Commited Memory

[nms499]

I am trying to learn how things work with Skyrim and there is so much info out there it can be hard to sort through it all. In my experience the longer you play Skyrim the more memory it uses. If I run around outside for awhile all the different tools I use to monitor memory usage the more it goes up. If I go into a dungeon or something indoors the memory usage just goes higher. But if I save the game in the dungeon, exit Skyrim, open it back up the memory usage resets, and Skyrim uses much less being that it is indoors. Don't you think if Skyrim unloads the memory it used while outside and only uses what is needed indoors thing would run more smoothly? Running around outside runs smoothly, I'm using all the best textures completely S.T.E.P. modded. But if I then go inside it starts running like crap, and if I go outside it continues to run like crap. So I think Skyrim loads what it needs but doesn't seem to unload it when it is not needed anymore. So my question/idea is, every time Skyrim goes to its load screen when transitioning from one area to another, is there a way to uncommit to the memory needed for the previous area when loading into a new one? I have been saving, closing, and reopening and that keeps things running smoothly once it starts to get bogged down. I have used the ini settings of unload cell on fast travel and preemptively unloading cells but that hasn't seemed to have an effect. I will max out at like 11gb committed memory and the only way I can seem to get that to lower is close Skyrim. Can someone help me to undrstand this better and tell me if there is a way to get Skyrim to uncommit other than closing.

[PharmakosChroster]

The phenomenon to which you're referring is called a "memory leak," and if Bethesda was competent to fix them they wouldn't be present in every game they've released since Arena. Memory leaks are the result of poor programming. Memory leaks are possible to find and fix but they're notoriously hard to find and Bethesda is too busy removing functionality from their games for the console cretins to worry about the quality of their core programming. Their design philosophy seems to be, "Push it till it moves."

[nms499]

I wonder how much memory leaking is caused by left over scripts from uninstalled mods? The toon I'm playing now I've been very careful to keep the save file as clean as can be, all my missing scripts are from updating mods not uninstalling them. I try to find the missing scripts .psc file, erase all content but the scripts name and make an empty .pex file to run in place of the original script. That stops the script from producing errors from being missing. I assume that in itself creates some errors but has to be less than not having it all.

 

As for the committed memory issue, I increased the amount of virtual memory, and am using a 4 gb usb flash drive using ready boost. So now I have a total of 19 gb available committed memory, I've never seen it go above 12 gb but haven't done much testing. My old available was less than 12 and I would use it all. I also am now using a memory manager for my ram. I have 6 gb of ram but most the time it was committed to a little over 2 before playing Skyrim and once again I would use it all while playing. With the memory manager it drops the committed ram to under 1.5 gb so now it allows Skyim to use 4 gb being a 32 bit app and I have still some left.

 

I have a 5970 but only the 1 gb version, so I wish I had vram more but the game runs smother now that I have tried to optimize my virtual memory. I stopped using the ini setting bPreemptivelyUnloadCells=0 because it didn't seem to help so you have it wonder if it hurts. Not even sure Skyrim recognizes the setting because most info I found had it as a Fallout setting. I am using bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1 and my committed memory drops by at least 2 gb on fast travel. Haven't tested if there is a drop with it unselected, probably get around to it eventually.

 

Another setting I am just about to test is bUseHardDriveCache=1, it had been off but I want to see if it helps with Ready boost. They say Ready Boost performance increase with use so I am gonna have to try it for awhile. I wish I could use Ready boost for more than 4 gb because I would test using a 16 gb usb and turn off the hard drive virtual memory. Most readings say Ready Boost is only for systems with not much ram but seeing the 32 bit apps max at 4 gb, which is enough for many apps and ones that need more are more likely to be 64 bit, but games like Skyrim that are only 32 bit would definitively benefit from more if you could. So I think most detractors of using Ready Boost that say it is for less ram or people that say it is better to just increase your ram, haven't taken into consideration 32 bit apps that cap ram at 4 but could use more.

 

That leads me to wonder if Ready Boost would be faster the a partitioned hard drive just for virtual memory? I only have 1 hard drive and they say with virtual memory is slower than unpartitioned but faster if you have 2. You need to partition a hard drive for virtual memory that windows isn't on.

 

I also wonder if they will start making flash drives optimized for Ready Boost and or for use with games. Faster read write speeds and you can optimize the drive for file types. I was formatted for fat32 but reformatted for exfat but haven't tested. So I need to research using it with usb3, file formats fat32, exfat, and ntfs. I read you can use exfat for up to 8 gb but only have a 4 gb drive.

 

I am sharing all this to hopefully save someone like me from having to piece all this info from different places and saving them some time.

Edited July 27, 2012 by nms499

[GrandBulwark]

Skyrim Project Stability:

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/32363

 

My guide will fix all of that. Well fix isn't really the right word... It treats the issue by helping Skyrim clean out it's RAM cache. If you follow this guide you may NEVER see "AppHangB1" ever again. Good riddance BTW it works for computers on any level.

Edited April 1, 2013 by GrandBulwark