Looking to Improve DayZ performance

[nort0n 3]

Hey guys,

So after reading a few forum threads and trying to optimize my settings I feel like I have reached my performance cap (40-60 FPS with quite lowish settings) but I'm really not impressed with how the game is visually. After watching DayZ videos it just seems to have so much more immersion with high quality graphics - when I play, all the trees are blotchy with no depth, grass just looks terrible and lines on objects seem to be inconsistent and flicker almost.

Specs:

Phenom X4 965 BE (3.4Ghz)

Sapphire Ati HD 5750 1GB VRAM

4GB Ram @1333

I'd really like this game to run nicely with my GPU - but I'm starting to think this is no longer a reality (please tell me if I'm wrong)

If my conclusion is correct - I'll be looking to upgrade my computer over the holidays, and had a few questions about that;

a) Which card would you recommend if the only game being played was DayZ (I was thinking of a 550Ti or 560Ti as their in my price range)

B) Does my Ram/CPU need upgrading as well

c) Any major performance increases from having your DayZ files on a SSD?

Thanks a bunch!

[colekern 1364]

Hey guys,

So after reading a few forum threads and trying to optimize my settings I feel like I have reached my performance cap (40-60 FPS with quite lowish settings) but I'm really not impressed with how the game is visually. After watching DayZ videos it just seems to have so much more immersion with high quality graphics - when I play, all the trees are blotchy with no depth, grass just looks terrible and lines on objects seem to be inconsistent and flicker almost.

Specs:

Phenom X4 965 BE (3.4Ghz)

Sapphire Ati HD 5750 1GB VRAM

4GB Ram @1333

I'd really like this game to run nicely with my GPU - but I'm starting to think this is no longer a reality (please tell me if I'm wrong)

If my conclusion is correct - I'll be looking to upgrade my computer over the holidays, and had a few questions about that;

a) Which card would you recommend if the only game being played was DayZ (I was thinking of a 550Ti or 560Ti as their in my price range)

B) Does my Ram/CPU need upgrading as well

c) Any major performance increases from having your DayZ files on a SSD?

Thanks a bunch!

What's your screen resolution?

What version of the 560 TI are you planning on getting? There are many versions.

And, finally your processor and ram. You can get an extra 4gbs of ram for less than 20 bucks, so you might as well upgrade it. Second, I'm pretty sure your processor beats my current one, so it should be fine.

One more thing. What exactly is your budget, because the Gtx 660 is almost the same price as the 560 TI, and if your willing to stretch just a bit, you can get a serious improvement with the 660 ti

[nort0n 3]

I'm current playing on 1920x1080. Hadn't chosen a version for the 550Ti or 560Ti yet. My budget is under $200.

Are there specific attributes that'll make certain cards perform better specifically in DayZ? (ex: more than 1GB Vram, high clock, nvidea vs ati etc.)

[colekern 1364]

I'm current playing on 1920x1080. Hadn't chosen a version for the 550Ti or 560Ti yet. My budget is under $200.

Are there specific attributes that'll make certain cards perform better specifically in DayZ? (ex: more than 1GB Vram, high clock, nvidea vs ati etc.)

Vram would help, as well as clock speeds.

And also, if you could increase your budget by only $20 or $30 dollars you could get a 660 2gb with much better performance. It's totally worth it.

[NonovUrbizniz (DayZ) 137]

HD7700 will BLAST that game out of the box, it's just your video card killing it....

Run performance monitor in the background and see how your CPU is doing, but it should be fine, and I have 6gb of ram but it's NEVER EVER used more than 3-4 even when frapsing so I wouldn't sweat the ram...

Get a 100 dollar video card that's a 7700 or better and you'll be totally fine, if you want arma 3 or to run the standalone better you might want to go a little higher on the video card...

I run 5760/1920 eyefinity on a 2.5ghz dual core AMD with 6gb of ram and the HD7700 only advantage I have is SSD drive that helps, but my CPU is maxed out the WHOLE time I play.and I'm in max settings while running all three screens, pretty grass and all that...

[terminal_boy 860]

I'm current playing on 1920x1080. Hadn't chosen a version for the 550Ti or 560Ti yet. My budget is under $200.

Are there specific attributes that'll make certain cards perform better specifically in DayZ? (ex: more than 1GB Vram, high clock, nvidea vs ati etc.)

If you want to stick with ATI/AMD, you can get the 7870 2GB for just under $200... It's the equivalent of the non-TI GT 660.

[purepassion 383]

I definitely recommend the usage of a SSD! Arma streams a lot of content from the harddrive and switching to a fast SSD will most likely already make quite a difference.

Would you mind posting your advanced video settings along with some ingame benchmark results?

[nort0n 3]

Turned my settings down a little more (specifically resolution and 3d resolution)

Settings:

In Game:

Texture Detail: Normal

Video Memory: Default

Antistropic Filtering: Disabled

AA: Disabled

ATOc: Disabled

Resolution 1650x1080

3d Resolution: 1344x840 (changing this seems to greatly impact my FPS - but also has a huge impact on how object looks)

Terrain Detail: Low

Object Detail: Low

Shadows: Disabled

HDR: Normal (can't disable)

PPAA: Disabled

Post Processing: Disabled

Config Files Changes:

shadingQuality=0;

shadowQuality=0;

sceneComplexity=150000;

3D_Performance=100000;

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=1;

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=1;

AToC=0;

PPAA=0;

PPAA_Level=0;

Start-up Parameters:

-nosplash -nopause -world=chernarus -skipintro -maxMem=2047 -cpuCount=4 -exThreads=7

Benchmark results: (This was done is a very small town surrounded by fields and light forest) *excuse low benchmarks time frames - I'll do some longer ones when I have more time.

HD5750 Default @ 700Mhz

Low: 34 High: 56 Avg: 47

HD5750 Overclocked @ 870Mhz (max via MSI afterburner)

Low:34 High: 71 Avg: 52.385

It mate be noteworthy - that my GPU reaches about 80% usage when over-clocked, 100% when not over-clocked. Also my CPU NEVER goes above 50% usage (single core can hit about 60-65% max). I was told this game was very CPU intensive - I feel that my CPU is just not being utilized to it's fullest capacity.

Please inform me if I've done anything that would hinder my performance or if there is anything else I can do to increase it. Also - I'd like to get my CPU to be utilized more if possible.

I definitely recommend the usage of a SSD! Arma streams a lot of content from the harddrive and switching to a fast SSD will most likely already make quite a difference.

Would you mind posting your advanced video settings along with some ingame benchmark results?

Have you noticed the SSD actually increase your FPS? (if not what performance increases are you noticing except for faster loading screens?) I've heard that low HDD speeds can bottleneck your GPU.

Thanks for the replies.

Edited December 12, 2012 by Nort0n

[nort0n 3]

Also: here's a few screenshots of what the game looks like for me:

http://i.imgur.com/QDj9f.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/2tVvQ.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/TY158.jpg

Also playing Arma2OA - wasteland map I get 20-30 FPS - 30 being max and sometimes dips below 20. Any idea why this might be?

Edited December 13, 2012 by Nort0n

[colekern 1364]

Go with the 660 or the amd 7850 2gb.

[nort0n 3]

I'm hoping the 660 will do it. Really don't understand how such an old game has these performance issues - I feel like a 5750 should be able to get 60 fps on very low setting. Is my CPU up to par as well or should I consider going to Intel? (especially if I buy GTX 660 - I'm hoping having an AMD CPU with a Nvdea GPU won't create any issues down the road)

[purepassion 383]

Thanks for the information Nort0n!

May I ask, what is the native resolution of your display?

Please inform me if I've done anything that would hinder my performance or if there is anything else I can do to increase it.

Your settings are indeed quite low. Usually, you shouldn't have any problems with your system running the game on such settings.

You can however see which Memory Allocator works best for you and add it to the startup parameters. You can also remove the MaxMem command.

Also my CPU NEVER goes above 50% usage (single core can hit about 60-65% max). I was told this game was very CPU intensive - I feel that my CPU is just not being utilized to it's fullest capacity.

The game does not use more than 2 cores.

Have you noticed the SSD actually increase your FPS? (if not what performance increases are you noticing except for faster loading screens?)

A fast SSD will make LOD transitions smoother and give you less texture "pop-ups".

Also playing Arma2OA - wasteland map I get 20-30 FPS - 30 being max and sometimes dips below 20. Any idea why this might be?

Perhaps you are referring to the "Proving Ground" map? It uses a, at this stage rather experimental, new and much more sophisticated cell size, so it has a slightly different impact on performance.

Oh and for the benchmark, there is actually a official benchmark scenario for both Arma 2 and Operation Arrowhead in the game. (Though you have to disable DayZ in order to access it via the single player missions)

The 660 in combination with a SSD should be a good idea :)

[NonovUrbizniz (DayZ) 137]

I have an Athlon dual core 2.5 Ghz proc. 6gb of 800mhz ram a HD7770 video card with 1gb of ram and it's on a Samsung 860 128gb SSD...

I play with full settings in 3 monitor eyefinity at 5760*1080 with teampseak BERCon and Fraps running in the background and have steady 30fps... dips a bit but not too bad, when I fraps I lock recording at 30fps and in game is STILL at like 18-25fps which is playable but not exactly ideal...

The CPU is the ONLY component that's maxed out... I NEVER use more than 4gb of ram, the GPU is almost never maxed out or even has the fan on full blast for very long and I play for HOURS....

I think even with a quad core 3.0 ghz Phenom I'd be unbottlenecked... But it's such a little bottleneck I don't even feel like throwing 100 bucks at it to see...

If you want to play Arma3 or the Standalone you MIGHT need to upgrade but IMO your computer is fine with JUST an upgraded GPU (100-150 bucks will do fine) and will ROCK with SSD main drive/game drive.

[nort0n 3]

Sweet, I really wasn't looking to upgrade my CPU as well =D. Might even stick with AMD and just roll a 7770 because I'm a cheap ass =D.

@NonovUrbizniz - Can you get yourself to a stable 60 FPS in cherno on 1 monitor and lower graphics (1920x1080 res) ? If so I'm sold on the 7770 - Can pick one up for around $110.

[NonovUrbizniz (DayZ) 137]

Re-read some of the details, if you're not maxing out either your GPU or your CPU then it's def. your HD bottlenecking... Or memory but I doubt that...

My cpu sucks so bad I can't get 60fps anywhere lol... like I said it's maxed out while the GPU is basically idling...

I did rerun the GPUz thing while I was playing in eyefinity and it does max out the card.... but this is at full settings etc. still getting like 25-30fps. I'll run it real quick in 1 monitor and see what it looks like but the CPU just won't keep up with the game.

[nort0n 3]

Re-read some of the details, if you're not maxing out either your GPU or your CPU then it's def. your HD bottlenecking... Or memory but I doubt that...

My cpu sucks so bad I can't get 60fps anywhere lol... like I said it's maxed out while the GPU is basically idling...

I did rerun the GPUz thing while I was playing in eyefinity and it does max out the card.... but this is at full settings etc. still getting like 25-30fps. I'll run it real quick in 1 monitor and see what it looks like but the CPU just won't keep up with the game.

Could be the HD, although for some reason I think it may be an actual CPU bottleneck. I did some more testing and found that in single player - my GPU usage is 100%, in MP my GPU usage is around 50-60%. I then tried OCing my GPU - no change in FPS for either SP or MP. I then reset GPU to default clock and overclocked my CPU from 3.4 Ghz to 3.8 Ghz and noticed 0 improvement in SP but a whopping 30% increase in FPS during MP (and benchmark #2).

I'd be curious to see what performance differences others have gotten after upgrading their systems. I'm starting to debate whether upgrading my CPU is more important (seems people with intel CPUs, specifically i5-2500k are getting much better performance - regardless of GPU).

Wish I could just borrow a CPU for a day lol.

/edit - new evidence suggests that it may in fact be my CPU creating these FPS issues I'm experiencing

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,687620/ArmA-2-tested-Benchmarks-with-18-CPUs/Reviews/

It's a little outdated, so Arma 2 may have patched this or fixed it somehow but it seems that Phenom IIs specifically are experiencing performance issues.

Edited December 20, 2012 by Nort0n

[HollyDayZ 9]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that Arma doesn't get on well with AMD chips, but I have an intel CPU (i7 2600 @ 3.4 GHz) which seems to work ok.

But even if arma and AMD dont get on well you should be able to improve the look and feel of the game, you CPU seems to be perfectly capable.

But to make it look better, like NonovUrbizniz says, it is your GPU that is limiting the look of the game for you.

I have a Geforce GTX 560 Ti and I am happy with it tbh, the final choice for you though it what you feel more comfortable with, I had ATI before but I never felt completely happy with it so I thought I would try Nvidia this time.

There is nothing wrong with adding a bit more memory, it might smooth the game out for you,

If your CPU isnt maxing out you might want to think about saving your money for a SSD though, I can't speak from experience but from the tech they use, you may notice that you can get a good performance increase, without spending the money on a mega G card.

(I.E stick with a 560 Ti or ATI equivalent and spend the extra money on a SSD instead.).

I can run DayZ (and most games I have tried) on pretty much max settings with good frame rates

I have no idea on actual numbers but I dont notice any drop in performance when I go into the big cities.

Hope this helps, but tbh I am saying essentially what Nonov and PurePassion have said already, you got some good advice.

Sorry, I'd like to help out, but my CPU is staying here :)

[nort0n 3]

650 Ti will be here after Christmas, followed by a SSD and an i5 3570k + mobo. I'm going to test Arma 2 out extensively, one added module at a time starting with GFX card. Should be interesting and may give other's insight if their planning on upgrading their system.

[nastypants 0]

ARMA II automatically renders a certain amount of FPS ahead, i have no idea why though. BUT you can change the settings, so that the game only renders the frame you're actually seeing.

to do this go to

c:\users\USERNAME\my documents\ARMA 2

and open the file arma2ao.cfg

search for the value GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=300 (it means the game always renders 300 frames ahead)

and change it to GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=1

that should help you with some of the FPS problems.

[nort0n 3]

ARMA II automatically renders a certain amount of FPS ahead, i have no idea why though. BUT you can change the settings, so that the game only renders the frame you're actually seeing.

to do this go to

c:\users\USERNAME\my documents\ARMA 2

and open the file arma2ao.cfg

search for the value GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=300 (it means the game always renders 300 frames ahead)

and change it to GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=1

that should help you with some of the FPS problems.

Yup, already did this actually. Gave me about a 5 FPS improvement - I recommend doing this for anyone looking to gain a few FPS.

[SmokeyFTM 55]

Your resolution and 3D resolution should be set to the same values, that will clear up some of the blur in the picture.

Have you tried going into task manager and setting arma2oa priority to high that might help.