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How much Vram will I need?


Pmckenna

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Hi guys &gals!

 

This is my first post on the step project forums so, apologies if this is in the wrong section.

 

Im in the process of building my first pc, I've got everything I need so far but I'm still undecided on a 2gb or 4gb GPU. So my Q is...  

 

How much vram is required to use all the mods in S.T.E.P?

 

 

EDIT: forgot to mention, I'll be using an Asus gtx 670 directCU II (non top version) and I'll be playing at 1080p on a single monitor.

 

Thanks,

 

P

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Ok your saying vram won't help much when it comes to upping ugrids? If its a problem with the game engine is there a unofficial fix that will help? Hope that made sense..

uGrids absolutely has an impact on VRAM... I've done extensive testing as far as that's concerned; however, Korentin is correct in that higher uGrids can lead to instability due to the engine being overloaded. uGrids=7 is generally stable enough provided you don't have insane .ini tweaks, distant terrain mods, or a ton of mods that add stuff to the game (Civil War, Immersive Patrols, etc).

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Thanks Farlo, can't download it anyway since I'm using a tablet atm.

 

Just so I'm certain here, your saying I'll never go over 2gb of VRAM usage with full STEP, ugrids=7 and any and all future updates to STEP?

 

thanks for your time guys.

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If you want to choose, I highly recommend this ranking: www. chip .pl/ranking/podzespoly-pc/karty-graficzne (spaces due to spam detector :) )

 

It is in Polish :), however it never failed me - it is really good website and the guys know what they're doing. The final score is based on very extensive testing in various conditions. I definitely trust these guys. Zotac GeForce GTX 690 4096MB GDDR5 is currently at the first place :)

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Won't matter much if your talking about upping ugrids its the game engine itself that have trouble handling it.

Ok, your saying vram won't help much when it comes to upping ugrids? If its a problem with the game engine is there a unofficial fix that will help? Hope that made sense..

 

No, because while it will look pretty your game will become unstable sooner or later. Some people have said that they've managed ugrids 7, but from the more knowledgeable modders I've heard thats more a fluke of luck then anything else. Read a few comments from people recently also that patch 1.8 has made it even more foolhardy to actually play with anything but ugrids 5. 

 

Also, I've ran a modded Skyrim with full 2k SRO textures and quite a few HD models. I topped out on 1.75gb vram at ugrids 5 so a full HD STEP install at ugrids 7 will most certainly go over 2 gb by all accounts.

 

Edit: Forgot I used 4k mountains, with 2k mountains it was slightly under 1.7 gb.

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Thanks Farlo, can't download it anyway since I'm using a tablet atm.

 

Just so I'm certain here, your saying I'll never go over 2gb of VRAM usage with full STEP, ugrids=7 and any and all future updates to STEP?

 

thanks for your time guys.

As Korentin said, it's easy to pass the 2GB mark with all the 2-4k textures, and then uGrids=7 will add a few hundred more megabytes, but I highly doubt you'd push past 3GB.  If the price difference isn't too much (or it's not an issue) then I say go for it, but something tells me there won't be a drastic change in how good the game looks between what you can get out of either (assuming uGrids is the same).

 

On a separate note; anyone have a decent 2GB card they're looking to sell? :D

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Never heard of texture optimising programs. What's the catch tho? Noticeable loading of textures? (pop in)

You'll either want to look at DDSopt (just read the OP and links therein, the guide's a little outdated) or Optimizer Textures.  Both go through the DDS (texture) files and compress them so they're smaller in size, saving you up a couple hundred MB of VRAM and possibly reducing load times/stuttering as the files take less time to load.  The only trade-off is possible compression artifacts if you really want to bring the size down, but since you'll have at least 2GB of VRAM, using the default settings on either program won't produce any noticeable visual difference.  DDSopt can be a little more difficult to use, but often gives better results.  You can also have the program cut them down to a maximum resolution (say 2k) which means all those 4k textures will look just as good while not taking up several dozen MB each.

 

Somewhat older comparison tests can be seen here.

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The catch is mostly time. Optimizing the textures happens outside the game and it take time to go through them all. Spend the time to optimize (just once) and that is it. You should have lower vram use in game now, assuming the textures weren't already optimized by the creator of the textures.

 

EDIT: farlo beat me to it. He explained it better as well. :D

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I would recommend optimizer textures over DDSOpt. DDSOpt is more efficient, but optimizer textures is a lot easier to use and a lot faster.

 

If you use the HD DLC though, there is a great guide on these forums for how to compress those with DDSOpt and I highly recommend it.

 

If you use the right settings for either mod, you shouldn't notice any difference when viewing textures up close, and from far away your game will actually look better because the programs create optimized bit maps. It won't eliminate texture popping but it helps a lot.

 

EDIT: On that note, there really should be some more comprehensive guides in texture optimizing in the wiki. Its something I feel is essential as a part of the modding process but so many people just aren't aware of it.

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