i7-965 Extreme Edition + 3GB

jetski

Hi all,

Am using an i7 965 with 3 x 1Gb 1600mhz RAM

am playing Arma2 at the moment and just wondering would i benefit from a ram upgrade to maybe 6GB ?

Thanks in advance

StopNotWorking

I wouldn't think so but you can always check. I don't know the console commands for Arma but there should be one to show how much memory it's using. If it is over 1.6GB then I would consider bumping up the RAM. Otherwise I'd leave it.

Effluo

jetski wrote: »

am playing Arma2 at the moment and just wondering would i benefit from a ram upgrade to maybe 6GB ?

i'd be concerned if you were having problems playing Arma II with that setup

What kind of performance boost are you looking for?
Is it not playing everything on high, like is there something not like it should be on the game?

Blazer

You go to an i7 setup..an extreme edition at that and skimp out on putting only 3gb of ram in it?
I'm shocked to be honest.. :eek:.considering Vista/Win7 will quite happily use 2gb before doing anyway (well Win7 is a lot better )

Effluo

Just looking around about info on Arma II....
3gigs of ram should be more than enough with vista.


Vista uses more like 1.3gb and 7 around 1.

Out of interest, Do you have have a 32 bit operating system or a 64 bit?

jetski

Cheers for the replys lads, im listening closley


Ive vista x64 btw

Effluo

Well you could get more ram then.... But i don't think arma II would use it!


What kind of performance upgrade are you looking for?
Can you play the game with all settings on high, would you like to do that?

If so tell us your screens resolution and gpu that you have right now


It could be that you think better components would improve the performance of the game, but in actual fact it is the game that is the problem!
Arma II is supposed to be well buggy

jetski

I agree its well buggy although a good bit better with the 3rd patch.

Ive the 4870x2 and gaming on 1600x1200 with max settings but its not always a smooth as id like. also would like to go up to 1920x1600 but i think id need SLi and would also like to set the landscape setttings higher currently on say about 70%

StopNotWorking

Ok that's defo a problem with the game, NOT YOUR SYSTEM:pac::pac:

I've heard Arma is quite badly coded, similar to GTAIV on the PC. I wouldnt waste money upgrading a machine like that, It's already top of the range.

Effluo

Yeah i just found this review of hardware and Arma II.....

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2009/08/10/arma_ii_gameplay_performance_image_quality/5

Pretty interesting stuff!
It seems that Arma II is not well setup to use multi card gpu's...
Which is not great news for your graphics card!

It's so extreme to the point that a single 4870 seems to outperform a 4870x2!!!
And the best card for this game looks to be the over 100euro cheaper 4890...


Before you throw your 4870x2 in the fire, i've also read while looking at Arma II forums, that people have said that some patches are always coming out for the game.
So maybe this rather major issue will be eventually resolved!
It sure is a pity though!

Blazer

jetski wrote: »

I agree its well buggy although a good bit better with the 3rd patch.

Ive the 4870x2 and gaming on 1600x1200 with max settings but its not always a smooth as id like. also would like to go up to 1920x1600 but i think id need SLi and would also like to set the landscape setttings higher currently on say about 70%

You already have a dual gpu...ATI's version of SLI is Crossfire (which you have).
Gains from going to the equivelant Nvidia equivelant are minuscule.

StopNotWorking

I say throw another 4870x2 into the mix! Quad-fire for the win! :pac::pac:

jetski

Berkut wrote: »

You already have a dual gpu...ATI's version of SLI is Crossfire (which you have).
Gains from going to the equivelant Nvidia equivelant are minuscule.

Oh, i thought SLI / crossfire was if u used two cards as one rather than two chips in one card.

StopNotWorking

Cards like the 4850x2, 4870x2 and Nvidia 295 all have built in sli/crossfire controllers(Essentially just a chip smack in between the two cores). They are a single card but multiple GPUs. Crossfire/SLi is the combination of multiple GPUs, not multiple cards.

x2 cards are useful if you want crossfire/sli but dont want to fork out on an expensive board(Many cheap boards are crossfire compatible but these are PCIeX16 OR PCIex6+x6 when crossfire enabled). Basically the controller on an x2 card is better then a lot of controller built into MoBos. I'm not sure if the same can be said for Nvidia(Not that anyone would care, they only have the 9800GTX/2 & 295 cards out).

Even though you could be on a normal motherboard that is not crossfire compatible you can still be using crossfire through the integrated controller on your graphics card(Check CCC for proof yourself, you should have crossfire enabled so your card uses both its cores).


God damn I dragged the arse out of that explanation..

Blazer

jetski wrote: »

Oh, i thought SLI / crossfire was if u used two cards as one rather than two chips in one card.

SLi/X-Fire can be two cards on your board or the later dual gpus in one card.
They're basically the same but the dual ones allow you to expand to quad sli/xfire if needed....which is a complete waste of money

Arma is a pretty tough game on graphics and especially the CPU...do you have AA+AF enabled in Arma in the video options?

jetski

StopNotWorking wrote: »

Cards like the 4850x2, 4870x2 and Nvidia 295 all have built in sli/crossfire controllers(Essentially just a chip smack in between the two cores). They are a single card but multiple GPUs. Crossfire/SLi is the combination of multiple GPUs, not multiple cards.

x2 cards are useful if you want crossfire/sli but dont want to fork out on an expensive board(Many cheap boards are crossfire compatible but these are PCIeX16 OR PCIex6+x6 when crossfire enabled). Basically the controller on an x2 card is better then a lot of controller built into MoBos. I'm not sure if the same can be said for Nvidia(Not that anyone would care, they only have the 9800GTX/2 & 295 cards out).

Even though you could be on a normal motherboard that is not crossfire compatible you can still be using crossfire through the integrated controller on your graphics card(Check CCC for proof yourself, you should have crossfire enabled so your card uses both its cores).


God damn I dragged the arse out of that explanation..

True... But one thing is the 295 is actually two cards... two 260's in fact

ive AA set to medium, i know thats one thing thats is very demanding...

StopNotWorking

*Imagines two 260s taped together*

Blazer

jetski wrote: »

True... But one thing is the 295 is actually two cards... two 260's in fact

ive AA set to medium, i know thats one thing thats is very demanding...

Disable or only set it to 2xAA and see how it goes..

StopNotWorking

The higher your screen resolution is the less AA you'll need. Since I got my 1920x1080 screen I turned down my AA to x2 on most games and off completely on some others. Feels good man:cool: