Optimizing your Experience with Forged Alliance

[Ionic]

Please make a sticky or add to the FAQ so anyone can edit.

Improving your connection:

In order of importance

1. Use Ethernet, not WIFI
2. Ports are forwarded
3. You need a decent quality Broadband connection, 4+ Mbps
4. Shut off anything else going on your computer or on any computer that is doing things on the net
5. Run Malwarebytes and a Free Antivirus, Avast, Sophos, Bitdefender, etc

Improving your Computer Speed for FA

1. Get the fastest CPU you can afford from this chart: https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html
2. Make sure you have a modern graphics card that cost at least $100
3. SSD

Fixing Crashes:

1. Turn off Dual Screens
2. Run Windows Update
3. Run Slimdrivers
4. Reinstall FAF and FA
5. Reinstall Windows
6. Get a new computer

[IceDreamer]

I'm going to be optimising my FA to the balls on Monday. How? Take delivery of my new uber-laptop

[Col_Walter_Kurtz]

Something like this could get a mention too, perhaps.

Overclocking:

1. CPU clock is the absolute determining factor for Supcom FA's performance when lots of units come onto the field.

2. Most CPU's have headroom for overclocking with little to no increase in voltage. Install CPU-Z, determine what CPU you have and Google for results. Between 500Mhz and 1Ghz is obtainable for most CPU's since Core 2 era. CPU's are designed to operate in a certain frequency range, which is why you can easily get more until a certain point. Going above that point is hard, requires much more voltage, cooling and in depth knowledge. Find the sweet spot where increase comes at little cost.

3. Search for an applicable overclocking guide for your CPU on OCN or XS. Follow the steps. Don't rush it. Treat it as a long term project, let stress tests run when you are not using the machine and monitor temperatures. Use your brain.

4. A fast quad core is optimal, but testing shows that 2 fast cores can beat 4 slower ones. Disabling hyperthreading reduces heat and increases headroom for raw CPU speed. Disabling cores does this too but it's probably not worth it to go from 4 to 2 active cores.

4. High temperatures are your enemy. Many people buy a prebuilt machine with a stock cooler. Stock coolers are generally not very efficient. That's why you should try to obtain higher clocks without (much) extra voltage and avoid unnecessary heat from hyperthreading. Consider getting an aftermarket cooler. 20 or 30 Dollar / Euro can make a world of difference. New generation AMD / Intel CPU's come with reasonable stock coolers though. Clean out dust and think about how fresh air flows into the machine.

my new uber-overheating lag machine

Fixed

[Ionic]

I do not encourage overclocking, instead you would be better off buying all server grade computer equipment for a little more money and a little less speed. Overclocking is a hobby, if you enjoy it fine. If you do not consider overclocking a hobby for you prepare yourself for a higher POSSIBILITY of crashes and failures.

[Arkansas]

Sorry what? Overclocking allows people to achieve well documented performance increases with no stability loss (assuming they are sensible). Server grade equipment absolutely isn't needed and is a silly investment for your average FA player.

Saying you need a decent graphics card is also not true for FA. I can max it out easily on a R4650M, integrated chips are faster than my card now.

[Col_Walter_Kurtz]

Overclocking is completely normal, hence the k and black edition cpu's. It's a standard part of the product.

instead you would be better off buying all server grade computer equipment for a little more money and a little less speed.

That must be the weirest advice ever posted on these boards.

[BRNKoINSANITY]

I think he means that you should buy a Xeon chip and decent mobo, which are extremely stable and offer ridiculous single thread crunching power, but don't have intigrated graphics. Then go buy a 100+ dollar graphics card such as a 50 series nvidea or whatever. He is not saying you have to go buy a RK4000 and a dual CPU mobo and drop in 32 core processors xD

[Matrixmage]

Some of this is total BS, you could be perfectly fine with shitty airport wifi. Also, an SSD is completely unneeded, FAF taxes your CPU much more than any other part of your computer. Finally, a reasonable GPU is only needed if you actually want it to look super nice, and $100 will not get you a nice GPU anyway.

EDIT: You're also completely wrong about OCing, it's a perfectly standard part of modern medium-competence computer usage.

EDIT 2: Just to make this perfectly clear: GOOD INTERNET IS NOT NEEDED FOR FAF. In most games >100 ping is unplayable, in FAF, 250 ping is normal.

[Col_Walter_Kurtz]

Overclocking is probably the only way to get a substantial boost in performance for this game. The suggestions from the OP are not going to do anything for CPU bottlenecked FA. Unless you are part of a mining botnet and you install so many toolbars and other 'helpful' software that your system is being taxed 24/7.

I get that not everyone should do it, but I think the regular FA player has above average intellect and can manage to read a proper guide and follow steps. If it is somehow impossible to increase CPU speed while keeping other components in spec something is wrong with your system to begin with and you can always abort the mission.

Xeon chip and decent mobo, which are extremely stable and offer ridiculous single thread crunching power

He said "less speed".... and seems to believe that server chips are somehow more stable. Server and desktop parts are exactly the same, as I'm sure you know. The only difference is that Xeon chips may work in multi socket configurations and some desktop parts don't have features such as virtualization enabled. Integrated graphics are just that, integrated graphics. Clock for clock performance is identical and stability is the same between desktop and server parts, but overall you might get slightly better performance from desktop systems because of faster non ecc memory or higher turbo.

i'm not saying that you shouldn't get a Xeon, I'm using one myself, but it's just a regular CPU. Nothing fancy about it.

[BRNKoINSANITY]

MatrixMage, if you tried to play on airport wifi you might be ok in 1v1, but on any kind of large map or with a few people, you would quickly become the most hated person in that game lol. Wifi is notoriously bad for dropping packets. If you have good wifi and it works, then that is fine. If you are on wifi and you start getting behind on data, then for the love of all that is good in the world get an ethernet cable so other people don't have to sit through your lag.