User:Z929669/Benchmarks

z929669's System Specs

Benchmark conditions: STEP 2.2.1 Guide

The following table provides means ± standard deviations for:

• GPU temperature
• GPU load
• Dedicated VRAM (on-card memory) - This caps at 1,996 MB on my system due to crossfireX, which adds memory used on BOTH cards. Effective VRAM is still 1 GB.
• System VRAM (swapped-to-system memory) - lower is better, > 500 MB produces moderate/severe stuttering (on my system)
• FPS

The data below are from my system, which is set up with Crossfire2X. This is important, because GPU-z includes RAM from both GPUs, which inflates the reported Dedicated VRAM by a factor of 2. Thus, it can be easily seen below that my card must be a 1 GB card, since my max VRAM below is nearly 2 GB. Notice below where the standard deviation (SD) is rather large for Dedicated VRAM when there the VRAM usage is at peak efficiency (operating below maximum capacity). However, the SD quickly goes down as available VRAM shrinks. This is because VRAM from second to second has nowhere to go but down, when it previously had room to spike upwards due to moments of high demand. As Dedicated VRAM SD decreases, this should correspond to an increase in swapped (System) VRAM, which should beget stuttering or lag during gameplay.

However, I don't begin to see stuttering until System VRAM begins to consistently hold around 300 MB. Consistency is important here, because it is the frequency of swaps between Dedicated VRAM and System VRAM that will ultimately contribute to stuttering. Although swap frequency is not directly measurable, the System VRAM standard deviation is a handy indicator for assessing the swap frequency. As the mean System-swapped VRAM increases, the standard deviation should steadily increase, which is exactly what can be seen happening below. Note that ideally, the System VRAM should remain near its initial value when running vanilla Skyrim (in my case, approx 85 MB). Specifically, if System VRAM mean and standard deviation remain fairly stable and low, then this indicates that VRAM demands are within the limits of Dedicated VRAM. As demand is increased, VRAM begins to swap with System, and Sytem VRAM mean and standard deviation both begin to increase. This marks the point where VRAM-induced stuttering can happen. The relationship between these numbers is depicted in the chart. Note that GPU load and temperature seem to follow no predictable pattern.

As the GPU becomes VRAM taxed:

1. FPS goes down
2. Mean-dedicated VRAM consumption increases
3. Mean-dedicated VRAM SD increases at first and then decreases as if fills to capacity
4. Mean-system VRAM increases
5. Mean-system VRAM SD increases rapidly as it is relied upon in varying degrees and then decreases as it fills to capacity (or the swap capacity of the GPU)

At the point that the System VRAM SD begins to noticeably decrease, stuttering should become significant, as this indicates a very high swap frequency. Template:Notice Small

Assessment	GPU Temp. [?C]	GPU Load [%]	Dedicated VRAM [MB]	System VRAM [MB]	FPS
Windows background	52.5 ± 0.7	0.5 ± 0.9	85.4 ± 8.6	32.6 ± 0.5	n/a
(1) Bench 1.F.2 INI Tweaks	60.4 ± 1.6	65.9 ± 7.5	1,961.3 ± 21.6	89.7 ± 12.6	51.5 ± 8.6
(2) Bench 2.D Fixes 1	61.1 ± 1.4	66.6 ± 7.6	1,876.6 ± 64.6	85.2 ± 8.0	52.7 ± 7.7
(3) Bench 2.D Fixes 2	60.2 ± 1.7	66.1 ± 7.6	1,854.1 ± 78.0	91.2 ± 10.3	52.5 ± 8.1
(4) Bench 2.E Interface	61.0 ± 1.5	65.7 ± 7.7	1,868.4 ± 75.8	88.9 ± 7.7	52.6 ± 7.5
(5) Bench 2.F Conflicting Graphics 1	61.8 ± 1.3	67.5 ± 5.9	1,918.3 ± 37.8	83.7 ± 6.7	49.9 ± 8.3
(6) Bench 2.F Conflicting Graphics 2	61.0 ± 1.6	66.8 ± 6.1	1,970.0 ± 18.1	93.8 ± 11.2	49.0 ± 8.5
(7) Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 1	59.6 ± 1.5	69.1 ± 6.8	1,975.5 ± 14.8	208.0 ± 34.2	35.4 ± 11.2
(8) Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 2	59.9 ± 1.6	75.7 ± 7.6	1,974.9 ± 18.6	236.2 ± 35.5	32.4 ± 11.3
(9) Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 3	60.0 ± 1.7	76.1 ± 7.1	1,976.7 ± 16.2	231.3 ± 32.7	33.6 ± 10.6
(10) Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 4	59.9 ± 1.5	76.4 ± 6.6	1,972.8 ± 20.2	203.0 ± 32.8	36.7 ± 10.7
(11) Bench 2.H Characters & Creatures	59.5 ± 1.6	71.0 ± 8.4	1,982.8 ± 11.1	273.8 ± 62.6	33.5 ± 12.0
(12) Bench 2.I Clothing & Equipment	59.4 ± 1.7	75.2 ± 7.6	1,979.8 ± 12.6	308.9 ± 75.2	30.8 ± 10.6
(13) Bench 2.J Animation & Effects	59.3 ± 1.6	69.5 ± 8.8	1,979.7 ± 12.0	323.4 ± 94.2	29.8 ± 11.3
(14) Bench 2.K Clutter & Miscellaneous	59.4 ± 1.5	68.6 ± 8.7	1,980.7 ± 10.4	369.7 ± 97.9	30.4 ± 11.3
(15) Bench 2.L Sound	59.7 ± 1.3	69.3 ± 8.3	1,982.2 ± 11.1	339.0 ± 96.0	30.4 ± 11.6
(16) Bench 2.M Gameplay 1	59.9 ± 1.4	74.0 ± 7.9	1,979.7 ± 14.8	386.9 ± 123.1	30.8 ± 10.7
(17) Bench 2.M Gameplay 2	59.1 ± 1.3	68.7 ± 9.1	1,982.5 ± 10.3	510.2 ± 105.3	27.8 ± 10.1
(18) Bench 2.M Gameplay 3	60.1 ± 1.0	71.6 ± 9.1	1,985.2 ± 8.0	741.7 ± 218.3	26.0 ± 9.8

Note that the windows background numbers are included in the first rows. This should be subtracted from all of the data following as a proxy for resources consumed only by Skyrim.

1. Bench 1.F.2 INI Tweaks - Performed after 1.F.2, Vanilla HD textures, no optimizations
2. Bench 2.D Fixes 1 - Performed after 2.D Fixes, DDSopt (1k-constrained Vanilla textures)
3. Bench 2.D Fixes 2 - As previous but also including "Optimized HRDLC" (Vano89)
4. Bench 2.E Interface - As previous but performed after 2.E Interface
5. Bench 2.F Conflicting Graphics 1 - As previous but performed after 2.F Conflicting Graphics
6. Bench 2.F Conflicting Graphics 2 - As previous but also includes DDSopt-ed 2k Skyrim HD & Serious HD (1k-constrained normal maps for all except dungeons)
7. Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 1 - As previous but performed after 2G Landscape & Environment
8. Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 2 - As previous but DDSopt-ed SFO, without constraints
9. Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 3 - As previous but SFO is DDSopt-ed with 1k-constrained normal maps
10. Bench 2.G Landscape & Environment 4 - As previous but SFO Diverse Trees disabled
11. Bench 2.H Characters & Creatures 4 - As previous but performed after 2.H Characters & Creatures
12. Bench 2.I Clothing & Equipment - As previous but Armor and weapons packages DDSopt-ed with 1k-constrained normal maps
13. Bench 2.J Animation & Effects - As previous but performed after 2.J Animation & Effects (Stuttering first becomes apparent)
14. Bench 2.K Clutter & Miscellaneous - As previous but performed after 2.K Clutter & Miscellaneous
15. Bench 2.L Sound - As previous but performed after 2.L Sound
16. Bench 2.M Gameplay 1 - As previous but performed after 2.M Gameplay
17. Bench 2.M Gameplay 2 - As previous but using 2k versions of DDSopt-ed Skyrim HD & Serious HD (no constraints)
18. Bench 2.M Gameplay 3 - As previous but also excluding "Optimized HRDLC" (Vano89) and DDSopt-ed vanilla textures