New beta build 71548 up

[WillaCHilla]

New Beta Build 71548 is up!

Click here to download (http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php)


Changelog:

[71543] File cache size increased a lot on systems with 4 GB RAM or more.
[71484] Fixed: C130 was crashing on takeoff.

[nomdeplume]

New changelog entries since 71382:

[71543] File cache size increased a lot on systems with 4 GB RAM or more.
[71484] Fixed: C130 was crashing on takeoff.

http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php and also mirrored @<hidden> http://mirror.quex.org/arma/beta/

[Suma]

New beta 71548 contains some improvements in RAM management and some preparations for the next step, which will be enabling the application as LARGEADDRESSAWARE (running as LARGEADDRESSAWARE should fix the out of memory issues on 64b systems).

The point of this beta is to:

- verify the changes made as a part of preparation have not broken RAM management
- verify the increased file cache size of systems with lot of RAM works

[otreblA_SNAKE_[ITA]]

WOOOHOOO!
I love you BIS!

One question: did you remove "exthreads" parameter with this patch or it still works?

[MadDogX]

Awesome stuff. I'll test this ASAP. One good way to fill up your RAM quickly is to grab a fast plane like the F-35 and fly around Chernarus with 10k view distance and terrain+object details as high as possible.

Let's see if it goes higher than 1.2GB with this new beta. :)

If this works as intended, LOD popping and similar issues should be a thing of the past, right?

[JW Custom]

New beta 71548 contains some improvements in RAM management and some preparations for the next step, which will be enabling the application as LARGEADDRESSAWARE (running as LARGEADDRESSAWARE should fix the out of memory issues on 64b systems).

The point of this beta is to:

- verify the changes made as a part of preparation have not broken RAM management
- verify the increased file cache size of systems with lot of RAM works

Holy smoke this sounds seriously awesome, will test this baby in action later today :yay:

[ModeZt]

Correct me if I'm wrong. The memory allocation in ArmA is somewhat tricky.
To estimate how much RAM is used by the game you have to look at the total amount of memory used by applications and the operating system, NOT at the amount of memory allocated by the arma2.exe process itself.

[alef]

Some articles on the subject:
Using /LARGEADDRESSAWARE on 64-bit Windows for 32-bit programs (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2005/06/01/423817.aspx)
Myth: The /3GB switch expands the user-mode address space of all programs (http://blogs.msdn.com/b/oldnewthing/archive/2004/08/12/213468.aspx)
For XP32bit users:
Physical Address Extension (http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEdrv.mspx).

If beta works fine as it is, would worth doing this test:
enabling LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag with editbin
run windows XP32bit with /3GB
set the MEM_TOP_DOWN in the registry
run local SP, or no Battleye

[WillaCHilla]

[71543] File cache size increased a lot on systems with 4 GB RAM or more

Yeah-sounds really good, though its a test (hopefully not to much bugged).

Don´t forget to uncheck your Ramdrive or give information about it, if you use it additionally.

Will test it after work.

[pestbeule]

Hi...

should I remove the -maxmem parameter? This would limit the game... Do I get this right???

[MadDogX]

Hi...

should I remove the -maxmem parameter? This would limit the game... Do I get this right???
As far as I understood Suma, the game isn't large address aware yet, so the 2047 maxmem would still be the upper limit in any case. Once a new large address aware beta is released, you might want to remove it though.

[AnimalMother92]

Exciting stuff, will test asap. Keep em coming BIS :)

[SASrecon]

What should I put my -maxmem to? (my specs are in my sig.)
Thanks for any replies.

[Suma]

the game isn't large address aware yet

Exactly, not yet. This should happen within a week if everything goes well.


so the 2047 maxmem would still be the upper limit in any case

It still is the limit, but it is not exactly related to large address awareness. The file cache we use is not using any virtual space, only physical memory, therefore the address limit does not apply to it.


run windows XP32bit with /3GB

Do this at your own risk and do not expect anything good. We have tried it and the results were quite bad. GPU drivers require a lot of kernel space, and the game needs a lot of paged pool. Both of this is limited with /3GB.


enabling LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag with editbin

If someone feels courageou, you may try this with x64 windows - you should see the RAM usage going quite high, however there might be some issues - this is not complete yet at our side, which is why the flag is not enabled by default.

[sbsmac]

Looks like a slight performance increase (and possibly a touch less stutter). I didn't actually watch these run so can't comment on LOD pop-up etc.

System specs: i920:3.85Ghz, SSD for ArmA, 6Gb RAM, Win7:64 bit, GPU:5870

http://www.armaleague.com/mac/ArmA2FPSAnalyser/pictures/71548.gif

[MadDogX]

you should see the RAM usage going quite highHow high can we expect RAM usage to go once you've completed this and enabled /LARGEADDRESSAWARE? All the way up to 3GB? Also, can you say what specific improvements you are expecting from this?

I would guess the following:

- Faster and less noticable LOD switching.
- Less stuttering.
- Slightly improved overall framerates.


Are all of the above correct, and did I miss anything? :)

[Suma]

How high can we expect RAM usage to go once you've completed this and enabled /LARGEADDRESSAWARE? All the way up to 3GB?

I think even more than 4 GB could be possible (remember the file cache is excluded from the virtual address limit). I am not sure if the game really loads that much data, though.


Also, can you say what specific improvements you are expecting from this?

I would expect:

- Faster and less noticable LOD switching.
- Improved loading times between missions
- Slightly improved overall framerates.
- Slightly less stuttering.

As for framerate and stutter, I would expect only minor improvements.

[SASrecon]

- Faster and less noticable LOD switching.
- Improved loading times between missions
- Slightly improved overall framerates.
- Slightly less stuttering.
I'm a happy guy; just played on arma for about an hour and the results are significant!

I also noticed they fixed the shadow bug which occured at high/very high shadow settings where a 'wall' of shadow was cast on the floor about 50m around the player.

I was playing at about 20fps (SMOOTH though, not the stuttery gameplay which i got with lower settings in other betas) with everything on very high, aa=8 and 6.5km viewdistance.:459:
(running -exthreads=7 and -cpucount=4.)
Small question, are these changes already present in gold OA? or will they be included in the ARMA2-ARMA2 OA compatibility patch?

[Punisher5555]

All the LOD switching//popping/stuttering in the large cities has completely stopped for me now. I can drive real fast through the towns/cities now and not see the LODs/textures pop/switch/stutter. Even when looking around quickly with the trackir. THANK YOU !!!!!!!

But I still have one issue:

Red/orange trees.

These trees are the biggest stutter/FPS problem in the game. I tried this beta standalone, then with the @<hidden> mod, and then with the Summer vegetation mod.

beta/no mod = stutter/low fps
beta/Proper mod = way less stutter/low fps
beta/summer mod = waaaaaaaaay less stutter/low fps

Please BIS let's change the seasons.

[Richey79]

With this build, as long as I turn post-processing off, I'm able to use view distances of 5,000-6,000 quite happily in editor scenarios, even in Chernarus. Probably when the engine starts running a hefty number of scripts this will come down, but the progress that has been made over the last few builds is really significant.

No crashes and seems stable so far (SP only).

[Himmelsfeuer]

I can cofirm the faster, less Lod popping up.
Specially if you look through scopes.
I wonder if theres a big difference with bigger videocard memory,
using HD 4850 now with 512 MB, maybe a 5770 with 1024MB would help?

[OrdeaL]

Suma could you PLEASE confirm what to set my video memory in-game if i have a 9600GT 512mb nVidia. Much appreciated!

[Kroky]

Suma could you PLEASE confirm what to set my video memory in-game if i have a 9600GT 512mb nVidia. Much appreciated!

Im also interested in these settings, since I've got a 9800GT

[Himmelsfeuer]

As far as i know people with 512 MB should set it at middle.
But like i said, with my HD4850 [which is similar to 9800GTX] with 512 MB i can run with very high pretty smooth.

[Suma]

Red/orange trees.

These trees are the biggest stutter/FPS problem in the game. I tried this beta standalone, then with the @<hidden> mod, and then with the Summer vegetation mod.


I have seen this mentioned many times already, yet I did not see a clear and consice repro for this. Can someone create an issue on CIT with clear repro steps and short and easy to understand description? Is this some particular kind of orange/red trees, or all orange trees? ....

Once this issue is there (and sufficiently up-voted), there will be a lot higher chance it will be fixed.

[Fireball]

I have seen this mentioned many times already, yet I did not see a clear and consice repro for this. Can someone create an issue on CIT with clear repro steps and short and easy to understand description?

http://dev-heaven.net/issues/7866#note-25

Did you try my repro already? I think there's also an issue with scoping with those trees in view.

Can anybody else see it happening with my repro?

[NoRailgunner]

Just curious if we can expect AI and config improvements within the next beta or final build?

[Suma]

http://dev-heaven.net/issues/7866#note-25

Did you try my repro already? I think there's also an issue with scoping with those trees in view.

Can anybody else see it happening with my repro?

I have already checked this issue before and it looks long and confusing to me. The primary description is way too general ("Bushes and deciduous trees are an absolute performance killer, these need to be optimised. ") and I cannot see any repro steps in the issue at all.

[Alex72]

Performance in the latest beta is definatelly upped in the heavier areas for my system. Latest nvidia drivers and tested previous plus this latest A2 beta and there is a noticeable difference when i turn 360 degrees in the same spot. The area where i felt it stuttered/lagged in the previous beta is gone now (tested betas side by side). When i turn 360 now i see no to very little slow down in that same spot.

Thanks BIS for keeping attacking this. :)

[Fireball]

I have already checked this issue before and it looks long and confusing to me. The primary description is way too general ("Bushes and deciduous trees are an absolute performance killer, these need to be optimised. ") and I cannot see any repro steps in the issue at all.

I agree, it's been held too generic and got cluttered up.

But I've made a self-running repro mission using camera scripts. So no repro steps needed there; that's why I've linked directly to my comment where the link to the attachment is visible.

[Bouben]

Hi, if I have these specs, what kind of exThreads command I should use for the best performance and beta benefits?

Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP2

AMD Turion X2 Ultra ZM-82 2211.5 MHz

DDR2 4096

ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 3850 (MSI) 512mb

Thank you.




ADD:

yes and I also feel some performance improvement with this patch, but can't say exactly how big yet. nevertheless, outside cities almost super-smooth experience with normal details and post-process off.

[Yapab]

This beta reminds me of the recent 2.7 patch from EGOSOFT for X-Terran Conflict (a great space sim) which enabled 64bit systems to use more memory... the results and response from the community was overwhelming, the performance improvement was HUGE and many people started playing again!

Good to see BIS concentrating on performance, as this is one area ARMA2 has been criticised for in the past. Also would be nice to see some FPS speed up in towns someday ;)

[InFireBaptize]

the game needs a lot of paged pool.

Suma,
By this, did you mean the windows page file? i have mine disabled and never had any problems?

[h -]

But I've made a self-running repro mission using camera scripts. So no repro steps needed there; that's why I've linked directly to my comment where the link to the attachment is visible.
IMO the repro mission is missing one vital step, comparison with another type of vegetation to see if there's any difference :p
I myself do get 10-12 FPS drop initially when the camera "drives" closer to the trees but none when the zoom happens.. But all the trees tend to affect the FPS in some way..

One thing with the red trees and bushes is that they all share one peculiar thing: they all seem to have massive model bounding boxes compared to the green similar size trees/bushes.. Dunno if that's even relevant, I'm no modeler.. :shrug:
Just noticed this when using kinda of a boundingbox "volume" in some scripts, then compared for example the red tree model t_acer2s.p3d and the big silo in Chernogorsk (Ind_SiloVelke_02.p3d) in O2 and the tree bounding box covers half of the 2D area the silo covers.. :shrug:


Anyways, after some tests this new beta is pretty sweet, since the introduction of exThreads 7 on my PC things have been very smooth and now this thing seems to have wiped basically all of the "LODding" problems there may have been left.. :)

[MavericK96]

This beta sounds amazing. Great thing to wake up to today. :D

Will test ASAP.

[froggyluv]

Best Beta I've tried in a long time!

First off it was the first to get rid of the awful stuttering and freezing problems I had experienced with the previous ones.

2nd, I upped my VD to 6000 and flew around Chernarus in an F4 and that had to be the smoothest ride I've yet had rivaling maybe only Ramdisk.

Thanks!

e8500 stock
4870 512 slightly oc'ed
8 gig Ram
Vista64

[MadDogX]

Finally got around to testing it too, and wow is the game smooth now! Great stuff. :)

[Punisher5555]

IMO the repro mission is missing one vital step, comparison with another type of vegetation to see if there's any difference :p
I myself do get 10-12 FPS drop initially when the camera "drives" closer to the trees but none when the zoom happens.. But all the trees tend to affect the FPS in some way..

One thing with the red trees and bushes is that they all share one peculiar thing: they all seem to have massive model bounding boxes compared to the green similar size trees/bushes.. Dunno if that's even relevant, I'm no modeler.. :shrug:
Just noticed this when using kinda of a boundingbox "volume" in some scripts, then compared for example the red tree model t_acer2s.p3d and the big silo in Chernogorsk (Ind_SiloVelke_02.p3d) in O2 and the tree bounding box covers half of the 2D area the silo covers.. :shrug:

Anyways, after some tests this new beta is pretty sweet, since the
introduction of exThreads 7 on my PC things have been very smooth and now this thing seems to have wiped basically all of the "LODding" problems there may have been left.. :)

Well, if someone puts up like Suma says I will put my vote for it.

[todayskiller]

New beta 71548 contains some improvements in RAM management and some preparations for the next step, which will be enabling the application as LARGEADDRESSAWARE (running as LARGEADDRESSAWARE should fix the out of memory issues on 64b systems).

The point of this beta is to:

- verify the changes made as a part of preparation have not broken RAM management
- verify the increased file cache size of systems with lot of RAM works

I have quite a few Improvements with stuttering from this patch, so thumbs up to you guys :).

I have another Question though, LARGEADDRESSAWARE...is it possible to use now? or would it have problems since you haven't officially released it yet?

Also, when you do come out with LARGEADDRESSAWARE (and also with the RAM issue and stuttering fixes)...Would that help out situations, such as the Benchmark 2?, or something totally different.

[jpinard]

Awesome stuff. I'll test this ASAP. One good way to fill up your RAM quickly is to grab a fast plane like the F-35 and fly around Chernarus with 10k view distance and terrain+object details as high as possible.

Let's see if it goes higher than 1.2GB with this new beta. :)

If this works as intended, LOD popping and similar issues should be a thing of the past, right?

I have a benchmark that's perfect for this. You don't have to do anything but ride along (switch to external view). Download it here:
http://www.jeffpinard.com/jpinard%20ArmA2%20Benchmark%20Tests.zip

[sbsmac]

Hi, if I have these specs, what kind of exThreads command I should use for the best performance and beta benefits?

"It depends" but the good news is it's now quite easy to try different settings for yourself (http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost.php?p=1648266&postcount=55) :)

FWIW, I find exthreads 5 and 7 to be pretty close in performance and better than other options on my system. YMMV.

[Pauliesss]

I asked this before(few months ago) without answer - so, what are the best page file settings for Arma2 ? I have 4GB RAM(I know, XP 32-bit not use it all) and Windows XP SP3 32-bit.

[jpinard]

Just to reiterate... Should a supercomputer of a system add no parameters (exthreads, cores, maxmem, etc) as they will be set by default for the best performance? -exThreads=7 etc...

[EDcase]

The game performance has improved for me (less stutter) but now I get some buildings that do not update to higher LOD, they just stay at low res no matter what settings I change. I've noticed this on the "Village Sweep" mission in Grishino. Still tesing other towns.

This is with no entries so equivalent to -exThreads=7 and -cpuCount=4

Win7
i7 920 @<hidden>
GTX285
6Gb ram

Anyone notice mission load times are longer now?

Pauliesss: When I was using XP32 (also with 4Gb) I just set it to windows controlled. Never had any probs.

[Dwarden]

Suma,
By this, did you mean the windows page file? i have mine disabled and never had any problems?

Paged pool memory is a region in virtual memory which can be paged in and paged out of the system. Device driver which do not need to access the memory from DPC/Dispatch level or above can use paged pool. it is accessible from any process context.

check this to understood bit more
http://blogs.technet.com/b/markrussinovich/archive/2009/03/26/3211216.aspx

[Kevaskous]

enabling LARGEADDRESSAWARE flag with editbin
[/list]

How would one go about this?

[CarlGustaffa]

The game performance has improved for me (less stutter) but now I get some buildings that do not update to higher LOD, they just stay at low res no matter what settings I change. I've noticed this on the "Village Sweep" mission in Grishino. Still tesing other towns.

I got that problem on a previous beta, but for units. Using the "preview animation" mission (download), the preview unit would stay in low LOD in the editor. Even if I loaded another mission and back. The next session however, everything was back to normal.

[alef]

In Domination, after a Teleport to MHQ or Base, with AI, the rendering pauses for some seconds, for 3 or 4 times.
From process explorer, I can see the main thread (arma2.exe+0x566ac0) is the only one running, while all of the other are blocked (CPU% 0).

The setPos happens very far from the starting point, while the dialog window (that include a map) keeps opened for some instants. Then the stutter comes.

[MavericK96]

How would one go about this?

You have to modify the executable, which may (and in all likelyhood will) trigger the FADE copy protection.

[nuggetz]

Great update. Things do appear to be smoother to me. However, the grass LOD's are still the same. Still switching while they're only 10 feet in front of you. Is there anything that can be done about that? The trees never bothered me since they always appeared to pop in at the same point where I had my view distance set to. The grass is another story.

Keep up the great work BIS. There's no other game like this. PC gaming is dying and I'd like to have one good sim left on my machine before the consoles dumb down everything.

[Kevaskous]

You have to modify the executable, which may (and in all likelyhood will) trigger the FADE copy protection.

Suma said it was possible to do this.


If someone feels courageou, you may try this with x64 windows - you should see the RAM usage going quite high, however there might be some issues - this is not complete yet at our side, which is why the flag is not enabled by default.

[MavericK96]

Suma said it was possible to do this.

Ahh, I missed that. I think I will just wait for the upcoming beta which will support it from the developers' end. :cool:

[Insanatrix]

So far no problem on win7 x64 with 4gb ram. Tested view distance from 2,000-10,000. Definitly was alot smoother, The frame rate hit was there but overall it was much smoother and less stuttering and general loading of textures.

[RobM]

After playing Chernarus, MP superpowers, for about an hour and a half, I went to save it, and crashed. Window reported an out of memory issue, and some blurb about a pagefile.

[milkyway12]

I am having a problem. I installed the mod and am i using the mod launcher. Whats going on?


http://img267.imageshack.us/f/problems.jpg/

Whats that mean?


Vista 64 bit latest updates , GFX card latest update nvidia

[OrdeaL]

Great framrate etc now nut still get CTDs every hour or two when playing Dom with ACE. Dont get this when using no beta.

Can a dev please share light on to what you should set the video memory too in game for 512mb cards!

[Michael Withstand]

This is insane I've never seen a developer and a publisher so dedicated to making their product as polished as possible even when it's already out by a year.

I bought and own a premium Stell Beast Pro PE and even in that I didn't see such commitment that BI is displaying with ArmA 2 :bounce3:

[milkyway12]

http://img62.imageshack.us/i/missingfile.jpg/

I see , i dont have the Beta launcher i saw in the readme file , how do i get the beta launcher or is the file corrupt?

[CameronMcDonald]

I'm overjoyed to see that >4GB systems will see a boost from later builds. Looking forward to the build later this week. :)

[Muahaha]

This is insane I've never seen a developer and a publisher so dedicated to making their product as polished as possible even when it's already out by a year.

I bought and own a premium Stell Beast Pro PE and even in that I didn't see such commitment that BI is displaying with ArmA 2 :bounce3:

I guess that's why the community is so loyal here... Great game, great developer, great community, great fun!

[AnimalMother92]

I guess that's why the community is so loyal here... Great game, great developer, great community, great fun!

So true, <3 u BIS :inlove:

It's really amazing to see how far ArmA II has come in one year.

[Flash Thunder]

Stuttering is almost non exsistant now!

Cant wait for the weeks ahead!

*Gives some wine to BIS*

:pc:

[MJK-Ranger]

I am having a problem. I installed the mod and am i using the mod launcher. Whats going on?


http://img267.imageshack.us/f/problems.jpg/

Whats that mean?


Vista 64 bit latest updates , GFX card latest update nvidia

That's how steam works... not GOOD at all with Beta patch's. The only release that works is the latest v.1.05.62017 if you like to use the ingame overall futures. U can still play arma2 with beta if u use Steam, but in this case your play time will not be logged in steam. U need to use that shortcut file that are included after you install a beta patch, it's located in your arma2 folder (ink) file.

[gulag]

I have tested the latest beta (with a mission with many scripts and I use many addons) and so far no stutter, no CTD, performance is improved, thanks BIS.:)

[AnimalMother92]

That's how steam works... not GOOD at all with Beta patch's. The only release that works is the latest v.1.05.62017 if you like to use the ingame overall futures. U can still play arma2 with beta if u use Steam, but in this case your play time will not be logged in steam. U need to use that shortcut file that are included after you install a beta patch, it's located in your arma2 folder (ink) file.

Huh, I play with the beta patch every day thru Steam and it works just fine. I have the in game overlay and everything. Just use a mod launcher and add it as a non-steam game.

[WillaCHilla]

Tested the new beta last evening:

-No measurable FPS increase (as expected), BUT definitely a smoother transition between the different LODs. No problems so far, but I will test it a bit more at the weekend.

[OrdeaL]

Another thought whats causing my CTDs is that im running the lastest beta while our server is on the standard 1.05 cause we have a linux server?

[milkyway12]

http://img62.imageshack.us/i/missingfile.jpg/

I see , i dont have the Beta launcher i saw in the readme file , how do i get the beta launcher or is the file corrupt?

I need this reply and the reply on the page before this with this image in it deleted ASAP please.

There is no threat to that accounts security , but you can never be 100% sure , just need it deleted as soon as you get time MOD , thank you.

[MadDogX]

Has anyone else tried FRAPS with this latest beta? I did yesterday, briefly, and noticed that the framerate while recording seemed a lot better than in previous betas. Didn't have time to try it extensively, but it certainly appeared much smoother at first glance. Can anyone confirm? :)

[SASrecon]

Has anyone else tried FRAPS with this latest beta? I did yesterday, briefly, and noticed that the framerate while recording seemed a lot better than in previous betas. Didn't have time to try it extensively, but it certainly appeared much smoother at first glance. Can anyone confirm? :)

I noticed this too :)

[ThaSundancekid]

Lovely!!!
Really nice work!

[Pathetic_Berserker]

gRRR the Armaholic link for this patch discussion leads to the previous patch.

Short of repeating my post in the other thread I just want to say that yes I have noticed an improvement with stutter and RAM usage. Though I was expecting a bit more on the RAM usage side, but I'm ignorant of such matters so am still tickled pink


Thanks BIS.

[[APS]Gnat]

Long time since I tried a Beta, but this one is NICE !
FPS reads as lower, but its actually not, and it seems much smoother.

Only small problem is, on some menus it appears the mouse is laggy ...... anyone noticed this or is it just me?

[sbsmac]

Only small problem is, on some menus it appears the mouse is laggy ...... anyone noticed this or is it just me?

Yes, the mouse in the Armory weapon selection screen (for example) is very badly affected and has been for some number of betas now.

[InFireBaptize]

I played Trial by fire for 4 hours last night with no ACE. Not sure if it was a good city to gauge beta performance but texture loaded ok, no stutter, no CTD, well i have one CTD and that was because i disabled PageFile, so re-enabling it back solved the issue.

Settings were very high, except AA on Normal and the other AA is on normal too. PP on low, VD on 2600 and shadow on high, VM on very high.

I'm using exThreads=7 with my core 2 cpu.

[Dwarden]

Gnat;1653370']Long time since I tried a Beta, but this one is NICE !
FPS reads as lower, but its actually not, and it seems much smoother.

Only small problem is, on some menus it appears the mouse is laggy ...... anyone noticed this or is it just me?

yes gnat i noticed that ,
especially if you mean laggy and skipping back/forth

yet i'm unable to reproduce that clearly for now

plus it always fix itself after alt+tab or switching to other application

[[KH]Jman]

Yes fantastic performance on my rig (spec in sig below) with cpucount 4 and exthreads 7 (HT on). No stutter, smoother and better lod switching. Definate overall improvement.

[KeyCat]

Haven't had a chance to test this yet but glad to see BIS hard at work and that you guys with large amount of RAM benefit from it!

Anyway, if some intend to test the /3GB switch when A2 becomes LAA on XP/Vista 32-bit be sure to read up on the /USERVA switch as well, even MS warns about potential side effects so beware...

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/316739

/KC

[Wolfstriked]

So with this new beta XP will use more than 4Gb?That seems unlikely as I thought it was hardcoded and impossible to do.

[Jon Hye-Knudsen]

This BETA is definitely much bette than any previous version. No more stuttering. Really looking forward to getting my GTX275 running on my rig + a "real" patch with these kinds of improvements. Keep up the good work!

Core i7 920 - 8 GB RAM - GTX260

[milkyway12]

I have 2 GTX 295s (Stock) , I7 965 (Stock) , 12 Gigs of ram 1333h , windows vista 64 bit. (EVERYTHING newest drivers)

I get an average of about 38 FPS with everything maxed out , i play Capture the island only.

4k View Distance , x8 AA , everything maxed. Get decent FPS , but i get crashes constantly i look in my logs for a display driver crash and there is none. The game just stops. Even if i lower the graphic settings it last about an hour longer and it crashes for no reason , i mean the game has no hardware reason to crash , just dont understand how to fix this. If i get an helicopter or jet im guaranteed a game crash in about 10 minutes. Is it me or the game?

Just so frustrating i still havnt been able to enjoy the full aspect of the game because of this and the devs are fairly active on this , just so aggeravting when i finally get my gear setup , my squad layout set up , get to the town im going to assualt , start the attack and half way through CRASH , or right after the attack next objective CRASH. :( Need some tips to get this to stop.

PS: No problems with mouse lag however :)

[Kridian]

Yeah, I get the CTDs too while playing multi-player ACE2 for about an hour or so. A friend of mine reported the same thing. Memory leak?

[AnimalMother92]

With this beta things feel smoother and there's less stutter, but I still have some trees and bushes that stay at ugly low LODs until I get very close.

[ruebe]

runs fine (dual-core, 4gb ram, win xp), except for the CTD I've got right now, which did not happen before this patch (though sure, this may be a coincidence):


ErrorMessage: Out of memory (requested 0 KB).
footprint 343890384 KB.
pages 16384 KB.

Link to ad0ce02b (Obj-412,360:43) not released
Link to adccdccb (Obj-411,366:1227) not released
Link to adccd46f (Obj-410,366:1135) not released
...

[CameronMcDonald]

I've been getting similar messages. Next time it happens, I'll throw up my message and logs.

[markushaze]

Thanx BIS .
This beta has worked wonders.

The Game runs very smooth even with lots of MODs active.
Much better streaming performance , les lod swiching overall noticable nicer gameplay then previus versions.
Best of all.... No crash whatsoever:-)

exthreads=7/ All very high / AA via nhancer 4xCombined / Singleplayer Missions / Campaigns / specs in my sig./
again, This is gresat. Thanx a lot.

I will try and test some multilayer later on.

[Machinist]

runs fine (dual-core, 4gb ram, win xp), except for the CTD I've got right now, which did not happen before this patch (though sure, this may be a coincidence):


ErrorMessage: Out of memory (requested 0 KB).
footprint 343890384 KB.
pages 16384 KB.

Link to ad0ce02b (Obj-412,360:43) not released
Link to adccdccb (Obj-411,366:1227) not released
Link to adccd46f (Obj-410,366:1135) not released
...


I also got same error, when playing campaign manhattan mission. (q9400, 4gb, win7 64bit)

[milkyway12]

runs fine (dual-core, 4gb ram, win xp), except for the CTD I've got right now, which did not happen before this patch (though sure, this may be a coincidence):


ErrorMessage: Out of memory (requested 0 KB).
footprint 343890384 KB.
pages 16384 KB.

Link to ad0ce02b (Obj-412,360:43) not released
Link to adccdccb (Obj-411,366:1227) not released
Link to adccd46f (Obj-410,366:1135) not released
...


I got the same exact error message expect mine said , (Requested 3KB)

[siementaa]

I have figured out that the reason for the CTD's with this patch is to do with ACE2's countermeasure system in aircraft. Every time you get locked on and deploy flares you will crash to desktop.
Works fine with the last beta patch and the latest ACE2 version.

[niverin]

Definitely smoother but still nearly unplayable stuttering and low FPS in the big cities (Elektrozavodsk)
Nice performance improvement thought.

[TimRiceSE]

I got the same exact error message expect mine said , (Requested 3KB)

what video memory setting do you have in the video options?

[[KH]Jman]

I have figured out that the reason for the CTD's with this patch is to do with ACE2's countermeasure system in aircraft. Every time you get locked on and deploy flares you will crash to desktop.
Works fine with the last beta patch and the latest ACE2 version.

It must be just your client machine then because mine works fine in the scenario that you describe above.

ArmA2 is very stable for me I have not had a CTD or lockup for months.

[chrisg2110]

Hi,

i have the same Problem as siementaa...

On Chernarus .... when i get locked on and deploy flares (RKSL) - ARMA 2 will crash to desktop.

[Pauliesss]

I asked this before(few months ago) without answer - so, what are the best page file settings for Arma2 ? I have 4GB RAM(I know, XP 32-bit not use it all) and Windows XP SP3 32-bit.Hm, anyone?

[bushpig]

I have 8 gigs of ram, using windows 7 x64, and using a 4870X2 2gb graphics card.

What settings do I need to use?

Do I need this maxmem thing, or the exThreads parameters?


thanks :)

[CameronMcDonald]

http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e265/CameronMcDonald/Crash.jpg

Blargh. Has anyone made a ticket for this over at DevHeaven, or do I need to make one myself?

EDIT - Made one. Please vote: http://dev-heaven.net/issues/11350

[Dwarden]

I have 8 gigs of ram, using windows 7 x64, and using a 4870X2 2gb graphics card.

What settings do I need to use?

Do I need this maxmem thing, or the exThreads parameters?


thanks :)
since last beta(s) by default

if game detects you have quadcore it will use -cpuCount=4 and -exThreads=7 (for dualcore it's 2 and 0)

maxMem by default use 0.5 to 1.5GB memory as needed

[RobM]

Got this error with 71548 and 71382, when attempting to save the mission after 90 mins, or so, of MP play time.

http://www3.telus.net/rmuscoby/pics/arma2-memory.gif

[Dwarden]

report Your crash issue into CIT
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/issues/new
don't forget to attach crashdumps !

[=KCT=BlackMamba]

when i try to play sertain usermade campaigns the game freezes.
only solution is to go to task manager and end the game

[milkyway12]

what video memory setting do you have in the video options?

Very high

[otreblA_SNAKE_[ITA]]

report Your crash issue into CIT
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/issues/new
don't forget to attach crashdumps !

I had a similar problem but I couldn't take a screenshot because my screen was all black and I could resolve just using alt+f4.
However, where can I find crashdumps?

[TimRiceSE]

Very high

Try default.

[jpinard]

BI - During intense battles I'm getting sound anomolies. Maybe this is (WAI) working as intended, but is very noticeable when the jet or helos arrive and fly overhead. The sound clips in too late and sounds odd. You can test this by loading up this mission: http://www.jeffpinard.com/FPS_Test_Huge_5d.utes.zip

Notes about the mission:
* 300+ units
* The unit you control in the test is invulnerable. Idea being, just stay in the middle and rotate slowly to hear the sound that cuts in incorrectly. You may need to move him back to his starting point as blasts blow him around a bit.
* Just to clarify, the sound issue I'm referring to is not the normal close blast percussive effect, nor bomb blasts. It is the effect of sound suddenly clipping in/out because many sounds are playing at the same time - but is most noticeble with the aircraft overhead.
* If this is WIA, please let me know and I'll stop reporting.
* Would it be possible to increase the number of simultaneous sounds? That would probably fix this issue.

----edit----

Here's a Youtube video with the issue (turn volume up loud & watch in 1080P). As the Helo comes in the sound should start much earlier... instead it cuts in when it as it is already passing overhead. Once the sound starts doing this - it gets worse until a battle is reloaded. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxCUBD62oec
All the other helos sounded proper up until this point.

[milkyway12]

Game runs smoother , load smoother on the battlefield , but i still get the random CTDs for no reason , not warning no error message , just shuts down even when im getting a steady 42 FPS and no glitches , just closes down.


Im not being mean or anything , but PLEASE god release operation arrowhead in a ready state and i have my fingers crossed that the game wont crash like this one does. Please please please release a decently ready game , every single company that has released a game in the past two years have half assed it , please do this one right. :/

[mrcash2009]

@<hidden>

Im not suggesting its this 100% but you might be experiencing audio channel cut out due to so much happening at once, might be card related (or even arma engine as standard hitting a limit). I say this because thunder for me can cut out reload sounds ... I know wierd but what you posted is acting just the same just with a different sound being effected in this case the heli cutting out.

Have you tried the same with less AI running? Hows the heli then / with no other ai?

[CameronMcDonald]

Got this error with 71548 and 71382, when attempting to save the mission after 90 mins, or so, of MP play time.

http://www3.telus.net/rmuscoby/pics/arma2-memory.gif

Kindly vote in this topic, then, and upload your 3 (or 2) crash files.

http://dev-heaven.net/issues/11350

[bushpig]

since last beta(s) by default

if game detects you have quadcore it will use -cpuCount=4 and -exThreads=7 (for dualcore it's 2 and 0)

maxMem by default use 0.5 to 1.5GB memory as needed

OK. So I have set my maxmem to 1.5gb;

-maxmem=1536

Is that correct?

And also, I have quadcore CPU, so I guess I dont have to worry about exThreads and cpuCount.

----------------------

So far I havent seen much improvement on this beta release; In forest areas I get a very steady 60fps (how it should be), but then as soon as I look towards a town, even a small one, I get some stuttering lag and it goes down to around 50fps. This is hows its been for me for a while.

Can you recommend any tips/tricks to get the towns running better?

If the towns had such smooth performance like the forest areas, I would be in heaven :)


Thanks Dwarden

[TimRiceSE]

50 fps isnt exactly low...

[Wildgoose]

Dedicated server is back to crashing (maybe twice a day) since latest beta 71547.
Although atleast its not showing out of memory dialog box and server reboots!

Server hasnt crashed for last beta's since all previous 7's builds atleast.

[bensdale]

@<hidden>

50 fps are not the problem. Try defrag your HD.

[bushpig]

Ive tried the defrag, it didnt seem to do anything. Im using a Veliciraptor 10k rpm.

For me, when it drops down below 60fps, I can clearly notice it stutters, specially since I have v-sync on. This goes for pretty much any game.

The lag is the buildings. The orange trees are not so bad now, but they still choke the system more than the normal green trees. I think its just these two things that make it lag.

[Richey79]

Like you, I've got a 4870x2.

I found that turning vsync off really helped with Arma 2, although I had to install ATI TrayTools (bit of a pain with Win7) to be able to do so for this particular game. I wonder if this is the root of your problems, with a Crossfire setup.

Is the -Maxmem command line useful since you've got 8gigs of RAM? I don't use it personally.

Where do you have your pagefile set up, and how much capacity have you allocated to it (unlikely this is the problem, though)?

As others have said in this thread, antialiasing is a FPS killer in this game, perhaps more so for ATI cards. Probably best to up the 3D resolution setting instead.

Have you got the latest Crossfire profiles installed (http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_catalyst.aspx?p=win7/windows-7-64bit)?

I've got a similar set up to you and can get down to less than 30 fps with it still feeling pretty smooth using these latest betas, so your problem should be fixable. I don't use postprocessing, though, as that does give me random slow-downs and lags once plenty of scripts/AI are running.

Edit: Something which I've found interesting with the last two beta patches: I've started setting texture to 'very high' and object detail to 'high', and everything seems to run much more smoothly than on the lower settings. It seems that, with 1 Gig of RAM on the graphics card, the system has to work far harder to keep switching LODs than it does to keep higher quality textures/larger poly models in its memory, even at larger view distances and with grass on and shadows 'high'.

That probably seems like a pretty obvious point to make, but with earlier builds I encountered a performance hit when trying to set object detail higher than 'low'.

[netrocyn]

Buildings seem to have more of a fps hit now then they did in previous patches, everything else has improved massively. If this can be addressed or improved I will be happy.

[RobM]

Kindly vote in this topic, then, and upload your 3 (or 2) crash files.

http://dev-heaven.net/issues/11350I did vote, but don't know where the crashlogs are located, and don't have the time to spend an hour searching for a thread that points the way.

So where are they?

[Dwarden]

I did vote, but don't know where the crashlogs are located, and don't have the time to spend an hour searching for a thread that points the way.

So where are they?


tha'ts pure excuse
this
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/wiki
leads to
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/wiki/Attachments
which gets you answer here
http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Crash_Files#ARMA_2

---------- Post added at 18:36 ---------- Previous post was at 18:35 ----------


Dedicated server is back to crashing (maybe twice a day) since latest beta 71547.
Although atleast its not showing out of memory dialog box and server reboots!

Server hasnt crashed for last beta's since all previous 7's builds atleast.

what about crashdumps from the dedicated server?

[jpinard]

Performance is most definately down with more lag & hesitations in this beta @<hidden> meter distance.

Will post concrete numbers later.

[Wildgoose]

tha'ts pure excuse
this
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/wiki
leads to
http://dev-heaven.net/projects/cis/wiki/Attachments
which gets you answer here
http://community.bistudio.com/wiki/Crash_Files#ARMA_2

---------- Post added at 18:36 ---------- Previous post was at 18:35 ----------



what about crashdumps from the dedicated server?

Ok, at work now, will post error files in morning

[KeyCat]

Buildings seem to have more of a fps hit now then they did in previous patches...

Don't know if this is related but I noticed the following while trying out 71548 in MP. At one specific spot while looking into Chernogorsk with scope my framerate plummet to ~5 fps, never experienced such a drastic drop before.

IIRC it was the big silos things at the factory I was looking at from the fields NW, viewing other parts of Chernogorsk from same spot in scope wasn't that bad fps wise.

/KC

[Wolfstriked]

The view distance is a huge factor in stutter.I think its the cpu has a hard time doing the geometry of so many objects at once.I eliminate mine by putting at minimum.Not best solution but having stuff close to me at 1600x1200 all very high with 50 to 60 fps no stutter is very nice.

[Batstat]

New beta 71548 contains some improvements in RAM management and some preparations for the next step, which will be enabling the application as LARGEADDRESSAWARE (running as LARGEADDRESSAWARE should fix the out of memory issues on 64b systems).

The point of this beta is to:

- verify the changes made as a part of preparation have not broken RAM management
- verify the increased file cache size of systems with lot of RAM works

:salute: This is nice, very very nice Suma

Our NoPryl server runs most missions with 50 FPS, whith 15 - 20 players. We have 2 x 4GB ramdisk (imdisk), where we have loaded all BIS addons PBO.

Will the server.exe be /LAA compatible in a week or so also?
With 12GB RAM is it advised to stop using ramdisk on the server?
If the files is cached I suppose the Ramdisk could represent a overhead and less efficent cache. But in some ways I doubt this is the case, since the game not has gone pure 64bit yet.

[Richey79]

Finally got time to enable /largeaddressaware using editbin.

First impressions are good. I'm running Flashpoint Chernarus mission at 6000 vd with pp at high. All seems stable and haven't turned into a bird yet :bounce3:. Going to test more.

Good things to come in the next fortnight, I think!

With a bit more testing, I'm still not seeing Arma 2 using much more than 2 gigs of system RAM with this switch activated (Win 7 x64). However, you immediately notice when you switch to a scope or binoculars there is no momentary slow down, and higher vd is possible without any stutters/slow down. Also got the impression that you could place more units in the editor with less performance cost.

[MavericK96]

Finally got time to enable /largeaddressaware using editbin.

First impressions are good. I'm running Flashpoint Chernarus mission at 6000 vd with pp at high. All seems stable and haven't turned into a bird yet :bounce3:. Going to test more.

Good things to come in the next fortnight, I think!

With a bit more testing, I'm still not seeing Arma 2 using much more than 2 gigs of system RAM with this switch activated (Win 7 x64). However, you immediately notice when you switch to a scope or binoculars there is no momentary slow down, and higher vd is possible without any stutters/slow down. Also got the impression that you could place more units in the editor with less performance cost.

Would it be against the rules to post the modified .exe file? Since there's no copy protection anyway, seems like it would be okay. I tried to figure out the binary editing and couldn't do it so it might be nice to have to test for people like me. :cool:

[bushpig]

Ive tried to set v-sync off with ATI tray tools before, but nothing I did turned it off. Maybe I should try again, hmm.

I found that the maxmem parameter did nothing. Ive tried it at 2047 and 1536.

My page file is 8190, and it is set on the same disk as the game (300gb velociraptor). I didnt want to move the page file to another disk, since all my other HDDs are slower than the raptor, that would most likely decrease performance, im not sure.

I will try these crossfire profiles you listed. Do these work with the 4870X2?

In past builds, (not sure about this one) I found when setting object detail to low, it improved performance alot. But like you said, I will try set it to high/veryhigh, see if performance improves; sometimes this is the case.

My in-game settings are:

Textures: Normal
Video memory: Default
Anisotropic filtering: High
Antialiasing: Disabled (the low setting doesnt seem to make performance suffer too much, and it doesnt look much better so I set it to disable)
Terrain: Normal
Object detail: Normal
Shadows: High
Post effects: High
Resolution: 1920x1080
viewdistance: 1500 - 2000 ( in multiplayer games, I set it to 1500 or lower, mp games lag alot)

Im using ATI Catalyst 10.6


thanks Richey79 :)

[Citnarf]

I have to say, this patch made my game much smoother, i no longer get any stutters / pauses when flying a jet at high speed.

Specs:
i7 930
6GB DDR3 RAM
500gb Samsung Spinpoint F3
XFX 5870 1gb
Win 7 64bit

[WillaCHilla]

After testing the new beta in different coops at the weekend, I noticed massive stuttering after 2 hours of playing a mission which is getting worse the longer I play at this point. Especially in cities with a lot of textures I get this effect.
Even so, the game runs stable, so no CTD. Before this effect is happening, the game runs fast and without any stuttering (better than the older betas) as already mentioned.


At first, I thought its the new GPU-driver (10.6), so I reverted to 10.4a which runs smooth and stable for a month before the new one came out.-No Difference here.
Creating a repro-mission for this problem is not easy, cause it will only happen after longer gaming (~ 2 hours).


hardware/settings:- listed in my signature (video memory: default, terrain detail: normal)

starting parameters:

-mod=beta "-name=[EC] WillaCHilla" -nosplash -world=Chernarus

Page file enabled on another partition (not the one where arma² or win is located, 4093mb). System runs (prime)stable.

[MadDogX]

After testing the new beta in different coops at the weekend, I noticed massive stuttering after 2 hours of playing a mission which is getting worse the longer I play at this point. Especially in cities with a lot of textures I get this effect.
I had no problems yesterday at the Charlie Foxtrot scrim - approx. 20v20 PvP over three hours. I was even recording with Fraps occasionally - no framerate problems whatsoever.

[pravinrocks4u]

I've installed ARMA II on other than C:.... i.e on L drive, I get following msg when I try to install beta patch "Arma II is not installed on your computer or installation is corrupt"
I do I fix this?

[pestbeule]

Hi everyone.

Maybe you would like to try this tool:

http://www.musikbanken.se/TechLaaTiDo.aspx

With it you can make arma LAA and it says my arma2.exe is now largeadressaware. :yay:

Haven't time to test it now in depth. I started the game and loaded a mission. Everything seems to work. I switched to the taskmanager where arma2.exe is using 600 megs of ram???

I'll check that later. So far no crashes but no performance gain in the 2 minutes of short testing.

[[HUD]Dorph]

I also gets stutters after a while, plays perfect at start 35-50fps (mp doomi) but after while i get theese stutters, some times fps goes down to 5-10 and a -flush will cure that but fps stays then at 20-25fps with stutters. A restart will bring game up to the 35-50 again.
This seems to occour faster if i fly, than if i stay on the ground.

[Wolfstriked]

My stuttering is severely worse with this beta.I also get a weird 30 seconds when I first spawn where the fps is pegged at around 30 and the ground textures flash.I have a ramdrive installed.Deleted it and same thing happens.Is this LAA stuff we are getting gonna benefit xp32bit with more than 4gb ram?I only read statements saying it helps 64bit systems to not get out of memory errors.

[WillaCHilla]

My stuttering is severely worse with this beta.I also get a weird 30 seconds when I first spawn where the fps is pegged at around 30 and the ground textures flash.I have a ramdrive installed.Deleted it and same thing happens.

Try
-world=Chernarus if youre playing this island generally. Should help you not to get flashing ground-textures or big FPS-decreases if you spawn on a "new" location.
Disadvantage of this parameter is a longer loading-time till the main-menu appears (but the loading time of a mission is much more faster).


Is this LAA stuff we are getting gonna benefit xp32bit with more than 4gb ram?I only read statements saying it helps 64bit systems to not get out of memory errors.

AFAIK it is possible to use more than 3GB, 3,5GB on a 32bit system with some tweaks (read it in another tread), but by default, youre not able to use more than 3,5 GB.

[MadDogX]

If you're running a 32bit OS with >4GB RAM then you're doing something wrong - unless of course you're using the rest as a RAM drive. ;)

It is basically impossible for Arma2 to access more than 3GB of RAM on 32bit XP systems, even with large address awareness. (See this article on MSDN (http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778%28VS.85%29.aspx).)

[Richey79]

Im using ATI Catalyst 10.6



At a loss.

You seem to have everything set up pretty much as I do. Three real differences: -I set textures/object detail to v.high/high. -I stuck with Catalyst 10.5 after hearing bad things about 10.6 and Crossfire, but WillaCHilla says he's reverted without losing the stutter (mind you, ATI drivers always were a bitch to roll back effectively). -I always get sick of the problems post processing creates for my system and turn it off after about 5 minutes of trying it.


Would it be against the rules to post the modified .exe file? Since there's no copy protection anyway, seems like it would be okay. I tried to figure out the binary editing and couldn't do it so it might be nice to have to test for people like me. :cool:

Frankly, you'd be as quick to use Latido to alter the file yourself. Be aware that this doesn't mean that A2 will suddenly use 4 gigs of RAM. Felt like another performance improvement to me, though.

- Edit, NRg, you're right, I suppose. Common sense presumes that a disclaimer is implicit, but Latido is just as easy to use, so... use it. Hate the modern way that everybody is responsible for your actions except yourself, though.

[NoRailgunner]

MavericK96, Richey79 read forum rule §3 - such things can get quickly out of your hands. Who is responsible if something goes wrong? You, BIS, forum moderators or people using it??

[Wolfstriked]

Try
-world=Chernarus if youre playing this island generally. Should help you not to get flashing ground-textures or big FPS-decreases if you spawn on a "new" location.
Disadvantage of this parameter is a longer loading-time till the main-menu appears (but the loading time of a mission is much more faster).



AFAIK it is possible to use more than 3GB, 3,5GB on a 32bit system with some tweaks (read it in another tread), but by default, youre not able to use more than 3,5 GB.

Tried -world=Chernarus and still the same.What I failed to mention before is that the main screen would always come up blue as if your under water and with this tweak its back to the normal menu background.Don't know if that makes a difference.

So the tweaks for the 64bit group benefits them.Thats kool at least they are helping where they can.Whats weird is my ramdrive doesn't really make a difference compared to my SSD or USB flash.The only way to remove the stutter for me is to drop VD way down to minimum.I am ready to return the extra ram I purchased as that 100dollars can go towards other things.Thanks fellas for the help.

[KeyCat]

Hi everyone.

Maybe you would like to try this tool:

http://www.musikbanken.se/TechLaaTiDo.aspx

With it you can make arma LAA and it says my arma2.exe is now largeadressaware. :yay:


Another option is this easy-to-use utility made by Daniel Pistelli:

http://www.ntcore.com/4gb_patch.php

/KC

[Punisher5555]

Tried -world=Chernarus and still the same.What I failed to mention before is that the main screen would always come up blue as if your under water and with this tweak its back to the normal menu background.Don't know if that makes a difference.

So the tweaks for the 64bit group benefits them.Thats kool at least they are helping where they can.Whats weird is my ramdrive doesn't really make a difference compared to my SSD or USB flash.The only way to remove the stutter for me is to drop VD way down to minimum.I am ready to return the extra ram I purchased as that 100dollars can go towards other things.Thanks fellas for the help.

Just switch to Win7 x64 like the rest of us. Well worth it.

[Wolfstriked]

I might have to do that.I guess the memory stays since If I do upgrade I'll then be able to use it.So Win7 pro or home?Also how many fps does downgradingto win7 net you from XP?

[KeyCat]

Just switch to Win7 x64 like the rest of us. Well worth it.

I agree that 64-bit OS may be the future but remember that not everyone can or wan't to upgrade to Win 7 just yet...

In my case it would mean that I would lose my belowed TM FLCS/TQS HOTAS since MS decided to drop the gameport support since Vista and I need them to fly in A2 as well as DCS:BS/FC2/F4/IL2.

Yes, my HOTAS are old but they works perfectly fine and flying above mentioned sims without HOTAS is not an option for me...

/KC

[NoBrainer]

I might have to do that.I guess the memory stays since If I do upgrade I'll then be able to use it.So Win7 pro or home?Also how many fps does downgradingto win7 net you from XP?

In my case, FPS did not change from XP SP3 to Win7 64 Home.

[No Use For A Name]

wow! LOD popping is almost non-existent; and with the exthreads parameter, it's really been an improvement for performance! Thanks again BIS! I still maintain 30-40 with dips in the 20's (as with 1.05/previous betas); but silky smooth and very playable

[MadDogX]

wow! LOD popping is almost non-existent
^^ This. It's awesome. :)

Playing the game is just so much more enjoyable now that LOD popping is no longer an issue. The only thing missing to make this perfect is a more fluent LOD switching - or fade in/out - for the grass clutter while moving around. Implement that and I'm sure a lot of peeps will cream their knickers with joy.

[NoRailgunner]

Still have this sky flickering (z-fighting?) and visible switching from low to high textures on trees and buildings. Sometimes its even worse if I quickly turn around in bigger towns the buildings have a single colored texture.
Only looking at the stats - last two previous beta builds had 2-3 fps more and with this Chernogorsk testmission (@<hidden>) there were also +200frames more in 55 seconds.

[Kernriver]

I know default benchmark mission is not the best way to tell how Arma2 performs, but these are my findings:

Benchamark #1

1.05 patch - average fps: 26

beta 71548 - average fps: 31

I don't know what those BIS guys are doing, but they're doin' it right. :)

[bensdale]

Still have this sky flickering (z-fighting?) and visible switching from low to high textures on trees and buildings. Sometimes its even worse if I quickly turn around in bigger towns the buildings have a single colored texture.
Only looking at the stats - last two previous beta builds had 2-3 fps more and with this Chernogorsk testmission (@<hidden>) there were also +200frames more in 55 seconds.

I think you mean this problem:
http://dev-heaven.net/issues/8072

I thinks since this cahnge:
[70663] New: Weather config values "size" and "height" for better control over the cloud layer. Default values: size = 1.0; height = max(bright,0.6)
the sky texture change all the time...

before the sky texture flickers only by and after a heavy fighting.

[Wolfstriked]

Still have this sky flickering (z-fighting?) and visible switching from low to high textures on trees and buildings. Sometimes its even worse if I quickly turn around in bigger towns the buildings have a single colored texture.
Only looking at the stats - last two previous beta builds had 2-3 fps more and with this Chernogorsk testmission (@<hidden>) there were also +200frames more in 55 seconds.

Would you by chance be on XP?

[jpinard]

For this beta, tests are all over the place. Posting numbers would be pointless as there's no consistency whatsoever. I"ll list each one and my conclusions (10 hours of beta testing this patch, all at 3500 meter distance each test run 3 or 4 times, and used the editor and the massive Utes battle):

* Scenario Benchmark 1 - seeing microlag unlike last beta, same average fps.
* Scenario Benchmark 2 - seeing microlag unlike last beta, same average fps.
* OFPMark - Seeing hesitations in the capsule drop I didn't see in the previous beta.
* Chernogorsk City Benchmark - Massive dips in minimum frame rate (seen in half the tests) and 10% decrease in average frame rate.
* My Helo Bench - Average fps is down 10% again, stutter and lag is evident half the time I run the benchmark.
* My Jet Bench - Performance is dramatically increased. Very smooth, performance up 10%.

From here on, I devised a new benchmark that is a tank driving through Chernogorsk for 4 minutes. Half the time it runs fine, but when I've run the game for a bit OR used time compression it can stagger down to just 8 fps (as opposed to the 30fps I was getting). When it does this all objects remain low value LOD's and buildings look like toy blocks. The game barely moves and its evident something has gone wrong. I have to exit the game and restart. This is the first beta I've had this problem.

Overall - hesitations and lag are up... except when streaking across the countryside in a jet. On this rig "Beta v71275 -exThreads=7" was better all around... except my jet test.

System Specs:
* Windows 7 - 64-bit
* 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

Note: the varying performance numbers people are reporting - some see this beta as faster, some see it stable, some say its slower... it all depends on how long they've been running the game and what they're doing in the game. People need to report this as those that run a single test and say "It's faster!" are not providing reliable data.

[Defunkt]

I too have found this patch offers significant improvements to smoothness when tracking, panning, flying etc even on my 2.85Ghz dual-core. Playing on a dedicated server (with no AI under my control) I perceive only a very minor cost in terms of framerate (1-2 fps, a worthwhile trade). I do however find the framerate cost MUCH more noticeable when I run the same mission locally. I suppose this might be because my second core no longer has the same capacity to deal with AI as it does without the patch though I'd have thought it was the AI behaviour that would slowdown rather than rendering. Sorry I haven't included any numbers but what I'm describing is very obvious and very consistent on my rig. Based on my experience it's a bit of a mixed bag for dual-cores and a great deal worse if you play mainly SP (which I don't).

[MavericK96]

wow! LOD popping is almost non-existent

What do you guys mean by "LOD popping" exactly? Because I still get sudden shifts between low/high LODs as per the usual with ArmA2.

[No Use For A Name]

What do you guys mean by "LOD popping" exactly? Because I still get sudden shifts between low/high LODs as per the usual with ArmA2.

I think I mean what you're talking about. It's most noticeable when traveling in cities. The buildings won't switch LODs fast enough until you're right next to them and all of the sudden they switch to the highest detailed ones.

I also have my HDD defragged so that all Arma2 files are on the outer-most part of the disk where read times are fastest; but I would still get them once in a while (especially during the ArmaMark test missions). But since this patch I don't even get those anymore.

[Yapab]

Note: the varying performance numbers people are reporting - some see this beta as faster, some see it stable, some say its slower... it all depends on how long they've been running the game and what they're doing in the game. People need to report this as those that run a single test and say "It's faster!" are not providing reliable data.

This could be an indication of memory leak after extended periods of play. Let's see what happens when the proper LAA exe comes out in the next beta.

Yapa

[AnimalMother92]

I get this LOD popping people keep mentioning with certain trees and bushes. Usually I use Benchmark 1, there will be some bushes that stay 2D and blocky until the camera gets within a few meters of them. Quite ugly, especially when everything around them has switched to high LODs.

[MavericK96]

I get this LOD popping people keep mentioning with certain trees and bushes. Usually I use Benchmark 1, there will be some bushes that stay 2D and blocky until the camera gets within a few meters of them. Quite ugly, especially when everything around them has switched to high LODs.

I get the same. Also, I will notice in some instances where a building LOD will change and it will look funny because the low-quality LOD has different color/shadowing than the high-quality one, so the switch is very noticeable. Not sure what can be done about that, really, but I thought I would mention it since it's in the same vein.

[TimRiceSE]

Might be worht mentioning that LOD popping got better for me with different video memory setting - i.e. Default for very little pooping, whereas "very high" had quite a noticeable amount...

[MavericK96]

Might be worht mentioning that LOD popping got better for me with different video memory setting - i.e. Default for very little pooping, whereas "very high" had quite a noticeable amount...

I already use Default, but that's good to know for other users who might have the same issue.

I actually noticed that issue a lot even in 1.05, where High/Very High will have more LOD popping than Default, presumably because Default allows the use of more VRAM.

[Punisher5555]

I already use Default, but that's good to know for other users who might have the same issue.

I actually noticed that issue a lot even in 1.05, where High/Very High will have more LOD popping than Default, presumably because Default allows the use of more VRAM.

Is that still true about the VRAM? Did one of the betas fix that?

[Protegimus]

Yes it is fixed in the beta, so Default is generally not the desired setting if you have a graphics card with large local VRAM. However MavericK96 is an exception as he is using SLI where Default is accepted as being required to work properly.
I'm not sure where the claim comes from that Default uses more VRAM. No doubt it can be disregarded unless it can be substantiated.

Protegimus

[MavericK96]

I'm not sure where the claim comes from that Default uses more VRAM. No doubt it can be disregarded unless it can be substantiated.

Protegimus

Someone did, in fact, do a test with various settings and showed that Default used more VRAM than Very High. I will try to find the post, but it was somewhere in the forums.

[Protegimus]

Well I was thinking substantiated by an official source, but in any case wasn't that in very specific circumstances?
Default was introduced to overcome a problem with automatically detecting VRAM >512MB as 8800GTX cards and similar became popular back in ArmA. That problem is fixed in the beta and using it in ArmA2 frequently causes missing objects or parts of objects (soldiers heads being one of the most obvious) and instability.

Protegimus