3GB 7950 still not enough?

[tVEC]

Folks I have been tooling around with Skyrim for over 6 weeks and I just want to play. Granted I have mods and it is all my own doing but I have come to the conclusion that my issue is not necessarily mods but hardware and/or game engine related.

 

The reason being that I have tested all of my mods one by one and there is no mod I can say is the culprit. I have CTDs every 10 min or so, always during or just after a cell change. 90% of them are exterior to interior cell changes.

Looking at MSI afterburner I see that my highest vram usage is about 3030 MB. Average is about 2600-2800. Temps never go above 65 C and usually hover around 57-60 C. I have heard that the game engine does not like 4096 textures so I have stuck to 2048.

 

Steps I have taken to fix the problem:

 

Installed new HD 7950 and drivers

 

Deleted skyrim folder, reinstalled steam. Fresh install of skyrim and vanilla ini's.

 

about 1500 other things if you want to know but trust me in 6 weeks between me, google, and the Nexus we have tried everything.

 

SO I'm guessing that as I add mods and increase VRAM usage, it is causing instability...however I was using a 1GB HD 6790 on a different install, same computer, same mods, and NEVER had CTDs like this that I couldn't fix.

 

So I ran the texture optimizer and that brought down the VRAM a little.... about 10-15%. But is 3000 MB of VRAM over the top? I use texture pack combiner and these mods:

 

 

Active Mod Files:

 

00  Skyrim.esm
01  Update.esm
02  Dawnguard.esm
03  ApachiiHair.esm
04  ApachiiHairFemales.esm
05  ClimatesOfTamriel.esm
06  SPIKE.esm
07  HighResTexturePack01.esp
08  HighResTexturePack02.esp
09  Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp  [Version 1.2.7]
0A  Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp  [Version 1.1.4]
0B  MoreSnowWindyand75percentLessView.esp
0C  Better Dynamic Snow.esp
0D  Rainbows.esp
0E  Improved Combat Sounds v2.2.esp
0F  EnhancedLightsandFX.esp
10  RLO - Dungeons for ELnFX.esp
11  RLO - Illuminated Spells for ELnFX.esp
12  RLO - Major City Interiors for ELnFX.esp
13  RLO - Minor Cities & Town Interiors for ELnFX.esp
14  realrainCoT.esp
15  ClimatesOfTamriel-VanillaNights-Lvl-1.esp
16  ClimatesOfTamriel-Dawnguard-Patch.esp
17  Weapons and Armor fixes.esp
18  Weapons and Armor fixes - Hacks.esp
19  ImprovedScImpUniforms - Vanilla only.esp
1A  JK Crafting Breakdown.esp
1B  Lanterns Of Skyrim - Around Cities_bright.esp
1C  Lanterns Of Skyrim - Villages.esp
1D  Lost Art of the Blacksmith.esp
1E  More Craftables.esp
1F  Radiant and Unique Potions Poisons and Booze.esp
20  ShootingStars.esp
21  Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp
22  ValsCraftingMeltdownAlpha.esp
23  SkyUI.esp
24  iHUD.esp
25  Bucklers Only.esp
26  1nivWICCloaks.esp  [Version 2.1b]
27  DragonboneCrossbow.esp
28  Drow Armor Set.esp
29  Henrys Ring of Light.esp
2A  hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp
2B  isilNarsil.esp
2C  Magicka Sabers.esp
2D  Masters of Death - Sicarius Armor (Standalone).esp
2E  MegaShields.esp
2F  Northborn Fur Hoods.esp
30  Wandererarmor.esp
31  RealisticWhiterun.esp
32  Trees for Solitude V1.1.esp
33  Essential dogs v2.esp
34  Immersive Weapons.esp
35  LessDragonsNMQ50.esp
36  Proper Aiming.esp
37  SFO - Expanded Diversity.esp
38  Silence The Bards.esp
39  dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp
3A  dD-Dawnguard-EBT Patch.esp
3B  dD-No Screen Blood.esp
3C  VariousGuardReplacer.esp
3D  ExpandedWinterholdRuinsExterior.esp
3E  qmod04jump.esp
3F  dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp
40  DeadlySpellImpacts.esp
41  DeadlySpellImpacts - Two Fire.esp
42  Realistic crime report radius zero.esp
43  ABT - Faster Arrows Improved +100%.esp
44  ABT - Faster Bolts Improved +100%.esp
45  ABT - Progressive Damage (Vanilla).esp
46  ABT - Recover +10% Arrows and Bolts.esp
47  StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp
48  Uncapped Perks.esp
49  ApachiiHairStyles.esp
4A  ApachiiHairStylesELVES.esp
4B  Beards.esp
4C  TheEyesOfBeauty.esp
4D  CamillaValerius.esp
4E  Arcadia.esp
4F  Ysolda.esp
50  CarlottaValentia.esp
51  Sexier Housecarls.esp
52  moveit.esp
53  getSnowy.esp
54  WATER.esp
55  RaceMenu.esp
56  Warburg's 3D Paper World Map - Texture 1.esp
57  warburg's 3d paper world map - dawnguard.esp
58  DibellasCompulsion-NudeSpell-1-1.esp
59  real race heights.esp

 

 

OS on Crucial M4 128GB SSD

game on OCZ 60GB SSD

i5-2500k @ 4.0 Ghz

8GB RAM @ 2133 Mhz

3GB HD7950 OC to 990/1500

Edited February 6, 2013 by tVEC

[SineWaveDrox]

I noticed that you say that you have the texture pack combiner. I have had issues related to using this. The issue is that it is too awesome and Skyrim simply cannot handle it. From what I understand, Skyrim is only able to address as limited amount of RAM, and when it tries to use more than that, it will CTD. Large texture packs tend to use quite a bit of RAM, and seem to cause this, at least for me. I have a second monitor set up, so I can stare at Skyrim's RAM usage while playing, and it will crash as soon as it tries to use more than 3GB. Perhaps this is your problem as well. The only potential solution I have found is to open up the console periodically and type PCB. This will clear out anything that is not needed, and can postpone the crash.

[tVEC]

Yes I agree...however I played a while witht he texture pack combiner installed with no CTDs...it is the other texture mods that broke the camel's back. I suppose I will need to whittle it down even more.

 

I am also trying Set Priority to set the process to above normal.

 

I guess what stumps me was my ability to run these mods with a HD 6790....

 

I really need an auto PCB like was made for Oblivion.

Edited February 6, 2013 by tVEC

[Cait833]

You should add the HighResTexturePack .bsas to your Skyrim.ini, (C drive, user documents, games (or my games), Skyrim) under the archive section, after textures, and then uncheck them (or delete the .esps) in your mod manager. This will allow other textures to override/replace them. Edited February 6, 2013 by Cait833

[tVEC]

You should add the HighResTexturePack .bsas to your Skyrim.ini, (C drive, user documents, games (or my games), Skyrim) under the archive section, after textures, and then uncheck them (or delete the .esps) in your mod manager. This will allow other textures to override/replace them.

 

 

I've always had them in the archive list.

 

I'm trying out ATTK, and also PCB every so often from a hotkey.

[ripple]

I really need an auto PCB like was made for Oblivion.

 

Purging cell buffers has been known to break running quest scripts and 'scenes.' This is why the auto-PCB mod for Skyrim was discontinued. If you are experiencing memory leak issues and feel you would benefit from PCB, it's better that you do this manually via the console or AHK hotkey. I recommend after 5 or 6 cell transitions at least. Otherwise, you might as well edit the ini to auto PCB after every cell transition.

Edited February 6, 2013 by ripple

[Echoside]

You should add the HighResTexturePack .bsas to your Skyrim.ini, (C drive, user documents, games (or my games), Skyrim) under the archive section, after textures, and then uncheck them (or delete the .esps) in your mod manager. This will allow other textures to override/replace them.

 

 

I've always had them in the archive list.

 

I'm trying out ATTK, and also PCB every so often from a hotkey.

 

Yes but you have the ESP active on your mod list. You don't need to use the esp if your loading the BSA in the INI. That might actually be causing crashes since it trying to double load the same thing... The BSA and then the ESP.

 

You also might want to try Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9080) and just skip using the BSA/ESP for the texture pack.

 

As a side note, I'm using a GTX 680 4gb card and even with a good number of 2048 retex mods I rarely spike over 3gbs of Vram.

[tVEC]

You should add the HighResTexturePack .bsas to your Skyrim.ini, (C drive, user documents, games (or my games), Skyrim) under the archive section, after textures, and then uncheck them (or delete the .esps) in your mod manager. This will allow other textures to override/replace them.

 

 

I've always had them in the archive list.

 

I'm trying out ATTK, and also PCB every so often from a hotkey.

 

Yes but you have the ESP active on your mod list. You don't need to use the esp if your loading the BSA in the INI. That might actually be causing crashes since it trying to double load the same thing... The BSA and then the ESP.

 

You also might want to try Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/9080) and just skip using the BSA/ESP for the texture pack.

 

As a side note, I'm using a GTX 680 4gb card and even with a good number of 2048 retex mods I rarely spike over 3gbs of Vram.

 

 

Hi

 

OK, I see what you are saying...funny thing is that I only recently activated the dlc .esp's because I was getting crashes with them deactivated...I heard something about them causing CTD's so it was an experiment.

 

Using attk light, and pcb via hotkey, I haven't had any crashes.....maybe I should run a test on my RAM? I have no BSOD in my OS however.....

 

Also after doing this I noticed my vram mostly stays between 2100 and 2600 MB

 

I noticed that the Bethesda Hi-Res DLC Optimized file size is much smaller that the Official DLC so I figured it acted as a patch only, so I used both.

 

 

So...if I add a bsa to my archive list, files in the Data file override it....but it also loads without the esp activated?

 

Thanks for the help.

Edited February 8, 2013 by tVEC

[Echoside]

Load order goes INI BSA, ESP content, Loose Files if I recall correctly.

 

They made the ESP file for the HRTexpack mainly for your less then knowledgeable players who don't or haven't modded before.

 

However, from what you've said about ATTK and PCB helping it sounds to me like something with the ram or priority/background programs. If you do a lot of fast traveling you use the Unload Cells on Fast Travel option in the SkyrimPrefs.ini

 

Add this to SkyrimPrefs.ini

[backgroundLoad]

bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1

 

Hopefully any of this helps with your game.

[tVEC]

Load order goes INI BSA, ESP content, Loose Files if I recall correctly.

 

They made the ESP file for the HRTexpack mainly for your less then knowledgeable players who don't or haven't modded before.

 

However, from what you've said about ATTK and PCB helping it sounds to me like something with the ram or priority/background programs. If you do a lot of fast traveling you use the Unload Cells on Fast Travel option in the SkyrimPrefs.ini

 

Add this to SkyrimPrefs.ini

[backgroundLoad]

bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1

 

Hopefully any of this helps with your game.

Hey there,

Thanks for your help....I have been playing a while with no CTDs.... I used the fast travel purge setting, I also reduced the cell buffer size in the skyrim.ini from 36 to 24. This plus PCB-ing every now and then has helped.