Here's how I got ARMA2 to perform smoothly using RAMDISK

[Ryannn 1]

I use Steam, and a launcher to run the game. Is it still possible to do this?

[doveman 7]

I use Arma II Launcher, I don't know what launcher you use but if you can specify commandline options it shouldn't be a problem.

[finguide 1]

I've now played with most pbos (the recommended ones) on RAMDISK for 2 days as a test.

System specs:

MOBO: ASRock Z77 Extreme4

CPU: i5-3570k @ 3,4 GHz

GPU: GTX 670 OC version

SSD: Samsung 830 256 GB

RAM: 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 CL9 Dual

PSU: Super Flower 1000 W

OS: Win7 64-bit

I installed free SoftPerfect RAM Disk program, created a 10 GB RAMDISK and moved the recommended A2 pbos mentioned in this topic

buildings.pbo

buildings2.pbo

Buildings2_Ind_CementWorks.pbo

Ca.pbo

chernarus.pbo

chernarus_Data.pbo

chernarus_Data_Layers.pbo

misc.pbo

misc2.pbo

misc3.pbo

plants2_Bush.pbo

plants2_Clutter.pbo

plants2_misc.pbo

plants2_Plant.pbo

plants2_Tree.pbo

Roads2.pbo

rocks2.pbo

signs2.pbo

structures.pbo

utes.pbo

water.pbp

water2.pbo

and also some OA pbos (in \Expansion\AddOns)

ca_e.pbo

misc_e.pbo

plants_e.pbo

roads_e.pbo

rocks_e.pbo

signs_e.pbo

structures_e.pbo

takistan.pbo

takistan_data.pbo

takistan_data_layers.pbo

to the RAMDISK and linked the files with Symbolic Links.

I've played on both Chernarus and Takistan a couple of hours now. At first, I saw no magic FPS increase or smoother FPS (there was still some micro stutter, maybe slightly less than before). Then I remembered that someone had mentioned the performance of RAMDISK being limited in practice by CPU (and the RAMDISK program itself), so I changed the priority of Arma2OA.exe and the RAMDISK processes from Normal to Very High as a test (didn't change affinity, because I was using parameters -cpuCount=4 and -exThreads=7) and alt-tabbed back to game. The FPS increased about 30 % (all video settings on Very High and Video Memory on Default, PP effects were Low) to 90 FPS with 2500 m viewdistance (on Domination server that had about 40 players online). The stutter decreased drastically and probably because of that the gameplay felt very smooth. LODs and textures didn't "pop" anymore (that also caused stutter) – when they appeared they had already correct LOD. It made the immersion and graphical experience much better.

Based on my test, I definitely recommend to use RAMDISK, even if you have Arma installed on SSD disk, if you have enough free RAM (+4 GB) and powerful enough CPU.

Because of the performance boost a question popped in my mind: could dedicated server get a performance boost if the files used by it were moved to RAMDISK? If I've understood correctly, dedicated server can use 2 cores. Eg. on quad core server the RAMDISK process could use then the 2 cores that are not used by the server. Is it even possible, and if is, has anyone tested this? I'd be very interested to see the results if there are any!

[doveman 7]

That's interesting finguide. Did you notice faster loading though, before you changed the priority?

Perhaps you could benchmark the RAMdisk with CrystalDiskMark or ATTO both with Normal and V.High priority. Certainly when I benched it without changing the priority the results were very good (several times faster than a SSD) so I'm not sure why increasing the priority of the RAMdisk would change anything. Increasing the priority of Arma2OA.exe would be more likely to make a difference I'd think.

[BasileyOne 10]

troubles in increase benefits from RAMDISK-ing - lie in RAMDisk code itself.

most RAMDisk software built convervative, ie "by default", while most development tools had "memory bandwitch saving"-features, ie that DRAMATICALLY tamper RAM bandwitch utilisation by RAMDISK, ie about 100x less benefits.

[doveman 7]

troubles in increase benefits from RAMDISK-ing - lie in RAMDisk code itself.

most RAMDisk software built convervative, ie "by default", while most development tools had "memory bandwitch saving"-features, ie that DRAMATICALLY tamper RAM bandwitch utilisation by RAMDISK, ie about 100x less benefits.

Still at least 4x faster than SSD though.

[BasileyOne 10]

Still at least 4x faster than SSD though.

yup and both more reliable and cheap.

wounder how long was someone/somevendor release RAM-based SSD with battery backup just like Gigabyte did in past[i-Ram product for example].

let alone RRAM, MRAM potential[FRAM couldn't had serious density nor speed, but condieraly improved in last 2 years of production].

[doveman 7]

I'm doing it slightly differently now.

I have arma2-ram\addons and expansion-ram\addons folders on my RAMDisk, with the recommended (plus some more) files from A2 and OA in each respectively. Then I use a modline that starts with

"-mod=d:\games\arma 2;s:\arma2-ram;expansion;s:\expansion-ram;expansion\beta\expansion;

that ensures that the RAMDisk files are loaded after the HDD files and so get used instead and also means I can simply remove the s:\ mods from the commandline (just by unticking them in ArmA II Launcher) to just load from HDD and not use the RAMDisk if I want to.