Derbysieger

If Arma 3 is anything like Arma 2: OA it will make huge difference, especially with lots of AI. The differences between 3.4GHz, 3.6GHz, 3.8GHz and 4.2GHz are MASSIVE on my system. Average with 3.4 GHz in the E08: Benchmark is around 35fps, at 3.6GHz I didn't see much improvement with ~38-40fps average (both tested a few weeks ago, didn't make any screens though. I got new RAM and OC'd again, ran prime95 etc. In the process I fired up Arma out of curiosity because I've been on 3.8GHz for about 3.5 years - there has changed so much since then). At 3.8GHz I got 48fps average in a benchmark I did last summer when I got my GTX680 and now at 4.2GHz it's 50 fps average in the benchmark I just ran with the newest beta patch with the same settings I had back then. Up to 3.8GHz the differences are HUGE - especially between 3.6 and 3.8GHz, after that I get diminishing returns in the benchmark... Settings: 3.8GHz, Summer '12: 4.2GHz, just now, with the same settings used back in summer '12: With my current settings it's even more (120% 3D Resolution + normal HDR, everything else like in the screen above):

The Black Shark is VERY easy to fly compared to traditional heli designs with tailrotors. Not only has it the koax rotor that cancels most of the torque, it also has a bunch of auto pilots that can literally fly the shark for you. If you want to get a good idea what it's like to fly a traditional heli try the upcoming UH-1H module for DCS when it's out (according to the devs it is really dfficult to fly!) or the little bird in TOH (it is quite good now).

Well, last summer my HD4870 died and I needed a new Graka even though I planned to hold of until Arma 3 comes out. Turns out it would probably still be a 680 now as the Titan is way out of my pricerange and AMD seems to go for maximum fps instead of stable fps.

I'll certainly play a bit MP in the next week http://steamcommunity.com/id/Eurofighter97

You don't think I tried to make it work? Hell I spend a few days trying to find settings that would work for me and everytime I compared it to kb&m it sucked. Maybe I just expect more from joystick controls than Arma 2 is able to deliver. Obviously I never expected DCS level quality that would be absurd but I feel without actual modding of the flight characteristics there is no way I will be satisfied with analogue controls in Arma 2. With direct input I can do everything that I can do with a stick; just faster and more precise. I'm not saying there aren't people who like to fly with a stick in arma 2 but to me the system feels like it wasn't really designed with analogue input in mind. Just hop into the DCS Black Shark or the Little Bird in TOH and you will notice a huge difference (as it should be because those are dedicated flight sims). As soon as the TOH FM is available I will switch to my HOTAS. I'll probably have to mod it to work properly (that stiff centering spring really doesn't help if you're flying a helicopter) but that isn't a problem.

Does your cyclic really influence the collective strength in Arma 2? That sounds just wrong. And yeah you're right about the analogue controls but that's only for thrust and not for bank left/right etc and it doesn't control very well with a stick. I just noticed that I actually used that when I tested my HOTAS in Arma 2 and I'm way quicker and much more precise with kb&mouse. I'm with dslyexci here. I didn't play Arma 2 much lately and didn't follow the forums at all but your mod would actually be a reason for me to go back to Arma 2

TIR is great. I'm using it not only in flightsims but also in Arma 2. So yeah, if you have 150 bucks to spend go for TIR, not a joystick or a HOTAS unless you're interested in DCS or Falcon BMS

The thing is Arma 2 aircraft are very sluggish which works good with direct input from kb&m but not so great with a stick. If I apply collective in TOH I can control exactly how much I want to apply with my throttle on the hotas so I can maintain a hover or level flight. Arma 2 version only has collective up, down and no input and stick movement just doesn't translate very well. You don't get an instant reaction from the Heli if you apply cyclic in arma 2; it's just bad IMO. In TOH you get an instant reaction to every input. The helicopter feels nimble and agile and you can do all sorts of crazy stuff. Whereas if you're flying Arma 2 helis with a stick it feels very sluggish and slow and flying with mouse and keyboard gives you much more precision. €: Stuff like this isn't possible in Arma 2: (look how he controls the Heli in this vid. Can't do that without an advanced flight model) As a comparison here is a good video of the Arma 2 little bird: Notice how the controls are not as smooth as with toh and changes are much more violent.

It's something they're still planning to do but it will probably come well after the actual release. As it stands my HOTAS is getting a well deserved holiday during the alpha. I've been flying DCS: P-51D and DCS: A-10C a LOT lately I've been online almost every evening in the last two months

Unless we get TOH flight model I won't be playing with my HOTAS in Arma 3. Arma 2 Helis (and planes for that matter) control much better with keyboard and mouse. There is just no comparison. With the TOH FM on the other hand it's better with a stick or HOTAS setup with pedals. I can do maneuvers in TOH that would never be possible with the Arma 2 handling.

funny how that works, right. But they did improve it since I last tried. It now also works if you don't let steam remember the pw. Not perfect but at least it works once you authenticated.

Seems they did improve it. I shut down steam, disconnected from the internet and tried to start in offline mode, voila I could start it without a problem. when I tried it the last time it didn't work even though I activated offline mode because I like to type in my pw (otherwise I tend to forget my pws). So yeah once activated it works but you still need to remember to activate it... Not ideal but I can live with it. It would be different if I lived in an area where I can't get fast internet. I have 25000Mbit up 5Mbit down but I know people who only live about 10km away who can't even get 1Mbit up...

As I said offline mode doesn't really work...

I can't say I welcome this. I certainly can understand the step towards steam but there are several problems I have with steam. My biggest gripe: Steam's offline mode simply doesn't work. I lose internet and don't have steam running, tough luck. I need to connect to steam in order to activate offline mode. This is bullshit, not BI's fault, but still utter bullshit.

Generally speaking there isn't that much of a difference between different manufacturers. Sure, some are louder, some quieter, some a little faster, some cards are known to cause problems for some users (you probably want to avoid those^^) but in the end it doesn't matter that much when you're ingame and it runs at 60fps. I'd suggest you look around some hardware forums i.e. www.hardwareluxx.de/community , get some opinions from different people and then you decide what to buy ;)

Thx ;) I'm very happy with my sys. It's basically a 3 1/2 year old system with a new GPU and new RAM. In some games I notice that the CPU isn't the newest (most notably in DCS World and Arma 2) but I spend a ton of money on hardware last year (GPU, HOTAS, Pedals, TrackIR, RAM) so I will wait and see how it runs Arma 3 before the next upgrade is in order. As I said if you don't have a ridiculous amount of storage or SLI/Crossfire you won't need more than 600W (certified PSU!). Cougar, be quiet, Seasonic are all good brands.

Ok, I wouldn't risk that :p Unless you plan to do SLI/Crossfire in the foreseeable future something around 600W should be more than enough and leaves enough room for some OC'ing and plenty of storage.

What kind of 550W PSU is that? If it's a certified PSU you should be totally fine. The system in my sig is powered by a three year old 525W Enermax PSU and I even have enough power for a few more HDDs (currently 2SSDs and 3HDDs). If you want to be sure go for a 600W PSU. You only need 700W for a really powerful system. Hell, I know someone who runs two 660s with a 650W a PSU.

btw beagle, what do you make of this: google translate: http://translate.google.com/translate?client=firefox-a&hl=en&ie=UTF8&oe=UTF8&twu=1&u=http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/passivradar-nimmt-stealth-jets-die-tarnkappe-a-855711.html%23ref%3Drss original: http://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/technik/passivradar-nimmt-stealth-jets-die-tarnkappe-a-855711.html#ref=rss If this becomes standard equipment for modern militaries around the world it would make all this fancy stealth technology obsolete.

I've been listening to Katatonia a lot lately: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rswNcz_U8Lg

That's a cool idea! I'm so used to TrackIR by now that it's not funny anymore. Even if I watch videos I turn my head to look around ^^

You actually have very good control over how much you want to lean in Arma 2 using TrackIR

TBH this looks ridiculously bad. I watched a video earlier today where you could see that it's welded together real bad. €: here it is:

OC'ing the CPU will give you a decent boost in Arma 2. Back in 2009 when Arma 2 was still a bloody mess and I was on a HD4870 & 6GB RAM I gained about 10-15fps by OC'ing my i7 to 3.8GHz (2.67GHz stock). I doubt you will see a difference like this with your PC but the AI will definitely thank you for every GHz.

Actually the performance impact of RTT in RO2 isn't that bad. With my old HD4870 I had about 15-20fps less RTT which resulted in 30-35fps with some drops when there was lot's of stuff on the screen. Now with the GTX 680 I have stable 60fps with and without RTT and maxed out graphics @1920x1080. Even if there are lots of explosions, smoke etc. it stays at 60fps.