Clean STEP install performance help

[eperdos]

Hi,

 

I recently upgraded my PC and my configuration is:

 

i5 4690

16 GB Ram (2x 8GB dual ch.)

GTX 1070 8GB VRam

500 GB SSD

 

so, considering I have plenty of resources for an extended STEP, I chose to install ALL mods listed at their max. resolutions. I am now around middle of install, I just finished 2.J. Animations & Effects subsection. So, benchmarking like usual after one subsection, I observed 2 things that made me stop  installing new mods and asking in here for help:

 

1. mountain flickering at Helgen entrance and inside Helgen, at distant mountains but also midrange mountains. It seems related to Skyrim Enhanced Camera, as disabling this mod makes flickering a little less annoying. But I am not sure IF this flickering was there until now, as I didn`t really looked at the mountains, rather I watched the MSI onscreens to see how ram, vram, temps etc. behaves. I tried editing the ini`s as in z-fighting guide with no results. I had Better results editing the ini`s with these settings:

 

[TerrainManager]
fBlockLevel0Distance=50000
fBlockLevel1Distance=72500
fBlockMaximumDistance=94000
fSplitDistanceMult=1.5

 

But, as distant flickering was gone, mid range flickering was STILL there, and performance cost was HUGE (I lost around 10-15 fps)

 

2. Until this point, I always let the camera at its starting position, not moving the mouse so the benchmarkings are solid comparable. I was getting solid 60fps with very isolated mid 50s and an average of 59.7 and above. I said this is really good. Now, after flickering issue, I moved the camera and observed drops in the 40s just before Helgen entrance, if watching left and down. This is with STEP default ini`s and all mods enabled. (so not related to no.1 issue above).

 

My GPU load gets to 99% but for very short times. Average load is around 30%. Also GPU frequency is mostly around 1050MHz, averaging at around 900MHz. Constant spikes at 1635Mhz, never reaching boost.

My VRam load is at the moment 2700MB.

My Ram load is around 4000MB with Pagefile around 7000

CPU load is around 40-50%.

 

Shoud I worry, or should I continue installing the remaining subsection? Will the latest subsections improve some performance? should I restart STEP with indicated resolution? If GTX 1070 can`t handle STEP maxed , what is the reason for even pointing there are HQ options?

 

Thanks!

Edited August 16, 2016 by eperdos

[TechAngel85]

1. Run BethINI to set your INIs up properly. BethINI will be replacing the INI section in the next release anyway so getting a jump on that will not hurt. Next look within the Skyrim Enhanced Camera (SEC) mod. There is an INI file that alters some settings dealing with near distances and flickering. Either correct them to the values you desire or disable them. I personally do not like SEC and only run it because one of my personal mods (Archery Gameplay Overhaul) requires it. Else, I wouldn't even have it installed. I don't really agree with it being in STEP either, but majority rules on such things. :: 

 

As for the rest, I would simply continue installing and see about adjusting performance later. Drops while looking towards the Morthal swamp are common. It's about the only area in Skyrim that I drop into the 40s.

[eperdos]

Well, I downloaded I run BethINI. But really didn`t do anything noticeable. I disabled SEC mod and run BethINI again and things were better at distant mountains and perfect with midrange mountains, but the same aplies with STEP default INIs. So, is there any setting I should make in BethINI to totally corect flickering? I will probably NOT use SEC mod.

[eperdos]

ok, I found a youtube video on the flickering issue, from about 2012. For the fBlockLevel1Distance=140,000 it actually gives 1,400,000 witch is taken from STEP site on the date. I applied this settings, seems to work. Performance drops was some places I got mid 50s fps instead of solid 60. Only one sudden drop to 40s. I will go with this setting for now and revised it, IF, at the end of install. Thanks anyway!!!

[eperdos]

Ok. I did all the subsections and now i only have to do the patches. It really looks complicated. But:

 

I observed i have to install fnis. But it looks i already did. Can't remember when or why. Is this a problem? Would suffice to only runs fnis through mo? Or should i uninstall it and reinstall it?

[eperdos]

Ok, I finished installing STEP. My performance issue (also the flickering issue) are still unsolved. Even though flickering can be solved by removing SEC mod and applying z-fighting settings, the performance cost (at least in my case) is quite big. So, I reverted my ini`s to STEPs default. And here we go with performance issue:

 

During intro carrriage road, from time to time (always in the same location) there is a masive drop in framerate, from a steady 60 fps to lower 50s or even lower 40s (with z-fighting settings applied, drops are even worse, to lower 30s). Now, as far as fps I am not concerned. But these drops come with clear, annoying lag or stutter or name it as you want. it ir really like the game freezes for a couple of frames or so.

 

Now, this is not very good im my perspective, given the hardware I play on. I state my rig again:

 

i5 4690

16 GB ram (2x 8GB)

GTX 1070 8GB Vram

500GB SSD

 

Are there any solution to my performance issue?Thanx!

[Nebulous112]

Well, something is wrong with your setup.

 

See my specs in my signature. Running on a laptop, I get 58-60 FPS throughout the whole cart ride. I run BethINI on High (BethINI High is most similar to vanilla Ultra; BethINI Ultra really pushes your hardware to the max). While it is likely INI settings, it could also be your Nvidia Inspector settings, how many programs or applications you have running in the background, etc.

[eperdos]

Interesting. I did this with BethINI, and it changet it to windowed mode with in turn not only gave better frames (same spots but with fps drops to mid 50s but also no or less annoying stutters) but also adressed the mountain flickering. How is this possible?

 

Would it be only the windowed mode? I don`t like playing in windowed, at least I would like borderless window. I`ll try more INI tweeking now.

[Nebulous112]

I have never used windowed mode, FYI. I do occasionally get Z-fighting in my STEP profile (the mountain flickering you mentioned).

 

Good luck!

[eperdos]

I missed the windowed mode check button after hitting default. It is all good now. On High I get steady 60s with drops to 56-57 and a steady 55 at  Helgen entrance. No flickering, no stuttering. Seems that problem was with Ultra for the distant objects. Even at Ultra, though frames drop to 40s at Helgen entrance and stabilise to 50fps, at least flickering is gone without z-fighting settings that made drops to low 30s.

 

I will do some ini comparison to see what differences do I have between BethINI and default INIs.

 

Thanks!

[eperdos]

Now, I have a question: BethINI changes the INIs according to STEPs indication plus adding whatever it things appropriate, or changes that STEP requires at the begining of a new install are overwritten? Should I pass again through first sections of STEP and change the new BethINIs?

[Nebulous112]

BethINI was created by DoubleYou, creator of the STEP INI guides.

 

If you tick the "recommended tweaks" checkbox after pushing the preset button it should give you most or all of the recommended STEP tweaks. You may want to double check some, like the grass types. Things like the tree distance are superceded by BethINI though.

[eperdos]

Ok, now i understand.

 

Now about enb. Step recomends not to everwrite enblocal.ini but copy over some sections. What is not clear is: should i copy from my own enblocal file to preset file or viceversa?

[Nebulous112]

I'm not sure what you mean. You can only have one enblocal.ini file active in your setup.

 

I assume you are setting up a graphical ENB that has it's own enblocal.ini? If so, you will need to set it up for your system by tweaking the VideoMemorySize and ReservedMemorySize in the file. You may or may not want parallax enabled depending on whether you have parallax textures installed.

 

What ENB are you setting up?

[DoubleYou]

BethINI High is definitely the best preset for all users for Skyrim. It is my most optimized preset. The mountain settings are slightly different, I believe, so I might have missed some flickering on the ultra values. Ultra is mainly for screen archery.

[eperdos]

Wow, author of bethini! Thankyou! Really yes, high is great settings. I tried it and my fps improved alot. Also flickering is gone. Great indeed.