Low FPS with low GPU & CPU usage

[forest 0]

Hey everyone!

I've recently purchased ArmA2 CO. The main reason for this was to play the DayZ mod.

However, I have major issues regarding GPU / CPU utilization and framerates. Everything seems pretty normal when I'm outside on fields, forests, etc. By "normal" I mean 80-90% GPU usage, and 70-90 FPS, which is perfect. However, when entering cities, the GPU usage drops to 40-50%, causing average 20-30 FPS, which makes the game totally unplayable.

My config is:

CPU: AMD FX-8150 @ 4600 Mhz

GPU: AMD Radeon HD7870 Tahiti LE @ CoreClock: 1100Mhz MemClock:1550Mhz

Mem: 2x2GB @ 1600Mhz

PSU: Corsair TX-850

HDD: Samsung 1TB Sata II

I have read many topics and tutorials about using correct settings to boost in-game FPS.

Changed settings in Arma2OA.cfg:

GPU_MaxFramesAhead=0; also tried setting it to 1.

GPU_DetectedFramesAhead=0; also tried setting it to 1.

vsync=0;

AToC=6;

PPAA=1;

PPAA_Level=2;

serverLongitude=48;

serverLatitude=4;

Tried playing around all the settings. No matter what settings I use, wondering around cities just kills my FPS rate. The only thing making a difference was setting sceneComplexity to a lower level.

I have turned off CPU parking, hoping it would make a difference. Well, it didn't. Tried changing the CPU options in BIOS (setting 1 core per Compute Unit). Didn't help.

Tried downgrading ArmA to 103718 and 103419. FPS still drops. I'm just running out of options, and it's such a pity to not be able to play such a great mod just because of silly performance issues.

This problem is the same at my brother's PC. I had the idea that maybe the HDD bottlenecks the performance. The other PC has a 60GB OCZ Agility III SSD as cache. He has the very same issues even with the faster R/W rates of his PC.

Other PC's config:

CPU: Intel I7 2600K @ 4500 HT on

GPU: AMD Radeon HD7950 Top V2 @ CoreClock:1200Mhz MemClock:1600Mhz

Mem: 2x4GB G-skill @2133Mhz

PSU: Corsair AX-850

HDD: WD Black 1TB Sata III + 60GB OCZ Agility III SSD cache

Once again, CPU and GPU usages almost never reach 99%. (If GPU usage is 99%, the performance is usually good)

He is using the same config, and same startup configs (which I've experimented a lot with).

Startup parameters:

-nosplash -skipIntro -noPause -CpuCount=8 -maxmem=4096 -maxvram=2048 -world=chernarus (startup parameters are changed according to the PC config, of course)

I'm running out of ideas, so any help is really much appreciated.

Thanks!

Edited June 7, 2013 by forest.

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

first of all, your start up parameters is off the max is Maxmem=2047, thats the highest the game allows. Visual settings in Dayz should be set at 1600, 10,000 is pointless because dayz doesn't let you see that far. Seems like you got a hefty system but how are you launching the game and where is it even installed?

Tell me where is it installed.

Where you bought the game.

How updated are you NET framwokrs.dll's

(Stupid question) Is your PC completely Updated, such as Bios,Chipsets,firmwares,hardware...etc

Do you like kittens?

Edited June 7, 2013 by =DiG= Zgraphz

[spinager 152]

hmmmm, looks like the only thing to do is to... Get into the games guts and optimize the biatch!!! Sadly only BIs can do that :/

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

Most people with beefy systems never usually give their harddrive a 2nd thought because 7200rpm usually does pretty good for everything else, but dayz is a completely different story.

I honestly think, they made the game from a performance pc, what game's that are out right now (besides Planetside 2) Needs fast Harddrive Read/write speeds. BI took it to the next level.

[Lid 27]

oh look another thread of how someone cannot get good FPS, why cant a mod not sticky a thread explaining the problem with arma 2 sop these threads stop reacurring? If mods had a brain they would be useful.

Edited June 7, 2013 by Lid

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

they are, but i dont think they are allowed to do that. incase somone follows their example and if something got screwed up im sure they would not want to deal with it. Mods jobs is to moderate the forums, not help/address every issues, plus something like this with system configs and files changing puts responsibility in their hands, hence they are Moderators not Technical Support.

[Lid 27]

they are, but i dont think they are allowed to do that. incase somone follows their example and if something got screwed up im sure they would not want to deal with it. Mods jobs is to moderate the forums, not help/address every issues, plus something like this with system configs and files changing puts responsibility in their hands, hence they are Moderators not Technical Support.

Moderators are also here to stop reacurring threads from popping up no? A mod could simply explain the reason for why the game does not perform well FPS wise, he could do this by stickying a thread so everyone could see so new players dont have to go, I HAVE A £10000 PC BUT CANT RUN DAYZ WHY IS THIS!.... Do you understand what I mean?

[Lid 27]

they are, but i dont think they are allowed to do that. incase somone follows their example and if something got screwed up im sure they would not want to deal with it. Mods jobs is to moderate the forums, not help/address every issues, plus something like this with system configs and files changing puts responsibility in their hands, hence they are Moderators not Technical Support.

Moderators are also here to stop reacurring threads from popping up no? A mod could simply explain the reason for why the game does not perform well FPS wise, he could do this by stickying a thread so everyone could see so new players dont have to go, I HAVE A £10000 PC BUT CANT RUN DAYZ WHY IS THIS!.... Do you understand what I mean?

[forest 0]

I'm aware that this is not by far the first post about this issue.I've decided to open a new topic becase I've tried everything that was mentioned in other topics.

To answer your questions Zgraphz:

Bought the game on Amazon, it's a downloadable retail.

It is installed on driver E:/

I have a Windows 8 Pro fully updated (including system, drivers, firmwares, BIOS).

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is already a part of this operating system.

I like kittens, and I also like to bake cakes from rainbows and happiness.

About the HDD, I thought that an SSD accelerated HDD would be enough for the game. I'll monitor and take a look at the HDD usage while playing.

I'm using DayzCommander to join servers and apply the startup parameters.

Lid, if there's an explanation for the problem, a link to the topic is appriciated! :)

Also, thanks for the quick response, guys!

Edited June 7, 2013 by forest.

[Lid 27]

Simple answer, NO BODY GET GOOD FPS UNLESS YOU HAVE AN AMAZING COMPUTER FROM SPACE, amar 2 just doesnt perform well for some reason end off dave

[forest 0]

No need to be rude here, I'm just a newbie seeking for help.

Also, a more in-depth explanation would be great. Guess that is only up to the developers :)

[Lid 27]

Im sorry forest but your one of the 1000s that create these threads daily with the same exact problems. It is nor your or anyones fault, actually if anything its the Mods for being lazy and not creating a simple READ HERE FOR FPS TROUBLE thread, im having such thread would stop new players from creating the same thread over and over. much love

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

in-game settings that should be avoided no matter how badass your computer is, video memory:default | vsync disabled | and post proscessing*for you* Disabled

so your saying your HDD is accelerated by a SSD? so you dont have a seprate drive to install steam and or arma 2 to it?

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

Im sorry forest but your one of the 1000s that create these threads daily with the same exact problems. It is nor your or anyones fault, actually if anything its the Mods for being lazy and not creating a simple READ HERE FOR FPS TROUBLE thread, im having such thread would stop new players from creating the same thread over and over. much love

Stop hi-jacking his thread, hes asking for help, i shouldn't have even responded to that but now it's out of hand.

[forest 0]

The second PC is accelerated be an SSD by using it as cache. ArmA is intalled on the primary HDD, but without Steam as this is a retail copy.

[Lid 27]

Stop hi-jacking his thread, hes asking for help, i shouldn't have even responded to that but now it's out of hand.

shit bro call the po po, shits goin crazy down here.........

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

its ok i say steam alot because i have it and normally trouble shoot steam issues, just ignore it if it happens again. is there a way you can install arma 2/arma2 OA to the SSD it's self without being on the HDD, i don't know if that's possible but if you can you should look into trying that out.

[forest 0]

Sounds like a good idea, but the only problem with it is that usually removing the cache drive leads to total data loss. To avoid such an inconvenience I would have to do a total data backup and operating system reinstall. :\ All this hassle just to try a method that is not sure to be working :(

Edited June 7, 2013 by forest.

[Death_Dealer 3155]

Simple answer, NO BODY GET GOOD FPS UNLESS YOU HAVE AN AMAZING COMPUTER FROM SPACE, amar 2 just doesnt perform well for some reason end off dave

Not true at all.

My laptop is far from amazing yet I get good performance on ArmA 2. (40-50 FPS on normal settings)

CPU: i7 2670QM @ 2.20 GHz

GPU: GeForce GT 540M

Yeah, not very impressive.

---

Anyhow, both ArmA 2, with or without the DayZ mod, is very CPU intensive and poorly optimized. It is completely normal for someone to lag significantly in cities, even with a beefy rig. I've yet to find a decent fix for this other than turning down some video settings.

The sudden drop in GPU/CPU usage when entering cities could be from the poor optimization in ArmA 2 and DayZ.

[=DiG= Zgraphz 84]

Not true at all.

My laptop is far from amazing yet I get good performance on ArmA 2. (40-50 FPS on normal settings)

CPU: i7 2670QM @ 2.20 GHz

GPU: GeForce GT 540M

Yeah, not very impressive.

---

Anyhow, both ArmA 2, with or without the DayZ mod, is very CPU intensive and poorly optimized. It is completely normal for someone to lag significantly in cities, even with a beefy rig. I've yet to find a decent fix for this other than turning down some video settings.

The sudden drop in GPU/CPU usage when entering cities could be from the poor optimization in ArmA 2 and DayZ.

i agree with you 90% the gpu is more like a piggie back off the processor and the Read and write speed of the HDD it's installed to, your g-card, processor and ram at times are sitting there tapping their foot *in a sense* waiting for the HDD to dish the data out. your poorly optimization of arma 2 couldn't be more correct, when they made it, the standard 7200rpm harddrive can not dish it out fast enough because all Hard drives have mechanical moving parts, which takes time, a SSD how ever has no mechanical moving parts, thus eliminating the response time from HDD to processor and then from Processor to GPU.

[OrLoK 16182]

Hello there

Chill out guys.

A simple search of here or the bohemia forums will show that low FPS are a common issue. There are ways to improve the situation. Google/search.

As to stickies. not many pay attention to them.

Now stop arguing, please.

Rgds

LoK