PatimPatam

@MadWizard I think selctivepurge works as well when you load a different savegame, as i noticed being able to load more times without getting a CTD.. but as always it's only empirical evidence :-) Let us know if the tips work for you!

Ok thank you ivactheseeker

@MadWizard Yes i guess i'm quite lucky as ugrids=7 with almost all STEP texture mods (at max quality) is rock-solid for me. But you know, you always want more than what you have :-) As i found out, even after you remove the VRAM problem you still face other ones, which haven't been able to fix so far.. Anyway here's something i didn't mention before that might help you stabilizing ugrids=7 and that you could test quite easily, another theory of mine :-P Probably you've heard about the rule where exterior_cell_buffer value must be (ugrids+1)².. Well that didn't make much sense to me.. i believe ugridstoload is the number of cells that fit in one side of a "square" around you, so if for instance ugridstoload is 7 that means you are loading a matrix of 49 cells in total (the cell where you are + 48 cells around you). So in my tests with ugrids=9 i tried the equation ugrids²+1 and found that i had less CTD's than with the other one (i'm using 82 = 9²+1). Haven't tested it with ugrids=7 but you could try.. instead of the usual 64 check exterior_cell_buffer = 50 (7² + 1), it will use much less memory and should be enough to buffer all your cells. Also make sure you use the value i mentioned bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1 on SkyrimPrefs.ini, that helped me stabilize ugrids=9 a lot. Finally when testing don't load savegames saved with different ugrids values (even though in theory you can load savegames with lesser values than your ini). Skyrim doesn't like that much. @Admins do you think it could be possible to change the name of the thread and replace the word skyrim with ugrids or ugridstoload? (thought about changing it after creating it to make the subject clearer, but couldn't find out how). Thanx!

Ok back on topic.. As promised, after trying a few different things I'm reporting my findings! First of all, the modifications on the ini file suggested did not seem to make any difference. So after that i decided to try the RAM disk route and got myself a full version of Dataram RAMDisk (about 20$, free version limited to 4GB). I thought that even if it didn't fix my problem i could put to good use my extra RAM and get a nice boost, even on other games or apps. I can say that I'm quite happy with the product and that i works as advertised, but the first problem i stumbled upon is that i don't have nowhere near enough RAM to load my entire skyrim folder + HD textures (14.2 GB) taking into account i need about 2GB for windows + 4GB free to run skyrim. Using a symbolic link (thanks for the tip frihyland) i tried to load into RAM only the textures folder (about 5.3 GB) and after that i also tried loading the whole skyrim but without the textures folder (about 9 GB, loosing visual fidelity of course). Unfortunately none of these prevented the CTDs from happening. [sIDE NOTE ON RAMDISK PERFORMANCE:] Surprisingly load times where not greatly reduced in comparison to loading from a SSD (a typical savegame went down from 12 to 10 sec aprox), i guess that apart from merely loading the assets into memory there must be some decompression or other stuff going on that slows down the process.. Also I don't usually get much stuttering but i think preloading on RAM helped to reduce it a tiny bit in some instances, although i can't give any real proof. Anyway all this made me realise of something important though, if i was not loading the textures folder (and/or the HD texture pack BSAs) the RAM usage would be MUCH lower, which means 2 things: 1- textures ARE being cached on RAM 2- RAM usage (in particular 3GB on 64bit) does not have anything to do with the CTDs i was having. Just out of curiosity tried a couple more things: Overclocking CPU + RAM -> no difference. Compressing all textures and BSAs to 1024 -> no difference. Lowering resolution, disabling AA, disabling AO -> no difference. Finally I tried to revert back to ugrids=7 (which was much easier than i thought it would be) and voilà , as expected no CTDs at all. Only one warning, when reverting ugrids do NOT use the nvidia "The Top Five Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Tweaks" article, it's bad, outdated advice, and will not only NOT work but create even more problems. Both the official NVIDIA tweak guide, or the following forum post are correct: https://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide/#14 https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/490666-patch-13-vs-ugridstoload/page__st__30 So in the end i must admit i was wrong with my initial theory and i guess there must be an intrinsic limit on the amount of resources that this engine can handle, and that no matter how much CPU, GPU, RAM or VRAM you throw at it you will hit a wall sooner or later. Or maybe it’s related to some other hardware limitation like memory bandwith.. Anyway I'm pretty sure this could be solved if bethesda looked into it and patched the main engine, but for now it is what it is! I think it's a pity because when you get used to playing with ugrids=11 or ugrids=9 it's really hard to go back, even to 7 (can't imagine trying the default 5). I find it really immersion breaking having the whole landscape changing or popping up in front of me.. honestly i would rather stay with vanilla textures if i could keep ugrids=9, but as reported this is not a choice.. so i will just have to get used to it! The only doubt that i have left is that i've seen in some forums people claiming to have played skyrim for months with ugrids=9 and no CTD's, so maybe there's still something else i could try but really running out of ideas now. One example is this one: https://forums.nexusmods.com/index.php?/topic/473949-draw-distance-ugridstoload/ Porroone said it could be because his GTX 470 has a 384bits memory interface, which could make sense, but I also have 384bits on my 580 so I don’t know.. To finish off, and in spite of all my troubles, i would like to suggest to those with some spare VRAM and still playing with the default ugrids to give uGridsToLoad=7 a try, it's dead easy to go back to the default at any time in case of trouble. Skyrim.ini: [General] uGridsToLoad=7 uExterior Cell Buffer=64 SkyrimPrefs.ini: [backgroundLoad] bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1

Thank you frihyland, looks like some good advice in there. Will try both things as soon as i can and report back!

Thanks a lot for the feedback guys, what s4n said makes sense.. i guess it could be just a coincidence that this always happens when it goes exactly above 3GB. Will have to either save often and deal with a CTD from time to time or suck it and cut down on some settings.. will see. Still would be nice to hear if someone else with similar or better specs than mine can confirm this!

Preface: Hello there, i've got a tricky question (i think) about HW + modding, probably aimed only to people with high-end rigs (8GB or more of RAM + 3GB or more VRAM [non-splitted] + SDD + Windows 7 64bit) that have tried to push Skyrim to the limit.. (for reference i've got a i7-2600K 16GB DDR3 + GTX580 3GB slightly OC + windows n game installed on 128GB SDD). I'm using UGRIDS=9 and about 60+ mods (mostly texture mods from STEP), including a combination of Skyrim HD, Realistic Overhaul and Serious HD, all of them at the maximum quality available. Still running on Skyrim 1.4.27 since NVidia Ambient Occlusion for me is a must and apparently is still not solved. Short version: As i understand since v1.3 Skyrim should be able to use up to 4GB of RAM memory (the maximum for a 32bit application on a 64bit OS).. has anyone actually managed to have it working with anything above 3GB?? for instance TESV.exe using something like 3.5GB according to windows task manager? if so did you do anything special to archive that?? Long version: As we all know there are lots of myths and theories regarding the value ugrids and that can lead to "instability", same thing about using lots of high-res texture mods.. Well i've got the theory that the only real problem when increasing this value or the size of the textures is either lack of VRAM or lack of RAM.. I've got a very stable game using UGRIDS=9 and only recently i found a few specific outside locations where the game would CTD after walking from another outside location (would not CTD if i load a savegame already on the location).. I'm pretty sure VRAM is not a problem (using always less than 2GB - 65%). Total amount of memory is obviously not a problem either (16GB).. However checking my main memory usage i realized CTDs always happens when the game tries to use more than 3GB of RAM. I think that happens when "usable" RAM is already almost filled and when you move to a new area with lots of new resources that have to be loaded there's just no space to put them. I have spend quite some time googling and checking both HW and Skyrim forums with no luck.. have tried using Game Booster 3, changing boot options from the command line "bcdedit /set increaseuserva 4096", changing Skyrim.ini iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=4294967295 (4GB) and still the same problem. So is it really an issue of software-limited maximum allocated RAM per process? If so is there a way to use more than 3GB? Or am I totally wrong and it's just a problem of the GPU/CPU not being able to cope with so much information? I'm a bit annoyed because i have the feeling that if i could really use the whole 4GB as advertised then all my CTD's would be gone and I could even possibly run with all textures mods + UGRIDS=11. I know there are other ways i could go about this like optimizing the textures, reducing settings to use less memory, etc but that's not the point of the question for now.. Any ideas?? Thanks in advance!

@z929669 Yep as Starac mentioned i think the better snow is due to the better normal maps of "Better Rocks and Mountains", not SHD. You could even try them on SRO mountains if you like them better than SHD's but they probably won't match the texture, and i bet Starac wouldn't like that either :-P @Starac SHD = Skyrim HD Well the fact is that the whole vanilla color palette is clearly off (towards green i would say), but for me the proper way to correct this is via a lighting or post-processing mod, not by changing every single texture in the game. As i mentioned on my first post of this thread I'm using RCRN (Realistic Colors and Real Nights), and with this vanilla and SHD textures look grey to me not blue, a pretty accurate color for rocks I think. Tested on various monitors and on a calibrated Pioneer Kuro plasma. SRO's mountain textures look golden-ish to me and that's why i said they change the feeling (or whatever you want to call it) of the game. If you don't agree then fair enough. I would suggest that each one tries the textures with their favourite lighting mod (and screen) and decide on their own!

Hi there again, sorry i've been on vacation and couldn't reply for the last few days.. i will try to stay on topic. I'm afraid i didn't have time to test in detail cities etc. Apart from the main loose landscape files i tested only roads and mountains (more on that later). I did test SERIOUS HD landscape for the last few days and even though in general i prefer the textures from either SHD or SRO i think it's pretty good when installed on it's own. Also i'm glad i tried it because i managed to find some great textures which i was not happy with either SHD or SRO. One example could be the snowrocks (which imo combine quite well with SHD rocks): rocks-vanilla rocks-SRO rocks-SHD rocks-SHD-SERIOUS @Starac, first let me just say that i'm a big fan of your work and that i agree in mostly all the points you have made so far from a technical/artistical view. I personally almost in all circumstances prefer the textures that are as close to vanilla as possible because they blend together perfectly and because they retain bethesda's artistic intend also when looking at them from a distance; It's not only about the texture itself but about texture composition and the patters-relations created between different ones. The river stones you mentioned is a perfect example of that. Here are some screenshots to prove your point: shore-vanilla shore-SHD shore-SRO (But please notice that in this particular case both TC and me had already agreed with you and recommended it) One thing i do not agree with you is that we shouldn't try to mix different mods. With so many hundreds and hundreds of textures and the effort that can take to create just one of them it's just not possible that a single modder creates the best version of every single texture out there, and it is inevitable than some particular ones are better than others.. While I totally understand the frustration of spending uncountable time and effort creating a mod like this and having someone else who doesn't know a thing about creating textures saying another one is better, I think it's also normal and valid that we poor "users" want to get the best combination possible. It's true that you can't just compare the dds, pick your favourite ones and combine them, but i DO believe if you do a proper and methodical "study" of each texture also in-game, from different distances, taking into account the blending etc and applying some good judgement (and patience) you can have a better looking skyrim by combining different mods. Not saying it's easy, but it's possible. For instance using your very same argument about staying close to vanilla i personally prefer SHD mountains (combined with "Better Rocks and Mountains" mod) than SRO mountains. Even though SRO are much more detailed from close-by they change the vanilla color quite noticeably and they look much lighter, almost golden, so they change the atmosphere and don't blend so well with other textures like rocks. Similar thing happens with the dirt02 texture and dirtroads, which IMO look too orangey when compared to vanilla. mountain-vanilla mountain-SHD-BRM mountain-SRO About the roads of course they have to match with the textures that you pick on the landscape part. As I just mentioned I personally prefer Skyrim HD for the main roads, but since I'm using SRO´s snow and fallforest textures I obviously recommend picking SRO snow and fallforest roads. Anyhow, sorry for the long ramblings, here's my actual personal recommendation for combining LANDSCAPE textures from SHD, SRO and SERIOUS. I guess you could call it "PatimPatam's LANDSCAPE MIX" :-P Of course I could have made mistakes so if anyone finds an example where the combination suggested doesn't work please let me know (if possible with pictures). I think that would be positive feedback for the community!

Hi there, i've been testing the game following TC last post, using SHD2K and with SRO only overriding landscape loose files (without folders). Also compared "pure" SRO vs "pure" SHD both in-game and with screenshots.. here's my two cents (using 2K versions, Skyrim 1.4.26 and RCRN legacy): - LANDSCAPE Agree that in general SRO landscape textures are the best out there, however after finding a few rough spots while playing i decided to do a more in-depth analysis and actually compared the 50 shared textures between SRO and SHD one by one (using a DSS viewer but also testing in-game). Checking SRO, from these 50 textures there are about 8 which in my opinion are clearly of inferior quality than the rest. They actually just look like 512 resized textures to me. Thankfully their SHD counterparts range from good to awesome, so for me it's just a matter of NOT using the following ones from SRO: frozenmarshlichen01 icefloes pineforest01 reachmoss01 rivermud rocks01 rocksedgetrim01 volcanictundradirt02 (of course both the main .dds files and the xxx_n.dds) EXAMPLE! SRO rocks01 SHD rocks01 (once in photobucket click to zoom in) Also there are a few other ones which are not so bad but i still think SHD ones are better, here's the complete list that i think should be deleted (not overwrite SHD): cavebaseground01 dirt01 dirt02 fielddirtgrass01 fieldgrass01 frozenmarshlichen01 glacierparallax glacierslab icefloes mineralpoolterrace pineforest01 pineforest02 reachgrass01 reachmoss01 rivermud rocks01 rocksedgetrim01 volcanictundradirt02 volcanictundrarocks01 I know this may be a bit too much customization (even for a "compiler's advice" note) but it's what works best for me, and while testing in-game they actually combine very well (there isn't a "clash" of styles). I think this is a pretty special case, as we are talking about the 2 biggest texture replacers you can find and these particular textures are probably the ones that have a bigger visual impact. - REST (DUNGEONS, CITIES, ETC) Haven't tested them in detail, agree with TC that SRO textures mostly look like re-sharpened vanilla ones, but for me it's still an improvement, and there are LOTS! So instead of ignoring all of them i would put the SRO non-landscape textures at the beginnig of STEP 2-B1 (or at the end without override). Would be nice if TC or someone else could test these settings (specially the LANDSCAPE bit) and let us know what he/she thinks! Salut!