GPU Usage and VRAM usage re: texture mods

[wader2k]

Hi all!

 

My system:

 

i7 860

8G Ram

5850 1G Vram @ 1920x1200

(4xAA ingame and 16xAF forced thru CCC)

Most settings on Ultra(Shadows on High, RadialBlur turned off)

Distance sliders all maxed except Light,Specularity, and Grass at 3/4.

 

Getting around 27-29 in the worst areas(top of Dragonreach stairs is my spotcheck), generally 40-60 in most outdoor areas and 60 indoors.

 

Started playing with some mods and looking at GPU Usage,VRAM usage and CPU usage.

 

Mods Active:

 

SKSE

DMM

 

TESV Acceleration layer(definitely gets me 8 fps in worst areas)

Skyrim HD 2K

Xenius Character Enhancement

SkyUI

 

I've also messed with windowed mode using the SBW mod, but I'm not sure if helps with my microstuttering really.

 

Ok, now the fun stuff!

 

Started looking into VRAM usage because I wanted to try a few more texture mods.

 

With all mods active:

 

GPU Usage 95-98%

GPU Dedicated Memory 980Mb

GPU System Memory 250-300Mb

CPU Usage 27-30%

 

I have heard this game is CPU bound for the most part, but maybe I don't understand as well as I thought.

Probably nothing we can do at this point to get the game to use more CPU,right?

 

What I don't understand is the GPU, VRAM, etc. I have heard that AA, and textures is what uses VRAM.

I tried turning off AA entirely ... FPS didn't change and I didn't notice any diff in VRAM or GPU usage.

 

Tried with No Mods active:

 

GPU Usage 65%

GPU Dedicated Memory 920Mb

GPU System Memory 119Mb

CPU Usage 27-30%

 

So if I'm reading this right, with the texture mods I'm running I'm running out of dedicated VRAM and using some GPU System Memory.

But even with no mods, I seem to be using most all my VRAM? Is this right?

I thought 1G should handle most texture mods....does this seem right?

 

Should I give up on trying more? What are the best options for me? I have been curious about the FXAA injectors. The enhanced shaders too, but I doubt it would run well enough.

Not sure which of these are compatible with each other.

 

I do really like the darker shadows an such I've seen from the FXAA and Enhanced Shaders. And I'd like to try other textures such as Flora,etc.

 

Other problems I've ran into:

 

Microstuttering-annoying, but liveable for now.

 

Occasional CTD with no error....just a sudden dropout of game. Hopefully this won't be too often. So far it's liveable.

 

One weird occurrence when I was trying AA off at top of Dragonreach stairs: Several houses to the right side of town(and even a guard climbing the stairs) would disappear completely if I had the camera angle just right. This was strange because I figured there would be less problems with AA off than on. Cranked AA back on and it has never happened since. Repeatable with AA off!

 

Any comments from the pros here are appreciated if my result seem normal and what I should be aiming for in making my game stable with the best visuals possible before I go back and start a serious run thru this game!

Edited December 26, 2011 by wader2k

[Stoneage]

i7 860

8G Ram

5850 1G Vram @ 1920x1200

(2xAA ingame and 16xAF forced thru CCC)

Most settings on Ultra(Shadows on High, RadialBlur turned off)

Distance sliders all maxed except Light,Specularity, and Grass at 3/4.

 

You have a nice gaming box. You can try to smoothen cpu priority and add thread affinity "C:\Windows\System32\cmd..exe /C start /high /affinity 3 D:\The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim\skse_loader.exe".

Edited December 26, 2011 by Stoneage

[wader2k]

Thanks Stoneage!

 

Not sure exactly how to do what you so reasonably typed out though....

I have used task manager in past games to set priority and affinity, but can't figure this out exactly.

 

If I reading right...I need to get to cmd.exe(can do from start menu, type cmd)

Then I type " /C start /high /affinity 3 D:\The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim\skse_loader.exe" ?? This doesn't make sense to me...the path wouldn't be D:\ on my system anyway.

 

This is something I would need to do everytime I started the game too? Can I do it from task manager after I start the game instead?

 

edit: why are you using 3 for the affinity? Since I have 8 cores wouldn't I use 8? I always thought this really didn't do much unless the game was written for it anyway.

Edited December 26, 2011 by wader2k

[Stoneage]

Thanks Stoneage!

 

Not sure exactly how to do what you so reasonably typed out though....

I have used task manager in past games to set priority and affinity, but can't figure this out exactly.

 

If I reading right...I need to get to cmd.exe(can do from start menu, type cmd)

Then I type " /C start /high /affinity 3 D:\The Elder Scrolls V - Skyrim\skse_loader.exe" ?? This doesn't make sense to me...the path wouldn't be D:\ on my system anyway.

 

This is something I would need to do everytime I started the game too? Can I do it from task manager after I start the game instead?

 

edit: why are you using 3 for the affinity? Since I have 8 cores wouldn't I use 8? I always thought this really didn't do much unless the game was written for it anyway.

 

Yes, but you can write a batch file to backup the script. I just tried it with my box and it gives about 5-10 FPS boost and an overall 20-25 FPS. I've also some mods installed and IMO I can play it. Here is the script I used to load skse_loader and to change priority and affinity on the fly. You will need process.exe from here: http://www.beyondlogic.org/solutions/processutil/processutil.htm I use affinity value 3 because I want to attach 2 cores to the game. When you want to attach 8 cores you need a different layout. It uses binary logic so for 2 cores it is 2^0 + 2^1 = 3 and for 8 cores it is 2^0 + 2^1 + 2^2 ... 2^7 = 128. So your affinity is 128.

 

start /wait skse_loader

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 01

choice /D N /T 1 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 11

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 01

choice /D N /T 1 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 11

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 01

 

choice /D N /T 1 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 11

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -p TESV.exe High

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -p TESV.exe High

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -p TESV.exe High

 

If you have an AMD video card I would recommend to install ATI Tray Tools. It helps a lot.

Edited December 27, 2011 by Stoneage

[wader2k]

Tried setting affinity and priority in task manager....didn't make a diff for me as far as fps. Probably continue doing it though....

 

Tried the Lite version of Skyrim HD 2K, seems alright, but will probably go back to using the full version if running out of VRAM doesn't cause me stability problems.

[Stoneage]

Tried setting affinity and priority in task manager....didn't make a diff for me as far as fps. Probably continue doing it though....

 

Tried the Lite version of Skyrim HD 2K, seems alright, but will probably go back to using the full version if running out of VRAM doesn't cause me stability problems.

 

Try the batch. I've played a couple of hour now. It seems to work. Here is my script, save as loader.bat in the same directory like skse_loader. It uses affinity 3 (bitmask 11).

 

start /wait skse_loader

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 01

choice /D N /T 1 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 11

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 01

choice /D N /T 1 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 11

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 01

 

choice /D N /T 1 > NUL

process -a TESV.exe 11

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -p TESV.exe High

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -p TESV.exe High

 

choice /D N /T 10 > NUL

process -p TESV.exe High