Hi everyone,
As a fellow Arma fan, I've bought Arma 3 several days ago. The low fps really was an issue and no fix seemed to cure the fps, so I decided to make an in-depth analysis as to how the game utilizes CPU and had gathered some interesting data and felt like sharing with you. First of all, here are my system specs:
Graphics Settings:
First of all, I should give information about several cpu features I tested in bios, they are as follows:
(Note: Those features might be CPU/Motherboard specific)
1- Core Performance Boost:
2- Cpu Unlock:
3- Cool n' Quiet*/**:
4- C1E Support*:
5- SVM (Secure Virtual Machine Mode):
6- CPU Core Control:
7- Core C6 State*:
8- HPC Mode*:
9- HPET** (High Precision Event Timer):
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*These settings are mostly set to "disabled" by overclockers as they might cause unstability on overclocked CPUs. As I am not into overclocking, I set them enabled except for Cool n' Quiet.
**These two settings are the main variables for testing phase. I've tried them both enabled and disabled and results will be given below
Testing! Testing!
Finally, here we go! First test I did was Cool n' Quiet enabled and HPET enabled. First, I tried running Infantry Showcase, and then played on Patrol Ops servers with 2-4 players in it. Results are below:
The results shown that 5 out of 6 cores are being used and only Core #0 goes above 90%. Rest stays around 40-50%. On multiplayer, however, cores except core#0 is utilized less than in Singleplayer mode. This is the main cause of FPS drop as far as I've noticed. Some of the servers I played on actually utilized 3 of 6 cores and had terrible FPS (13-15). So, while playing online, choose a server that utilizes at least 5 cores. The major reason of fps drop is the server.
Test #2
Next test is made with Cool n' Quiet disabled and HPET still on.
Turning Cool n' Quiet off actually helped with fps a little bit. Also, in multiplayer, now Core#3 is unused rather than Core#5, I don't know if that has any impact on fps but, CPU usage spikes which randomly went down to 0% also disappeared. Instead, now the unused core randomly spikes up to 20% :)
Last Test!
Having HPET disabled, I've noticed huge spikes of FPS drop. Especially while zooming in and out, making sharp turns etc. HPET seems to reduce lag/fps spikes when enabled as far as I've seen. When HPET is disabled, 2 of my cores actually idled at 0% in multiplayer which might be the cause of FPS spikes. Plus, when pc restarts, it actually gains consciousness and becomes responsive a lot quicker.
I noticed that singleplayer utilizes cores more efficiently than multiplayer servers. This might be related to the server computer's system specs and the fact that the user missions have a lot of added scripts, add-ons etc. Another funny fact is that there is only 1-2 fps difference between highest and lowest settings which means GPU actually is not affected at all. Performance is all up to CPU as far as I've seen. It looks like our fate is sealed for now. Unless a major patch comes out and provides us with better CPU utilization, we're bound to have fps drops during Multiplayer experience.
