Pagefile tweak = much improved FPS

[yarisbandit]

Hey all,

Been trying to tweak arma2 for a while as i have a fairly old rig, Athlon X2 4200+ OC'd to 2.6Ghz, 4Gig of ram and an 8800GTS.

Obviously it played like a dog at first but it's getting there slowly!!! I've tried just about everything including 1.03 to get to this point.

I have windows 7 on one hard drive, arma 2 on a seconf.

Just today i tried moving the windows pagefile to a third disk. Windows recommended 4822MB so i set it to that as a fixed size.

My FPS has jumped, from previously mid 10s (15/16/etc) near towns to a fairly steady 20+. I was shocked to finally hit 25 in the forests with my team running around me. The intro screen even hit 70 at one stage (barely got near 60 before) so i'm sure there's a boost in this tweak

I have shadows on v.high, textures on v.high, post processing on v.high and everything else on normal or low, at 1280x800. View distance is only ~1 mile though but it's better than nothing :/

This pagefile thing on a different disk might be worth a try for others?!?

[LondonLad]

I've got something similair, as I've recently reinstalled my system

3 HDD's (C:\ = OS + Apps, D:\ = Data, E:\ = Spare/Backup)

I've Windows 7 RTM (7600) installed with the pagefile on my E:\ (Backup/Spare drive)

The game defaintely seems to run alot better for me since the reinstall (have used Vista x64 and Win7 x64 RC1 (7100) previously) and using the latest ARMA II patch. (Also running all the latest drivers + updates for my system)

Specs: Intel Core2 Duo E660 @ 2.4Ghz, 4GB RAM, nVidia 8800 GTS 512MB), Win7 RTM x64, (2 x Segate 500GB HDD's (OS+APPS, DATA) , 1 * Seagate 250GB HDD (Backup/Spare)

*added after posting*
I also quite regularly defrag all my drives (using the standard Windows Defrag)

[nicolasroger]

could you describe how you move you pagefile and why you think it is helping the game performance?
I have a pretty good computer but I can't get real good fps
gpu: gtx 280 OC,
cpu: phenom 940 black edition,
4 go memory,
and 2 hard drive (300 go and 500 go)
do you think it could my game performance in any way? I would love to gain 10 more fps.. I'm always between 20-30 with that rig. I'm pretty sure I should get more

[LondonLad]

I can't say if moving my pagefile helped as I've recently done a total reinstall, but to make the changes you've requested on Windows 7, I did this...

> Control Panel > All Control Panel Items > System > System Properties > Advanced > Setting (under the Performance area) > Advanced > Change (under the Virtual Memory section)...

... Uncheck 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives'
> Select the drive letter of the partition you WANT the pagefile to exist
> Select the option to 'system managed size' or 'custom' if you want to customise the size of the pagefile
> select the original drive letter (usually C:\), and select 'No paging file'

This path may vary very slightly on XP and/or Vista (but it'll be within the 'System' area)

If you reselect the 'Automatically manage paging file size for all drives' I believe it'll recreate a pagefile to the OS drive (usually C:\)

[Private Plowjoy]

Hey all,

Been trying to tweak arma2 for a while as i have a fairly old rig, Athlon X2 4200+ OC'd to 2.6Ghz, 4Gig of ram and an 8800GTS.

Obviously it played like a dog at first but it's getting there slowly!!! I've tried just about everything including 1.03 to get to this point.

I have windows 7 on one hard drive, arma 2 on a seconf.

Just today i tried moving the windows pagefile to a third disk. Windows recommended 4822MB so i set it to that as a fixed size.

My FPS has jumped, from previously mid 10s (15/16/etc) near towns to a fairly steady 20+. I was shocked to finally hit 25 in the forests with my team running around me. The intro screen even hit 70 at one stage (barely got near 60 before) so i'm sure there's a boost in this tweak

I have shadows on v.high, textures on v.high, post processing on v.high and everything else on normal or low, at 1280x800. View distance is only ~1 mile though but it's better than nothing :/

This pagefile thing on a different disk might be worth a try for others?!?

You must remember though that the pagefile, like all data on your harddrive will over time become fragmented and 'dirty'. This is why rebuilding it can sometimes give a sharp increase in system performance but over time it can drop back down to where it was.

Putting the pagefile onto a different physical drive to the OS and the game install is the best possible thing to do but you then need to keep on top of maintaining your system and keep the drive with the pagefile clean of rubbish, regularly checked and regularly defragged.

[Mr Fenix]

First rule of Windows is put the pagefile on its own disc if you can.

Second rule is to uninstall all the crap you thought it'd be fun to have on there.

[nicolasroger]

thx guys, I will try this out.

Mr. Fenix: Is it the same for windows if you put the pagefile on its own partition or on its own physical disk.

[LondonLad]

thx guys, I will try this out.

Mr. Fenix: Is it the same for windows if you put the pagefile on its own partition or on its own physical disk.

I believe it will be better to be put on a separate physical disk, and not another parition of a 'same' disk.

So it'll be better to have at least 2 physical disks.

[Mr Fenix]

Yeah, another partition doesn't help much - it can be worse or better than a single partition. Separate discs for the win.

[SWAT_BigBear]

hmmm, I tried this and it changed my intro fps.
before: 40-64/65 max,
after: 40-107 <---wow
@2560x1600
I set the pagefile to a 3rd drive to recommended 6142.

Gotta go to work for now, I'll test the game later.