Cleaning mods.

[LordEmm]

If you have >12gb ram, you are not going to get the performance boost from the virtual memory. In this case, it is best to set it at the minimum (windows will tell you what that is for your system).

If you have an average computer (3-6gb), in general 2-4x RAM is sufficient. More than 12 does not further enhance performance. So 2-4X ram but not more than 12gb. (If you have less than 3gb ram, time to buy more)

For most cases, it is fine to use the SSD for this. Just be sure to "also" have a small swap file on the normal disk for memory dumps. Do not defrag the SSD. It does nothing, and can shorten the life of the SSD.

 

Slightly off topic, but there is at least one game i know that STILL benefits from a pagefile, and that is SIMS3.

 

Also i once again will say that to put your pagefile on the SSD is not a good idea. If a defrag can shorten the life span of the SSD then surely the swapfile would hasten it even more? So either one or the other is prudent. You are right though that defragging does next to nothing on a SSD ;) Putting Oblivion on it though will greatly enhance loading times!

 

I read recently that spreading the pagefile over two disks and leaving each at about half the RAM size is the ideal way to go, especially if you have a large amount of RAM (as in 8GB or more). I doubted that, but have since then tried that and it seems to be true. I have an 8GB pagefile on two non SSD disks, and while that does not help Oblivion specifically i have noticed in other games and applications a slight boost... might be subjective though.

 

In any case, a lot of RAM will help you when you do a lot of modding (especially when you use GIMP or such for textures). In playing it will only help you really if the game actually supports it. In Fallout3 i notice a HUGE boost from 8GB compared to 16GB. In Oblivion, next to nothing.

 

That all though has not much to do with cleaning, which still is essential.

 

Pretty much the only thing you should not clean are Idle Animations (as they need to have a copy of the original for some reason), and some overrides that make sure your mod that is loaded first has the upper hand in the end.

[MarkInMKUK]

Another pagefile related hint for Win7 users: Stick a decent sized USB Memory stick (or a SD Card if you have a built-in reader slot) into the machine and use Readyboost.

 

This is usually considerably faster than your hard drive for a swap file, and if the memory eventually gets flaky it's easy to put a new memory card into the slot and set it up again. It's also a massive improvement on Laptops as most have a 2.5" 5400rpm disk which is slow access compared with a 3.5" 7200rpm disc in a desktop.

 

Also try out the 3GB Memory mod

Edited June 2, 2011 by MarkInMKUK

[Tamujiin]

All that talk about windows 7, and i use vista....hmph.

[Mortrix927]

All that talk about windows 7, and i use vista....hmph.

Actually, what Mark said will work for vista just fine. Even if your USB drive/SSD doesn't have readyboost, it's still faster than the cylindrical drive.

[Mortrix927]

If a defrag can shorten the life span of the SSD then surely the swapfile would hasten it even more?

Actually, no. In fact, if you have a newer SSD, windows will ask specifically if you want to use it as extended memory the first time you plug it in. When your running defrag, you have a lot of 1k files being moved (and some bigger ones of course). Since an SSD (or thumbdrive for that matter) has no moving parts, this serves no purpose. (being as cluster 879028768 can be accessed just as fast as cluster 1) A pagefile on the other hand, typically deals with relatively large chuncks of information, at a relatively medium (on average) rate. It's basically stuff that isn't being processed by the system memory that windows thinks it's reasonable to believe will be needed quickly. For example, when you launch Oblivion, desktop and any helper apps you normally have going are put in the pagefile.

 

You are right, however, that it is beneficial to have more than one pagefile on several disks. My system has 2 one on a thumbdrive, the other, much larger one on the secondary partition. (There is some argument about whether that part does any good. I just put it on the partition that had the most available space at the time.)

 

Finally, a caveat: If you do use an SSD/Thumbdrive as virtual memory/extended memory, you should no longer use it as a portable data transference device, as unplugging it may now cause intermittent problems with windows. Not to mention, like any other electronic device, constant power-up/off cycles adversely affects the cards life-cycle. For the same reason, your power management scheme should be re-adjusted to maintain power to the port the device is plugged into, or at least maintain a minimal supply while on stand-by.

[lonewolfkai]

Bare with me here because the computer age is slowly leaving me behind:

 

I'm not exactly following how a thumbdrive and SSD would help Oblivion. I'm taking it you are placing the entirety of Oblivion onto these drives and then running the game off it? Or is it just certain files that get accessed by Oblivion, like for instance, the BSAs.

 

I'm also trying to understand how Oblivion is considered a pagefile. :blush: I'm taking it that the game itself is consider a pagefile and in this case, putting the entire Oblivion game onto the drives is a bad idea as it would shorten the lifespan of the drive?

[MarkInMKUK]

Obl;ivion is big. It starts to overflow available memory pretty fast, even faster without the 3GB patch. At that point it swaps data to virtual memory - a swap file or page file depending on terminology - they can be considered to be the same. That's normally on a spinning hard drive, and is slower to access (by several hundred times at least) than solid state memory. If you use Readyboost (win7), or a swapfile set up on a USB stick (XP/Vista), it's far faster to access than the spinning hard drive, so if data from the swap file is needed (often happens with Oblivion), it is accessed faster and hence less stuttering and more speed. An internal SSD is faster still, but is also vastly more expensive.

 

You leave Oblivion installed on the main HDD, as that just delays loading time and (a little) access to new data files. The swapfile archives the bits of data you use again and again but which won't fit into memory.

Edited June 3, 2011 by MarkInMKUK

[lonewolfkai]

Obl;ivion is big. It starts to overflow available memory pretty fast, even faster without the 3GB patch. At that point it swaps data to virtual memory - a swap file or page file depending on terminology - they can be considered to be the same. That's normally on a spinning hard drive, and is slower to access (by several hundred times at least) than solid state memory. If you use Readyboost (win7), or a swapfile set up on a USB stick (XP/Vista), it's far faster to access than the spinning hard drive, so if data from the swap file is needed (often happens with Oblivion), it is accessed faster and hence less stuttering and more speed. An internal SSD is faster still, but is also vastly more expensive.

 

You leave Oblivion installed on the main HDD, as that just delays loading time and (a little) access to new data files. The swapfile archives the bits of data you use again and again but which won't fit into memory.

Okay, I think I understand. So how would you direct Oblivion to use a USB drive for swap files rather than the HDD? Would placing BSA's on the ssd or usb drive help?

[MarkInMKUK]

You would set the whole of Windows to use the USB drive in that scenario.

 

BSAs on the fast drive MIGHT help - your mileage may vary.

[Mortrix927]

If your using the USB drive for the pagefile, you don't want the game file on the same USB. In theory, it should work if they are on different USB's; however due to the sheer size of Oblivion, and it's dynamic expandability-it's generally better to keep Oblivion on the cylindrical drive. Like Mark said, your mileage may vary.