• Terrible performance on ARMA 3, need advice
    21 replies, posted
Hi, so, recently I've started playing ARMA 3 again. I haven't played it for ages because my framerate would be absolute shit but it was one of these days again. I was able to play but at a grand total of 8 FPS. I have all the specs of ARMA 3 set to Low or Disabled, I still don't get above 15 FPS at most. I also have the following command line parameters: [code]-noSplash -cpuCount=8 -high -exThreads=7 -maxMem=8192[/code] I'm running the game of an Intel 330 120 GB SSD and I have the following specs: [b]CPU[/b]: AMD FX-8150 @ 4.0 GHz [b]GPU[/b]: MSI R9 280X GAMING 3G TWIN FROZR [b]RAM[/b]: 16 GB 1333MHz DDR3 I'll post pictures of the GPU / CPU / RAM load tomorrow, I just shut down the game and forgot to check this. I understand the CPU architecture I have is quite shit for gaming, however, I'd like to know if there are people who can help me get the most out of this game.
First, try setting everything to Ultra. ARMA is terribly optimized and turning everything up could take a lot of stress off that sub-par CPU. Turn down PiP detail when in vehicles, unless you really love rear view mirrors and stuff. Also, under what situation is the framerate so bad? A poorly scripted mission can kill your framerate so fast. I'd recommend spawning yourself and some AI and Vehicles in the editor for a performance test, or using a standard scenario. I run a Core i3 and a GTX 460 and my ARMA 3 framerate is pretty satisfying depending on the mission, but it does really take a lot of experimenting to get settings that will look and run satisfactorily. I have no doubt that with those specs, you can do it (but fuck that CPU).
Do You have v sync on?
Arma is very CPU dependent and the performance is closely tied to the mission. If the mission is badly made and not optimized, your frame rate will suffer. The main killer in Arma is the draw distance, set it down to around 2000. For land missions it is more then enough, tho it looks weird to have such a low draw distance. For air combat that draw distance is terrible. Next thing, add this to your start parameters: -nologs -maxVram=*your maximum vram in Mb* -world=empty With this, no logs will be written to your C: drive. If a mission has a critical script error it will spam your logs to no end. Even if you do not see the script errors they are still written down to the logs. MaxVram does the same as maxMem, just for you gpus VRam. -world=empty will force an empty map on startup. Normally you get a random scenario with radio chatter that takes a bit to load, with this you just get an empty ocean scene. Remove, the -high parameter and tweak the settings on your own. Other things you can try is to use borderless window, some people reported a performance increase. Setting things to low will weirdly just increase the load on your cpu, just set most things to high or medium, disable Picture in picture or set it to low. And before you ask, performance in multiplayer is always worse than in singleplayer. Always.
welcome to arma 3 and amd, arma3s scripting engine is awful and with a amd cpu it does not help. You can try setting a ramdrive i did this with arma2 and it seemed like it helped
Okay, thanks for the feedback everyone. Here's some updates from me as well. I've mainly been playing Arma 3 King of the Hill. Multiple people on the server say they play with at least 30 FPS. I'm not sure if this is true, but, if it is, I'd like to see myself going into that direction. On a forum I read that when using the FX series, disabling every 2nd core per module can increase performance boost. I now did that, and overclocked to 4.2 GHz. PC is running stable, temps do not get above 36 degrees, so I'm fine there. However, I still get terrible FPS in-game. I'll try the tips you suggested diwako, and I'll report back. However, GPU usage always seems to be around 30%, I don't think I need more of that. vram could probably be a problem, but not the most important one. The commandline parameters I have currently are the following: [code]-nosplash -skipintro -world=empty -noLogs -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=8192 -maxVRAM=2047[/code] I'll probably ramdisk the game too, not sure if all 13 GBs fit in.
there is a file where you can set how many frames the cpu renders or something like that. you can change it to take some weight off the cpu
[QUOTE=ashrobhoy;47243644]there is a file where you can set how many frames the cpu renders or something like that. you can change it to take some weight off the cpu[/QUOTE] This is in "Docouments/Arma 3/Arma3.cfg" The value is named GPU_MaxFramesAhead. The default is 4. Experiment with it, some people have better performance with it set to 1, others have better performance with it to be set to 4. I got an AMD Phenom 2 x6 and an AMD 7950gtx. For me, setting this value to 1 works best.
[QUOTE=diwako;47243840]This is in "Docouments/Arma 3/Arma3.cfg" The value is named GPU_MaxFramesAhead. The default is 4. Experiment with it, some people have better performance with it set to 1, others have better performance with it to be set to 4. I got an AMD Phenom 2 x6 and an AMD 7950gtx. For me, setting this value to 1 works best.[/QUOTE] I set it to 1 aswell. At least, NOW
Okay, to sum it up: Set my settings to the highest possible. VRAM skyrockets to 2.5 GB, it seems to improve just the slightest bit, but not sure if this really works that well. - PIP detail is set to low, I fly helicopters but not for combat, so I like to keep them on to see the torque and orientation of the helicopter. - Draw distance is 1200 - Current command line is [code]-nosplash -skipintro -world=empty -noLogs -cpuCount=4 -maxMem=8192 -maxVRAM=2047[/code] - Tried borderless window, doesn't improve anything really - Set GPU_MaxFramesAhead to 1 and it was 1000 on my PC by default So far, GPU usage is always below 50% and CPU usage is always around 70-80%, so it doesn't even utilize my entire CPU. I'm thinking of OCing to 4.4 or even 4.6GHz, it might improve some bit. Still sucks ARMA is so poorly optimized.
Actually, I just remembered, that the draw distance is set by the mission/server. This is one of the reasons why multiplayer has less performance. I take it KotH has it set to 3.5k.
I used to have the same problem is you when I had my FX8350. Below 30 frames in any server. What I was using -FX8350 4.0 Ghz -EVGA Nvidia 760 4GB -8GB 1333 Mhz Ram With that setup I had horrendous frames. But after recently switching to an I7 4790 and adding another 4 gigs of memory, My performance skyrocketed. Afaik, Arma 3 is optimized better for an Intel and Nvidia system. At least I believe so. Hope this helps a little bit.
[QUOTE=General Arnold;47246048]Afaik, Arma 3 is optimized better for an Intel and Nvidia system. At least I believe so. Hope this helps a little bit.[/QUOTE] I'm quite sure this is 100% true. Right now saving up for an MSI GS70 2QE, then buying an Intel desktop after.
ArmA 3 does have another parameter I don't think it will make much difference -enableHT. [url=http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?152866-General-Discussion-(dev-branch)&p=2693893&viewfull=1#post2693893]Post[/url] [t]http://i.imgur.com/Z6QjdJ9.png[/t]
[QUOTE=Aide;47247631]ArmA 3 does have another parameter I don't think it will make much difference -enableHT. [url=http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?152866-General-Discussion-(dev-branch)&p=2693893&viewfull=1#post2693893]Post[/url] [t]http://i.imgur.com/Z6QjdJ9.png[/t][/QUOTE] I doubt AMD CPUs have that feature. [QUOTE=Cyberuben;47246268]I'm quite sure this is 100% true. Right now saving up for an MSI GS70 2QE, then buying an Intel desktop after.[/QUOTE] Actually wrong, when they showcased the zeus system, they said, they are running intel cpus and amd or intel gpus.
[QUOTE=diwako;47248539]I doubt AMD CPUs have that feature. Actually wrong, when they showcased the zeus system, they said, they are running intel cpus and amd or intel gpus.[/QUOTE] He said it should "help" cpus that have HT and/or have 8 or more cores. Also [url=http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?177454-a-simple-registry-tweak-for-increased-performance]this[/url] apparently has brought increase performance.
[QUOTE=Aide;47248547]Also [url=http://forums.bistudio.com/showthread.php?177454-a-simple-registry-tweak-for-increased-performance]this[/url] apparently has brought increase performance.[/QUOTE] A patch broke this, Arma does not run when this tweak is active.
AMD CPUs don't have hyperthreading, it's an Intel thing. Either way, guess I'm out of options then...
Okay so I now even tried getting a custom memory allocator and tried the GiveMoarFPS (or something) hack but didn't work either. Really hating now. Even singleplayer (ArmA3Mark) gives me an average of 37... Highest about 43 and lowest 31
I think it says alot when an 8350 compared to i5 3570K has 10-20 less frames on a similar setup. It something that Bohemia could fix certainly but I think we all know their focused on bugs and new content.
[QUOTE=Aide;47260485]I think it says alot when an 8350 compared to i5 3570K has 10-20 less frames on a similar setup. It something that Bohemia could fix certainly but I think we all know their focused on bugs and new content.[/QUOTE] It says that technology has improved since 2012 and that AMD took a gamble on GHZ+Cores and lost.
[QUOTE=Aide;47260485]I think it says alot when an 8350 compared to i5 3570K has 10-20 less frames on a similar setup. It something that Bohemia could fix certainly but I think we all know their focused on bugs and new content.[/QUOTE] Uh, they are only focused on new content. I mean, look at this: [url]http://feedback.arma3.com/view.php?id=716[/url]
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