Performance issues with a beasty config (IMO)

[nico53laval]

I've run thrgouh everything recommended by STEP (including texture optimizing to 2048K), set the viewing distance to 7 and I've installed a few mods (Immersive Environments instead of RCRN, Amazing Follower Tweaks, Script Dragon with POS1 horse spawn, auto level... and some body and hair mods). I've enabled VSync because without it, I experience huge tearing issues. But with it, I sometimes drop to 40 or 30 and that makes the whole game feel laggy although those frame rates should be quite acceptable. Also, I experience some freezes and (rarely) CTDs but that's the less important issue to me. The question is : why does that when I've got a far better config than the STEP writer (sorry, forgotten his name ^^).

AMD Phenom II *4 965 BE @ 3800 MHz

Gigabyte GTX 670 @ 1360 MHz max core and 6400 max memory

8 gigs of Kingston HyperX genesis @ 1600 MHz

defragmented HDD (no SSD)

Skyrim v 1.5

Thanks for your help and advice.

[frihyland]

Just remember that he is running at 1440 x 900 resolution and using all the 1024 versions of mods and averaging 35 fps and the game experience is great.  No one can run full STEP (2048+ textures and 1920x1080+ resolution with quality SSAO) without ever dipping below 40 FPS, you'll need to wait another 2 years before you can build that machine :D

[nico53laval]

Just remember that he is running at 1440 x 900 resolution and using all the 1024 versions of mods and averaging 35 fps and the game experience is great.  No one can run full STEP (2048+ textures and 1920x1080+ resolution with quality SSAO) without ever dipping below 40 FPS you'll need to wait another 2 years before you can build that machine :D

I'm running at 1680*1050 with 2048 optimized textures (no 4096) with 2 Supersampling and performance AO with a GPU that, in other games, produces more than 2 times the FPS of a 560 Ti. My issue isn't droppping below 40 FPS , I mean, with a min FPS of 35, that shouldn't feel so laggy, my issue is that I have to have VSync on but when I have it on, the game feels laggy.

[venkman781]

@nico

 

Why not disable vsync and use a framerate capper?

[stoppingby4now]

 

Just remember that he is running at 1440 x 900 resolution and using all the 1024 versions of mods and averaging 35 fps and the game experience is great.  No one can run full STEP (2048+ textures and 1920x1080+ resolution with quality SSAO) without ever dipping below 40 FPS you'll need to wait another 2 years before you can build that machine :D

I'm running at 1680*1050 with 2048 optimized textures (no 4096) with 2 Supersampling and performance AO with a GPU that, in other games, produces more than 2 times the FPS of a 560 Ti. My issue isn't droppping below 40 FPS , I mean, with a min FPS of 35, that shouldn't feel so laggy, my issue is that I have to have VSync on but when I have it on, the game feels laggy.

 

You're trying to compare apples to oranges. With STEP, your bringing in much higher resolution textures (up to 4X) and higher poly counts than a majority of your other games. Combine that with any lighting post processing, and your resources are going to be taxed. You can't significantly increase the amount of data that needs to be processed and expect the same frame rates that your non-modded games are enjoying, especially when enabling SS.

[frihyland]

 

 

Just remember that he is running at 1440 x 900 resolution and using all the 1024 versions of mods and averaging 35 fps and the game experience is great.  No one can run full STEP (2048+ textures and 1920x1080+ resolution with quality SSAO) without ever dipping below 40 FPS you'll need to wait another 2 years before you can build that machine :D

I'm running at 1680*1050 with 2048 optimized textures (no 4096) with 2 Supersampling and performance AO with a GPU that, in other games, produces more than 2 times the FPS of a 560 Ti. My issue isn't droppping below 40 FPS , I mean, with a min FPS of 35, that shouldn't feel so laggy, my issue is that I have to have VSync on but when I have it on, the game feels laggy.

 

You're trying to compare apples to oranges. With STEP, your bringing in much higher resolution textures (up to 4X) and higher poly counts than a majority of your other games. Combine that with any lighting post processing, and your resources are going to be taxed. You can't significantly increase the amount of data that needs to be processed and expect the same frame rates that your non-modded games are enjoying, especially when enabling SS.

 

2048 textures are actually 16x larger in many cases as most of vanilla is 512 and +1 for using an fps limiter that advice is already in STEP and all over the forums.

[stoppingby4now]

2048 textures are actually 16x larger in many cases as most of vanilla is 512 and +1 for using an fps limiter that advice is already in STEP and all over the forums.

 

I was referencing edge resolution, but you are correct for total coverage, and that is a better means of representing total data.

[Vypir]

What is your "Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames" set to?  If it's 0 or 1, try bumping it up one more to see if that smooths things out.  This worked for me when I got unreasonable stuttering from Vsync.

[nico53laval]

I already tried disabling Vsync with a FPS capper set to 60. That didn't fix the issue.

[nico53laval]

What is your "Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames" set to?  If it's 0 or 1' date=' try bumping it up one more to see if that smooths things out.  This worked for me when I got unreasonable stuttering from Vsync.

It's set to application controlled.

[frihyland]

I already tried disabling Vsync with a FPS capper set to 60. That didn't fix the issue.

Try 40 fps, 60 may just be too high.

What is your "Maximum Pre-Rendered Frames" set to?  If it's 0 or 1' date=' try bumping it up one more to see if that smooths things out.  This worked for me when I got unreasonable stuttering from Vsync.

It's set to application controlled.

The default iirc is 3 so that's what you get with app controlled.

[LeetMiniWheat]

I'd definitely recommend turning down the TrSSAA to 2x or none, and try turning off Ambient Occlusion. even my GTX 580 struggled with those two without any mods or hi-res texture DLC. I had to choose one or the other to prevent fps dropping too much and causing lag. also keep multisampling/antialiasing at 4x or use FXAA because any higher is a huge performance hit. and don't forget with vsync when your fps drops below your monitor refresh (60Hz in most cases), it will run at the next fraction of your resolution. like 45fps, 30fps, etc. so that is a major factor in perceived "lagginess"

 

Just remember that he is running at 1440 x 900 resolution and using all the 1024 versions of mods and averaging 35 fps and the game experience is great.  No one can run full STEP (2048+ textures and 1920x1080+ resolution with quality SSAO) without ever dipping below 40 FPS' date=' you'll need to wait another 2 years before you can build that machine :D[/quote']

I know this doesn't add to the topic but I'm the exception to this rule. my GTX 690 runs 2048/4096 unoptimized textures with 4xMSAA, 4x TrSSAA, and Quality SSAO @ 1080p and never drops below 75 :P (and I'd up the MSAA some more but it's better to match the MSAA with the TrSSAA)

 

ALL GAMES CRUMBLE BEFORE ME!!!

 

Edit: sorry for posting this but I had to somehow justify the $1000 purchase :P. this will be my last brag-related post. feel free to flame me all you want in jealous rage

[torminater]

I Study in poverty now to live in richness later when i'm already too old to enjoy it As much as i should Be able to...

[nico53laval]

I'd definitely recommend turning down the TrSSAA to 2x or none, and try turning off Ambient Occlusion. even my GTX 580 struggled with those two without any mods or hi-res texture DLC. I had to choose one or the other to prevent fps dropping too much and causing lag. also keep multisampling/antialiasing at 4x or use FXAA because any higher is a huge performance hit. and don't forget with vsync when your fps drops below your monitor refresh (60Hz in most cases), it will run at the next fraction of your resolution. like 45fps, 30fps, etc. so that is a major factor in perceived "lagginess"

 

Just remember that he is running at 1440 x 900 resolution and using all the 1024 versions of mods and averaging 35 fps and the game experience is great.  No one can run full STEP (2048+ textures and 1920x1080+ resolution with quality SSAO) without ever dipping below 40 FPS you'll need to wait another 2 years before you can build that machine :D

I know this doesn't add to the topic but I'm the exception to this rule. my GTX 690 runs 2048/4096 unoptimized textures with 4xMSAA, 4x TrSSAA, and Quality SSAO @ 1080p and never drops below 75 :P (and I'd up the MSAA some more but it's better to match the MSAA with the TrSSAA)

 

ALL GAMES CRUMBLE BEFORE ME!!!

 

Edit: sorry for posting this but I had to somehow justify the $1000 purchase :P. this will be my last brag-related post. feel free to flame me all you want in jealous rage

 

Skyrim is so poorly optimized..... BTW, if you purchase a 1000 bucks GPU, you should at least know about adaptive VSync. THe FPS don't drop to 45 or 30 but to whatever frame rate they should drop to. I hear of people running at  40 FPS average and not feeling any lag and I play at at 35 FPS minimum and I feel a lot of lag. Also, I only use 4*MSAA plus 2* trSSAA and performance AO.

[MadWizard25]

So your main issue is sudden fps drops that feel laggy? Even with that rig, you will have areas with high fps, and then you suddenly transition to areas that are very fps intense and you can get big fps drops. You need to establish your min fps in some areas such as riverwood, whiterun, and the forest around riften. Getting fps drops here is common. For example, i can run around a lot of the game in exteriors with 55fps, but in those places i drop about 20 fps to 35. And i feel it.

 

Cant do much about it unless you want to get rid of all your high res textures etc.

 

And +1 as well for frame limiter, its better than vsync (standard, still testing new adaptive vsync, and so far have noticed an *increase* in lag and tearing), and if you have a 60Hz monitor the best i have found is limiting to 58fps. Reduced stuttering and all input lag for me.

 

If you are getting a lot of stuttering still, then it might be script execution issue. If you have a lot of script heavy mods, then the constant errors, polling, and firing can cause the game to stutter and even freeze. Atm I have not come across a fix for this, tweaking some pap values helps a little, but best bet is to remove those mods.

 

Edit: forgot to say that if there are script issue, you will notice them much more at a low fps of 35 than 60fps. Someone did some extensive testing on this in the beth forums, and i will find you the relevant thread.

 

Edit 2: Seems that massive script execution at low fps (30 - 40) does cause lag. See threads

 

Here you go!

https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1386736-performance-timing-testing-using-scripted-movement/

https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1370110-impact-of-system-stress-scripting-errors-on-game-performance/

[nico53laval]

So your main issue is sudden fps drops that feel laggy? Even with that rig, you will have areas with high fps, and then you suddenly transition to areas that are very fps intense and you can get big fps drops. You need to establish your min fps in some areas such as riverwood, whiterun, and the forest around riften. Getting fps drops here is common. For example, i can run around a lot of the game in exteriors with 55fps, but in those places i drop about 20 fps to 35. And i feel it.

 

Cant do much about it unless you want to get rid of all your high res textures etc.

 

And +1 as well for frame limiter, its better than vsync (standard, still testing new adaptive vsync, and so far have noticed an *increase* in lag and tearing), and if you have a 60Hz monitor the best i have found is limiting to 58fps. Reduced stuttering and all input lag for me.

 

If you are getting a lot of stuttering still, then it might be script execution issue. If you have a lot of script heavy mods, then the constant errors, polling, and firing can cause the game to stutter and even freeze. Atm I have not come across a fix for this, tweaking some pap values helps a little, but best bet is to remove those mods.

 

Edit: forgot to say that if there are script issue, you will notice them much more at a low fps of 35 than 60fps. Someone did some extensive testing on this in the beth forums, and i will find you the relevant thread.

 

Edit 2: Seems that massive script execution at low fps (30 - 40) does cause lag. See threads

 

Here you go!

https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1386736-performance-timing-testing-using-scripted-movement/

https://forums.bethsoft.com/topic/1370110-impact-of-system-stress-scripting-errors-on-game-performance/

Disabling VSync, even with an FPS cap set to 58, induces tearing lines. I'll try and sweep my drivers and install the new beta drivers (there have been many issues reported with the kepler drivers).