Went mod crazy, can't figure out what's causing CTDs

[TheSelphos]

Okay so I've been having this problem to various degrees depending on what mods I install and whether I try to load them into a previous save that had less or more mods, or just make a new game. I don't really understand how all this works, so I figured I might as well try asking.

 

Under the current conditions, my game died after I tried exiting and re-entering Helgen Keep twice (note that I have Quick Start - Skip the Opening Sequence enabled). With most of my attempted configurations I get a CTD after an hour or so, but sometimes it lasts as long as four or five. I've had it sometimes where it doesn't crash at all, but I can't remember what I had at those points.

 

My computer runs 32-bit Vista, with a processor listed as Intel Pentium Dual CPU E2160 @ 1.80GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.8 GHz, and 2GB RAM, which is DDR2 if that's important. I upgraded the graphics card to a GeForce GTX 460 last year, with 1.5GB VRAM. I think that's all the specs I need to list?

 

My mods are as follows:

 

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/3315/skyrimmodspart1.png

http://img560.imageshack.us/img560/2627/skyrimmodspart2.png

 

 

And my load order is as BOSS places them, except with the parts of Realistic Lighting moved to the bottom as recommended.

 

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

SoS - The Dungeons.esp

SoS - The Wilds.esp

StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp

dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

Fixed Followers.esp

ImprovedSkillBooks.esp

ValsCraftingMeltdownAlpha.esp

DragonBoneWeaponsComplete.esp

Smithing Perks Overhaul - Balanced.esp

Weapons and Armor fixes.esp

Weapons and Armor fixes - Hacks.esp

Complete Crafting Overhaul - BS version.esp

DeadlyDragons.esp

DeadlyDragonsCreature.esp

DeadlyDragonsEF.esp

Proudspire Manor - Dragonborn Edition.esp

AT - Faster Arrows Improved +25%.esp

AT - Recover 25% More Arrows.esp

AT - Increased Progressive Damage (BS and CCO) +50%.esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Spells.esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Soul Gems (Ranked).esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Ingredients.esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Food (Normal Weight).esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Books.esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Potions (Normal Weight).esp

Headbomb's Better Sorting - Ammo.esp

WATER.esp

WATER - Get Wet.esp

UnlimitedBookshelves.esp

dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

DeadlySpellImpacts.esp

DeadlySpellImpacts - Two Fire.esp

Duel - Combat Realism.esp

Better Dynamic Snow.esp

Natural Skyrim Rain.esp

Realistic Lighting.esp

Quick Start - Skip the Opening Sequence.esp

Unique Region Names.esp

 

 

So, uh, help please?

Edited April 20, 2012 by TheSelphos

[Werne]

HD textures and a mesh improvement mod on 2GB system RAM? And if you increased the graphics to the point where your game is starting to lag, every time you enter an area that demands more RAM you'll CTD. Also, do the objects and creatures start disappearing before your game crashes?

 

The load order seems good to me, though you should consider making a bashed patch.

[TheSelphos]

I encounter virtually no lag whatsoever. I used to, but then I realized that cranking up anti-aliasing and such was a stupid idea.

 

And no, the CTD is completely without warning. It can occur as a map loads or just in the middle of walking around without anything supposing it'll crash.

[IBN5100]

Well, Sounds of Skyrim caused CTDs for me, maybe it wasn't updated to support the new nav meshes? So I uninstalled that and it fixed most of my CTDs, might have to start a new game though. I was afraid it was going to be Sounds of Skyrim D: Edited April 20, 2012 by IBN5100

[TheSelphos]

Removing SoS didn't change anything, so that's not the problem, thank god. So what's this about a bashed patch?

[TheSelphos]

Um, bumping this back up. Can someone explain in actually understandable terms how to use Wrye Bash? I've tried looking at tutorials and they don't make sense to me.

[eternalautumn]

I had to get rid of the WATER get wet effect in my mods, so you might want to give that one a shot.

[bben46]

You have only 2G of system ram. That is enough to run the vanilla game and a few mods. While the game can use 2G of ram, a portion of that (About .3G )MUST be reserved for Windows and a few other critical things.There is no way around this. IF you don't have anything at all running in the background you have a little over 1.5G of Ram to use for the game.

 

If the game needs more than the allowed amount of ram, you WILL get a CTD. Loading a new area often takes extra ram which is released after the loading is finished. This is where you are likely getting most of your CTDs.

 

You may try increasing your pagefile size to see if that makes much difference. It might cause some temporary slow downs while the hard drive swaps data in and out to take some load off of the system ram. The standard page file value for a 2G ram system is 2346 MB, try doubling that and checking to see if it helps. If not, change it back.

 

Your video card is fine. The processor is a little weak but seems to be handling the load. Your weak spot is system ram. Fortunately, that is usually the least expensive and easiest to fix. 4G of system ram will bring the game useable ram up to about 3G - double what you have now. More than 4G is useless in a 32 bit computer - it cannot be used. Note: Most 32 bit programs (like Skyrim) can only use 2G max ram by default. However, Beth added the LAA (Large Address Aware) patch to Skyrim allowing it to use more than 2G. But it still cannot use more than 4G because of the 32 bit limitation - this is not something that can be fixed.

 

Be sure to use Ram with the same specs as what you already have.

 

If you have a single stick of 2G ram and 2 ram slots - add another 2G stick. If you have 2 sticks and 4 ram slots add 2 more 1G sticks. If you don't have any open slots replace what you have - If you have 2, 1G sticks and no open slots get 2 - 2G sticks and NOT a single 4G. If you have 4 slots and no open slots 2 - 2G or 4 - 1G will work - just check your motherboard documentation (online if you don't have a copy) to see which slots to use with 2 sticks. :thumbsup:

[TheSelphos]

A useful contribution! And from a moderator! Thank God!

 

*Ahem.*

 

Well, see, here's the thing. My computer was originally only pulling 1gb RAM, I took it in to the local FRY'S some years back to see if I could improve that. The dudes at the store told me that two 1GB sticks is literally the best my motherboard can handle. Anything higher won't run. So, I dunno, I don't think they would've lied to me about that.

 

I'll see what I can do about the pagefile, but otherwise, thank you for at least explaining how this business works.

[bben46]

Give me either the maker & model number of the motherboard, or the maker & model number of the computer. I can track it and find out just what you can put in it. Nearly all Motherboards can handle more than 2G of Ram - unless they are more than 10 years old. :unsure: However, there are exceptions.

 

Many low end motherboards (Dell) have 2 ram slots. If one was already filled, the Fry's tech may have taken the easy route and just added one more for 2G.

 

The current price of good quality DDR2 is about US$60 for a 2 stick 4G set. And you may be able to find it for under US$50 on sale