FO4 can't reach 4GB system ram usage without crashing. Crashing at 3.5 even when there's plenty more available

[jones177]

 

 

...()...I use over 4gb ram every time I play the game...()...

 

...()...MSI Afterburner does not seem to like the game...()...

I use over 4GB V-RAM everytime too and I play at 1080x1920. I have 16GB of system RAM but had only 3GB of V-RAM on my then AMD MSI R7970 Lightning. The game crashed on me all the time, even with ENBoost in use. In August 2016, I bought an AMD MSI RX470 GamingX 8GB GPU and had no more crashes in FO4 ever since... Went for the RX470 as that particular model had performances close/equal to the stock RX480.

 

I've been using MSI AfterBurner for seventeen years, also on FO4 since November 2015 (to monitor CPU & GPU temps & use and RAM & V-RAM use on the dislay of my G-19 keyboard), without a glitch. I however never used the added app called RivaTunerStatisticServer. That's the one that usually causes the problems because it stays in touch with its home server all the time.

 

Been only starting to use the latter when I started on Mass Effect: Andromeda (for RivaTuner's one key screenshot possibility) and noticed it makes the game stutter at irregular intervals.

 

I learned with a modded Fallout 4 & Skyrim/Skyrim SE the more vram you have the less CTDs you get. I skipped the GTX 700(3gbs vram) series because of this. I think 8gbs vram seems to be the sweet spot for now. I am not benefiting from the 11gbs on the 1080 ti.

 

I use an old Corsair k70s so no screen. I did use Afterburner on Mass Effect Andromeda & that game got my CPU silly hot(87c). I would need to go water cooled to mod it.

 

This game & Skyrim/SE don't seem to use more vram as the resolution goes up. With Mass Effect Andromeda the difference is huge.

 

With this game I don't think the type of ram makes a big deal only the amount. With my 2016 build I used DDR 4 3200 & on my 2011 build I used DDR 3 1600. When testing at the same resolution, the same video card(980 ti), the same SSD, the only measurable difference is the CPU & that is 8fps average between a i7 2600k & i7 6700k. That 8fps is seen in the lows so the i7 6700k is smoother.

 

Feeding the vram spikes is a big issue. To feed that spike my SSD has to go past the capabilities of any HD & the ram has to be available to deliver it to the GPU. If the spike is not fed CTD or at the least heavy stutter.

 

All our games are modded differently. My game to be playable right now needs to be on a SSD, have 16gbs ram, with a modern i7 & have over 6gbs vram. That leaves out my 2011 build. Even with a GTX 1080 & 1tb SSD the CPU is no longer capable of playing my game. I could back off on the content but what would be the fun in that.

 

Later

[JimmyRJump]

Those memory use spikes have nothing to do with mods. On the contrary, using certain mods like the Vivid series eliminate/diminish spikes in certain areas. The spikes are, again, due to the game's bad allocation of memory.

 

I have all my games on a 4TB Seagate SAS hard drive, except Mass Effect: Andromeda which is on my recently acquired OCZ (Toshiba) TR150 460GB SSD. Had an OCZ Agility 3 120GB before which didn't have enough space to install games.

 

For the time being, I keep my current system with the AsRock Z77 eXtreme11 mainboard because I have ten hard drives (two of which are SAS) and two BluRay burners and haven't found a decent mainboard with at least twelve SATA connectors and SAS connectors seem to be a thing of the past already.

[fftfan]

You don't have to use Load Accelerator because V-Sync and FPS cap/uncap can be set in the game's .ini file.

Can the ini setting allow dynamically changing V-Sync/FPS cap while in-game depending on game state. Load accelerator kicks in when any loading screens(Though not elevator transitions for some reason) come up allowing faster loading but keeping V-Sync/60FPS cap while in regular gameplay.

[JimmyRJump]

 

You don't have to use Load Accelerator because V-Sync and FPS cap/uncap can be set in the game's .ini file.

Can the ini setting allow dynamically changing V-Sync/FPS cap while in-game depending on game state. Load accelerator kicks in when any loading screens(Though not elevator transitions for some reason) come up allowing faster loading but keeping V-Sync/60FPS cap while in regular gameplay.

 

A-ha... didn't fully realise Load Accelerator was a mod. Was under the impression it was a third party app. Had a quick glance-over on the mod's page and it seems like you need to leave your ini files alone when using Load Accelerator, so, my assessment was wrong.

 

I personally never had the need for something like Load Accelerator since FO4 in my case is on a mechanical drive, not an SSD, and Load Accelerator doesn't seem to have an effect when using a mechanical drive, strange enough.

[JimmyRJump]

To shed a light on why some programs (like games) crash in respect to how much RAM is used and/or available. For this you need to know how the use of memory works.

 

Each and every program that opens has to be loaded in the system RAM and this loading occurs through RAM reservation. When an .exe is started, the program (in this case a game) reserves an amount of system RAM, based on what the program would typically need for smooth operation. This amount has been pre-determined and is sent through code via the OS to the system RAM.

 

Simplified: when hitting the FO4 .exe, FO4 says to the system RAM "hi, I'm FO4, I live at this address (install folder) and I'm going to need 4GB of RAM".

 

The amount of RAM which is reserved is devided into three parts: the Rack (where typical executions are pre-loaded like keyboard and mouse commands), the Stack (where the game's buffer use and auto-saves are temporarily kept) and the Address of the program. An address is needed in order to keep track on where everything needs to be stored and to know from where the communication with the program starts and ends.

 

The problems start when the stack is insufficient for the amount of info that needs to be stored. When encountering an insufficiency, the OS starts looking inside the pre-reserved amount of system RAM for ways of expanding. What happens is that the part where the address is kept gets overwritten with things that should go in either the rack or the stack, because for some reason the OS doesn't hold the address as important.

 

Of course, once the address is overwritten, the RAM doesn't "know" any longer where it needs to send storage/use information because the connection with the main folder is no longer there and as a result, communication comes to a halt and upon next keystroke or background save, the game crashes...

[fftfan]

I'm hoping to buy a set of 16GB RAM in the coming weeks. I'll comment on if it Fallout 4 performance & stability

[JimmyRJump]

I'm hoping to buy a set of 16GB RAM in the coming weeks. I'll comment on if it Fallout 4 performance & stability

I'll keep an eye out.

 

Oh, if you're going to go nuts and get above 3200MHz RAM, be advised that most Z370 motherboards overvolt the system RAM on the verge of what's safe, for some reason. Don't know if it's the same for Z270 motherboards, so, you might want to either stick with 3200MHz or lower, or check around YouTube for some reviews.

 

Good luck :smile:

[Valyn81]

So I just wanted to provide a little feedback on someone saying FO4 does not like to use above 4gb ram. My game regularly uses over 8 gb RAM and as high as 16gb, depending on UGRID settings for my game and actions going on in the world around me. 1080p resolution ultra settings

[fftfan]

I'll keep an eye out.

 

Oh, if you're going to go nuts and get above 3200MHz RAM, be advised that most Z370 motherboards overvolt the system RAM on the verge of what's safe, for some reason. Don't know if it's the same for Z270 motherboards, so, you might want to either stick with 3200MHz or lower, or check around YouTube for some reviews.

 

Good luck :smile:

Wow I did kind of want faster especially since I'd seen ones like 3400/3600Mhz for same price as the 3200mhz models but I really don't want RAM that will just fry itself. Re-buying the current set of RAM again would apparently cost about as much as 3600/3800 options. I'd just hope to be set for a good while till DDR5 becomes standard as it seems RAM prices just keep going up and up. I was thinking I'd go for something decent now since if I had to buy it again for some reason in 2018/2019 maybe it'll cost an extra $100 or more for the same thing. Who knows maybe a 16GB DDR4 kit would end up being USD$300 standard price for any given speed, 2 years ago it cost $75 and now it's $200. Same with SSDs, I have a 500 but want another 1TB SSD, thinking of getting it soon since it seems prices have nowhere to go but up.

 

So I just wanted to provide a little feedback on someone saying FO4 does not like to use above 4gb ram. My game regularly uses over 8 gb RAM and as high as 16gb, depending on UGRID settings for my game and actions going on in the world around me. 1080p resolution ultra settings

It can use as much as 16GB? Should I consider getting more than 16GB System RAM? What is your GPU/specs? Some stuff I read suggested that a low VRAM GPU can cause more system RAM to be used to take up the burden like if you have a 2GB/3GB graphics card. I've found Bethesda's min spec requirements to be pretty inaccurate a lot of the time. Like if you had a 750Ti(Minimum GPU) you could probably beat the game with min settings but gameplay experience will be really poor like lots of slowdowns and crashing.

 

I got this task manager alternative program called Process Hacker and it's saying Fallout 4.exe is using more than 4GB, it has a bunch as "reserved." Task manager never seems to include this reserved memory so I would get crash even though task manager had total usage at 60-70%, hence why I wondered if my game wasn't Large Address Aware. So usually active was 3-3.5GB and then it "reserves" more bringing total amount to 5 or 6GB. I think when it goes above 6GB if it is actually using all of that then RAM may actually be running out since windows & browser are taking up some as well. I tested some by having no other stuff running and I think I got it to about 6.5 by doing silly things like spawn 50 mirelurks or 100 vertibirds.

[JimmyRJump]

I've looked at test by OC3TV (TTL or Tiny Tom Logan) on YouTube and seen no mention of problems with any of the Z270 mainboards, regarding overvolting RAM.

 

And when you're planning to get into 3D modeling and texturing, 32GB of RAM would today be abetter option...

 

What brand and type of motherboard are you running on?

 

The most I've ever seen FO4 use is just over 12GB of RAM. That's over-all, V-RAM and System RAM combined. A typical system (Win7) needs around 2.5GB of RAM in idle. I'm using 2.7 in idle with the couple of extra features running in the background, like MSI Afterburner and Riva Tuner Static Server.