I'm not missing something that may be of value to BI. * As someone else asked, is "-exThreads=7" supposed to be the premium option for quad-core computers? * Is it necessary for quad-core users to comparison test with "exThreads=5"? * Without "exThreads=" in the command line, what default value is it using? * The last beta I've fully tested is v70951. Since it takes me ~6 hours to completely test & bench each beta, should I be testing the older v71216 or just skip to the current v71275? * BI - Can you please adjust the physics so tanks don't launch 100 meters into the air when running over a rock? In general all vehicle dynamics are a bit off ie. they bounce like kids toys instead of acting like heavy objects. This greatly reduces the realism when you see this as default behavior. Thanks, things are looking good! :)

Since I'm a beta behind should I skip last beta and just test this one, or test both?

I'm wondering, were people supposed to be reporting crashes/problems with mods, or are some so ubiquitous it's OK? BI, I'd like to apologize as I still haven't gotten caught up to provide some hard data for you, hopefully I'll get in gear and will finish my massive spreadsheet. But I do have request: Can you please increase the distance at which we can see full models? When a fully armed Helo is coming in at you it looks like it's out of weapons until a short distance from you then *POP!* - you suddenly see the winglets and unspent missiles show up... and by that time it's too late to adjust your strategy. Many of us have computers that are plenty powerful and can handle higher detail models at much greater distances. Can you give us a slider or an option to adjust this?

I just can't get a handle on flying nap of the Earth with the views that come default in the game. Especially in the A1- everything is so far away. I know I can "zoom in", but when I do, I usually crash because I don't have proper situational awareness. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks!

I've looked at all the major "spawn" threads and nothing fits this in simplicity. Is there a way to place a unit in my missions, then add an initialization command so it won't show up until 5 minutes after the battle starts? Or do I have to create a real trigger & script for this? Thanks! :)

I need a scenario or map that's basically a good place to test the sounds of guns, aircraft, explosions, etc. ...and also allows me to test cratering, visuals (grass & teture quality), frame rates, and the visuals for all this too. Thanks!

Benny, what does "place a logic anywhere" mean? I put a trigger down and change the activation to game logic then nullReturn = [] Spawn {sleep (60*2); spawnBrdm2 = true}; but it won't spawn.

Thank you for the honest answer. I was going to ask about this as well. - NOTE: you may have addressed this already in the patch - will test---------- Post added at 11:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:02 PM ---------- Yoma, honestly it's not worth investigating HT. I spent 2 months benchmarking, testing, and overclocking my rig and worked with a few enegineers on the best timings and properties. Hyperthreading puts too much strain on quad core processors and is universally been shown to hurt gaming performance. It has two main features - marketing and some desktop applications benefit. If you don't believe and want to waste your time on it start with this basic article and I can provide a hundred more: http://www.agner.org/optimize/blog/read.php?i=6 In the end you'll find for the power and strain on the processor you get ~20% increase with pure clock vs. HT and as you increase the strain Hyperthreading starts to actually cripple perfomance because it can't keep up with faking 4 extra processors.

I searched the forum for "Mortar" in the subject-line and there's no good consensus on if this is broken or not. If I have a squad of 5 Mortars, how do I tell them to attack an area or target? I've tried having the boss be an FAC Operator, Fire Team Leader, and Squad Leader. Without scripting none of them appear to have the ability to call down fire. Furthermore, the Mortarmen don't attack with direct fire either no matter how close or far away they are from the enemy. Hopefully someone can offer some advice. I'd like to see what it looks like to have mortars come raining down on target-rich area. Thanks all! :)

I sure hope so :)

I've done more extensive testing, and wanted to reiterate what a drastic improvement the cloud rendering is. No more blocky single layer pixels, instead beautiful puffy clouds and a moving cloud base that looks real. If anyone is not seeing better looking clouds I wonder if it's because we have different video cards. NVidia GeForce 480 driver v197.75 - all settings maxed out, view distance 5000.

I'm creating a mission -amphibious assault at fortified coast at dawn. I would like to have these RHIB ships just loaded down with men. How do I add men to them? Mission starts out at sea and I don't want to have to do any "pick-up swimmers" type of thing. Thanks! :)

Never got around to thanking you, and this missions set is really awesome. Cheers! :)

Hey everyone. New beta drivers hit today. http://www.bluesnews.com/s/110576/nvidia-256-beta-drivers If anyone is feeling brave, please post your findings. Fraggle I think it's the beta builds. What happens when you run vanilla v1.05?

Here's the deal: I'm creating a mission to compare sound packs. So I have all the Helicopters lined up and I need them to start out "off", then they each take off at 5 minute intervals - then go on their merry way. How do I set a wait-state that has no waypoint? I'd like to do the same thig with the kets. Lined up, "off", then one at a time rev up engines and take-off. Thanks! :)

What are you all complaining about cloud-wise? Maybe I'm missing something, but this is the best clouds have ever looked to me (all graphic settings maxed out).

Thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!! :bounce3: When you all were talking about plopping waypoints on top & next to the unit, I didn't realize how ON TOP it had to be. To the point you can't reselect the unit unless you delete the waypoints... which makes the other comments above make sense now too.

Trying to understand something. Is the -exthread command for the number of cores the game will use, or the number of threads the game uses? Installing the new beta patch as I type.