macrostutter and RAM

[agentsmith]

I've installed most of the major graphics mods from the step core project and I'm seeing a large amount of macrostutter when running through the opening sequence. According to the Guide, this is normally due to video RAM issues, but using HWiNFO64, I'm seeing that my GPU RAM usage never reaches 40% while my system memory reaches as much as 89% usage. This confuses me because to my understanding, the only time system RAM should get used is if Video RAM is full.

 

I took a look at the enblocal.ini configuration tips in the ENB guide, and they indicated a site which could be used for setting-up configuration:

 

"The [MEMORY] section settings may need to be changed depending on the hardware available. It is a good idea to use the site on the Installation section for the correct settings. ENBoost which is the new memory reduction feature depends heavily on these settings to work ingame." (https://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:ENB#tab=Editing_Enblocal_INI)

 

The problem is I don't see this the site referred-to. Has it evaporated? What should I do to increase my video memory utilization? FYI, my specs are thes:

 

GPU = GTX670

GPU RAM = 4GB GDDR5

CPU = i5-4430 3.2ghz

RAM = 2GB DDR3 800mhz

 

I recognize my system RAM is pathetic, but I'm not trying to run Photoshop or 100 tabs in Mozilla here; I'm trying to run Skyrim and it's not even using half my GDDR5. Once it's using a decent amount of *that*, then I'll get more interested in buffing my DDR.

Edited May 29, 2014 by agentsmith

[agentsmith]

I upgraded to 6GB and my performance is smooth as a baby's bottom now :)

 

However, I also noticed that the RAM speed was defaulting to some aggregiously-low rate, and I bumped-that up at the same time. I'm hoping to go back and run some testing at this faster speed using 4GB of RAM to see if there's any loss in quality from the 6GB because I'm not utilizing more than 50% of the 6GB now.

[EssArrBee]

On your GPU you list the hardware architecture not the model. What is the model like GT650M or GTX760... 

 

Also, everything that ever goes into VRAM must go through the RAM. This isn't going to change until utnil another two or so generations of discrete GPUs. Only your CPU can move data around from disk to RAM to VRAM, it is the only part with a system memory controller. The GPU is only able to move data around itself. Your RAM is what is filling up and your VRAM isn't really something that should be considered because you can't offload enough data from your RAM before it fills up and crashes or stutters.

[agentsmith]

Thanks for the reply, EssArrBee. Your explanation of the relationship between RAM and VRAM is excellent, and I've updated the original post to reflect my model. I'm glad to report that after digging through my SkyrimPrefs and enblocal.ini settings (particularly the [MEMORY] section, of course), I was able to drastically reduce the stuttering. I'm still not seeing huge improvements in my VRAM utilization, though. For the benefit of future generations, I used the INI Tweaks here: https://wiki.step-project.com/STEP:2.2.8#1.D._INI_Tweaks and the enblocal guide here: https://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:ENB#tab=Editing_Enblocal_INI. I've added a couple more tweaks to the enblocal file (notably, unsafe memory hacks :), so we'll see how that goes! After that, I'll probably be forced to admit that my system RAM is bottlenecking the flow of data from my disk to my VRAM.

[Aiyen]

If you only got 2Gb of RAM then that is the cause. Plain and simple. Investing in an 8Gb (or higher) block would most likely solve all your issues, and those are not silly expensive.

 

You cannot substitute VRAM for RAM since they are hardware wise very different, and do not perform the same function in a computer. 

[agentsmith]

Do you know precisely what functions RAM and VRAM respectively perform when gaming? EssArrBee indicated that RAM was used to transfer files from disk to VRAM, so it's difficult for me to see a need for having much more RAM than VRAM since most of these files shouldn't need to exist in RAM once loaded into VRAM. I'm curious why a system would need 8GB or more of RAM when VRAM is only at 4GB...

[DocClox]

The RAM also gets used for non-graphics data. Like the excutable code for the Skyrim program and the data structures that keep track of quests and inventories, for instance. To say nothing of Steam, and Windows itself for that matter. There's a lot more pressure on your RAM than simply funneling graphics to VRAM

[agentsmith]

I would like to note that there's an excellent guide to enblocal.ini config here: https://www.warmsandsguild.com/pnenb/enboost.html#nvidia.

[rootsrat]

I would like to note that there's an excellent guide to enblocal.ini config here: https://www.warmsandsguild.com/pnenb/enboost.html#nvidia.

That's not a guide, just a list of enblocal.ini settings for different cards with no explanation or reasoning for the choices, unless I'm not seeing something on my phone. enblocal.ini settings depend on your hardware in a great deal, so any preset values wouldn't be good for all the rigs out there.