Oblivion modding/playing question for veteran modders.

[ebg2465]

So I have played Skyrim on my PC with about a 150 mods. Even though my system should be able to play on high, the best I can do is play on medium as high kills my VRAM and cause major fps. (even on medium it has some stuttering). I was wondering if I played a modded version of Oblivion if it would run better.

 

I was hoping some Oblivion veterans would be able to suggest if they think my system would have an easier time playing it with mods and bigger textures.

 

Here is my PC setup:

 

Processor

Intel® Core i7 2600K 3.4GHz/3.8GHz Turbo

Memory

16GB Patriot® Division2 G2 DDR3-1600

Motherboard

Intel® DP67BG Extreme USB 3.0, SATA

Graphics Card:

2x NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 570 2.4GB (SLI)

Soundcard

7.1 Channel High Definition Surround Sound

Monitor Size

27"

I play on high setting at 1920X1080.

 

 

I would appreciate any feedback.

 

 

Thanks,

 

EBG2465

[Lanceor]

I have a very similar setup to you. Instead of GTX 570's, I have two 580's. My 2600K is also overclocked to 4.5 GHz (something you can try doing if you have an aftermarket cooler). My system's bottleneck is the amount of VRAM, so if your VRAM is 2.4 GB per card, it will probably run better than on mine.

 

Anyway, here's the loadout that will keep me at 60fps most of the time:

 

Qarl's Texture Pack Redimized

Really Almost Everything Visible When Distant

Landscape LOD Textures by Xerus

OBGE Liquid Water

 

Edit: It's odd that you have to play Skyrim on Medium settings. Even if your VRAM was only 1.2GB per card, your system should be able to handle Ultra very easily. If it's 2.4 GB per card, it should also handle the HRDLC and almost all the texture replacers you can throw at it. Check if SLI is running as it's off by default!

[ebg2465]

I actually have 1.2 each video card but it is 2.4 total and my sli is on. I don't know why I can't run it at high or ultra but the stuttering is driving me nut. It has to be VRAM. I honestly thing that Skyrim was designed for console players and that Bethesda didn't take advantage of sli properly.

 

How are your experiences with Skyrim? Do you think I would have better luck with a heavily modded Oblivion using your suggestions and other mods? Will it stutter and bottleneck.

 

Thanks,

 

EBG2465

[Lanceor]

In an SLI configuration, textures are actually mirrored across the two cards, so the maximum VRAM you have available is the lower of the two.

 

I run Skyrim on Ultra with 4X AA, 16X AF and Ambient Occlusion on the Quality setting. I also have lots of texture replacers (Extreme STEP at baseline settings). If your similarly specced system is struggling with High settings, something is definitely wrong and you should find out what it is before going further. You won't be able to mod Oblivion's graphics heavily if you're struggling with these problems.

 

Grab yourself a program like MSI Afterburner and have it display the your cards' stats while you're playing - GPU usage, VRAM and temperature. It will quickly tell you whether the GPUs are the bottlenecks. You could also have Task Manager running in the background and after a period of low framerates, either tab out or quit the game and quickly check the CPU graphs. (Or run in windowed mode... or have TaskMem up on a second monitor.)

 

Anyway, once you get Skyrim running smoothly on Ultra, your system should be able to run Oblivion with RAEVWD and OBGE Liquid Water and possibly Qarls Texture Pack Redimized.

[ebg2465]

I am taking your advice and trying MSI Afterburner. Do you mean the the top VRAM I can get is 1.2 gb and not 2.4? Do you mind if I PM you with related questions I really appreciate your help!

 

 

Thanks,

 

EBG2465

[Lanceor]

I got your PM. It would be best to answer the questions here so that others can help if I get stuck, and anyone else with the same problems can learn from them. :smile:

 

Yes, that's correct - you only have 1.2 GB VRAM available. Disapointing I know, but I found that out the same way you did.

 

From your PM, you said that your VRAM was maxing out on High and Ultra. Stuttering is the typical symptom of running out of VRAM as the game has to swap textures between normal RAM and VRAM. I think you've identified your bottleneck.

 

What you need to do is remove all your replacement textures INCLUDING the HRDLC. To be honest, I find the default textures to be quite acceptable except when I'm looking at things up close. If Skyrim is running fine and you really must have texture replacers, I suggest using the STEP guide for recommendation on what to get for your particular system specs. (In fact, go lower than what STEP recommends if you're going to install other mods.)

 

Now, back to Oblivion. Vanilla Oblivion ran fine on Ultra settings on my old system with 1GB VRAM. Mods like RAEVWD, OBGE Liquid Water and Unique Landscapes should affect the CPU rather than the GPU so they should be okay for you. Qarl's Texture Pack Redimized will have a big impact on your VRAM, so perhaps install that last and see if the performance:appearance tradeoff is worthwhile.

[ebg2465]

Thank so much for your advise. I will test and check with you again!

[ebg2465]

Hi Lanceor,

 

I have spent this weekend playing around in Skyrim at different settings. I have learned a lot and have decided to reduce all the texture mods I love to vanilla resolutions with Texture Optimizer to keep my VRAM under 1 gb and still play at high with AA at 2X. I wanted to check with you about the face and body textures like CBBE and Better Male. They are at least 2048 or 4096 as opposed to the 512 and 1024. They don't look the same reduced. Do you think a bassically vanilla game can run under 1 gb with every npc having face and body textures?

 

Thanks,

 

ebg2465

[Lanceor]

I don't think skin textures would have a major impact. All NPCs use the same texture, so it only needs to be loaded into VRAM once. (The same can't be said for hair mods of course.)

 

As always, try it out, check how your system handles it and modify your mod list accordingly. :smile: