Project Reality Forums

here are my current specs:

amd 955 3.2 GHz
550w psu
HD 6790 x2 (crossfire)
120 gb Corsair SSD (6gb/s)
8gb 1600 ddr3 vengenace ram


I got the SSd and another 6790 about a week ago. However now I have been having some issues with my computer and performance.

The issue i am having is on Dayz. Before the SSD and extra 6790 i was getting 15-40 (city/forest) fps on Low settings at 1920x 1080

now after purchasing the SSd and 6790, i get pretty much almost the same! like 17-50.

What should i do to make sure my crossfire and SSD are working 100%?
Or is dayz and aram really that bad where my system cant even run it smoothly all around the map on low?

Have you optimized the settings for your SSD?
Sean's Windows 7 Install & Optimization Guide for SSDs & HDDs
+

Have you optimized your Arma2 command Line launch settings?


Crossfire doesn't do much for framerate in Arma2, it's an old game engine,. you will see improvements in Arma3, and DayZ standalone if it ever gets released.

You will find that your 955 at stock is now the bottleneck, you could try slightly overclocking if your 550W PSU can handle it.

'[R-COM wrote:LITOralis.nMd;1792425']I wasn't clear in my first post, the image below is a screenshot by Boost2464 Project Reality Forums - View Profile: boost2464 in a thread on the BigD Gaming Community PR:AA forum. He is using the the 955E@4Ghz and 6870 overclocked and can play at 40 to 60 FPS at those settings.

I suggest you send Boost a PM on this forum or register on BigDgaming.net and send him a message there and ask him about his performance, he is running almost the exact same PC Specs as you.

With the overclock of your CPU and your 6970 2GB you WILL be able to get FPS averaging 40 to 60 FPS in Arma2 R.

Reference is here
955E@4Ghz and 6870 overclocked. Read post 17.
ARMA 2/ARMA 2 PR Video Settings & Performance - BigD Gaming Community

[/QUOTE]

I'm quite surprised you're running such a big rig on a 550W PSU. I'm not saying that it is causing your issues, but it will be putting extra stress on your PSU, potentially shortening its lifespan. Just an FYI. Also if you follow Lit's advice, you'd probably be exceeding your PSU's maximum output according to these reviews:

Crossfire 6970s:
596W system draw
550W system draw

The SSD won't do much for your FPS, but it does improve the LOD-popping issue somewhat (not as much as a RAMdrive though). A very solid overall investment though, especially if you have enough money to burn that you're buying 2x 6970s.

Have you noticed a marked difference in the frame rates in your other games?

And finally, not saying I doubt you, but do you have any proof for this statement (like a forum post or benchmark or whatever), because I couldn't find anything to back it up?

[R-COM]LITOralis.nMd wrote:Crossfire doesn't do much for framerate in Arma2,

Yeah, it's common knowledge, crossfire doesn't work well due to Arma2 being a single CPU core game,

secondly, He bought two HD6790, not a HD6970,
HD6790 has Max Power Draw: 150 W
HD6970 has Max Power Draw: 250 W

Here's the biggest Arma2 optimization guide on the net:
Optimisation/FPS with ArmA II - FORUMS - Armaholic
DO NOT USE ANY mods that lower vegetation, lower graphics detail rendering, noblur etc when using DayZ, you'll get kicked from server for incorrect mods.

Also, you need to use the ATI CCC profile for Arma2, you then need to force vsync set to off to avoid microstutter.

Also, YOU MUST use the Arma 2 command line switch winxp or you will NOT use Crossfire mode in Arma2 ... Read this thread:
XFX 5970: Arma II 1.05.62017 still needs -winxp for crossfire?

There is quite a bit more you need to work on.

I suggest using Arma2Launcher 1.41 specifically and ONLY to run DayZ
download here:
ArmA II Game Launcher - Misc and utilities - Armaholic

It is the easiest way to run command lines for DayZ.

[R-COM]LITOralis.nMd wrote:Yeah, it's common knowledge, crossfire doesn't work well due to Arma2 being a single CPU core game,

While "common knowledge" is wonderful and all, do you have anything that actually demonstrates that?

Last night it was also "common knowledge" on my team that FOBs had to be 250m apart and that logi trucks cost 10 tickets in PR:BF2, and that standing up while shoveling makes it go faster... but they were wrong.

[R-COM]LITOralis.nMd wrote:secondly, He bought two HD6790, not a HD6970,
HD6790 has Max Power Draw: 150 W
HD6970 has Max Power Draw: 250 W

Apologies, reading fail on my part. You're right about that~

I'm extremely surprised your pc turns on running 2 GPU's from a single 550w powersupply :S thought it would overload it and cause it to crash. But as the others have asked, is it only arma2 that has the problem of no improved frame rates or are there other games that don't show this. A very common thing with older games or low cash games, have problems optimising games for dual graphic cards, or multiple cpus so arma2 may be the same..

This is the common knowledge part:
"Also, YOU MUST use the Arma 2 command line switch winxp or you will NOT use Crossfire mode in Arma2"

As documented by BIS .

His 955BE is a marginal CPU for Arma2, usually requires overclocking to increase framerates.
You have to google for threads on this going back to when the 955BE was new and the HD5870, GTX480 was top of line GPUs, people were hitting bottlenecks on the CPU at stock speeds.

For those who bought ArmA 2 at Steam:

1. Right click ArmA 2 in Steam
2. Go to properties
3. Press "Set Launch options"
4. Add the following parameters:
Code:
-winxp -maxmem=2047 -cpuCount=4 -nosplash
5. Press "OK"

IT is still preferable to use http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=8241 this program though, it's much simpler to deal with all the options for launching Arma2.

really appreciating the feed back guys.! the community here has helped me alot on issues like this..its great!


i didnt download the game off of steam so I will try that program you linked.

Also what do you think will give me better frame rates OVERALL in games not just arma. my corssfire 6790's or a 6950 2gb?

theiceman wrote:really appreciating the feed back guys.! the community here has helped me alot on issues like this..its great!


i didnt download the game off of steam so I will try that program you linked.

Also what do you think will give me better frame rates OVERALL in games not just arma. my corssfire 6790's or a 6950 2gb?

Easily your two 6970's as even if the game dorang support crossfire it will still use one of the processors. If a game crashes using the ttwo, then you can turn one off using the catalyst program. And as its a higher model it will outperform your 6950.