Building a Gaming PC

[ShyguyXPC]

Yeah, most game modes are objective based, but there are Capture the Flag, and various other modes.

The main site to download addons, mods, and various other stuff for the ArmA series games.

Armaholic - Covering the Arma series - Arma 3 | Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead | Arma 2 | Arma 2: British Armed Forces | Arma 2: Private Military Company | Armed Assault

This is the link for the various ArmA 2 Multiplayer modes downloads (there's also Single Player, Campaign and various other missions and what not in the Scenario Category, Op Arrowhead has its own section as well, and Evolution Missions aren't in these downloads either, usually have to source them out through the forums or other sites like the main Bohemia Interactive Forums)

MP Gamemodes - Armaholic

Warfare is an interesting game mode, because it really is RTS with FPS game play, as you have to buy and build your Base, and structures while fighting your enemy, earning credits and so on.

There's another game mode, and I forget which it is, but its a 3 Way Team vs Team Battle, its a Domination/A&D style mission if I remember, and there are 3 Sides, OpFor, BluFor, and Civilians/Guerilla's.

as to server capacity... there is no hard coded limit, only the server and connections limits really, Though the realistic upper limits of players is somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 or so from what I read.

JO that we used to play (and still do on occasion), can support up to 150 players per server, 64 for regular hosted or home hosted servers, 100-150 on certain servers by hosts with some sort of connection to Novalogic, only a couple Hosts will support these, I have a JO server thats only 8 or so slots, but my host is one that can run 150 players.

JO came out back in 2004/2005 when BF2 came around, actually came out before it.

And supported 100-150 players, and 64 players in coop servers.

ArmA 2, can support as many, if not more.

But I can tell you, with that much players, and vehicles, action and what not it can bog down pretty bad sometimes. As some missions, Human players can recruit and command AI units to fight along side... so even on a 100 player server, and if every human player recruited 8 AI... your looking at 900 "players" in the server, and thats a lot of CPU processing for AI, as well as whatever other content is being used and run.

most of the weapon systems are pretty easy to use, not at first, but after a few hours or days of playing it you get the hang of it.

Mods like ACE mod and ACE2, and some others add much more complexity and depth to the weapons and systems. But even addons like Mando's Missile Addon, adds some complexity and depth to things.

I even run some mods for Aircraft where you can open the canopy, taxi down runway with canopy open, fold wings up/down... hell I found out last week I was able to take off a land runway in an F/A-18 with wings folded up, LOL.

but yeah, lots of possibilities with the game and modding.


all sorts of stuff can be done in it, just paging through the various mods and addons for the games you can see what can be done.

stuff like Midair refueling is possible as well. though most maps, in jets, it doesn't take long to get from one end to the other. so its kind of useless in most maps to do stuff like that, easier to go in for landing at airfield, and refuel, rearm and take off again.

I've used some other interesting mods like this one.

An-225 mriya - Planes - Armaholic

The jet is so large most airfields in the game aren't big enough for it, and usually have a lot of crap along side the runways that the wings tend to clip.

But, its a pretty sweet plane, the nose comes up, the ramp folds out, and the front gear lower the plane for a low sloping angle ramp into the plane, just like the real ones in real life.

I've used this one as well... DEVASTATING when used right

Boeing B-52H Stratofortress "BUFF" - Planes - Armaholic



Still haven't gotten this one to work yet though: Tu22M3 Backfire - Planes - Armaholic


but being a fan of Robotech from when I was a kid, I even have this one installed

Macross/Robotech VF-1S - Planes - Armaholic

And its actually pretty neat, especially when you fire a volley of 4 missiles at once, they burst out wide and spiral in on target like you'd expect from a cartoon series or Anime. Add in the main gun lasers, and 2 additional Energy based weapons that do some nice explosive damage, its an effective little toy to use in a server LOL.


Ive used this one before as well, GLT GBU-43/B Massive Ordinance Air Blast - Weapons - Armaholic

and do to its size, it can only be loaded onto a C130 and then dropped out the back as you fly over head, but its one of the largest Non Nuclear Weapons in the game.


but yeah some of the weapon systems are actually dumbed down a tad compared to real life, and others aren't far off. Then there are some mods that change that so they are life like as well.

using the standard BIS Artillery Computer (Bohemia Interactives Systems or something like that), is pretty easy, just get on something like a Mortar launcher, Artillery emplacement or whatever, access your menus and switch to Arty Computer.

Brings up a version of your normal map screen, but has options for round type if available, close, semi or Far distances, and then click on a location on map, and hit fire button, then let it reload, click another spot if you want, click fire, and so on.

I like to "Cheat" a bit when doing that, especially an MLRS launcher system... I park an Ammo truck next to the launcher, so it automatically reloads, and then I move the area I plan to hit, move the map area so its near the fire button, I select my range, and then I click, fire, Click, fire, click, fire, click, fire, etc... then I can launch rockets much faster, so on the main map, all you see is line of incoming Rockets to the objective area... usually its quite effective in leveling a town or area to attack, rack up a ton of kills, and vehicle kills, etc. I can do the same thing with Artillery Emplacements, but its not as fast, since you have to wait for the salvo to reload before firing again, so its no faster, but you can keep firing as long as the ammo truck is parked there.


yeah, some maps can have a lot of infantry combat as well.

depends really, when its just me and one of the other guys, we clean out a city before moving in for the objectives, as best we can usually. Sniping from a distance, or saturating with air support, etc.

On one map, I remember spending over an hour on a ridge at 1300M out from a town, that was a nice high spot I could see 85% of the town and pick off enemy with the British AS50 Anti Material Rifle, listed in game as 12.7mm, but its 50 cal.

Max effective Range 1500M. I was pulling off 800-1400M kills from 1300 out from the closest edge of town to me. Sitting on my wonderful little perch that far out, with a Thermal Scope on the AS50. Meanwhile my buddy was about 200M from town with an M110 and Thermal Scope doing the same thing, I could see him up on a hill in a tree line picking off enemy. where I was, I could see enemy making his position, and firing at him, or running to his spot, and pick them off to give him cover.

once we get areas cleared more, then we head into town and go more CQB type combat.

If the mission allows for use of a Backpack, you can usually carry up to one Heavy Weapon like a Rocket Launcher, or Light Machine gun, or Sniper rifle, and then send it to your back pack, and then pick out something like a Assault Rifle, and then a side arm.

Sometimes I'll be armed with an M249 With Thermal Scope, or the 7.62 variant of the M249, the MK 48 Mod 0. along with an M3 MAAWS, SMAW, or AT4. A some sniper rifle, like the M110 with Thermal Scope, or AS50 with Thermal, or sometimes I'll have an MK17 (FN SCAR) with Thermal and M203 attachment. And then a Glock 17 as my Side arm.

lately I've been having fun with one of the newer Norinco M14's with an ACOG sight on it. It was included in one of the newer updates for one of the islands.

but there's even the L110A1 that I like to use now and then, NICE rate of fire out of that one .

I think there was one of the Russian PKM variants as well, one of the newer versions, I think it was a PKP or something like that, its quite an effective suppressant weapon.



but as to survival, its hard sometimes, some missions can be set up, with weapon fire direction detection off, so that the AI has a harder time telling where your at.


I have been in maps where I was a KM away, fired a few rounds, and next thing I know, I hear bullets dropping and hitting all around me, with DOZENS of AI, and even some light armor vehicles, or technicals popping shots on my location.

so normally doesn't take them long to hone in on your position.

Some maps/missions have so many AI at an Objective if your a ways off spotting or scouting out before attacking, it sometimes looks like an ant hill.

[ShyguyXPC]

Check out this guys YT page, has some nice ArmA 3 Update videos on it...

bodyboystance2 - YouTube

Been keeping track of the progress with that game through his updated videos.


Hope it turns out good, I have noticed that some of my DX9 based games run my DX10/11 Video cards much harder, with higher temps than games running DX10 or 11.

So hopefully the DX10/11 support in Arma 3 helps with that, but also some better visuals. Also hoping for some better physics in game as well.

Visuals, especially view distance and detail levels is also really needed.

I like to set my game for 10KM view distance when flying, if I have to I'll drop it to 8KM, but no more, unless forced to by server/mission settings. for Ground or ground vehicles, setting it to 3 to 5KM is plenty, no real rifles or main guns on tanks will reach much farther than 3KM anyways, at least in game. Artillery or Rockets are another story, but they're not going to be able to target you unless AI near you can call in your position to them.

some maps, I'll sit up on a mountain top, at 2-3KM out, and call in Arty strikes and what not on enemy, while spotting with rangefinder or laser scope on mountain.

but for view distance, some maps have so much foliage, trees, and what not in them, increased performance for details at greater range is a big must have. granted it takes more hardware power to do so, but if it can be made more efficient and not have to have $5000 in hardware to do so, would be great.

Like the Efficiency they managed to do with Elder Scrolls Skyrim, vs Oblivion. Massive Performance scaling and improvements.

When Oblivion was out, even cards that were $200-300 could barely run the game on max settings. it wasn't until years later I could run the game maxed out, and that was with mid range cards for the time.

with Skyrim, I can run the game fully maxed out at 1080p on my GTX 560 Ti and i7 940. And still get 40-60+ fps in game.

All while looking leaps and bounds better in visuals than Oblivion.

Hoping for similar results with ArmA 3, but it is a different game and engine, so no way to tell until it comes out.

[Franzchise]

I've been checking out a lot of Arma II videos lately. I've also looked at a handful of Arma III videos. It def looks like an improvement over II but I guess we will have to wait and see.

So some games of similar graphical power, could be more efficient or less efficient , when it comes to running it?

When firing the sniper rifles or any rifle for that matter, is the range a large factor, I assume you have to account for bullet drop is there anything else?

[ShyguyXPC]

for the most part, if the rifles have elevation changes available, as long as your target is with in range, bullet drop isn't too much of a factor, if your using tick marks on the scope with no elevation changes available, its another story.

they even have it so that you hold down the right mouse button before hitting the left, to hold your breath to get a better steady shot.

It works for most part, but sometimes scope moves a tad even with that.

There are mods that fix the bullet physics and make them even more realistic with drop, and resistance, etc.

one of the visual enhancement mods I use, does a better job of showing dirt impacts where bullets land, so its easier to see where they went and how much you have to adjust your aim with elevation and tick marks.

Rocket rounds like the MAAWS, SMAW, AT4, etc, drop is a big factor, many of those you have to know how much each tick on the scope is (MAAWS and SMAW) to aim right, as there is drop with those, AT4 is a bit harder to judge though, since it uses one of the keyhole or peep hole type sights to aim.

Manually aiming Arty Emplacements... firing manually like a tank cannon... that is tough, you'd think aiming fairly level to the ground, even a KM or so away would be a straightline shot, but its not, often they'll fall short, and you have to aim high to hit stuff, same with Rocket Arty Trucks.

[ShyguyXPC]

Forgot to mention, if your interested in ArmA 2, download and give the free version a try on your existing PC, better than a demo.

Arma 2 free - Arma 2 Official Website

Its not a full product, has some limitations like no HD Graphics, no Campaign, but its better than an extremely limited Demo, and at least lets you try out most of, if not all the stock weapons, ammo, vehicles, etc, and try out some of the servers made for the free version, to kind of get a hang of the game.

though it has no HD graphics, what exactly they mean by that, I'm not sure, since PC games have had "HD" Graphics for over a decade now, long before HDTV's really started to catch on. But at least it can get you an idea of how well the game will run in full featured mode on your newer system.

[Franzchise]

ya I was thinking about ordering the full version actually when I got home from my paintball tournament. I think i saw it on STEAM for something like $30. Even if I don't like it, its not the worst thing in the world but I think I will like it.

I'm about to place my order Wednesday or Friday when I get home but I still am a little undecided on the GPU. I can't decide but I thinking of running the GTX 690. From everything I've seen the 690 outperforms 2x 680's in most cases.

[ShyguyXPC]

Steam version can be nice, but installing mods and addons can be trickier and sometimes a pain, more than the retail version.

You'll have to do some research in installing addons and mods on the Steam version before going that route.

as to the GTX 690, if it does outperform it, its negligible, the 690, like was said, is exactly the same as Dual 680's, there's absolutely no difference between the GPU's, other than the 690 is dual GPU's on a single card and a core clock speed difference.

Video Card Comparison - GPUReview.com

theoretically the Dual 680's should perform a tad better, since their stock clock speeds are faster at 1006MHz vs the 690's 915MHz core.

only reason I can think of why the 690 might do better is drivers, or Firmware on the card, improving some aspect of the SLI part of the card, with better SLI efficiency and scaling than 2 separate cards normally would have.

[Franzchise]

Well I know its been a while but I'm finally placing the order tonight!! I was trying to decide between having cyberpowerpc build me one or ordering the parts myself and doing it. It doesn't seem too difficult to assemble a PC so I think I'll manage but.....

Is there anything else in the list we didn't cover like a network card or anything else similar to that accessories wise.

Also I went to Best Buy and they do not carry ARMA 2, seems my only option is digital download?

But if you could let me know if there is anything at all I need to still order so I don't run into any problems on build day?

thanks again

[stroyal]

I personally think, programing it after assembling it, is harder than snapping a computer together.
But I have a mechanical background.

Just don't let static electricity ruin you day.
You don't have to go off the deep end with wrist straps though, just be aware.
If the humility is high, you generally don't have to worry about it.

There are a thousand tutorials, on the net.

Any questions or doubts, we are always here.

Tips like LEDs have polarity, and start and reset buttons don't, are the kind of little thing, that you will learn.

Besides Shyguy is on this post.

[ShyguyXPC]

Best Buy doesn't carry sh*t when it comes to PC games, same with Gamestop, their both in it for the console market, ever notice BB now carries Pre-owned games?

Damn, I can't seem to find it anywhere anymore.

Even Amazon has it, but the 2 sellers are price gouging the game at $80+ which is double what it originally retailed for.

Even Walmart, Newegg, don't have it anymore.

Walmart had it for awhile at $30 and even $20.

I know our local one doesn't have it either.


Might have to get the Steam version then.

It'll be more of a pain in the arse setting up mods and getting them to work, but it'll have to do.

Or at least until you stumble upon a hardcopy of the game somewhere for cheap.

as to a network card, not needed, use the motherboards onboard NIC.

Only if the mobo's NIC is not working or defective would you need one.

but I agree on building it yourself, you'll learn more about the hardware that way, and get more for your money as well.

[Franzchise]

thanks a lot, I feel building it myself is the best way to go. Fun as well. Well I guess

I'll download the steam copy of ARMA II. I so much rather prefer the actual disc and manual. The guy at best buy's games section had never even heard of ARMA, I was like you got to be kidding me. I had to have him look it up on google just to show it existed. He was like "Are you sure you don't mean Army of two" haha.

I'm not sure if I should wait to run it on my new PC or download it now and try it on this PC.

I upgraded a few parts on the list because doing it myself saved some $. Ordering tonight!!

[ShyguyXPC]

yeah, kids these days at Best buy and Gamestop are just plain stupid, they only know of stuff on console systems and have NO idea about anything on PC for gaming.

I grew up back in the day where I worked at Walmart in Electronics and I knew as much about Console games and PC Games at the same time as well. Probably a bit more on Consoles, but if you asked me about a specific PC game I would of known what you were talking about.

Of course this was back in 1993-1994 or so, but yeah.



Yeah, I'd download and try out on your current PC, just to see how it will run, and then compare on the new one, to see how much better.


On your old PC, quick tip for video settings, disable Post Processing Effects in settings, and you should see a Frame rate spike when playing offline, makes little impact to game when playing and improves frame rates significantly, its a smaller boost in Multiplayer, but still a worth while one.

with a higher end system and video card, you should be able to run Post Process FX enabled, but even on my system right now, I have it disabled.

as you mess with View distance settings, you may want to disable that option to improve frame rates as well.


took me and some others days to figure out that one, until I stumbled across that and it worked.

then again, our first and 2nd ArmA 2 servers were just crappy servers altogether, our current one is much better, usually has a ping of around 28 or less, but a million times smoother and more reliable than the past 2 we had.

make sure you get the ArmA 2 Combined Operations Version.

It has ArmA 2, and ArmA 2 Operation Arrowhead in it, as well as the Lite Versions of British Armed Forces and Private Military Expansions (Lacks the Campaign for those 2 add ons, but it allows you to use any and all weapons, units, vehicles, etc for them, in the 2 main games, dependent on the servers, mods, and missions run on servers of course)

there's also another addon or DLC, called Reinforcements, I have yet to get that one as well.




In meantime, to wet your appetite, check out some of the ArmA 3 videos from Youtube.

ARMA 3 - Walkthrough-Interview mit Jay Crowe - Teil 2 von 7: Tauchen (deutsch/englisch) - YouTube

Arma 3 - E3 2012 Showcases: Vehicles - YouTube

Arma 3 - E3 2012 Showcases: Diving - YouTube

Arma 3 - E3 2012 Showcases: Night Ops - YouTube

ARMA 3 - Walkthrough-Interview mit Jay Crowe - Teil 1 von 7: Einleitung (deutsch/englisch) - YouTube

E3 - ArmA 3 Coverage - YouTube

⇐ Arma 3 - E³ 2012 Gamespot Gameplay - YouTube

Arma 3 - E3 2012: Live-Demo with Developer Commentary (Gameplay|English) - YouTube

Arma 3 Demonstration - YouTube

Arma 3 - E3 2012 Live Demo (Teaser) - YouTube

and the rest of the vids this guy has uploaded.

All the finest Arma coverage and more for you - YouTube

[ShyguyXPC]

--->> ARMA II: Combined Operations on Steam

[Franzchise]

Oh man I can't wait till ARMA III!!

I have ARMA II and ARMA II Operation Arrowhead downloading right now on Steam; prob take a day.

I have a networking question....

My modem has multiple routers running off of it, in order for a few pc's to get online. Will having that many routers/PC's running off the same modem effect performance for online gameplay. I have to run near 120ft of cable to get my PC online from where it is positioned. I was unsure if that would slow my connection speed. My service is the fastest cable connection from Comcast in my area.

[ShyguyXPC]

I don't think so, but networking along with Linux are my weak points in PC knowledge.

Might want to start a new thread for that question, since it might get more attention from others than just the topic for this thread.

[Franzchise]

ok cool maybe I will but I'm sure you would have heard something if it was a big issue....

Do you know anything about the ASUS GTX 690 vs the EVGA GTX 690, I;m about to place the order for the GPU from a vendor on amazon. Just the ASUS cost $50 more and didnt know why?

[ShyguyXPC]

not necessarily... like I mentioned, networking is my weak spot. Half of what I "Learn" with it, I forget easily.

A lot has to do with the vague if not cryptic terminology, same with Linux.

I grew up with DOS, making the move to Windows, was fairly straight forward, especially if I needed to use the DOS Command lines for occasional things.

I still used DOS on occasion all the way through to Windows ME. XP and even Windows 7, some DOS commands are still used in the Command Line box for these OS's.

For example, open the Command prompt in Windows 7, it will most likely start you with C:\users\xxxxx (where xxxxx is your account login or whatever for your ID on the system)

simply typing "cd.." with out quotes, reverts back to C:\users, repeat and your back to main C Prompt.

Type in "dir" and it will bring up a directory listing of all folders on C drive.

Etc, etc.

this is all stuff I learn back in the DOS days.

the terminology is familiar, the steps to do it is familiar, etc.

but when it comes to Linux, the terminology is different, and the way you do things is different.


anyways, I'd make a thread on the networking thing anyways.



as to the GTX 690's, get the EVGA, imo.

Asus, its probably either faster clocked, or they have some overpriced cooler design on it.

Or, your simply paying for the "Asus" Name slapped on to it.

if this is the card: Newegg.com - ASUS GTX690-4GD5 GeForce GTX 690 4GB 512-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Its spec'd the same as the EVGA ones, so more than likely its just the Asus name your paying $50 more for.

Personally I'm more EVGA Biased, and not a fan of Asus at all, with exception for Asrock and some of Asus other Computer parts like LCD's and things like that, just not a fan of Asus boards and GPU's, but Given EVGA's better rep, warranty, and updates for their cards (drivers, software, etc), I'd probably go with them, especially if they are cheaper.

[Franzchise]

ok thanks, ya Im just ordering the EVGA.

[stroyal]

I'm not sure about your router question, but the length of your network cable is no ware near too long.

325' is the theoretical max for that.

[Franzchise]

ok thanks for the info