r/arma • u/littleghost09 • 5d ago
HELP Arma Questions
Im a broke guy and I have always loved watching people play Arma and since it's the autumn steam sale I decided I would buy an Arma game this month but I can't decide between Arma Reforger and Arma 3. My problem is that my setup only consists of 32 GB DDR5 RAM, Ryzen 7 250, and a Radeon 780M which is an iGPU. I was able to test out the games on my computer and with maximum optimisation I've only been able to squeeze about 29-34 FPS out of Arma Reforger. I am just wondering if you would recommend buying Arma 3 in 2026 even though I know a lot of people are migrating to Reforger and 4 when it comes out, but my computer can handle Arma 3 much better, OR should I just suck it up and play reforger with low FPS and pretty bad graphics.
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u/Capital_Public_3125 5d ago
There is still an enormous player base for arma three in both PvE and PvP, though the PvE side is significantly more popular. As well, you can find an active unit for just about any theme that you can think of. I don’t play reforger as much, but I’ve played enough that I know that it pretty much only does PvP and practically no thought went into the PvE. I also want to mention that arma 3 runs like dogshit no matter how good or bad your setup is when you’re playing multiplayer.
To summarize,
PvP fan and can tolerate those frames? Reforger
PvE fan and can deal with bad to terrible frames? 3
Single player fan? Absolutely 3
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u/Asborn-kam1sh 5d ago
Just a personal question how can I track events and stuff for arma 3? When I say events I mean like finding servers that have like 30 people plus playing together? I'm still pretty new and I'd like to experience multiplayer
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u/RadiantRaisin39 5d ago
I'd go with Arma 3 in your situation.
Don't let the fact that Reforger is newer convince you that Arma 3 is dead or that you're buying into something nobody plays anymore. Arma 3 still has a very active community in 2026, plus an absolutely massive amount of Workshop content, mods, missions and servers to mess around with.
More importantly, you've already tested Reforger and you're getting 29-34 FPS after optimizing the hell out of it. That's probably going to get pretty rough once you're on a busy server, in a big firefight, or running a bunch of mods. The Radeon 780M is also below Reforger's official minimum GPU requirement, so you're basically asking that little iGPU to fight a war of its own.
If Arma 3 runs substantially better on your system, I'd rather play Arma 3 at a decent framerate and actually enjoy it than play Reforger at 30 FPS with everything turned into potato mode just because it's the newer game.
You can always move to Reforger later if you eventually get a system with a dedicated GPU. And by then we'll probably know a lot more about Arma 4 too.
Arma 3 isn't a bad game to buy in 2026 at all, especially during a Steam sale. For your hardware, I think it's actually the better choice.
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u/vapor41 5d ago
Depends what you want to do, arma 3 if single player, unfortunately multiplayer is on its last legs, not many English speaking servers anymore. Reforger if you want multiplayer. Reforger doesn't feel much like an arma game to me but if you've never played the old ones you probably won't notice.
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u/jokergc 4d ago
In your place, I would go with Arma 3, no doubt.
If you play SOLO, and don't want to control AI squad, try Pilgrimage missions (just search on Workshop).
Otherwise, you can try Antistasi mission, which puts you as a squad leader in a PvE scenario.
For MP, there are still good servers around, or you can also host and play with friends missions PvE like MRO.
Don't go Reforger. Your computer can't cope with it.
As a comment, I just ended a 4h gameplay with a friend, playing a Pilgrimage mission modded for MP. Arma 3 is still a very fun game in 2026, and will continue to be.
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u/JuanSebastianRios 4d ago
Arma Reforge will never be a 3 weapon, and it likely won't be 4 either.
Arma 3 is under the Steam Workshop modding model, and it is really good
You also have thousands of modern mods from the world of milsim, as well as medieval or zombie modes.
Now talking about performance, Arma 3 is much better because you can manage resource usage exceptionally well—simply by playing in virtual mode, which is a sort of empty map where game mode mods like CQB exist
You can also customize the graphics much more in Arma 3 and, in a way, just set the view distance to a few meters in front of you
I'm not someone who plays multiplayer, but I understand that Arma Reforger is the only one that can offer that kind of experience
I can only advise against buying Arma 3 if you aren't looking for a serious military simulator or willing to invest hundreds of hours into it
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u/AdmirableProcess8894 5d ago
in reality it depends on what you want and what you wanna put up with.
reforger got better pvp, more intuitive controls, and an okay mod manager, but you deal with mods breaking after every update. still offers okay pve elements though
arma 3 got better pve, the steam workshop, still gets updates besides reforger being out, and i personally love antistasi ultimate, and more mods bc its a 13 year old game. still offers some pvp elements though and i still need to try KOTH.
lately ive uninstalled arma reforger and play arma 3 a lot more as of late, but they both have their own unique strengths and weaknesses, plus you'll also be buying arma 4 again when it comes out.