GTX 970 3.5 GB limit problems...is there a solution?

[Hoeymon]

Hi guys,

 

Having trouble with my 4GB Asus STRIX GTX 970 and the 3.5gb allocated VRAM. Apparently, I've been reading in many different forums that there is actually 3.5GB instead of actually 4gb. I know this problem has been around for a while, but I guess I wasn't playing Skyrim at the time this issue was brought about. I'm constantly getting extremely low framerates when the VRAM usage goes above 3.5gb when running Skyrim (and any other game for that matter). I'm running Skyrim on ultra with Project ENB and plenty of texture mods in 1080p. The memory patch (SSME) works fine because all of my crashes are not related to going over the 512mb initial block limit. It's defnitely my VRAM usage going over 3.5 GB so...(also not using many 4k textures, mostly 2k and I used to have this thing stable with the same mods a while ago but something happened...also my windows 10 DVR thing is disabled too so that fix is already covered).

 

Is there any way to regulate the amount of VRAM usage to 3.5 GB in settings somewhere? The enblocal.ini setting "VideoMemorySizeMb=..." doesn't seem to work correctly for me when I disable the autodetect video memory size line in the enblocal.ini. I need some help with this. (used to think 10240 was fine but my VRAM usage always goes above 3.5GB outdoors)

 

Thanks,

 

 

System Specs = i5 2500k overclocked, 4GB GTX 970, 8GB RAM, running on 1080p monitor.

[chuckles0000]

Unfortunately this is a known design flaw with the geforce 970 your best bet would be to limit it to 3.49 in the videomemorysize= setting and make sure autodetect is disabled. if this does not work i can also recommend reading through and setting up and using http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/12801/? this will reduce memory usage greatly. uncheck the two checkboxes that start with resize and the checkbox for mipmaps for no noticeable loss in quality and significant vram savings.

Edited May 30, 2016 by chuckles0000

[ironbender800]

I have a 970 also. It does have 4gb its just the other .5 run at a much slower speed kinda making it useless.

 

First SSME is outdated and replaced by shesons SKSE memory patch.

 

So use that and also install the new crash fixes. follow the instructions on how to install it correctly. it gets rid of the memory block limit and can be used with shesons patch.

 

Next setup your enb local correctly.

 

http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:ENBlocal_INI/Memory

 

finally consider texture optimization and also reducing some of the texture mods.

[RaulCuevas]

Regarding the mention of the Crash Fixes plugin:

Should I use it if I have a very stable game (rare crash upon loading only, very, very rare when changing cells), or could it have some negative effects if I don't need it with urgency? Also, I need to tweak every fix in the ini according to my system, or can I leave as it is?

Also, is it advised to use the UseOSAllocators instead of the SKSE patch?

[jones177]

I tested my 970 with 4k textures. If it slows down it is less than 1fps.

 

In this game I get ram issues when going over 3.5gb vram. I use Compression in the enblocal.ini to control it.

 

Most of the my vram is used by NPCs. I once downloaded one follower that used 500mbs vram alone. I uninstalled it.

 

Anytime you download mods with textures look at the texture file sizes first. Some are big time resource hogs.

 

Use Skyrim performance to see what your CPU is doing when things get slow. The more CPU you use the slower this game will go. At 90% CPU usage my frame rate is in the teens & at 97% it is in single digits. I use a i7 2600k.

 

It is easy to test for vram slow downs. Simply lower your resolution. Your GPU usage will drop but your vram usage will stay the same. At the same time monitor your CPU. If it is the cause it will not matter what resolution your are in or the amount vram used.

 

 

Later

[ironbender800]

Regarding the mention of the Crash Fixes plugin:

 

Should I use it if I have a very stable game (rare crash upon loading only, very, very rare when changing cells), or could it have some negative effects if I don't need it with urgency? Also, I need to tweak every fix in the ini according to my system, or can I leave as it is?

 

Also, is it advised to use the UseOSAllocators instead of the SKSE patch?

 

Crash Fixes should have no negative impact on your game weather its stable or not. And yes set the UseOSAllocators to 1 and yes it is OK to use with shesons patch.

[CxxProphet]

I was just told to install that new Crash Fixes mod, I have it installed in MO, but I don't know where I put the files.

 

Do I put the dll in the Skyrim directory and ini file in the SKSE folder?

 

Every download from Nexus gets added to D:/SteamLibrary/Skyrim/ModOrganizer/Downloads, it's not like in tutorials and such where all these downloads automatically get added to the Data folder so even though I download with NMM, I still have to manually put these files in whichever folders they need to go.

Edited May 31, 2016 by CxxProphet

[ironbender800]

I was just told to install that new Crash Fixes mod, I have it installed in MO, but I don't know where I put the files.

 

Do I put the dll in the Skyrim directory and ini file in the SKSE folder?

 

Every download from Nexus gets added to D:/SteamLibrary/Skyrim/ModOrganizer/Downloads, it's not like in tutorials and such where all these downloads automatically get added to the Data folder so even though I download with NMM, I still have to manually put these files in whichever folders they need to go.

 

You put the preloader into your skyrim directory..same place skse and enb files go.

 

Then download crash fixes with manager like 99% of other mods....after installation there should be an ini file already installed...if using MO (Mo is all i use) havent used NMM in 2 years. Click open in explorer and edit the ini file setting the OS allocations to 1. Then crash fixes is properly installed. If you use NMM i cant help you cause i havent had it installed on my computer in 2 years lol. MO is waaaaaaaay better.

[CxxProphet]

 

I was just told to install that new Crash Fixes mod, I have it installed in MO, but I don't know where I put the files.

 

Do I put the dll in the Skyrim directory and ini file in the SKSE folder?

 

Every download from Nexus gets added to D:/SteamLibrary/Skyrim/ModOrganizer/Downloads, it's not like in tutorials and such where all these downloads automatically get added to the Data folder so even though I download with NMM, I still have to manually put these files in whichever folders they need to go.

 

You put the preloader into your skyrim directory..same place skse and enb files go.

 

Then download crash fixes with manager like 99% of other mods....after installation there should be an ini file already installed...if using MO (Mo is all i use) havent used NMM in 2 years. Click open in explorer and edit the ini file setting the OS allocations to 1. Then crash fixes is properly installed. If you use NMM i cant help you cause i havent had it installed on my computer in 2 years lol. MO is waaaaaaaay better.

 

When I said NMM I meant as in the "Download With NMM" tab whenever downloading from the Nexus, I use MO. What's the preloader? I'm not too familiar with file lingo, I just need to know where I put the dll file and ini file. I don't know what the preloader is.

Edited May 31, 2016 by CxxProphet

[ironbender800]

http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/75795/?

 

Thats where your mods are supposed to go btw. Then you install them from the downloads tab. Click manual, set data directory, looks good, install.