Operation Arrowhead performance optimizations/comparisons

[IDAN]

Operation Arrowhead performance optimizations/comparisons

As some had already mentioned there's a performance hit in Operation Arrowhead. Not just in Takistan, but also running Chernarus/Utes missions with the OA launcher. This thread is to help people get performance closer to vanilla ArmA2 1.07. Some may wonder why Chenarus would run slightly slower with OA than Vanilla ArmA2. The reasons I can identify are below:

 

* OA allows us to set the audio sample number. By default it is 32. ArmA2 only allowed 16. ~cpu hit.

 

* Graphic additions to the game. These include SSAO Post Processing, extra camera shake, muzzle flash, and a host of other improvements. ~graphic card hit.

 

* Armor and ballistics has been overhauled. ~cpu hit

 

* Game doesn't yet have A2 v1.07 enhancements. ~cpu/graphic hit.

 

All in all, for a new release the game is in pretty good shape and no doubt when it's upgraded to match A2 v1.07, adds LMA & x64 we'll be flying

I'l keep this up-to-date, and if the bold red text (below) is diffcult to read let me know and I'll change it.

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Performance Tips Below:

 

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1. Set Post-processing to Low to somewhat match ArmA2's High PP settings.

 

2. Stop using a RAM Drive.

 

3. Until BIS gets the OA code up to v1.07 I'm going to suggest people use the following parameters in the launcher:

 

Dual-Core processor:

-nosplash -cpucount=2 -exThreads=1

Quad-Core processor:

-nosplash -cpucount=4 -exThreads=7

Hexacore processor:

-nosplash -cpucount=6 -exThreads=7

 

(I'm not sure if the -winxp and -maxmem values are still required for XP users, for most people the answer would be "no")

 

4. I always suggest gamers turn off Hyper-threading technology (aka HTT) as it almost always decreases game performance. This isn't as necessary now since the game shuts down more than 4 cores and you specify the # to be used above... but I still suggest it be turned off in the BIOS.

 

5. Turn VSYNC OFF <--- this alone makes at least a 5 fps difference and makes the game much more responsive.

 

6. Play with "rendered frames ahead" values and match it to your ArmA2 OA config file. (0-8 are valid figures)

 

7. Windows Vista and Win 7 users - For optimum compatibility make sure you're running as an administrator... Right click the new icon, go to the compatibility tab, check-mark "run as administrator" box. You will need to redo this after Securom sends you SN activation number.

 

8. NVidia SLI is not working by default. You may need to rename the executable "arma2oa.exe" to something the NVidia card will try and enable SLI for. For example you can trick it by using Crysis name "Crysis.exe" instead of "armaoa.exe". See post #8 for more details http://forums.bistudio.com/showpost....45&postcount=8

 

I Have added what suggested on #3,#5 and it raised 10 fps from 47 to 57 on the benchmark test.

Edited July 3, 2010 by IDAN~SPARTA~

[Batwing~SPARTA~]

Thx for the interesting guideline

 

Actually, out of the box and setting the following on the ingame settings:

 

3D Res: 1680*1050

Text. Detail: Very high

Video mem: Very high

Anis filt: Normal

AA: Normal

Terrain detail: High

Obj. detail: High

Shadow det.: Normal

Post process: Normal

Interface size: Very small

 

On card settings V-Sync off

 

I have between 45 and 53 FPS, sometimes dropping to 28 on some Single player scenario.

 

Balancing good visual and decent performance, I think I am happy this way.

[custard~SPARTA~]

Thanks Idan