Well I downloaded the full version of Win7 last night from Microsoft's tech net. I am going to do a clean install and will let you guys know if there are any issues with ArmA2. Anybody run the RC with ArmA2 and have any issues?

Zero problems here, actually very happy with how it runs (64 bit as well).

Cheers!

Good to know. I am really looking forward to using all of my RAM!

I have a box running RC x64 & the only prob I have is Nvidia driver related - I think.

Everything is bigger, larger, wider [?] than my monitor & it only got this way since loading the latest driver set! I have tried everything that has been reco'd to no avail...
may look for a 'non whql optimized' version to test out or go back to a previous version.

Otherwise, it runs smoove like butta! hehe!

using Win7 32bit and no issues with any games so far.



well, I think that since arma2 is still a 32bit application it only uses 3GB max

Beans, do you know of a legal way how I can get W7 (without technet subscription) early, like late September? Mass Retail is 22nd October, but don't partners and maybe OEM System Builders get theirs early?

I'd hate to push the install date for my planned new system back that far.

I am not sure how, but you could download an iso for the release version. Trials for their operating systems can be pushed out to 240 days. You can then add your license key once you get it.

The trick is not to purchase an "upgrade" version or download the iso for MSDN/Technet subscribers.

Just like Vista, the "Anytime Upgrade" they offer to PC buyers who get a PC now and can get W7 for free later are a real pain to use. I had 3 of them when Vista came out and it won't let you install unless you already have a previous OS installed first. So, fore exmaple, if you want to wipe your PC clean and reinstall everything you have to load XP or Vista first.. then Windows 7.

Get the iso for the full retail version when it becomes available. Use it as trial for the next few months. Buy an OEM version from NewEgg when it's released and enter the serial key and activate once you get it.

Getting the ISO before Oct 22nd might be a problem though. In the past, you couldn't use the technet or MSDN iso version because an OEM serial key won't work on those and you end up having to do an OEM install "over the top" of say, an MSDN version. I imagine W7 will be no different.

RSColonel,

This is what I did: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/get/download.aspx

It is a valid copy that starts to 'die' on March 1, 2010.

I'm running W7 from the same link Mojo posted.

CrashDome, I spoke with my local Windows Guru who I do my company projects with, and he suggested the same - seems he has an install version that will accept regular OEM keys. I assume it will be the stuff from the Microsoft Partner and Gold Partner early release.

All I need is to bridge the one month gap between money being available for the new built (Mid September) and W7 coming out (Mid October) so running it as unactivated trial for that time should do.

Mojo, I want to build the new system, install once and then usually I don't reinstall in the two or three years of use - I didn't with my last four systems. That means using RTM or RC trials is out.

Admittedly it feels a bit risky being an early adopter but what I saw so far from W7 might be worth it, and no point in buying 4 or even 6GB RAM on XP, upgrading from Vista seems more hassle than it might be worth.

Trial should be fine as long as you know the key will be accepted. There are no limitations to the trial except you will probably get Ultimate as a trial and then it will turn off Ultimate features for the Professional edition once you enter the key (if you get professional). The good news is that the features from Professional to Ultimate you will probably not use anyway.

As others, haven't had any problems with either ArmA or ArmA2 in Win7 x64. Only have 6 gig of RAM but the box seems to handle everything OK...

Can you make RAM drives in Win7? Might speed up the game a bit if you ran it from a RAM drive.

+G you are talking way above me on that one! I hardly know anything about computers, I just have an IT friend and an MS friend who get me software early. Some good news about Office 2010, they included the ribbon bar on everything now.

I tried. Doesn't affect performance at all unfortunately. Although if you have only 2gb or less of ram it *might* help if other programs are eating up your memory - but that is theory only.

RAM drives only speed up cache memory access and if your game is consistantly being cached, it might help. Honestly though, you don't want your game's memory cached - period. Better off spending $20 on more ram.

On the same topic, I've been trying to determine what the real sweet spot for better Arma performance is and I gotta say I can't find squat. I've tried purposely lowering CPU, reducing memory, and clocking down my graphics card. All of those things barely decreased performance - believe it or not. I even tested hard drive access. Having a RAID 5 array (3 drives) means 3x the read access speed and I notice things load faster than running off a two drives (degraded RAID). Overall game perf is not changed though. All this testing leads me to believe that the game has some sort of bottleneck in the system but also some sort of "balancer" to keep frames within a respectable range. Sure, dropping from 3ghz to 2ghz cpu dropped frames from 25 avg to about 19 avg but I honestly expected it to drop much much more (maybe down to 12 or so).

My theory: Every few FPS you get from newer hardware, the more cycles it will use calculating AI and other things (and thus reducing FPS back down to roughly same level).

Best way I can describe it: Imagine you get 15 FPS on your current hardware and it is running complex AI and script cycles every 3 frames. Now imagine you upgrade. You *should* get 30 FPS, but you only get 20 FPS because it is now running AI cycles every 2 frames as it detects more resources available.

This would explain why people barely see FPS changes except when adjusting resolution or complex post-processing.

Again, just my theory...

actually Crash that's pretty logical. I'm no software expert myself; but it does sound plausible. I was messing with my settings earlier today, and decided to try out a higher 3D resolution (just like before v1.02). I threw it to 133% and still got the same FPS now when I run everything maxed (~25-35).

There's several people with quads or i7's and "x2" GPU's that can barely maintain 20fps. But then again, there's some that don't have problems and get more acceptable frames.

the game is just weird lol!

I ask about the RAM drive, for a couple of reasons.
I'm curious if Windows 7 even has one. It would be neat to see if it speeding up the game (texture/scenery pop in) and if it would get the HD to stop spinning. On XP, this game makes my HD run constantly!

I see high disc I/O too, seems pretty common.

I am running Static Drive with Vista (Dell Laptop XPS) and I really can not see the differnece on performance
IMO, I can not see or feel the difference on performance on game.
But makes differnece on Application.

To answer your question: Yes Win7 has "ReadyBoost"

I think the High I/O is direct HD access from the game. It isn't trying to access (cached) memory, but rather game files on the HD directly. In that case, ReadyBoost won't help.

RAID seems to help in initial loading, but I do not see any increased "streaming" performance using a RAID setup. My guess is that faster HD access only goes so far with this game - i.e. the engine can only request so much that the HDs literally sit and wait for the engine to request more. On the plus side, your HD won't be banging away as hard to keep up.

Perhaps after the next patch it might be better?