Skyrim Memory patch 3.0

[Spock]

Guess this will teach all those who said "8Gb is enough for gaming... do not get 16Gb it is a waste" a lesson ;)

 

Nice to see that this is so far working out nicely! Still waiting for the first report of "This fried my computer" hehe

Before I get myself an new 12 GB triple channel kit: The way I understood this is that it changes the way Skyrim allocates ram (not the amount it allocates) to help prevent crashes. I don't really understand how Skyrim is able to allocate more then 4 GB ram with this since it's still a 32 bit application.

Not that I don't believe it's possible, I simply lack the understanding. And I'd like to know what's going on before spending 100€ ;)

ENB binary = d3d9.dll ... ?

 

nm, I see it (enbhost.exe)

As far as I know you need both (dll+enbhost from the wrapper folder).

[WilliamImm]

ENBoost allows Skyrim to allocate more than 4GB by offloading texture memory to a special .exe. This means that Skyrim will itself allocate less memory, but allows total memory allocation to exceed past 4GB.

 

Sent from my Optimus G using Tapatalk

[sheson]

Before I get myself an new 12 GB triple channel kit: The way I understood this is that it changes the way Skyrim allocates ram (not the amount it allocates) to help prevent crashes. I don't really understand how Skyrim is able to allocate more then 4 GB ram with this since it's still a 32 bit application.

Not that I don't believe it's possible, I simply lack the understanding. And I'd like to know what's going on before spending 100€ ;)

You are correct, it changes the way Skyrim allocates ram (not the amount it allocates).

It is still only a 32bit application so it can only address 4GB. Part of the OS needs to be in that address space as well, that is why we have something that is refererred to as 3.1GB limit.

 

I am simplifying here, but on 64bit only the OS parts that are actually needed to run the game take away from the 4GB address space available to the game. Kernel, DirectX libraries, all that stuff. So for example your browser and other background processes are not taking away from this address space. Enboost frees the 4GB address space even more shifting the textures to another process (enbhost) that uses its own address space.

 

In theory this means with all this Skyrim can use roughly 3GB for itself including world and script data and another 3GB for the (compressed) textures because of ENBoost. 6GB + ~2 GB for OS makes 8GB really a minimum amount these days :)

 

In reality I could not make tesv.exe use much more than 2GB, yet when testing with uGrids 19. ENBoost depends on texture sizes of course, but I typically stay around 2GB for enbhost.exe as well.

[Spock]

Thank you for the explanation! But that leads to another question:

If you plan in 1 GB for system memory, 4gb for Skyrim and 3gb for textures, shouldn't 8 GB be enough? Especially since not all allocated memory is really used in physical memory (so maybe my 6 GB are enough...)?

[edit]Ninja'ed

[sheson]

Thank you for the explanation! But that leads to another question:

If you plan in 1 GB for system memory, 4gb for Skyrim and 3gb for textures, shouldn't 8 GB be enough? Especially since not all allocated memory is really used in physical memory (so maybe my 6 GB are enough...)?

[edit]Ninja'ed

For normal use and normal considerate modding 6GB seems OK of course.

Windows will page out unneeded stuff to disk in case it needs to.

 

The fact of the matter is, if skyrim has to deal with so much game data (actors, script) it will slow down to a crawl anyhow, or depending on caps simply not move more than X actors etc.

 

It seems we are now at a stage, even with only a 32bit game, that not memory in itself is the limiting factor but CPU. It is not that CPUs are too slow but the game is not optimized to make use of the latest and greatest.

[hellanios]

I have 1GB vram and 6gb of triple channel ram. would I benefit from this patch?

[Aiyen]

hellanios: My guess is that you would just have to try. You would at the very least be able to contribute with testing data for that sort of setup! It is kinda atypical.

You would probably have to be moderate in your ENBoost settings however. Hence I doubt you would be able to run with full 2k textures etc.

 

Also I guess in general for all that ask about total memory size!

8Gb most likely is enough... however on my rig then ENBoost.exe when I stress test it will eat up 6Gb... and the skyrim process + windows eat up 2Gb. I have 16Gb in total so I am not worried, but if I only had 8Gb I probably would not be able to run with what I run now in terms of texture load. So in short.. 8 is enough, but you will probably not be able to run with as much as the guy with 12 or 16 or even 32Gb. (Not saying that you would ever get near to using 32Gb of memory unless you run a server or use part of the memory as flash storage etc.)

 

Also sheson... thanks for that tb idea... never thought about doing a diagnostic using that... even though it is simple and a really good test!

[DoYouEvenModBro]

Wait, AIYEN, how are you filling up more than 8 gb of System RAM with Skyrim? I don't get it.

---

Also, the site with instructions is down.

[Aiyen]

Read again bro... I said the skyrim + windows took up 2Gb... not 8. The enboost.exe process takes up the majority.

[DoYouEvenModBro]

Hmm. I am reading again but still not understanding. I have the highest res textures possible and Windows 7 64 bit with 8gb of System RAM. I also use ENBoost. I've never seen it max out the 8 gb. I'm really sorry if I'm not understanding something crucial here. I just don't see how you can run out of System RAM with a modded Skyrim unless you're running like 8k resolution textures or something.

[Aiyen]

When running a stress test I what at what windows report the processes to be using.

Skyrim + everything else running in the background = 2Gb give or take.

ENBhost.exe = 6Gb give or take.

 

The value reported back will also include some amount of buffer, since depending on where and what you are doing ingame then the amount of memory used ofc. fluctuates. This buffer is flagged as memory that can be overwritten if need be, however if you have plenty of RAM then this is never going to be an issue and the buffer will just remain. For actual gameplay this just means less stuttering during transitions etc. since data is already in the buffer so it does not need to be loaded, swapped etc.

If you have less Total memory then this buffer will be less, and more data loading is going to be required. Hence a person with 8Gb would be able to run with the same amount of textures as one with 16Gb. However the person with 16Gb would have more buffer, which would ease up the total amount of data loading. This would in effect mean that the person with 16Gb of RAM would have a system with more breathing room.

 

With this new development then the skyrim process will increase the so called block size, which means it will demand more memory to active use, hence the amount available for buffer use will become even smaller, hence you might increase data loading even more, and actually end up making the game and computer more unstable since you run much closer to the limits of what your hardware can physically handle.

 

Hope that makes some sort of sense, and if some super technical guru finds any flaws in my logic, then smash me down and correct me! :)

[DoubleYou]

Doesn't seem to do anything on my system, but then, I only have 4gb of ram.

[Lanceor]

I've only tried the patch briefly, but I managed to fast travel from Whiterun to Markarth to Raven Rock to Windhelm to Riften... without CTD or ILS. Before the patch, this chain of fast travel was guaranteed to cause problems, and in fact, I wasn't able to get out of Solstheim without using Safety Load.

[z929669]

OK, I played 3 hours last night on my STEP:Core (2.2.8 proposed) + Requiem build with all of the hard-core mods/patches recommended by azirok:

 

Immersive armors/creatures/weapons

SkyTest

Civil War Overhaul

Dragon Combat Overhaul

Falskaar

Wyrmstooth

 

The works.

 

uGids = 7

 

Not a single CTD/ILS, which is highly unusual with this build (I get one at least each 45 min of gameplay normally) ... and I spent most of my time in Morthal-Solitude area, which is pretty intensive.

 

SPM output shows significant reduction on host RAM allocation to around 1 GB stable. This normally meets or exceeds VRAM allocation. I'll post a screen of the like comparison run/save I am using for benchmarks in a few.

[SSL]

SPM output shows significant reduction on host RAM allocation to around 1 GB stable. This normally meets or exceeds VRAM allocation. I'll post a screen of the like comparison run/save I am using for benchmarks in a few.

This mod lowers Skyrim ram usage by enlaring it? Truly bizzare times are we in.

 

On topic: this mod seems to be some kind of the promised land of modding. I wonder what neo will do with SRLE once he lays his hand on this.