So I"ve modded my game into nigh-unplayability...

[BFG99]

I've spent a LONG time optimizing my copy of Oblivion. I ran PyFFI on everything, scoured countless forums and logs on how to optimize my Oblivion INI file, applied all the official and unofficial patches, ran BOSS to optimize load order, and even figured out how to improve my graphic card's performance without it heating up much.

 

Unfortunately, I've gotten a little too mod-happy, and on my midpowered machine Oblivion slows down to 2 or 3 FPS at times. The worst problem is when I'm in the middle of a large fight, and I'm hitting the enemy with an enchanted weapon of some kind, especially if they have Spell Absorption/Reflection. The rest of the time I get maybe 20 FPS, max -- which isn't unplayable but should definitely be improved.

 

So, I was wondering if you'd be willing to take a look at my mod list (below) and help me understand which mods are likely the biggest performance hogs? Which ones would you recommend deactivating so my game can be playable again? Thanks in advance!

 

Edit: Before anyone asks, I have a P8400 CPU (2.3GHz Dual Core), Nvidia GeForce 9700M GT graphics card, and 4 GB RAM.

 

My mod list:

 

First, note that I have RAEVWD and Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Redimized installed. However, these two by themselves don't seem to hurt my FPS much - if I disable all of the mods below I get a very nice FPS.

 

Oblivion.esm

GTAesgaard_2.esm

All Natural Base.esm

Mart's Monster Mod.esm <--non-negotiable even though I know it can kill FPS :)

Enhanced Daedric Invasion.esm

Kvatch Rebuilt.esm

BathingMod_Base.esm

CM Partners.esm

Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp

UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp

Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp

DLCShiveringIsles.esp

Unofficial Shivering Isles Patch.esp

Natural_Habitat_by_Max_Tael.esp

All Natural - Real Lights.esp <--suspected FPS hog

All Natural.esp

All Natural - SI.esp

All Natural - EW + NW + AWS.esp

Natural_Water_by_Max_Tael.esp

Symphony of Violence.esp

MIS.esp

MIS New Sounds Optional Part.esp

Atmospheric Oblivion.esp

Storms & Sound.esp

36Sermons-Miltiades.esp

AliveWaters.esp

Book Jackets Oblivion.esp

FirstEditionGuidetotheEmpire.esp

ClocksOfCyrodiil.esp

CM_Better Wine.esp

CM_Better Wine_SI.esp

Daggerfallbooks.esp

Dancer_Undress0_6-10194.esp

ImprovedSigns.esp

Morrowindbooks.esp

Oblivion Cats v0.2b.esp

P1DseeYouSleep.esp

Reznod_Mannequin.esp

shiveringislesdoorusable.esp

Water Nymphs.esp

Living Economy.esp

Living Economy - Items.esp

Cutthroat Merchants.esp

moDem's City Life.esp

Populated Prisons.esp

Map Marker Overhaul.esp

Map Marker Overhaul - SI additions.esp

DLCHorseArmor.esp

DLCHorseArmor - Unofficial Patch.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - DLCHorseArmor+Slofs .esp

DLCOrrery.esp

DLCOrrery - Unofficial Patch.esp

DLCMehrunesRazor.esp

DLCMehrunesRazor - Unofficial Patch.esp

DLCSpellTomes.esp

DLCSpellTomes - Unofficial Patch.esp

Book Jackets DLC.esp

GrimbotsSpellTomes.esp

MaleBodyReplacerV5Beta.esp

ANBRobertsCupSizes.esp

Battlespire Books.esp

Ethereal - Armor Imperial Legion Edition.esp

FineWeapons.esp

Mithril and Orcish Weapon Sets by Ionis.esp

RustyItems.esp

RTFemaleReplacerV12.esp

TFF_Armor_Base.esp

TFF_Clothing_Base.esp

TFF_Clothing_SI.esp

AncientTowers.esp

DLCThievesDen.esp

DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch.esp

DLCThievesDen - Unofficial Patch - SSSB.esp

Mart's Monster Mod.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Shivering Isles.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Additional Enemy NPC Vars.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Diverse Imperial Armor.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Gems & Gem Dust.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Hunting & Crafting.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Zombies for Body Meshes.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Durability & Damage.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Less Bone Loot.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Less Reavers.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Safer Roads.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - No Carrion Rats.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Spawn Rates - Reduced.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Dungeons of MMM.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - More Passive Wildlife.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - City Defences.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Farm Animals.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Diverse WaterLife.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Diverse Runeskulls Loot G&GD.esp

BHC_Expanded.esp

GTAesgaard.esp

GTAesgaard_2.esp

Gates To Aesgaard 2 Delayer.esp

Jagnot- Imperial City Library V1.3.esp

300_White Stallion 4.esp

Kvatch Rebuilt.esp

Kvatch Rebuilt Weather Patch.esp

Malevolent.esp

SIPalaceExpansion.esp

Thermae.esp

Arena_Capacity_Crowds-5845.esp

DLCBattlehornCastle.esp

DLCBattlehornCastle - Unofficial Patch.esp

DLCFrostcrag.esp

Kvatch Rebuilt_Frostcrag.esp

DLCFrostcrag - Unofficial Patch.esp

BrumaMGRestored.esp

BrumaMGRestored-Frostcrag.esp

Knights.esp

Knights - Unofficial Patch.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Knights.esp

TOTF.esp

RTT.esp

The Lost Spires.esp

Lost Paladins of the Divines.esp

Enhanced Daedric Invasion.esp

EDI - Aggression Fix.esp

HeartoftheDead.esp

Medium_FPSFIX_Natural_Vegetation.esp <---I recently deactivated this and it has seemed to help

Harvest [Flora].esp

Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp

Harvest [Flora] - DLCFrostcrag.esp

BFG's Open All the Gates.esp

Cliff_BetterLetters.esp

Cliff_RiskyInnBeds.esp

Dungeon Actors Have Torches 1.6 DT.esp

Exterior Actors Have Torches 1.3 DT.esp

Female Guards.esp

KT_KhajEyeToggle.esp

Salmo The Baker v2.0.esp

ScriptIcon_Replacer.esp

Slof's Dogs.esp

Storms & Sound - The Lost Spires.esp

BathingMod_Soap.esp

BathingMod_Bathroom_Upgrades.esp

BathingMod_Placeable_Bathtubs.esp

OWE&P.esp

RealisticFatigue.esp

RealisticHealth.esp

RealisticForceMedium.esp

RealisticMagicForceMedium.esp

Wizard'sSpellBook.esp

EnchantmentRestore.esp

EnchantmentRestore_Wells.esp

StealthOverhaul.esp

kuerteeClothingMatters.esp

Adrenaline Fuelled Archery- Bow Sway.esp

Combat Behavior 2.11b.esp

Marksman Velocity SI.esp

BFG's Enhanced Armory.esp

Mart's Monster Mod - Resized Races.esp

CM Partners.esp

Get Wet.esp

BubbleFx.esp

Visually Enchanted Damage and Absorb with Particles.esp

Visually Enchanted Drains 1.esp

Visually Enchanted Fire 3.esp

Visually Enchanted Frost 1.esp

Visually Enchanted Shock 1.esp

Visually Enchanted SoulTrap 1.esp

kuerteeCleanUp.esp

 

 

[Fonger]

1 - you don't have a bashed patch so using wrye bash to turn off lights flicker ain't an option

 

2 - consider removing any eye-candy mod you've installed

 

3 - consider installing some video de-enhancement mods - like "nowind", low-poly grass etc

 

4 - update your outdated mods - 300_White Stallion 4.esp is outdated and BOSS tells you what to update to

 

5 - given #4, read your BOSS report very carefully and consider its suggestions

[iamsaige]

What retextures are you using is a bigger question (Qarl etc). Are you also using Lod mods (Really AEVWD etc)?

 

It's definately a good idea to update order mods and use optimization mods.

Also consider what resolution you're playing at.

[ArmeniusLOD]

If you're not using Oblivion Stutter Remover, then I highly recommend you download it. There are some tweaks you should make to the .ini after you install it. Here is my config:

 

 

Master = {
   _comment = You can turn on or off each distinct feature from here.
   bManageFPS = 0
   bHookCriticalSections = 1
   bHookHashtables = 1
   bReplaceHeap = 1
   bLogToConsole = 0
   bFix64Hertz = 1
   bFlushLog = 1
   iSchedulingResolution = 1
   iMainHookPoint = 1
}
FPS_Management = {
   _comment = Basic FPS stuff, switches to slow-motion on low FPS; in the past this has occaisonally produced bugs like the NPCs-dropping-dead issue; the issues are believed to be fixed but if you suspect you are having related problems you can try disabling bAllowSlowMotion which is the main suspect for any problems relating to FPS management
   bAllowSlowMotion = 0
   MaximumFPS = 60
   MinimumFPS = 15
   iSmoothFrames = 0
   iSmoothMode = 0
   iSleepExtra = 2
   bFPSConsoleSPAM = 0
   iSchedulingParanoia = 1
   iHardMaxFrametime = 200
}
CriticalSections = {
   _comment = CS stuff helps both Oblivion and Fallout significantly
   _comment = most of the benefit comes from the Renderer+0x180 suppression (see overrides below)
   _comment = modes: 1=vanilla, 2=fair, 3=stuttering, 5=suppressed, 6=prioritize-main-thread, 7=deprioritize-main-thread
   bEnableProfiling = 0
   bEnableMessages = 1
   bUseOverrides = 1
   iDefaultMode = 3
   iDefaultSpin = 4000
   iStutterLevel = 4
}
Heap = {
   _comment = Heap replacement can produce MAJOR improvements in performance on Oblivion, only moderate improvements on Fallout
   _comment = It crashes instantly on Fallout, is moderately buggy on Oblivion
   _comment = Algorithms: 1=FastMM4 (requires external dll), 2=Microsoft (slow on XP), 3=SimpleHeap1, 5=ThreadHeap2
   iHeapAlgorithm = 5
   bEnableProfiling = 0
   iHeapSize = 1024
   bEnableMessages = 0
}
Hashtables = {
   _comment = This stuff is still new.
   _comment = The dynamic resizing option may still be buggy.  
   bAllowDynamicResizing = 1
   bUseOverrides = 0
   bEnableProfiling = 0
   bEnableMessages = 1
   iHashtableResizeScale1 = 2
   iHashtableResizeScale2 = 4
   iHashtableResizeDelay = 20
}
OverrideList = {
   CriticalSection = {
       CallerAddress = 0x701748
       comment = Renderer+0x180, recommendation=suppress (mode 5)
       Mode = 5
   }
   CriticalSection = {
       ObjectAddress = 0xB32B80
       comment = MemoryHeap CS, recommendation=stutter (mode 3)
       Mode = 3
       Spin = 1500
   }
   CriticalSection = {
       CallerAddress = 0x70172A
       comment = Renderer+0x80, recommendation=???
   }
   CriticalSection = {
       ObjectAddress = 0xB3FA00
       comment = Unknown4, recommendation=???
   }
}

 

 

There are some changes you can make for your specific system. here are my suggestions:

 

 

bManageFPS = 1 (if you're not using Streamline)
iDefaultMode = 2 (the above is for a quad-core, but this may work better on a dual-core)
iDefaultSpin = 2000 (add 1000 for every physical and logical thread your CPU has, so 4000 for quad-core Intel Core 2, 2000 for dual-core Core 2)

 

 

All Natural isn't much of a FPS killer. You can try using the MMM plugin that removes lanterns, though. On my system I get a huge FPS hit whenever there are lanterns on my screen

 

I would also highly recommend getting Wrye Bash and building a Bashed Patch with the number of mods you have.

[BFG99]

Thank you for the suggestions! I made a few tweaks to OSR's INI file based on the suggestions above.

Regarding iamsaige's questions - yes, I am using Qarl's Texture Pack 3 Redimized and RAEVWD. In retrospect, I wish I hadn't installed RAEVWD due to the performance hit, but I made the mistake of installing it without an OMOD or any other method for easily removing it. So unless I completely reinstall, I'm stuck with it!

 

I also removed White Stallion - I had considered upgrading to the Fuedal Empire mod but honestly didn't think I would like it from the description. Also made a few other changes based on the BOSS log.

 

Any other suggestions are appreciated!

[iamsaige]

That's sucks about RAEVWD. It's the one thing I'd suggest to remove as it's a massive FPS hit to most machines. It basically kills my FPS and I'm running a high end computer.

I'm also running at a very high resolution, so that doesn't help either. If you can live with a little less resolution, you can drop it down a peg or two for more FPS.

 

I'd suggest using Optimised Distant Land MAX.

 

Since you're stuck with RAEVWD without a reinstall, go the 75% version. You can also try the reduced textures on the same page as a last restort, and I mean last restort.

Use the OMODs to make it easier to remove if you don't like it ;)

If you do run the textures, make sure to run TES4LODGen after you're done with the mods to generate LODs. Should fix it up. Might not be pretty, but it will be playable.

 

O and as other have said, use a bashed patch.

 

All Natural isn't that much of a FPS hog, unless a cell has a crazy amount of lighting. Should be ok if you import the cells in the patch.

The only crazy FPS drops I've seen other than light is when it rains constantly in large outdoor areas with a lot of flora.

 

I've never used Visually Enchanted series, but if you can live with the loss, you can try that too.

You can also check out some of the sound mods you're using. If you're using on board sound via a older Mobo, or an old sound card, it can cause FPS drops.

Try out Quiet Feet Max. This is the OMOD info, you might need to download the one by bunsaki.

 

Lastly, the other thing that can kill your FPS is the amount of actors you have on screen at the same time. You're using a lot of mods that add extra mobs, so I'd suggest finding a balance that works.

You can also sort of force this via the bashed patch in the tweaks. Though it's not 100%. I'd rate this as basically second last. You're not using MMM's more respawns so I think you're probably fine with it.

 

Looking over the rest of your mods, surprised you're not using a FCOM set up :P