performance improvement suggestions

[exploiteddna]

so basically the deal is that im trying to stop my fps spikes and overall choppiness that i get when im running through the Rift area that runs east to west on the southern border of skyrim, tons of aspens. Anyways, i run a pretty standard/mild enb profile, using Phinix Natural (medium performance) as a base, I disable sun rays, and dont use DOF or reflections (which are both disabled by default on his profiles). I use the standard SMAA that is provided, and don't enable any other form of AA.  AF stays enabled at 16x.   I cap my framerate at 60. Overall I would say my mod setup is pretty well optimized.. nothing too outrageous.. (really, the only 4k textures I run are on glaciers, body skins, and Book of Silence has some 4k scattered throughout). Im not using any type of 'lush' mod that increases polycount of grasses, plants and trees. I use SFO basic, and overwrite a few of its grass/tree textures with my own. My grass density in the Rift area, I would say it is moderately dense.

 

Ok, so thats a basic rundown of the parts of my setup that could be relevent to this issue. If you need some more info just ask. Here is waht happens. 90% of the time while playing I max out my framerate cap at 60fps. Sometimes it drops a little here and there which is fine and is normal. When I venture into the region i described above, I am seriously hit hard. My max will be ~50, average is ~40, and can get as low as low as 30 frames sometimes.  But if I open my ENB GUI and toggle the "Use Effect" (which essentially kills the ENB), all of my framerate woes disappear.

 

Their are 2 implication of this behavior. One, the ENB is a major contributing factor to my performance (or lack thereof), which is no surprise, everyone knows this.  Two, the ENB is not the only thing at play here, otherwise it would not be localized to the Rift region.

 

So, this is why I have already gone through my current profile to make sure I dont accidentally have a performance-hogging mod active, that all of my settings are where they should be, etc.  But Im at a loss. Basically, I am hoping someone can offer me somethings that I don't know or havent yet tried (other than "hey dude, disable the ENB" lol).  Since I know there are a few people around here that are a lot more experienced with ENB than I am, it would be nice if someone would check out my current INI and see if they can find a few things to "turn down" that could help the situation. My only stipulation is that I will not (preferably not, anyway) disable AO or detailed shadows, since these are the two primary reasons for running enb in my opinion.

Of course, suggestions and ideas do not have to be limited to ENB

 

EDIT: One thing I forgot to mention is that I did try simply turning down the quality of some of the parameters, but it seemed like the picture then became slightly blurry, which i do not like at all. I also tried raising the size of the memory buffer in enblocal.ini and i do think it helped with the stutter a little bit, but i could have simply imagined there was an improvement...who knows.

 

Thanks in advance

 

Here is my current profile:

 

 

//++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

// Phinix Natural ENB v1.72c for ENB v0.229

//++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

// ENBSeries v0.229

// visit https://enbdev.com for updates

// Copyright © 2007-2013 Boris Vorontsov

//++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

 

[GLOBAL]

UseEffect=true

 

[EFFECT]

UseOriginalPostProcessing=false

UseOriginalObjectsProcessing=false

EnableBloom=true

EnableLens=true

EnableAdaptation=true

EnableDepthOfField=false

EnableAmbientOcclusion=true

EnableDetailedShadow=true

EnableSunRays=false

EnableSunGlare=false

EnableSkyLighting=true

EnableImageBasedLighting=true

EnableReflection=false

EnableSoftParticles=true

EnableParticleLights=false

EnableSubSurfaceScattering=true

EnableWater=true

 

[colorCORRECTION]

UsePaletteTexture=true

UseProceduralCorrection=true

Brightness=1.0

GammaCurve=1.0

 

[WEATHER]

EnableMultipleWeathers=false

 

[TIMEOFDAY]

Enable=true

DawnDuration=2.0

SunriseTime=7.46

DayTime=12.34

SunsetTime=18.059999

DuskDuration=2.0

NightTime=0.01

 

[NIGHTDAY]

DetectorOldVersion=false

DetectorDefaultDay=false

DetectorLevelDay=0.54

DetectorLevelNight=0.05

DetectorLevelCurve=0.44

 

[ADAPTATION]

ForceMinMaxValues=false

AdaptationSensitivity=0.2

AdaptationTime=0.4

AdaptationMin=0.1

AdaptationMax=100.0

 

[bLOOM]

Quality=1

AmountSunrise=0.35

AmountDay=0.35

AmountSunset=0.35

AmountNight=0.54

AmountInteriorDay=0.35

AmountInteriorNight=0.35

BlueShiftAmountSunrise=0.6

BlueShiftAmountDay=0.6

BlueShiftAmountSunset=0.6

BlueShiftAmountNight=0.7

BlueShiftAmountInteriorDay=0.6

BlueShiftAmountInteriorNight=0.6

 

[LENS]

ReflectionIntensitySunrise=0.1

ReflectionIntensityDay=0.1

ReflectionIntensitySunset=0.1

ReflectionIntensityNight=0.2

ReflectionIntensityInteriorDay=0.1

ReflectionIntensityInteriorNight=0.2

ReflectionPowerSunrise=1.2

ReflectionPowerDay=1.2

ReflectionPowerSunset=1.2

ReflectionPowerNight=2.0

ReflectionPowerInteriorDay=1.2

ReflectionPowerInteriorNight=2.0

DirtIntensitySunrise=1.0

DirtIntensityDay=1.0

DirtIntensitySunset=1.0

DirtIntensityNight=1.0

DirtIntensityInteriorDay=1.0

DirtIntensityInteriorNight=1.0

DirtPowerSunrise=2.0

DirtPowerDay=2.0

DirtPowerSunset=2.0

DirtPowerNight=2.0

DirtPowerInteriorDay=2.0

DirtPowerInteriorNight=2.0

 

[sSAO_SSIL]

UseIndirectLighting=true

UseComplexIndirectLighting=false

UseComplexAmbientOcclusion=false

UseAmbientIndirectLighting=true

SamplingQuality=1

SamplingPrecision=1

SamplingRange=0.16

FadeFogRange=7.0

SizeScale=0.4

SourceTexturesScale=0.4

FilterQuality=2

FilterType=0

AOAmount=0.79

AOAmountInterior=0.33

ILAmount=0.98

ILAmountInterior=0.98

AOIntensity=0.33

AOIntensityInterior=0.33

AOMixingType=0

AOMixingTypeInterior=0

UseOldType=true

AOType=1

EnableDenoiser=true

 

[sKYLIGHTING]

Quality=1

FilterQuality=2

AmbientMinLevelSunrise=0.94

AmbientMinLevelDay=0.94

AmbientMinLevelSunset=0.94

AmbientMinLevelNight=0.94

AmbientMinLevelInteriorDay=0.94

AmbientMinLevelInteriorNight=0.94

 

[ENVIRONMENT]

DirectLightingIntensitySunrise=0.8

DirectLightingIntensityDay=1.18

DirectLightingIntensitySunset=0.92

DirectLightingIntensityNight=0.72

DirectLightingIntensityInteriorDay=1.2

DirectLightingIntensityInteriorNight=1.4

DirectLightingCurveSunrise=0.95

DirectLightingCurveDay=0.95

DirectLightingCurveSunset=0.95

DirectLightingCurveNight=0.95

DirectLightingCurveInteriorDay=1.1

DirectLightingCurveInteriorNight=1.1

DirectLightingDesaturationSunrise=0.0

DirectLightingDesaturationDay=0.0

DirectLightingDesaturationSunset=0.0

DirectLightingDesaturationNight=0.12

DirectLightingDesaturationInteriorDay=0.0

DirectLightingDesaturationInteriorNight=0.12

 

SpecularAmountMultiplierSunrise=1.1

SpecularAmountMultiplierDay=1.1

SpecularAmountMultiplierSunset=1.1

SpecularAmountMultiplierNight=0.84

SpecularAmountMultiplierInteriorDay=1.1

SpecularAmountMultiplierInteriorNight=0.84

SpecularPowerMultiplierSunrise=1.3

SpecularPowerMultiplierDay=1.3

SpecularPowerMultiplierSunset=1.3

SpecularPowerMultiplierNight=1.3

SpecularPowerMultiplierInteriorDay=1.3

SpecularPowerMultiplierInteriorNight=1.3

SpecularFromLightSunrise=0.0

SpecularFromLightDay=0.0

SpecularFromLightSunset=0.0

SpecularFromLightNight=0.0

SpecularFromLightInteriorDay=0.0

SpecularFromLightInteriorNight=0.0

 

AmbientLightingIntensitySunrise=1.0

AmbientLightingIntensityDay=1.02

AmbientLightingIntensitySunset=1.0

AmbientLightingIntensityNight=0.96

AmbientLightingIntensityInteriorDay=0.44

AmbientLightingIntensityInteriorNight=0.44

AmbientLightingCurveSunrise=0.3

AmbientLightingCurveDay=0.24

AmbientLightingCurveSunset=0.3

AmbientLightingCurveNight=0.76

AmbientLightingCurveInteriorDay=0.23

AmbientLightingCurveInteriorNight=0.23

AmbientLightingDesaturationSunrise=0.0

AmbientLightingDesaturationDay=0.0

AmbientLightingDesaturationSunset=0.0

AmbientLightingDesaturationNight=0.1

AmbientLightingDesaturationInteriorDay=0.0

AmbientLightingDesaturationInteriorNight=0.1

 

AmbientColorFilterAmountSunrise=0.0

AmbientColorFilterAmountDay=0.0

AmbientColorFilterAmountSunset=0.0

AmbientColorFilterAmountNight=0.0

AmbientColorFilterAmountInteriorDay=0.0

AmbientColorFilterAmountInteriorNight=0.0

AmbientColorFilterTopSunrise=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterTopDay=0, 0, 1

AmbientColorFilterTopSunset=0, 0, 1

AmbientColorFilterTopNight=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterTopInteriorDay=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterTopInteriorNight=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterMiddleSunrise=0, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterMiddleDay=0, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterMiddleSunset=0, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterMiddleNight=0, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterMiddleInteriorDay=0, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterMiddleInteriorNight=0, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterBottomSunrise=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterBottomDay=1, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterBottomSunset=1, 0, 0

AmbientColorFilterBottomNight=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterBottomInteriorDay=1, 1, 1

AmbientColorFilterBottomInteriorNight=1, 1, 1

 

PointLightingIntensitySunrise=0.76

PointLightingIntensityDay=0.74

PointLightingIntensitySunset=0.76

PointLightingIntensityNight=0.79

PointLightingIntensityInteriorDay=0.85

PointLightingIntensityInteriorNight=0.85

PointLightingCurveSunrise=1.08

PointLightingCurveDay=1.1

PointLightingCurveSunset=1.08

PointLightingCurveNight=1.0

PointLightingCurveInteriorDay=0.87

PointLightingCurveInteriorNight=0.87

PointLightingDesaturationSunrise=0.0

PointLightingDesaturationDay=0.0

PointLightingDesaturationSunset=0.0

PointLightingDesaturationNight=0.0

PointLightingDesaturationInteriorDay=0.0

PointLightingDesaturationInteriorNight=0.0

 

ParticleLightsIntensitySunrise=0.04

ParticleLightsIntensityDay=0.04

ParticleLightsIntensitySunset=0.04

ParticleLightsIntensityNight=0.04

ParticleLightsIntensityInteriorDay=0.04

ParticleLightsIntensityInteriorNight=0.04

 

FogColorMultiplierSunrise=0.9

FogColorMultiplierDay=0.9

FogColorMultiplierSunset=0.9

FogColorMultiplierNight=0.78

FogColorMultiplierInteriorDay=0.9

FogColorMultiplierInteriorNight=0.72

FogColorCurveSunrise=0.87

FogColorCurveDay=0.85

FogColorCurveSunset=0.87

FogColorCurveNight=0.88

FogColorCurveInteriorDay=0.88

FogColorCurveInteriorNight=0.72

 

ColorPowSunrise=1.0

ColorPowDay=1.0

ColorPowSunset=1.0

ColorPowNight=1.0

ColorPowInteriorDay=1.0

ColorPowInteriorNight=1.0

 

[sKY]

Enable=true

DisableWrongSkyMath=false

 

StarsIntensity=0.5

StarsCurve=1.25

 

AuroraBorealisIntensity=0.15

AuroraBorealisCurve=0.9

 

CloudsIntensitySunrise=1.08

CloudsIntensityDay=1.18

CloudsIntensitySunset=1.0

CloudsIntensityNight=0.98

CloudsIntensityInteriorDay=1.18

CloudsIntensityInteriorNight=0.98

CloudsCurveSunrise=0.95

CloudsCurveDay=0.95

CloudsCurveSunset=0.95

CloudsCurveNight=0.95

CloudsCurveInteriorDay=0.95

CloudsCurveInteriorNight=0.95

CloudsDesaturationSunrise=0.12

CloudsDesaturationDay=0.12

CloudsDesaturationSunset=0.75

CloudsDesaturationNight=0.6

CloudsDesaturationInteriorDay=0.12

CloudsDesaturationInteriorNight=0.12

 

CloudsEdgeClamp=0.5

CloudsEdgeIntensity=8.0

 

GradientIntensitySunrise=0.69

GradientIntensityDay=0.69

GradientIntensitySunset=0.69

GradientIntensityNight=0.69

GradientIntensityInteriorDay=0.69

GradientIntensityInteriorNight=0.69

GradientDesaturationSunrise=0.04

GradientDesaturationDay=0.04

GradientDesaturationSunset=0.04

GradientDesaturationNight=0.2

GradientDesaturationInteriorDay=0.04

GradientDesaturationInteriorNight=0.2

 

GradientTopIntensitySunrise=1.27

GradientTopIntensityDay=1.7

GradientTopIntensitySunset=1.27

GradientTopIntensityNight=0.66

GradientTopIntensityInteriorDay=1.64

GradientTopIntensityInteriorNight=0.66

GradientTopCurveSunrise=0.66

GradientTopCurveDay=0.7

GradientTopCurveSunset=0.66

GradientTopCurveNight=0.6

GradientTopCurveInteriorDay=0.7

GradientTopCurveInteriorNight=0.6

 

GradientMiddleIntensitySunrise=1.3

GradientMiddleIntensityDay=2.18

GradientMiddleIntensitySunset=1.3

GradientMiddleIntensityNight=0.78

GradientMiddleIntensityInteriorDay=1.4

GradientMiddleIntensityInteriorNight=0.78

GradientMiddleCurveSunrise=0.76

GradientMiddleCurveDay=1.2

GradientMiddleCurveSunset=0.76

GradientMiddleCurveNight=0.65

GradientMiddleCurveInteriorDay=0.9

GradientMiddleCurveInteriorNight=0.65

 

GradientHorizonIntensitySunrise=1.5

GradientHorizonIntensityDay=1.8

GradientHorizonIntensitySunset=1.5

GradientHorizonIntensityNight=1.45

GradientHorizonIntensityInteriorDay=1.54

GradientHorizonIntensityInteriorNight=1.45

GradientHorizonCurveSunrise=0.9

GradientHorizonCurveDay=0.9

GradientHorizonCurveSunset=0.9

GradientHorizonCurveNight=0.9

GradientHorizonCurveInteriorDay=0.9

GradientHorizonCurveInteriorNight=0.9

 

SunIntensitySunrise=1.95

SunIntensityDay=2.11

SunIntensitySunset=1.95

SunIntensityNight=1.0

SunIntensityInteriorDay=2.11

SunIntensityInteriorNight=1.0

SunDesaturationSunrise=0.0

SunDesaturationDay=0.0

SunDesaturationSunset=0.0

SunDesaturationNight=0.0

SunDesaturationInteriorDay=0.0

SunDesaturationInteriorNight=0.0

SunColorFilterSunrise=1, 1, 1

SunColorFilterDay=1, 1, 1

SunColorFilterSunset=1, 1, 1

SunColorFilterNight=1, 1, 1

SunColorFilterInteriorDay=1, 1, 1

SunColorFilterInteriorNight=1, 1, 1

 

SunGlowIntensitySunrise=0.84

SunGlowIntensityDay=0.84

SunGlowIntensitySunset=0.84

SunGlowIntensityNight=0.84

SunGlowIntensityInteriorDay=0.84

SunGlowIntensityInteriorNight=0.84

SunGlowHazinessSunrise=0.0

SunGlowHazinessDay=0.0

SunGlowHazinessSunset=0.0

SunGlowHazinessNight=0.0

SunGlowHazinessInteriorDay=0.0

SunGlowHazinessInteriorNight=0.0

 

SunCoronaIntensity=1.081

SunCoronaCurve=1.0

SunCoronaDesaturation=0.0

 

MoonIntensitySunrise=1.08

MoonIntensityDay=1.04

MoonIntensitySunset=1.08

MoonIntensityNight=1.12

MoonIntensityInteriorDay=1.04

MoonIntensityInteriorNight=1.12

MoonCurveSunrise=1.0

MoonCurveDay=1.0

MoonCurveSunset=1.0

MoonCurveNight=1.0

MoonCurveInteriorDay=1.0

MoonCurveInteriorNight=1.0

MoonDesaturationSunrise=0.18

MoonDesaturationDay=0.18

MoonDesaturationSunset=0.18

MoonDesaturationNight=0.18

MoonDesaturationInteriorDay=0.18

MoonDesaturationInteriorNight=0.18

 

[OBJECT]

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierSunrise=0.04

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierDay=0.02

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierSunset=0.04

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierNight=0.12

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierInteriorDay=0.02

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierInteriorNight=0.12

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerSunrise=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerSunset=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerNight=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerInteriorDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerInteriorNight=1.0

 

[VEGETATION]

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierSunrise=0.36

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierDay=0.36

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierSunset=0.36

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierNight=0.5

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierInteriorDay=0.36

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierInteriorNight=0.5

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerSunrise=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerSunset=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerNight=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerInteriorDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerInteriorNight=1.0

 

[EYES]

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierSunrise=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierSunset=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierNight=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierInteriorDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringMultiplierInteriorNight=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerSunrise=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerSunset=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerNight=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerInteriorDay=1.0

SubSurfaceScatteringPowerInteriorNight=1.0

 

[LIGHTSPRITE]

IntensitySunrise=0.9

IntensityDay=0.9

IntensitySunset=0.9

IntensityNight=1.0

IntensityInteriorDay=0.9

IntensityInteriorNight=1.0

CurveSunrise=1.0

CurveDay=0.9

CurveSunset=1.0

CurveNight=1.1

CurveInteriorDay=0.9

CurveInteriorNight=1.1

 

[WINDOWLIGHT]

IntensitySunrise=2.54

IntensityDay=2.42

IntensitySunset=2.54

IntensityNight=1.85

IntensityInteriorDay=2.05

IntensityInteriorNight=1.64

CurveSunrise=1.5

CurveDay=1.5

CurveSunset=1.5

CurveNight=1.5

CurveInteriorDay=1.5

CurveInteriorNight=1.5

 

[VOLUMETRICFOG]

IntensitySunrise=0.94

IntensityDay=1.12

IntensitySunset=0.94

IntensityNight=0.67

IntensityInteriorDay=1.12

IntensityInteriorNight=0.67

CurveSunrise=0.8

CurveDay=0.85

CurveSunset=0.8

CurveNight=0.6

CurveInteriorDay=0.85

CurveInteriorNight=0.6

LightingInfluenceSunrise=1.0

LightingInfluenceDay=1.0

LightingInfluenceSunset=1.0

LightingInfluenceNight=1.0

LightingInfluenceInteriorDay=1.0

LightingInfluenceInteriorNight=1.0

 

[FIRE]

IntensitySunrise=1.0

IntensityDay=1.0

IntensitySunset=1.0

IntensityNight=1.4

IntensityInteriorDay=1.0

IntensityInteriorNight=1.4

CurveSunrise=0.7

CurveDay=0.7

CurveSunset=0.7

CurveNight=1.0

CurveInteriorDay=0.7

CurveInteriorNight=1.0

AdditiveBlending=true

 

[PARTICLE]

IntensitySunrise=1.0

IntensityDay=1.12

IntensitySunset=1.0

IntensityNight=0.9

IntensityInteriorDay=1.0

IntensityInteriorNight=1.0

LightingInfluenceSunrise=1.0

LightingInfluenceDay=0.5

LightingInfluenceSunset=1.0

LightingInfluenceNight=0.85

LightingInfluenceInteriorDay=0.2

LightingInfluenceInteriorNight=0.2

 

[DEPTHOFFIELD]

Quality=0

FadeTime=0.1

 

[sHADOW]

ShadowCastersFix=false

ShadowQualityFix=true

UseBilateralShadowFilter=true

DetailedShadowQuality=1

ShadowFilterQuality=2

ShadowBlurRange=4.0

ShadowBlurRangeInterior=2.0

 

[RAYS]

SunRaysMultiplierSunrise=0.23

SunRaysMultiplierDay=0.25

SunRaysMultiplierSunset=0.23

SunRaysMultiplierNight=0.18

SunRaysMultiplierInteriorDay=0.25

SunRaysMultiplierInteriorNight=0.18

 

[REFLECTION]

EnableSupersampling=false

ExteriorEnable=true

InteriorEnable=true

EnableDenoiser=true

DenoiserType=2

Quality=1

FilterQuality=2

FilterBluriness=0.1

SizeScale=0.75

SourceTexturesScale=0.35

Amount=1.0

Power=1.0

GlosinessMin=0.0

GlosinessMax=1.0

 

[iMAGEBASEDLIGHTING]

AdditiveAmountSunrise=0.04

AdditiveAmountDay=0.04

AdditiveAmountSunset=0.04

AdditiveAmountNight=0.01

AdditiveAmountInteriorDay=0.04

AdditiveAmountInteriorNight=0.01

MultiplicativeAmountSunrise=0.0

MultiplicativeAmountDay=0.0

MultiplicativeAmountSunset=0.0

MultiplicativeAmountNight=0.0

MultiplicativeAmountInteriorDay=0.0

MultiplicativeAmountInteriorNight=0.0

ReflectiveAmountSunrise=0.08

ReflectiveAmountDay=0.08

ReflectiveAmountSunset=0.08

ReflectiveAmountNight=0.2

ReflectiveAmountInteriorDay=0.08

ReflectiveAmountInteriorNight=0.2

 

[RAIN]

Enable=false

EnableAntialiasing=true

EnableSupersampling=true

MotionStretch=0.88

MotionTransparency=0.92

 

[sUBSURFACESCATTERING]

Quality=0

Radius=5.0

Amount=0.12

EpidermalAmount=4.79

SubdermalAmount=9.05

EpidermalDiffuseSaturation=0.12

SubdermalDiffuseSaturation=0.94

EpidermalMix=0.48

SubdermalMix=0.52

SubdermalTranslucency=0.34

SubdermalPhase=0.0

 

[WATER]

EnableDispersion=true

EnableCaustics=true

EnableParallax=true

ReflectionAmount=0.89

FrennelMultiplier=1.0

FrennelMin=0.0

FrennelMax=1.0

DispersionAmount=0.12

CausticsAmount=0.98

 

 

[EssArrBee]

You could turn off Skylighting. That would probably help. Maybe reduce SetScale and SourceTextureScale lines under [sSAO_SSIL]. I think they are pretty low already, but maybe just start with .3 and go down from there. The highest performance version disables SSAO, so not sure if you can live without that.

 

Also, in enblocal.ini make sure EnableCompression is "true". I think it is by default with PNENB, but just make sure since you have plenty of VRAM.

[exploiteddna]

ok cool, youre just the person i was hoping to get a response from :D

Will def start with those suggestions and see if it helps. Ive not really messed with any of the parameters under ssao/il in the past, so ill see if i can get familiar with them and try to find the best balance between performance and quality.

If i turn off skylighting, i will lose everything under [sky] i would imagine.. or can you still adjust some things like stars and aurora?

Ill play with it some more.

Out of curiosity, which (if any) profile do you use as your base? What is your general setup and what type of performance hits, framerate spikes, etc. do you play with and experience?

[Aiyen]

Skylighting essentially affects how deep shadows look... which can be hard to control using just basic tonemapping.

I personally disabled it since I know how to tweak my tonemapping now. And it does take up about 10-15% of the performance hit.

 

It does not alter any of the SKY settings, since those are all aimed at individual parts of the sky that you can also edit from the CK.

 

Also double check that transparency AA is not enabled since it will demolish your performance in that region due to the large amount of foliage.

 

As Ess says then try to alter the size scales since it does provide a boost as well. Also you can just lower the quality parameters to low, hit save and enable.. but yeah stuff will get a bit more blurry.

If you reduce the size scales too much you will start to get flickering depending on how intense the AO is in your preset. As rule of thumb you can lower it until you have no more flickering.. setting it higher is just a waste of performance really. Only required for really pretty screenshots etc.

 

Also Ess seems to be adamant in that enable compression should only be used with "plenty of VRAM".... but it can also be enabled if you have plenty of RAM. My settings have 8gb set in the allowed VRAM, and that works very well for me even though I only have 2Gb on card but have 16Gb RAM . And I run without any CTD´s with full 2k textures, even quite a bit more 4k then what is healthy. In general all of those memory parameters, you have to play with them. Every system is different since moving data around depends on much more then just the total amount of VRAM and RAM. It is a hassle but worth it if the stuttering at load really bothers you.

 

 

Now for the fun part... I like it when people say they go down to 30FPS and its back... that is when I have my highest FPS :P

The riften area usually run between 20-25FPS as does all heavily forested areas. But I also prefer a bit extra eye candy over fluet shooter like movements... I do not need them in skyrim.

[exploiteddna]

first off, i appreciate the detailed response. very informative, thank you.

i want to discuss the framerate of 30 a bit more... i dont inherently have a problem with 30fps, i dont like to keep 60fps bc it sounds cool. for me, it seems that anytime i drop sufficiently below 60, i get lag sort of like things are moving in slow-mo. i mean, in a literal sense, the human eye/brain really shouldnt be able to distinguish between receiving 30 or 60 frames in a single second (i dont think). that being said, i can visually tell when i am running at ~48 or less. I dont think this is because im superhuman and can actually differentiate between the two rates, but more so because i feel there are other factors that are causing other "rendering inconsistencies" that i am able to pick up on it. Maybe my other video settings are fubar'd or something.. or maybe my monitor is crap (simple LCD panel, ASUSvw246h), maybe i should go back to running DVI instead of hdmi.. idk

 

Point is, the reason i like to keep 60 is because it seems to be the rate at which everything runs smooth.. drop down to a little below 50 and things are not smooth anymore. :throwshandsinairindisgust: :)

[Aiyen]

Your monitor seems fine and should be able to render images without any apparent issues since it has a 2ms response time. Mine has 5ms and I can notice "motion blur" if I turn really fast at 60 FPS etc. This is not as prevalent at lower FPS however... since the turning cannot happen equally as fast.

However I wanted a quality IPS panel (Dell U2713HM) for the colors, not the response times. But that is a different debate all together!

 

But yes I can understand that if you play at mainly 60 and get drops to 30 you are going to notice. What you could do is cap it at 30-40 then you should not notice it at all after a while. My average FPS is about 25, and span from 20-35 in normal playing. Interiors are 30-50 mostly.

 

I do play at 1440p so that does help a bit with any blurriness due to reducing quality parameters. I cant play at 1080p since it just make everything look blurry. But again this is monitor dependent. I would get 40-60 FPS in exteriors if I played at that resolution however. But again I prefer more eye candy and a sharper image compared to the super fluent play at 60 (Where I would just get motion blur due to the response time anyways!)

[EssArrBee]

On my main rig I use PNENB and Project ENB, also have been trying out Vividian since it uses the weather plugin which I'm interested with. I use the highest graphic settings for PNENB, but with reflections that I've been tweaking to try and get right (mostly to teach myself some stuff) and without DoF since I hate the effect, realistic or not, same for Project ENB. Mostly 2k where I can get it, but I have 6gb of VRAM and 16GB RAM so power is not an issue. I barely get below 55 FPS on that thing, I only wish I used it less for science projects so I could have it more for gaming, stupid science.

 

On my laptop, I use PNENB highest performance version without SSAO or SkyLighting, also turn down SMAA injector to medium and AF to 8. It is only 1366x768 so jaggies aren't that noticeable and I cap FPS at 45, but it will drop down to 25 if outdoors in a big battle. I noticed that with the Immersive Patrols civil war plugin that has a big battle over on the mountain near Whiterun where you go get the books for the Winterhold questline, that I get a big spike (drop 20fps), but it isn't to bad and there is no major stuttering. Only thing is that ENBoost can cause it to freeze for about half a second after heavy areas or big battles. Still trying to tweak some stuff with ENBoost, like ReservedMemorySizeMb might get lowered to 256 and I guess I'll try compression like Aiyen says, but I have it near my VRAM limit, so not sure if that will help.

 

Remember that SMAA on ULTRA is 96% quality and HIGH is 90%, so HIGH is plenty for a good system and might give you couple frames. To compensate with PNENB is turn on EdgeAA or TemporalAA (temporal can cause some ghosting, looks like a blur effect).

 

@Aiyen: I'm not to familiar with Bloom settings and their performance impact. What is the difference performance wise with the Quality setting? Is it okay with weaker systems to drop it to 2? I believe in Jawz guide that he said that anything other than 0 is not going to affect performance that much.

[exploiteddna]

thanks again aiyen for the informative response. it always nice to get another individual's self-analysis of their setup.. put things into perspective a little bit.

 

thanks Ess for your response too. Im curious what gpu youre running? you said youve got 6gb vram so its got to be either 7990 or a legit Titan, right? (and what are you using it for science? Protein folding? molecular modeling/interactions?)

 

So a new problem has been thrown into the mix since yesterday. I had to get rid of one of my 680s, so I am no longer running SLI, and now i just have the one 680 (still with 4gb vram) and im using an old 580 Lightning for PhysX .. needless to say my performance issues are now a lot more prevalent than they used to be, no longer only in the Rift, but i dont think i can really even hit 60 frames ... ill need to put the water block back on the 680 and crank up the volts for real :)

If there were any 780s with more than 3gb vram i would considering going that route.. i could get another 680 to run SLI again, but rather not reinvest in last gen hardware. thoughts?

At the end of the day my rig is still at the high end of the spectrum IMO and im having a hard time hitting 60.. what gives? Aside from ENB, grass density, and SMIM farmhouses im not sure where I can start trimming back to improve exterior performance. Skyfalls.. have we done any proper testing on that mod yet? I was under the impression it didnt contribute very much to performance costs... is this still true?

(sry for going off topic a little, but my direction has changed slightly)

 

EDIT: thanks for the recommendation about SMAA injector settings.. i completely forgot there was an INI for smaa :)

[phazer11]

thanks again aiyen for the informative response. it always nice to get another individual's self-analysis of their setup.. put things into perspective a little bit.

 

thanks Ess for your response too. Im curious what gpu youre running? you said youve got 6gb vram so its got to be either 7990 or a legit Titan, right? (and what are you using it for science? Protein folding? molecular modeling/interactions?)

 

So a new problem has been thrown into the mix since yesterday. I had to get rid of one of my 680s, so I am no longer running SLI, and now i just have the one 680 (still with 4gb vram) and im using an old 580 Lightning for PhysX .. needless to say my performance issues are now a lot more prevalent than they used to be, no longer only in the Rift, but i dont think i can really even hit 60 frames ... ill need to put the water block back on the 680 and crank up the volts for real :)

If there were any 780s with more than 3gb vram i would considering going that route.. i could get another 680 to run SLI again, but rather not reinvest in last gen hardware. thoughts?

At the end of the day my rig is still at the high end of the spectrum IMO and im having a hard time hitting 60.. what gives? Aside from ENB, grass density, and SMIM farmhouses im not sure where I can start trimming back to improve exterior performance. Skyfalls.. have we done any proper testing on that mod yet? I was under the impression it didnt contribute very much to performance costs... is this still true?

(sry for going off topic a little, but my direction has changed slightly)

 

EDIT: thanks for the recommendation about SMAA injector settings.. i completely forgot there was an INI for smaa :)

If the decrease in performance is that noticeable then turn down your AO effects a tad and work from there.

[EssArrBee]

Protein folding? I don't do chemistry or biology, to squishy and wet. I prefer boards, chalk, and markers. I do have a dual Westmere/dual Titan setup and borrow some extra ones from the school too, but it is mostly for super massive vector/matrix operations or calculating irrational constants (tau, pi, e) to the millions of digits type thing for calibrating super sensitive equipment (seismic monitors, lasers...). Lots of simulations, never enough supercomputers to do all the work, geology sims take weeks to complete sometimes.

 

That 580 will help with Batman games, and Arkam Origins is coming soon, but with Skyrim I'm pretty sure you aren't getting much from a PhysX processor. It seems that some people report that they get better performance with one card that is high end over two that are less powerful (not saying that you have low end stuff). Maybe one 780 works better than two 680s, ask Phinix he has a 780 and gets really good performance as far as I know. Why are all the 780s 3GB?

 

Not sure about SkyFalls and I haven't done to much actual playing with 2.2.7, mostly still doing my 2.2.6+other stuff playthrough. From here your best bet is reduced normal maps, half the size of the color maps.

[exploiteddna]

Protein folding? I don't do chemistry or biology, to squishy and wet. I prefer boards, chalk, and markers. I do have a dual Westmere/dual Titan setup and borrow some extra ones from the school too, but it is mostly for super massive vector/matrix operations or calculating irrational constants (tau, pi, e) to the millions of digits type thing for calibrating super sensitive equipment (seismic monitors, lasers...). Lots of simulations, never enough supercomputers to do all the work, geology sims take weeks to complete sometimes.

 

That 580 will help with Batman games, and Arkam Origins is coming soon, but with Skyrim I'm pretty sure you aren't getting much from a PhysX processor. It seems that some people report that they get better performance with one card that is high end over two that are less powerful (not saying that you have low end stuff). Maybe one 780 works better than two 680s, ask Phinix he has a 780 and gets really good performance as far as I know. Why are all the 780s 3GB?

 

Not sure about SkyFalls and I haven't done to much actual playing with 2.2.7, mostly still doing my 2.2.6+other stuff playthrough. From here your best bet is reduced normal maps, half the size of the color maps.

geology huh? interesting. we have a geology dept at FSU (im pretty sure lol), but yeah i'm in the bio/chem fields of study so those were my first two guesses, naturally. Dual westmere? thats crazy.. running dual chips kinda' like a server... very interesting.

Anyways, that's sad to hear about my 580 not doing much. I had noticed this myself but thought that I needed to tweak it or change some settings. If this is how it's going to be, i may look into a better solution. I do not know why all of the 780s are 3gb, it is very bizarre. im sure they will eventually come out with a 4 or 6gb version, but no telling when. i'm sure google could lend me some insight, but i haven't taken the time to investigate.

[Aiyen]

First off.... Biology... meh... Microbiology.. that is where the fun starts! Give me a fungi or bacteria, and I will start to create funny mutants that change color! :) Its good stuff!

 

Used to do theoretical astrophysics, with stellar oscillation and general star modelling... was one of the first to make it work on GPU´s which improved the computation time... 10000x compared to my professors old fortran code hehe... good times. Guess I should have become a researcher instead of a lab rat. Oh well life is funny that way.

 

Now back to Skyrim!

1st. One giant single card >> Two lesser cards in SLI/Crossfire... since Skyrim and ENB is not optimized for it. So it is just a waste of money.

My card. GTX 660 2Gb EVGA Superclocked. Lovely little beast. had I waited a week I would have got the 3Gb version... will always say DOH to myself for that.

 

1½: PhysX is pointless for Skyrim... it uses havok not physX for its physics. 

 

2nd. Bloom quality: I have it to high, since I like my bloom, and I have never seen any really noticeable impact from setting it lower. But it has been many version since I bothered trying to mess with it.

 

3rd. Grass.... reduce the amount to gain large boosts in performance! Especially in forested areas. Those silly heavy grass images you see on the ENB forums are not for playing. They are for screenshots. I recently put up a few shots that showed a difference of 10 FPS depending on grass settings. So there are massive boosts to be had there. 

 

4th: Skyfalls: Depends on your settings, if you increased the decal amount as it suggests to get that LOD smoke on waterfalls then it will hit your performance... not much point in it imo since it also affects oh so many other things. Other then that then stable as long as you do not have a silly complex list. 

 

I think that covers it... I am tired now! almost 5am! 

[exploiteddna]

haha yeah, general biology not so much fun. micro can be fun, but i only took one micro course in undergrad so i guess its never been at the top of my list. cellular molecular bio, including biochem, is where it's at 

 

But as you said, back to Skyrim. I think you've helped make my decision a lot easier, I'm going to move towards getting a single strong card. As soon as i can grab one with 4gb vram or better, I'll be all over it.

 

Grass... yes, i was afraid I would have to resort to removing some of my grass density. I certainly don't have it as thick as you see in ENB screenshots, but it's definitely above vanilla values with more grasses assigned to each landscape texture type. I'd say im pretty close to the default SFO grass settings, maybe a little bit less. I will mess with it and see what kind of gains I can get.

 

Skyfalls.. im using default options and have default INI decal settings that the 'ultra' video preset puts in place.

 

I certainly have some testing and tweaking to do.