Underperforming Setup

[Septemvile]

Hey guys, I've been having a bit of a stuttering issue, and the dreaded 'smoky black body' from running out of VRAM a couple of times since starting my new game. 'Well that's just to expected from modding the game' you might say, but according to the performance monitor even at max usage I'm only hitting 2.2GB of VRAM out of my 6GB card.

 

I have a feeling it's a INI issue, since I tweaked my ENB ini pretty heavily yesterday and installed the Optimized Vanilla Textures mod, and went from brief stutter hiccups every twenty seconds or so to only stuttering in the usual heavy areas. I also went from CTD every 40 minutes or so to one CTD over a four hour period. Any help with ferreting out my ini issues would be greatly appreciated. A bit of info below with INI files attached.

 

• 22144MB according to the DX9 VRAM test tool
• Windows 7 Ultimate
• NVIDIA GeForce 980 Ti 6GB
• 32GB RAM
• Intel Core i7-4790K @ 4.00GHz
• 64 active plugins, 71 total
• Mod Organizer

 

I realize it might be a Mod conflict issue doing it, but I'd like to hammer out the INIs first before looking at the mods (though there's no doubt issues there too). I ran Skyrim for an hour and just uploaded the performance screenshot for the session. What baffles me is that it reports I used 86% of the GPU when the max VRAM used was 2003MB. That's only 32.6% of the available VRAM. Even if you add the max 2008MB of Memory used on top of that you still only get to 65% use (and considering based on my understanding that whatever is loaded in VRAM is also loaded in regular RAM I would not add these two values).

 

I followed the STEP guide for ini tweaks, using BethIni to generate initially before working back through them when that seemed to create issues. So I'm at a bit of a loss here about what I should change, what I should keep, and what my ini files should look like based on my actual setup.

 

Here's the Skyrim ini

 

 

[Actor]
fVisibleNavmeshMoveDist=12288

[Archive]
bInvalidateOlderFiles=0
sInvalidationFile=ArchiveInvalidation.txt
sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa
sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

[Audio]
fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0
fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0
fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0
fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0

[Camera]
fMouseWheelZoomSpeed=10.00

[Combat]
bForceNPCsUseAmmo=1
f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7
f1PBoltTiltUpAngle=0.7
f3PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7
fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0
fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0

[Controls]
fMouseHeadingSensitivityMax=0.0625
fMouseHeadingXScale=0.0200
fMouseHeadingYScale=0.8500

[Decals]
bDecals=1
uMaxSkinDecalPerActor=20
uMaxSkinDecals=35

[Display]
bAllowScreenshot=0
fDecalLifetime=240
fLightLODMaxStartFade=4569
fLightLODRange=9623
fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000
fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000
fSunShadowUpdateTime=0.25
fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5
iPresentInterval=1

[General]
bBackgroundLoadVMData=1
fEncumberedReminderTimer=60
fFlickeringLightDistance=8192
sIntroSequence=
sLanguage=ENGLISH
uExterior Cell Buffer=36
uGridsToLoad=5

[GeneralWarnings]
SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information.

[Grass]
bAllowCreateGrass=1
bAllowLoadGrass=0
bDrawShaderGrass=1
fGrassFadeRange=7500
fGrassWindMagnitudeMax=125
fGrassWindMagnitudeMin=5
iGrassCellRadius=2
iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7
iMinGrassSize=40

[interface]
bShowTutorials=0

[LightingShader]
fDecalLODFadeEnd=0.3
fDecalLODFadeStart=0.2
fEnvmapLODFadeEnd=0.4
fEnvmapLODFadeStart=0.3

[LOD]
fDistanceMultiplier=1.00

[MapMenu]
fMapWorldMaxPitch=90
fMapWorldMinPitch=0
fMapWorldYawRange=400

[Papyrus]
bEnableLogging=1
bEnableProfiling=0
bEnableTrace=1
bLoadDebugInformation=1
fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=2000

[Trees]
bEnableTreeAnimations=1
bEnableTrees=1
fUpdateBudget=1.5

[Water]
bReflectLODLand=1
bReflectLODObjects=1
bReflectLODTrees=1
bReflectSky=0

 

 

 

SkyrimPrefs

 

[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal0=1.0000
fVal1=1.0000
fVal2=0.5000
fVal3=1.0000
fVal4=1.0000
fVal5=1.0000
fVal6=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID0=1007612
uID1=554685
uID2=466532
uID3=94881
uID4=0
uID5=0
uID6=0
uID7=0

[Clouds]
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000

[Controls]
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bGamePadRumble=1
bInvertYValues=0
bUseKinect=0
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125

[Decals]
uMaxDecals=100

[Display]
bDeferredShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bDrawShadows=1
bFloatPointRenderTarget=0
bFull Screen=1
bFXAAEnabled=0
bMainZPrepass=0
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bShadowsOnGrass=1
bTransparencyMultisampling=0
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
fDecalLOD1=1000
fDecalLOD2=1500
fGamma=1.0000
fInteriorShadowDistance=3000
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600
fLightLODStartFade=1069
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=5376
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=3456
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048
fShadowBiasScale=1
fShadowDistance=2800
fShadowLODStartFade=200
fSpecularLODStartFade=2000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=3600
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3
iMaxAnisotropy=4
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=60
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=35
iMultiSample=4
iPresentInterval=0
iScreenShotIndex=2
iShadowFilter=3
iShadowMapResolution=1024
iShadowMaskQuarter=4
iShadowMode=3
iSize H=1080
iSize W=1920
iTexMipMapMinimum=1
iTexMipMapSkip=1
iWaterMultiSamples=0
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti"

[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=2

[General]
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1

[Grass]
b30GrassVS=0
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=6500
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0
fGrassStartFadeDistance=2500

[imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1

[interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=1
bGeneralSubtitles=1
bShowCompass=1
fMouseCursorSpeed=1.00

[Launcher]
bEnableFileSelection=1

[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultActors=6.0
fLODFadeOutMultItems=3.0
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=5.0
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1

[MAIN]
bCrosshairEnabled=1
bGamepadEnable=1
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnRest=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=600000

[Particles]
iMaxDesired=6000

[saveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=30.0000

[TerrainManager]
bShowLODInEditor=0
fBlockLevel0Distance=20000
fBlockLevel1Distance=42000
fBlockMaximumDistance=90000
fSplitDistanceMult=0.750
fTreeLoadDistance=25600

[Trees]
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=40

[Water]
bUseWaterDepth=1
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
iWaterReflectHeight=1024
iWaterReflectWidth=1024

 

 

 

ENBLocal

 

 

[PROXY]
EnableProxyLibrary=false
InitProxyFunctions=false
ProxyLibrary=other_d3d9.dll

[GLOBAL]
UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=true
UseDefferedRendering=false
IgnoreCreationKit=true

[PERFORMANCE]
SpeedHack=true
EnableOcclusionCulling=true

[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false
ReservedMemorySizeMb=128
VideoMemorySizeMb=21974
EnableCompression=false
AutodetectVideoMemorySize=false

[THREADS]
DataSyncMode=0
PriorityMode=0
EnableUnsafeFixes=false

[MULTIHEAD]
ForceVideoAdapterIndex=false
VideoAdapterIndex=0

[WINDOW]
ForceBorderless=true
ForceBorderlessFullscreen=false

[ENGINE]
ForceAnisotropicFiltering=true
MaxAnisotropy=16
ForceLodBias=false
LodBias=0.0
AddDisplaySuperSamplingResolutions=false
EnableVSync=true
VSyncSkipNumFrames=0

[LIMITER]
WaitBusyRenderer=false
EnableFPSLimit=false
FPSLimit=60.0

[iNPUT]
//shift
KeyCombination=16
//f12
KeyUseEffect=123
//home
KeyFPSLimit=36
//num / 106
KeyShowFPS=106
//print screen
KeyScreenshot=44
//enter
KeyEditor=13
//f4
KeyFreeVRAM=115
//B
KeyBruteForce=66
KeyDepthOfField=118

[ADAPTIVEQUALITY]
Enable=false
Quality=1
DesiredFPS=20.0

[ANTIALIASING]
EnableEdgeAA=true
EnableTemporalAA=false
EnableSubPixelAA=true

[FIX]
FixGameBugs=true
FixParallaxBugs=false
FixParallaxTerrain=false
FixAliasedTextures=true
IgnoreLoadingScreen=true
IgnoreInventory=true
FixTintGamma=true
RemoveBlur=false
FixSubSurfaceScattering=true
FixSkyReflection=true
FixCursorVisibility=true
FixLag=false

[LONGEXPOSURE]
EnableLongExposureMode=false
Time=1.0
BlendMax=0.0

 

 

Screenshot from the Skyrim Performance Monitor

 

https://imgur.com/hgQRB1U

 

I have the feeling that whatever is clogging up the game is some conflict between SkyrimPrefs and ENBLocal, or maybe something between the ENB ini and my NVIDIA settings. I'm just a bit lost here, because while I'm not in love with running top tier graphics everything with the mods I actually have running (just Bijin AIO, the Apachii Skyhair, and UNP as far as heavy texture replacers go) I shouldn't have to really rely on optimized textures mods and the medium graphics preset to keep down the stutter when my video card is supposedly no slouch .

Edited December 30, 2017 by Septemvile

[Grospolina]

You have it in ENBoost mode (UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=true). Are you sure that ENB is working? It should say something like "ENBSeries 0.319 for TES Skyrim" in the top-left corner when the game starts.

 

For enblocal.ini, you could try these changes:

[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false
EnableCompression=true

Do you have any grass mods? If you do, then make sure that [Grass] iMinGrassSize in Skyrim.ini is set correctly. If you have Verdant, the author recommends a minimum of 60. The default is 20 and you currently have it set at 40 (higher = less grass).

 

Also, make sure you have the SKSE Memory Patch set up.

[Septemvile]

I thought everyone was supposed to use ENBoost mode to stablize? I don't use any ENB presets, but according to the STEP guide I should have ExpandSystemMemoryX64=True unless the DefaultScrapHeapAllocation in SKSI.ini is higher than 768. It does 'work' because I do get the ENBSeries popup.

 

I originally did have EnableCompression=true, but I made it false the other day and that might have reduced some of my stutter. STEP recommends turning it off if you have more than 2GB of VRAM and I have 6 (or if you start getting close to the VRAM limit, which according to the Performance Monitor I'm nowhere near).

 

I forgot to post it earlier, but my SKSE.ini is

 

[General]
ClearInvalidRegistrations=1
EnableDiagnostics=1

[Display]
iTintTextureResolution=2048

[Memory]
DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768
ScrapHeapSizeMB=256

 

 

I don't have any grass mods, but I turned the setting up higher to have less grass and better performance.

[Grospolina]

Yes, ENBoost is highly recommended if you're not using an ENB preset. I was just clarifying. I find it strange that it caps at around 2GB, as ENBoost should allow you to go over 3.1GB.

 

ExpandSystemMemoryX64 should be set to false, as it can conflict with Sheson's Memory Patch, which I see you have enabled in your SKSE.ini. This is relatively newer information (Jan 2015), and S.T.E.P. now recommends it.

 

EnableCompression=true can save you RAM, but possibly cause stutter. You should experiment with either setting.

 

I can't find anything wrong with your INIs, especially since you're already using BethINI. Since you don't have an ENB, it should be blazing fast. Can you post your plugins list and modlist?

 

Edit: fixed font

Edited January 5, 2018 by Grospolina

[Septemvile]

Okay, so what I ended up doing was rebuilding my INIs. I used the BethINI 'high' preset (was using 'medium' before), and followed the STEP guide for it. Then I used the skyrimmods reddit group ENB guide with only a couple of minor adjustments.

 

• Vsync on in ENBLocal (was getting screentear)
• iFPSClamp=58.6 in Skyrim.Ini

At this point running around Whiterun generates no microstutter at all. I went for a jog through Markarth and the forests around Riften and the difference is ridiculous. I was warned I might get a bit of slowmotion in those areas because of the clamp but I ran around the countryside like a greased weasel. It felt like I was moving at 1.25x speed or something, the change was so dramatic.

 

As for the iffy numbers from the performance monitor, I'm thinking it might be best to handwave it. It might just be a brief memory spike that drives the GPU use up to "99%", since I ran a few short sessions today and I get similar spikes and percent reports regardless of if max VRAM used is 1.4GB or 2.3GB.

 

The only problem I still have is I get this microstutter during loading screens. You know, when it does that slow zoom up to whatever they're showing off during the load?

Edited December 30, 2017 by Septemvile

[Grospolina]

Alright, I'm glad you got it working!

 

I wouldn't worry about the loading screen. It does that.