STEP and FPS requirements

[moho25]

Just joined these forums today.  Wonderful resource you have here :)

 

I'm remodding my game (finally updating from a 1.4series patch!) and am attempting to use a bit of a modified STEP installation.  I am having difficulties reaching the required framerate of 50 on a very capable system. 

 

Previously, I had Skyrim somewhat heavily modded (maybe 50 .esps, plus another 25-50 texture mods).  In addition I had a moderately tweaked ini, including setting uGrids to 7.  My game was extremely stable and while my frame rates weren't out of this world, I had them capped at 45.  Generally they were usually between 20 and 35.  No issues with stuttering, tearing, etc.

 

FYI, my system: Win764, 8GB RAM, i7 2690QM, GTX 560M (1.5GB DDR5; 306.97 drivers), 1920x1080 screen res; this is a laptop which is always plugged in (no Optimus)

 

Keeping the above in mind I have been trying to achieve the magic 50 fps recommended in STEP, which I can't seem to do.  Strangely, my framerates in the game are ridiculously stable. I've spent the day adjusting settings and I sill can't reach a "solid 50" anywhere -- Riverwood, Whiterun, or on the tundra right outside of Whiterun.

 

I started with a clean Skyrim install (BOSS + skse are present in the folders) + no mods  + DLC High Rez Tex Pack.  To that I did the following:

• added --  tweaked inis (was trying to avoid having to do these over again, so this included uGrids=7)
• GPU settings -- 16x AF, TexFilter=HQ, AO=performance, AA=4x, with 2xSS, vsync=use 3D (set to off in the .ini)
• launcher set up -- AF=disable (running through GPU), AA=4x, detail=ultra, View Distance=all max, Water reflections= all, FXAA=disabled, Object Detail Fade = unchecked, all textures but shadows on ultra (shadow=high)

RESULT -- very stable, GPU temps about 60, CPU temps about 60, RAM=1350MB, FPS=30ish everywhere.

 

So, this was nowhere near 50.  I kept decreasing settings and testing until I finally gave up.  Here is the final batch of settings I tested:

• removed -- DLC High rez Tex pack (so, only clean Skyrim + BOSS/skse; no mods, no DLC pack)
• replaced -- tweaked inis with vanilla inis (so, standard uGrids + everything else)
• GPU settings -- 8x AF, TexFilter=HQ, AO=performance, AA=2x only (no SS), vsync=use3Dapp (vanilla Skyrim settings)
• launcher set up -- AF=disable (running through GPU), AA=2x, detail=medium, View Distance=all at half, Water reflections= all, FXAA=disabled, Object Detail Fade = unchecked, all textures on medium (blur on low)

RESULT -- very stable, GPU temps about 50-56, CPU temps about 50-60, RAM=700-800. FPS=40-53 in Whiterun when standing still, 35-40 when moving; 40-50 outside of Whiterun when still, 35-42 when moving.

 

So, this I just don't get.  By the last settings I tried I had sacrificed a substantial amount of quality, and I'm still not at 50.  Not even close.  Whiterun just LOVES to be 34-36 for me.  I can get 40-50 in certain parts, but generally, it's about 36.  Outside when I run around, it's similar.  Riverwood is also similar.  The biggest difference I see is in RAM usage.  But my frame rates change relatively little.  Basically reverting to a vanilla ini and turning down my graphics substantially netted me 10 fps or less. 

 

I even tried the HighAlgo Boost.  No difference.

 

So, what do you guys recommend?  Should I keep decreasing quality (though I'm not sure I even would want to go any lower than this)? Is there something else I could be missing that is keeping the frame rates in this range? 

 

My computer was handling my previous settings just fine, as I stated, so I guess the real question is: how important is this "50" number if I plan on modding Skyrim more heavily than before -- especially considering I can't get my more than capable computer to reach 50 fps?

[moho25]

Ha. I tried something this morning that I forgot to try yesterday.

 

Amibent Occlusion (which I had on performance and not quality, btw). Turned it off. I wasn't using it previously because I haven't played the game in almost a year and my previous video driver didn't have the setting.

 

I get framerates of 60 in vanilla Skyrim running around Whiterun with it off. Turn it on and I get 40, dipping down to 35 if I go up to Dragonsreach.

 

Well, well. Found the culprit. Mighty intense setting that is apparently -- 10-20 fps drop.

 

Of course with it on the game looks ridiculously better.

[z929669]

This is an artifact of the older card and drivers. I thought you sasid Vanilla STEP ... AO is not vanilla

[moho25]

This is an artifact of the older card and drivers. I thought you sasid Vanilla STEP ... AO is not vanilla

Yes, the video card is ancient in computer years -- at a whopping year and a half old, lol.

 

The GPU drivers are quite new though; 306 series, as I stated -- I updated a couple of months ago.  nVidia's drivers have been so buggy recently that I don't update the second new ones come out; they seem to need time to work out the kinks. I like to keep my computer as stable as possible, so I prefer not to update and then rollback repeatedly.

 

As for your confusion, not sure what to tell you.  I stated vanilla Skyrim -- not Step -- which maybe it was my assuption that folks would certainly have their GPU settings on.  At any rate I did describe in detail what my set up was in my first post regarding launcher & GPU settings, etc.

 

As for the AO, I am still surprised that my system takes that much of a hit. I can't seem to use SSAO or DOF in ENB's either -- I drop down to 10-15 fps, when I try & GPU-Z shows my 1.5 GB of vRAM at 99% in those situations.  I can run SoS fairly well on extreme performance mode -- 30-40 fps there, with an unmodded game.  So, if I want to keep it, I might need to make some sacrifices as I start adding mods.

 

ENB just makes the game so darn gorgeous.  Sigh.

[TechAngel85]

This is an artifact of the older card and drivers. I thought you sasid Vanilla STEP ... AO is not vanilla

Yes, the video card is ancient in computer years -- at a whopping year and a half old, lol.

 

The GPU drivers are quite new though; 306 series, as I stated -- I updated a couple of months ago.  nVidia's drivers have been so buggy recently that I don't update the second new ones come out; they seem to need time to work out the kinks. I like to keep my computer as stable as possible, so I prefer not to update and then rollback repeatedly.

 

As for your confusion, not sure what to tell you.  I stated vanilla Skyrim -- not Step -- which maybe it was my assuption that folks would certainly have their GPU settings on.  At any rate I did describe in detail what my set up was in my first post regarding launcher & GPU settings, etc.

 

As for the AO, I am still surprised that my system takes that much of a hit. I can't seem to use SSAO or DOF in ENB's either -- I drop down to 10-15 fps, when I try & GPU-Z shows my 1.5 GB of vRAM at 99% in those situations.  I can run SoS fairly well on extreme performance mode -- 30-40 fps there, with an unmodded game.  So, if I want to keep it, I might need to make some sacrifices as I start adding mods.

 

ENB just makes the game so darn gorgeous.  Sigh.

AO is easily the most performance heavy setting for Skyrim because it has to do with shadows and we all know that Skyrim's handling of shadows is terrible...but what can you say for a game that was built on Windows XP era technology.

 

Long story short, the performance hit with AO is partly determined by your shadow settings. If you have really high shadow settings (and you do), then you're going to get a harder performance hit. Why? Because AO adds a TON more shadows and shading to the game to be rendered. So adjusting your shadow settings with AO on will help to improve performance. You'll have to find the right balance between quality and performance that works for you personally.

 

BTW, depending on what ENB you're planning on using you can turn your AA settings off. Anything past v0.119, no longer has support for hardware AA. Though it's been rumored that Boris is working on making it available again.

[moho25]

@techangel -- Right now I'm really digging SoS. I've tried Skyrealism, Wilds, TrueVision, and Project ENB. I've looked at comparison screenshots of lots of others. They all seem to run about the same on my system, and right now SoS is by far my favorite. I'm still running on vanilla inis (with the exception of the 3 modifications you need for the ENB to work), so right now my shadows are toned down. I also have them set to medium in the launcher, as well.

 

I've been PMing Bronze316 and JudgementJay, as well, both who have been giving me advice on settings as well to try to get as many improvements as I can in framerate. I'm still pretty disappointed I can't run the AO, but the ENB is still gorgeous even without it.

 

So, I'll likely be using fewer mods than I was originally hoping to; I'll run into a GPU wall much faster than I was planning with using SoS. I was already anticipating avoiding mods that were too intense, also, as I would rather use a wider array of mods to improve a larger amount of game aspects, than using a couple of super intense mods to change only 1 or 2 things (Warzones jump to mind).

 

Thinking about how Skyrim handles different types of mods, anything that doesn't involve rendering a texture (skill changes, gameplay changes, UI improvements, follower mods, things of that sort) is going to be handled by the CPU, I would think? I can maximize my use of texture replacers, etc, by using ones that are 1024 or 2048 pixels. I'll definitely use the optimized pack for the DLC. So, as long as I'm a bit judicious, I should still be able to use a fair amount of mods and still keep things playable and stable.

 

One thing I'm wondering is how CoT, and some of the other mods that affect lighting and weather will play along with SoS to affect my framerates. I should be starting to actually test drive mods this weekend, so I'll be finding out soon.

[TechAngel85]

One thing I'm wondering is how CoT, and some of the other mods that affect lighting and weather will play along with SoS to affect my framerates. I should be starting to actually test drive mods this weekend, so I'll be finding out soon.

 

In my tests the lighting/weather mods didn't effect framerates are all. However, I did find some incompatibilities with ENB/lighting mod combinations. I do remember that Seasons did not play well with CoT without tweaking. CoT made the day lighting look muted as though the normal skylighting had been cut in half.

[moho25]

Yeah, I was expecting some incompatibilities. Luckily, Bronze is going to be making CoT-compatible version :)