ArmA2 / OA (low) performance issues

[Redstarfish]

Hello Everyone.

Let's cut to the chase. My pc was built for gaming, and Arma II gives me lag on any setting, high or low.
My Benchmark:
34287 frames, 38 FPS, 72°C
FPS: min:36, max:40, avg:38 - OPTIONS: DynBkg

Stuff you should know about my computer:

• I do not have a heatsinked cpu cooler
• I have the steam version of Arma II, is there any way I can check for updates?
• My game sometimes get's frozen 2 times, then I have to CTRL+ALT+Delete.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($169.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Corsair CAFA70 61.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($47.37 @ Mac Connection)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($47.99 @ Newegg)
Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($72.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon HD 6950 2GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Rosewill 630W ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Monitor: Hannspree HF225DPB 21.5" Monitor ($135.74 @ Mwave)
Keyboard: Logitech K120 Wired Standard Keyboard ($10.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Mouse: Logitech G400 Wired Optical Mouse ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $760.02
(Prices include shipping and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2012-05-23 16:10 EDT-0400)

[Max Power]

I would make sure your cpu isn't overheating, and your hard drive is not fragmented.

Steam automatically updates.

[Leon86]

AMD FX 8150 (8 cores 3.8GHZ)
ATI 6970
Windows 7 and XP (two different PCs with the exact same hardware)
8Gigs DDR3 1600MHZ ram, nowhere near the maximum used
Arma2 and OA both on an SSD
Everything on lowest settings

There are no bottlenecks. GPU usage ~20-30%, each core on the CPU doesn't pass 50% usage.

Benchmark: ~100FPS
Benchmark1: ~89-98FPS (98FPS after trying every combination of optimization advice)
Benchmark2: ~20FPS. Can't be arsed running this all the way.

In cities (Chern) I get ~20-30 FPS, needless to say I'm upset, both GPU and CPU show low usage (see above).
Latest beta patch (though this is irrelevant, the patch only increased my FPS by 1)

this is normal, arma scales well to 3 cores, above quad there's no real gain. because your cpu has "terrible" performance per core (read reviews, a phenom II outperforms it) I'm afraid you have a huge cpu bottleneck. there's some mods you can try, should be links in this topic. "proper" mods.

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM ----------

I do not have a heatsinked cpu cooler

no heatsink? might want to get one before you have a cpu meltdown.

[Redstarfish]

no heatsink? might want to get one before you have a cpu meltdown.

I have the cooler that came with the CPU, but I also bought another cpu cooler (which I listed)
Hopefully I am overheating (well not hopefully) and see if that caused the lag. I'll update when I fix it, thanks

[Leon86]

instability is usually either

issue in the gpu driver (try another one)
or
defective memory (run prime 95 blend test or hci memtest for some time)

small chance of defective gpu too.

[Naka]

this is normal, arma scales well to 3 cores, above quad there's no real gain. because your cpu has "terrible" performance per core (read reviews, a phenom II outperforms it) I'm afraid you have a huge cpu bottleneck. there's some mods you can try, should be links in this topic. "proper" mods.[COLOR="Silver"]

---------- Post added at 09:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM ----------

Yeah, no, ArmaII is actively four cores, two of them under half used and two of them ~2/3 used. They aren't maxed at all. Mods such as GDT mod grass, PVT, sap_clutter don't have any performance gain.

[Leon86]

what result do you get when you run the benchmark missions (bench 1 and e08 are most relevant, bench 2 is crazy and always cpu limited)

[Naka]

what result do you get when you run the benchmark missions (bench 1 and e08 are most relevant, bench 2 is crazy and always cpu limited)

If you're talking to me, I already posted these results.

Benchmark: ~100FPS
Benchmark1: ~89-98FPS (98FPS after trying every combination of optimization advice)
Benchmark2: ~20FPS. Can't be arsed running this all the way.


I overclocked my processor up 600MHz (800MHz when it needs to, but apparently it never needs to on ArmA), I did Benchmark1 again and got 95FPS. No difference, cores as always aren't maxed.

[Leon86]

well, 90 fps seems playable to me. cherno is pretty crazy and if all buildings are in view the fps is terrible on any system

I get only 35 fps if I'm on the first floor of the construction site, looking at the city. running trough cherno it fluctuates between 40 and 60.

[Naka]

well, 90 fps seems playable to me. cherno is pretty crazy and if all buildings are in view the fps is terrible on any system

I get only 35 fps if I'm on the first floor of the construction site, looking at the city. running trough cherno it fluctuates between 40 and 60.

No, if you read my initial post I said that in cherno I get about what you get, 30FPS.