Weird load times

[SirDanest]

I have fallout 4 on an ssd.
Without a single mod, it loads almost instantly. With a gigantic mod list, it takes at least several minutes to load (and I think that's to be expected that it would load more slowly) -- but the thing is, if I immediately quit, and reload, it pops up very quickly, even with the huge mod load. What part of the computer is responsible for this, that loading the game for a second time happens so much faster than the first time it's loaded?

[yuser]

My assumption: if you have a very big amount of memory, the system brings many (maybe the most) of things from a RAM, where these things had been cached during first launch.

Though this is very strange anyway. I have a quite big mod list (about 600 active mods, including 428 ESM/ESL/ESP files) and game takes about 1 min to start. And 1st and 2nd starts takes almost the same time. Of course the OS, game and game saves are of SSDs. And I have 16 Gb of RAM, not to much for 2019.

[G4M3W1NN3R]

I have fallout 4 on an ssd.

Without a single mod, it loads almost instantly. With a gigantic mod list, it takes at least several minutes to load (and I think that's to be expected that it would load more slowly) -- but the thing is, if I immediately quit, and reload, it pops up very quickly, even with the huge mod load. What part of the computer is responsible for this, that loading the game for a second time happens so much faster than the first time it's loaded?

thats called Data Caching. where System Memory will temporarily store data.

 

both the SSD and System Ram does this.

 

Upon system reboot or shutdown, the System Ram will be flushed, basically meaning anything it Cached will be deleted, which is the design of System Memory to temporarily store data. which is Randomaly Accessed hence System Ram Random Access Memory.

 

perfect example of this, is internet browsers. load a Web Page, then close the browser then load the same page, notice how it loads much faster and will continue to load much faster, Applies to both the Browser and Web Page

 

the Data is Cached so that is can be served faster. but it is only present on the active session, as soon as the session ends (System Reboot or Shutdown), it is then flushed

 

this will apply to every single activity you do on your computer, everything gets Cached and will load much faster after its initial execution (even simple stuff like double clicking on Harddrives).

 

another example: double click on my computer, then immediately close it and load it again, much faster the second time round, and each time after that.

 

Note: The Data Cache will always be deleted upon session end (System Shutdown or Reboot) and Re-created again on the New Session once an activity has been executed at least once.

[StormWolf01]

Very well put there, gamewinner.

I'm not gonna get nitpicky about browsers having their own cache files tho :) Just cuz there's no point to it, and I respect ya too much ;)

 

Also keep in mind the huge amount of graphics data that has to get processed while loading a cell in this game. Especially if you are running the huge graphics version of the game. There are just boatloads of meshes, textures, ambients, and god knows whatever else our poor GPU and CPU has to throw together. And some of these graphics files are Not small. Now throw in processing scripts. Generally speaking, that doesn't take too long. Unless they are large spanning scripts that tag a lot of different items. If you're in a settlement, it also has to load Alllllllllll the goings on of those, and sometimes that is NOT game friendly. Especially if it's a large settlement, with a lot of mobs, doing a lot of things.

 

I haven't loaded up even a quarter of my mods on this install yet. My load times are "ok", unless I'm in an area like downtown. Everybody gets hit, there.

Except for my loading time for that ***damn intro movie! THAT takes forever and a day!! *Lightbulb!* I wonder if stripping out about half of pre-war santuary and gut out the surrounding area, would cut down on that? UUUUUGH, That would mean CK!! NM!!!

 

I don't know a lot about cutting down those load times, other than going with lower graphics on the textures and meshes, cutting down the amount of clutter in a cell, and trying to get away from level lists as much as you can. I got over doing the settlement thing, so that's not too rough on me, tho I do know some folks really enjoy it still.

 

Too bad Beth never got into instancing cells like a lot of MMORPGS do.

[SirDanest]

Yeah, that's sounds plausible. I have an ssd and 16 gb of ram, while my processor and gpu are fairly older, so the initial load is slow but then for future loads the ram and ssd are more important, and not as old as the rest of the computer. *nods*
My load times in-game aren't that bad, it's just loading up the game from the first moment that takes a long time. I've heard the load time for the game-startup is tied to the framerate speed, so the processor is the culprit I am sure.

[G4M3W1NN3R]

Yeah, that's sounds plausible. I have an ssd and 16 gb of ram, while my processor and gpu are fairly older, so the initial load is slow but then for future loads the ram and ssd are more important, and not as old as the rest of the computer. *nods*

My load times in-game aren't that bad, it's just loading up the game from the first moment that takes a long time. I've heard the load time for the game-startup is tied to the framerate speed, so the processor is the culprit I am sure.

 

"I've heard the load time for the game-startup is tied to the framerate speed"

 

Not entirely true, i have tried both capped 62 FPS and uncapped 600+ Fps, which made absolutely no difference to load times (including Game Start Up and Loading Screens).

 

Game Start-Up is Entirely down to Harddrive Speed and the CPU (to an extent). ENB will slow down the Start Up considerably. The Game will start up much faster if it is installed on an SSD, rather then an Internal Haddrive. if their is no ENB, and the game is installed on a fast SSD, it will start up practically instantly. thus essentially making the CPU Speed Irrelevant here

 

other things that will have an impact on game start up, will be Background Tasks etc.

 

with regards to loading screens, Fauna, Grass mods and Tree Mods, will have a massive impact on load times.

 

the Harddrive has more of an impact on Game Startup and all Loading Screens then the CPU and GPU, however the CPU and GPU will definitely have a much bigger impact IN Game.

 

i have tested uncapped framerates that exceed 600 frames per second, in all loading screen scenarios including Game Start Up - to Character Customization, and it made no difference at all.

 

perfect example of the Harddrive being the main impact on Loading Screens, is in Skyrim i had it installed on the Internal Harddrive, which gave me 30 second load screens, then with exact same setup, i put it onto an SSD, and this literally turned that 30 seconds, in to 5 - 10 seconds.

 

another example is windows boot up times, SSD = Extremely Fast, Internal HDD = much slower. same situation, Harddrive makes a much bigger impact then CPU in this scenrio, and likewise game start up.