What's eating my outdoor fps in this setup?

[Firebrand]

Hi, I'm running a 

 

i5-4670@3.40GHz

8GB DDR3 RAM

HD6870

Windows 7 64-bit

 

setup with all Baseline STEP Core mods (although I deselected some content ones), ENBoost, Memory Patch - all installed by the book + some extra mods (RCRN, Relighting Skyrim, Falskaar, Wyrmstooth, Moonpath to Elsweyr, The Dance of Death, WARZONES, Winter is Coming, Cloaks of Skyrim, Better Magic, Immersive Armors and Deadly Combat - none of which should be in direct conflict with the others)

 

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp

Dawnguard.esm

Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp

HearthFires.esm

Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp

Dragonborn.esm

Unofficial Dragonborn Patch.esp

Falskaar.esm

Skyrim Project Optimization - Full Version.esm

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Main.esm

moonpath.esm

WARZONES - Civil Unrest.esm

Wyrmstooth.esp

HighResTexturePack01.esp

HighResTexturePack02.esp

HighResTexturePack03.esp

Brawl Bugs CE.esp

Unofficial High Resolution Patch.esp

Weapons & Armor Fixes_Remade.esp

Rainbows.esp

ADS.esp

AOS.esp

BWS.esp

IHSS.esp

Improved Combat Sounds v2.2.esp

randomthunder.esp

mintylightningmod.esp

TradeBarter.esp

83Willows_101BUGS_V4_LowRes.esp

Auto Unequip Ammo.esp

BLESSINGS - Altar Descriptions.esp

Bring Out Your Dead.esp

Dead Body Collision.esp

Disease Descriptions.esp

DD_Dawnguard Additions.esp

DD_Dragonborn Additions.esp

Dual Sheath Redux.esp

fFastTravelSpeedMult_4.esp

manny Lantern Caretakers.esp

More Salt Please.esp

More Salt Please - Dragonborn addon.esp

Moss Rocks.esp

Moss Rocks_DB.esp

ORM-Arvak.esp

PilgrimsDelight.esp

Point The Way.esp

Radiant and Unique Potions and Poisons v2.0 non glow.esp

ShootingStars.esp

Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp

SkyrimImprovedPuddles-DG-HF-DB.esp

WetandCold.esp

WetandCold - Ashes.esp

Footprints.esp

Footprints - Ash.esp

NoxUE2.00.esp

SkyUI.esp

iHUD.esp

Cloaks.esp

Cloaks - Dawnguard.esp

1nivWICCloaks.esp

1nivWICSkyCloaksPatch.esp

Elemental Staves.esp

ExplosiveBoltsVisualized.esp

Hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

imp_helm.esp

imp_helm_imp.esp

imp_helm_dawn.esp

imp_help_dbrn.esp

imp_guard_helm.esp

Complete Crafting Overhaul_Remade.esp

Lock Overhaul.esp

Gildergreen Regrown.esp

moonpath_questdata.esp

Run For Your Lives.esp

When Vampires Attack.esp

The Paarthurnax Dilemma.esp

Appropriately Attired Jarls Redux.esp

Distant DetailHF.esp

DiversePriests.esp

DiversePriests_BringOutYourDeadPatch.esp

dynamic fires.esp

GrassOnSteroids_NaturalEdition_SFO.esp

Guard Dialogue Overhaul.esp

Convenient Horses.esp

dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

dD-Dragonborn-Dawnguard-EBT Patch.esp

Soul Gems Differ - E.esp

Thieves Guild Requirements.esp

aMidianborn_Skyforge_Weapons.esp

Chesko_Step418_SN.esp

Oblivion Gates v3 without Markers - Skyrim + Dawnguard DLC.esp

Oblivion Gates v3 - Skyrim + Dawnguard DLC.esp

BetterDualCasting.esp

BetterMasterSpells.esp

BetterSpellFinishers.esp

BFSEffects.esp

DeadlySpellImpacts.esp

BetterMagic_FULL.esp

DeadlyCombat.esp

DeadlyCombat_GiantsAIFix.esp

Dual Wield Parrying_SKSE.esp

The Dance of Death - Ultimate Edition.esp

BetterSpellMastery.esp

BetterMageArmor.esp

dD-No Spinning Death Animation.esp

Beards.esp

Brows.esp

SPTConsistentOlderPeople.esp

NonEssentialChildren.esp

dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

rcrnShaders.esp

RCRNdgdb.esp

RCRNvolumetric.esp

Animated Weapon Enchants.esp

DawnguardRuneWeaponsFXSReplacer.esp

RealisticWaterTwo.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Legendary.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Wyrmstooth.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Waves - Wyrmstooth.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Falskaar.esp

RealisticWaterTwo - Waves - Falskaar.esp

DiversePriests_ConsistentOlderPeoplePatch.esp

Dual Sheath Redux Patch.esp

SkyFalls + SkyMills + DG + DB + FS + WT.esp

AOS2_DGDB Patch.esp

Improved Closefaced Helmets_Legendary.esp

STEP Core Patch.esp

Hothtrooper44_Armor_Ecksstra.esp

RelightingSkyrim-FULL.esp

Bashed Patch, 0.esp

 

and outdoor fps is just awful, sitting around 15 and even dropped as low as 7 fps during a continuous run down an empty road. Indoors my fps is mostly fine, ~60. Occasional crashes also happens. Last but not least, my load times when going outdoors takes another 5-10 seconds before the loading screen pops up. 

 

I've tweaked my .inis quite a bit, both with the STEP guide but also using a tweak guide (https://itcprosolutions.com/skyrimguides/tweak_guide.htm) and may have gone a bit over my head. I've attached my MO/Profiles/STEP CORE .inis for good measure. 

 

Any suggestions or insight would be greatly appreciated as I, myself, am at a loss...

skyrim.ini

skyrimprefs.ini

[Hairyfiend]

Try disabling the 3 RCRN plugins and see what happens. I used to use that with my modified STEP setup, but it did have a performance hit. Think its the volumetric vog thats the main pain. Could also try reseting your ini options and alter as per STEP only incase you altered something too much.

 

Btw, when did the performance drop start? It sounds like you were running fine. Perhaps review what you did before the performance drop would help.

[Firebrand]

Mmm, didn't help from what I could tell. Maybe I should try a clean save/restart? The .ini solution I'll get back to.

 

Well, I reinstalled the game after upgrading some hardware and that's when I heard of STEP. I used to get great fps with what I consider heavier mods, Skyrim 2k, COT and the like, but now it's just atrocious. As a result I've only been running tests on setups with my "improved" rig. :3  

[Eplebit]

Have you tried the Performance Monitor that was linked to on the STEP pages (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/6491/?)? Maybe it could give some indications of what's wrong. Also, I've read that Warzones is supposed to be pretty buggy and can screw up things, but probably shouldn't create problems like this.

[Breems]

If I'm looking at your GPU's specs correctly, it seems that you have 1GB of VRAM.

 

With that setup, I would advise against many of the mods in your list. Are you experiencing outdoor lag only? In my experience, Skyrim Flora Overhaul comes with a huge performance hit (obviously outdoors). My one-time experience with WARZONES also resulted in outdoor lag, but that was dependent upon being near a spawn location.

 

Are the HighResTexturePack ESPs referring to the Official High Resolution Textures? I've never used them, so I'm not sure. If so, I really don't think you can afford to load such expensive textures. I'd stick with mods like 2K LITE, Bethesda Performance Textures, and Hi-Res DLC Optimized (perhaps that's what you have?).

[Firebrand]

I haven't had a look at it, Epletbit, but I'll look it up. You may both be right about WARZONES and my testing ground, around Pinewatch, I'm pretty sure was a spawn point. I'll remove it altogether. 

 

If I'm looking at your GPU's specs correctly, it seems that you have 1GB of VRAM.

 

With that setup, I would advise against many of the mods in your list. Are you experiencing outdoor lag only? In my experience, Skyrim Flora Overhaul comes with a huge performance hit (obviously outdoors). My one-time experience with WARZONES also resulted in outdoor lag, but that was dependent upon being near a spawn location.

 

Are the HighResTexturePack ESPs referring to the Official High Resolution Textures? I've never used them, so I'm not sure. If so, I really don't think you can afford to load such expensive textures. I'd stick with mods like 2K LITE, Bethesda Performance Textures, and Hi-Res DLC Optimized (perhaps that's what you have?).

You are correct about my VRAM (sadly), but thanks for the great suggestions.

Yes, outdoors is mainly where it's at, and I have suspected SFO to drag a heavy load. However, it was part of my old setup, which is why it's hard for me to file actual claims against it, but I think you hit quite a nail with the texture packs. Atm I'm using the Official HR Textures, as I had heard somewhere that they were about as demanding and of the same quality as 2K Lite but with overall smoother performance. 2K Lite was also part of my (smooth) setup back then, so I'll try going back to that... although I'm not sure in what order to install them with STEP.

 

I'm not familiar with Bethesda Performance Textures but were using all of STEPs recommendations in addition to Optimizer Textures but I'll check it out. Have you spotted anything else that might be too much for my system?

 

Thank you both for replying.

Edited May 6, 2014 by Firebrand

[Breems]

Since you're working with 1GB of VRAM, I'll make some more suggestions: 

Yes, outdoors is mainly where it's at, and I have suspected SFO to drag a heavy load. However, it was part of my old setup, which is why it's hard for me to file actual claims against it...

I strongly suspect that SFO is a culprit for your poor FPS outdoors. At the very least, I would suggest benchmarking its effect on FPS in a large grassy area, such as The Rift. If you insist on leaving it installed, I would at least change iMinGrassSize in Skyrim.ini to a high value (anywhere from 40-80) to reduce the quantity of grasses per clump. Also, the SFO author recommends changing iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7, but decreasing that value will also help. 

Atm I'm using the Official HR Textures, as I had heard somewhere that they were about as demanding and of the same quality as 2K Lite but with overall smoother performance. 2K Lite was also part of my (smooth) setup back then, so I'll try going back to that... although I'm not sure in what order to install them with STEP.

I'm not sure where you heard that, but it's incorrect. Many of the Official HR Textures replace 512 versions with 2048 versions which is an enormous increase (4x's the original resolution). Here are my suggestions:1.) Drop the Official HR Texture pack. It's going to be a burden on your system.

 

2.) What do you have Anisotropic Filtering set to? You can make even the vanilla textures look good (sans some shimmering) with 16x.2a.) STEP:Core recommends Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/42360/?), but I don't see it in your mod list. This is essentially a 100-Calorie version of the Official HR Texture pack that replaces 2048 versions with 1024 versions (cutting game resource usage in half). If I were you, I would use the "Full" version.

2b.) An alternative is using Bethesda Performance Textures: Armor/Clothes/Weapons (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/42360/?) and Bethesda Performance Textures - Animals and Creatures (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43921/?). These mods are designed for the same purpose and were developed specifically for 1GB GPUs. 

 

3.) Use 2K LITE for land and architecture textures as neither of the above two mods cover those.

 

4.) Focus on textures that are truly important to you. I have 2GB of VRAM, but I'm still VERY stingy with how many textures and texture packs I use. Perhaps look into a mod like IMAGINATOR to give your game an overall improvement. 

 

I realize that you probably already know a lot of this, but it may help other beginners that are ill-informed. 

 

As an aside, does anyone know if ENBoost may actually hurt those with little VRAM? If I remember correctly, it offsets RAM resources to VRAM.

 

 

[Firebrand]

Since you're working with 1GB of VRAM, I'll make some more suggestions:

 

I strongly suspect that SFO is a culprit for your poor FPS outdoors. At the very least, I would suggest benchmarking its effect on FPS in a large grassy area, such as The Rift. If you insist on leaving it installed, I would at least change iMinGrassSize in Skyrim.ini to a high value (anywhere from 40-80) to reduce the quantity of grasses per clump. Also, the SFO author recommends changing iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7, but decreasing that value will also help.

 

I'm not sure where you heard that, but it's incorrect. Many of the Official HR Textures replace 512 versions with 2048 versions which is an enormous increase (4x's the original resolution). Here are my suggestions:

 

1.) Drop the Official HR Texture pack. It's going to be a burden on your system.

 

2.) What do you have Anisotropic Filtering set to? You can make even the vanilla textures look good (sans some shimmering) with 16x.

 

2a.) STEP:Core recommends Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/42360/?), but I don't see it in your mod list. This is essentially a 100-Calorie version of the Official HR Texture pack that replaces 2048 versions with 1024 versions (cutting game resource usage in half). If I were you, I would use the "Full" version.

2b.) An alternative is using Bethesda Performance Textures: Armor/Clothes/Weapons (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/42360/?) and Bethesda Performance Textures - Animals and Creatures (https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/43921/?). These mods are designed for the same purpose and were developed specifically for 1GB GPUs. 

 

3.) Use 2K LITE for land and architecture textures as neither of the above two mods cover those.

 

4.) Focus on textures that are truly important to you. I have 2GB of VRAM, but I'm still VERY stingy with how many textures and texture packs I use. Perhaps look into a mod like IMAGINATOR to give your game an overall improvement. 

 

I realize that you probably already know a lot of this, but it may help other beginners that are ill-informed. 

 

As an aside, does anyone know if ENBoost may actually hurt those with little VRAM? If I remember correctly, it offsets RAM resources to VRAM.

1+2a) I did uninstall the whole thing and replaced it with 2K Lite, installing that one before all the conflicting graphics mods in STEP. I just ran the intro with a new character and my fps has increased dramatically... although I hope the lighting/atmosphere is better outside Helgen. Doesn't Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized require the Official HR Texture Pack master?

 

2) That is something of which I'm not entirely sure. In CCC (skse_loader.exe profile) I have 16x. In Skyrim Launcher I have 8x. I run all my game instances via SKSE in MO, so I'm guessing the first option.

2b) I might just install that one once I figure out about Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized. EDIT: I was surprised when installing Bethesda Performance Textures as it didn't ask to overwrite or merge with any already installed textures. 

 

3. Done.

 

4. I'll give Imaginator another go.

Edited May 7, 2014 by Firebrand