GUIDE ENB Guide Overhaul

[TechAngel85]

While I wait for feedback from keith, I've created a new section for ENBoost and will be completing it this weekend. Once complete, that Guide should also be in a completed (until any addition feedback is given and I have a chance to add to the Troubleshooting) and I'll be moving on to the ENBseries INI Guide.

[Fereval]

One small suggestion :

 

At the bottom of the ENB Choices Tab of the guide, section "Enb Complimenting Mods", Imaginator is mentioned. You may also refer to the MCM Menu addon for Imaginator as well, since it's fairly more practical than the dialogue interaction and -can't confirm this though- seems to prevent a save bloating issue present in the original mod according to some users. 

Edited October 3, 2014 by Fereval

[TechAngel85]

Thanks for the heads up. I'll add that!

[keithinhanoi]

Hi there. Sorry for the delay - I have been incredibly busy with work lately, working late at home every night and will be working at home this weekend.

 

But, I thought I'd give you something very interesting to read.

 

First off, here's my suggestion of an introductory explanation for the top of the new ENBoost section you've created:

 

In order to understand how ENBoost works, it is important to first know how Skyrim manages memory. The main Skyrim game executable, TESV.exe, is a 32-bit Large-Address-Aware (LAA) application. This means that although TESV.exe can only use a maximum of 2GB of system RAM on 32-bit Windows systems, it can access up to about 3.1GB of system RAM (4GB - about 900MB of system resources) on 64-bit systems.

 

To drive your video card in displaying Skyrim's 3D rendered graphics, TESV.exe must store object geometry (the shapes of things in the game) and texture data cached in its memory space, which is then copied to your video card's VRAM to display. The memory limit is not a problem with an unmodded Skyrim, because the cached data is dynamically loaded and unloaded to make room for new data as its needed, and it almost never completely fills up all of TESV.exe's available RAM.

 

However, when mods are added to Skyrim, the memory needed for cached data is significantly increased, and the more mods that are used - especially higher resolution texture mods - the higher the chance that TESV.exe will run out of memory. When this happens, either the program crashes, or some objects don't get rendered.

 

ENBoost overcomes this memory limitation by 1)using available VRAM on your video card and 2)using system RAM outside of TESV.exe for dynamically allocated cache data. The second method is accomplished by running an executable named enbhost.exe which has up to another 4GB of memory available for ENB to manage.

 

The effectiveness and performance of ENBoost is determined by a number of factors, such as size of system RAM / VRAM, manufacturer of video card, version of Windows OS, CPU, and even motherboard memory channel speed. Fortunately, through the evolution of ENB over time, a number of ENBoost user-settings have been added to account for the enormous variety of user's PC system configurations.

 

And the second thing is that I am finally sharing my never-seen-before WIP document explaining the enblocal settings:

 

View The Elder Boris Scrolls - ENBoost Demystified on GoogleDocs.

Moderate Note: Do not share this outside of this thread. Keithinhanoi will release it when it's finished. Until that time, please respect his generosity for sharing this much of it here! ~Tech

 

I apologize because this document is still unfinished. However, since I took out all the bits that are still in progress, all of the explanations you see in there are basically final, to the best of my knowledge, all based on extensive research and reading all of Boris' explanations of the settings.

 

It being Friday, I am absolutely exhausted, so I will pick up sometime this weekend by pointing out which explanations in the wiki really need to be changed. Hopefully, though, Tech, you will see where the major differences are.

 

Enjoy!

Edited October 3, 2014 by TechAngel85

[TechAngel85]

Thanks! I'm off this weekend so I'll most definitely go over it with a fine-toothed comb! I'll also add your intro into the ENBoost section. What's there now has simply been pulled from other sections. I've, thus far, only added in the headers.

[TechAngel85]

I have finished updated the Enblocal INI section using Keith's document as a reference: https://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:ENB#tab=Editing_Enblocal_INI
 
Much as simply expanded upon but a few things were completely redone. The [MEMORY] section should be very well documented (summarized) and more actuate now. As well as some of the other parameters in other sections.
 
I do have one question though...

EnableVSync=true
; true = Enable ENB’s vertical monitor refresh sync to eliminate “screen tearing” in fast moving scenes
; false = Disable ENB’s vertical monitor refresh sync
; NOTES: ENB VSync is claimed to reduce NPC lip sync problems, but also change iPresentInterval to 1 in SkyrimPrefs

Here you say to set "iPresentInterval to 1". I was under the impression that if any other Vsync besides Skyrim's native one is used that iPresentInterval should be disabled by setting it to 0. However, here you're suggesting to have both ENB and Skyrim's Vsync enabled together. Is this an issue or a non-issue?

[keithinhanoi]

Yeah, a lot people seem to think that - not sure why.

 

I ran ENB with Vsync enabled and iPresentInterval=1 on my old iMac with an ATI HD5800 mobile series card, and I do the same on my spiffy new GTX 760. I've never had a problem and my frame rates cap at 60.

 

I can't recall where, but I have read some more knowledgeable users claiming that the more places you set Vsync the better. I don't set it in my Nvidia control panel settings though.

 

Probably more important is the dangers I've read about setting iPresentInterval=0. There's a pretty well-known old post about iPresentInterval being tied to the game's internal timing, and that setting it to 0 will not only allow physics-engine-insanity inducing frame rates above 60, but also NPCs daily schedules get really out of whack.

 

It's a highly contentious claim, though, and even the people in the know go back and forth on that one.

 

Myself, I don't need frame rates above 60, and don't want those crazy flying objects, so to be on the safe side, I leave iPresentInterval=1, the game's default.

 

If you want more input, I suggest reading around on the topic, or maybe we can start a new thread on it (I love debates!) ;)

Edited October 5, 2014 by keithinhanoi

[TechAngel85]

I think it would be a good thing to find out, though as long as Skyrim has been out this has probably been debated in one way or another so we may not ever know without talking to Bethesda directly. I too have read about various issues with it being disabled and we're currently telling users to disable it on the ENBoost mod page. I shall run with it re-enabled for a time and open discussion up with the Staff at a later time. For now, I'll be working on the ENBoost section, I would like to finish it up today but we'll see if that happens or not.

[TechAngel85]

The ENBoost section of the Guide should now be complete. Once it's got the okay, I'll move on to working on the auxiliary Guide; ENBseries INI Guide.

 

For the ENBoost section I've added in Keith's intro text, completed the installation section (unless anyone thinks pictures are needed), and completed the configuration section. For the configuration section, I simply copied the text from the Enblocal INI section for the [MEMORY] parameters. I feel like these parameters are defined well enough for users to be able to properly set up their ENBoost memory settings without needing to expand upon them. If anyone thinks differently, please let me know.

[tony971]

The EnableCompression sounds backwards. Disabling reduces stutter but costs VRAM, not enabling. So shouldn't it be enabled by default and then disabled in the event of stuttering?

[TechAngel85]

The EnableCompression sounds backwards. Disabling reduces stutter but costs VRAM, not enabling. So shouldn't it be enabled by default and then disabled in the event of stuttering?

I had not properly researched that one and there wasn't in info on it in Keith's document so what was there was whatever left from before the overhaul. Funny how none of the author's picked up on that one. Any, I did the research and it turns out is was completely backwards. Here's the new wording:

 

"This parameter will enable or disable memory compression. It is enabled by default. Disabling memory compression can reduce stutter, but at the cost of more RAM usage. For this reason, it is generally only recommended to be disabled on systems with more than 2GB VRAM. Any system that is already nearing its VRAM limit should leave this parameter enabled or it could cause more harm than good."

[keithinhanoi]

Tech, I've got more detailed info on the compression setting, but I have to dig it up. Still very busy with work, so it'll be a day or two.

 

Nevertheless, your new description is correct.

[TechAngel85]

I'd like to thank everyone here that contributed for you contributions. For now, I'm considering the Guide complete and will attempt to revisit it once a month to keep it up-to-date.

 

I will keep this thread open for the next couple of weeks for Keith and any others to report any oddities or corrections. Once closed, I'll post a link to the ENB Guide thread for any future posts and replies.

 

Again, thank you all! You've been a great help in getting this Guide to where it needs to be!

[TechAngel85]

Thread is now closed.

 

Please post any correspondence to the ENB Guide Thread: https://forum.step-project.com/topic/710-enb-guide/