Better Cities + Qarl's Texture Pack. - Optimisation tips?

[Pandamatak]

I couldn't live without these two mods, but I just recently noticed how much it makes my computer lag at cities like Anvil (where there are a lot of boats). Any tips for optimisation? Imperial City is working fine.

 

Specs:

 

Nvidia 8800GT (512MB VM)

Processor: Intel Dual Core @ 2.4Ghz

Ram: 3.5GB

 

I'm running at 1920*1200 resolution. I tried 1600*900 but it was too blurry for my taste and wasn't worth the performance boost (which wasn't much).

 

Would turning off some settings like HDR Improve? Or is it a CPU problem and not GPU?

Edited July 26, 2011 by Pandamatak

[MarkInMKUK]

Firstly - up your processor SPEED (NOT number of cores). A faster processor will always beat a slower one for Oblivion as it's not a multicore program. Overclocking may cause instability however. Also you may need to up the memory speed to match the processor speed.

 

Secondly - if on XP or Vista Try the Omega video drivers.

 

Thirdly - You could try the QTP3 Reduced and Redimized pack - that'll help but will reduce quality a bit. Also check for FPS patches for Better Cities.

 

Now we get complicated.

 

Fourthly - Run BOSS, and then use TES4Edit to clean any mods it shows as having dirty edits. Just doing that can reduce wasted processing time.

 

Fifthly - use PYFFI to reduce all of the mesh complexities where it won't show. Reduce EVERY mesh that the instructions tell you that you can safely reduce, including the original BSA files - you have to unpack and repack them, and the processing takes a few hours so set it going in the morning before work.

 

Sixthly - check you have nothing running in the background - antivirus programs often have a "scan on file access" setting and as Oblivion spends much of its time opening and closing files, that makes it sluggish.

 

Oh, and a separate sound card can help too - frees up your CPU to work on the stuff it SHOULD be doing not creating footstep sounds.