User:Gargan/Benchmarking

Methodology

My current method for benchmarking is as follows.

1. Start logging with HWiNFO64
2. Wait at least 15 seconds
3. Start Skyrim
4. Start logging with Fraps as soon as fps counter appears (F11 hotkey)
5. Wait at least 15 seconds after the main menu appears
6. Start a new game
7. Stop Fraps logging a couple of seconds after the autosave (F11 hotkey again)
8. Exit Skyrim
9. Stop logging with HWiNFO64

This procedure allows me to gather all sensor data with HWiNFO and also gather frametimes from Fraps. I prefer using frametimes to calculate an instantaneous FPS instead of using the approximately average FPS that is logged with either HWiNFO or Fraps. This allows me to see stuttering that would otherwise be averaged out. Good information on the use of frametimes instead of FPS is here.

Computer Specifications

My current setup is as follows.

CPU	Intel Core i7-4771
Motherboard	MSI Z87-GD65 GAMING (MS-7845)
Memory	G.Skill F3-1600C7D-16GTX (2x8GB)
GPU	EVGA 04G-P4-2768-KR GeForce GTX 760 4GB
HDD	Samsung SSD 840 EVO 1TB

Vanilla

I tried to get my install as close to vanilla as I could. The only mods that aren't installed using Mod Organizer, are SKSE and ENBoost. So I temporarily removed ENBoost and I start Skyrim directly. I was able to get five extremely similar benchmarks. The pale green area is the maximum and minimum for all data used to compute the average.

	Mean	Std. Dev.	Run 1 error	Run 2 error	Run 3 error	Run 4 error	Run 5 error
GPU Temp [°C]	49.683	5.528	-0.0674 ± 0.3347	-0.3944 ± 0.3806	0.2826 ± 0.3506	0.1285 ± 0.3162	0.0507 ± 0.3219
GPU Load [%]	61.037	8.410	0.1358 ± 1.2257	-0.1327 ± 1.2689	0.0158 ± 1.2279	-0.0192 ± 1.2809	0.0003 ± 1.5897
Dedicated Mem. [MiB]	978.498	115.843	0.8942 ± 3.9577	3.2048 ± 4.3953	-3.4755 ± 4.4320	-0.3745 ± 4.0854	-0.2489 ± 4.4787
Dynamic Mem. [MiB]	26.853	4.253	0.2612 ± 1.9814	-0.6809 ± 1.8211	0.7134 ± 1.7002	-0.1833 ± 1.7222	-0.1105 ± 2.4164
FPS	60.054	1.985	-0.0437 ± 3.0736	-0.0150 ± 2.9123	0.0209 ± 3.2278	0.0236 ± 3.2037	0.0143 ± 3.4866

Plots

File:Vanilla average gpu temp.png

Average GPU Temperature

File:Vanilla average gpu load.png

Average GPU Load

File:Vanilla average dedicated memory.png

Average Dedicated Memory

File:Vanilla average dynamic memory.png

Average Dynamic Memory

File:Vanilla average fps.png

Average FPS

Step 2.D. Fixes

	Mean	Std. Dev.	Run 1 error	Run 2 error	Run 3 error	Run 4 error	Run 5 error
GPU Temp [°C]	51.499	5.380	-0.3926 +/- 0.3010	0.1348 +/- 0.3401	0.2577 +/- 0.2966	0.0675 +/- 0.3051	-0.0674 +/- 0.3397
GPU Load [%]	66.508	9.595	0.0586 +/- 1.3212	-0.1638 +/- 1.4314	0.2112 +/- 1.3684	-0.1218 +/- 1.4770	0.0158 +/- 1.4454
Dedicated Mem. [MiB]	1081.530	76.287	-1.2601 +/- 7.7566	8.8648 +/- 7.2176	-10.4308 +/- 5.8692	-0.5784 +/- 5.8017	3.4045 +/- 7.8428
Dynamic Mem. [MiB]	25.764	2.420	-2.1542 +/- 1.0214	0.6317 +/- 0.9645	0.6164 +/- 1.1522	0.1491 +/- 1.0547	0.7570 +/- 0.9573
FPS	60.088	2.040	0.0103 +/- 3.3923	-0.0049 +/- 3.5355	-0.0009 +/- 3.3959	-0.0304 +/- 2.9610	0.0259 +/- 3.4232

Plots

File:Step 2d fixes average gpu temp.png

Average GPU Temperature

File:Step 2d fixes average gpu load.png

Average GPU Load

File:Step 2d fixes average dedicated memory.png

Average Dedicated Memory

File:Step 2d fixes average dynamic memory.png

Average Dynamic Memory

File:Step 2d fixes average fps.png

Average FPS