TES Skyrim 0.251

[Jafin16]

@pangallosr
As I understand it, he made his own video memory manager to work with his Nvidia card, and then added this toggle to help with better compatibility for AMD users (so they can allow their installed driver to manage video memory.)

I think it was actually the other way around, as, if you look at the enboost nexus download, for AMD cards DisableDriverMemoryManager=true while not so for the Nvidia. Regardless of the initial reason though, as you indicated, it can go either way depending on your drivers, your card, binary version and any other number of variables in each person's system.

[pangallosr]

@ Keith and Jafin,
If I set the value to true, I take a fps hit. Granted it's only 3-5, that's why I set to false. Not seeing any graphics issues or loss in quality yet.

My system has always been a bit strange, there are things I can get away with that others can't and then there's the opposite.
Examples: I have always used the standard (vram+ram)-2048. Never mind the cap, until recently I've been using 18432. In the last month I changed it to 11520, subtracting out my pre-game use.
I have never been able to use any value for the exteriorcellbuffer, except the standard (ugrids+1) squared. Anything else, CTD. Was really shocked that I can completely delete the line, with no issue.
Anyway, sharing information in the forums is what it's all about. Regardless of what works for one, will not work for others.
Unless there is a majority posts of issues, I don't believe any author, should feel forced to make changes. Except in the case of oops.

[keithinhanoi]

@Jafin16:
You're right - I've just reviewed several hundred posts, and I think my confusion has to do with the setting working in reverse when it was first introduced. So, yes, he added his own video memory manager as an option to help AMD users with "bad" drivers. I have added an edit in my post to reflect this.

Anyhow, the most important thing to understand about DisableDriverMemoryManager is that generally it can be left false regardless of card make, etc. If you check every possible option on the iParadigm ENBoost Option Selector webpage, you'll see that all recommended set of settings have DisableDriverMemoryManager=false.

However, if you see CTDs even with the main ENBoost feature active (ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true, so enbhost.exe is launched) you can try setting DisableDriverMemoryManager=true, because Boris' video memory manager will allow the game to continue where your native driver would crash. He does say that setting disabling your driver's video memory manager and using his comes at the potential cost of long pauses / lag in the game, though.

See here and here for Boris' explanations on that.

Long story short, the default with the last few binary releases should be to start with (ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=false - for both AMD or Nvidia.

Then if you're getting CTDs you can try setting it to true to see if it reduces the amount of crashes.

[Madpaddy]

I will just toss out I would be happy to see it added back. I know it has helped my own game run smoother. However, I can live without, and it is Boris's tool to do with as he likes and I think we all need to respect that.

Somewhat off topic ... Everyone is probably aware of this but sometimes it seems like a few people forget Boris does this all for free. Not just Skyrim but many other games as well. All of it. All the ENB code for many games. All Free. Volunteer, his own time, did I say free? It is. My own personal feeling and behavior, when it comes to working with anyone that provides a free service like this ... and this includes all the MOD Authors on Nexus as well ... is that when someone does something for you for free, using their own time, that you do treat them with respect and courtesy and show appreciation.

Polite and constructive feedback is good as is reporting bugs. But blame, negativity, overt criticism is not something I would ever use. When I give feedback to a mod author it is done very politely as I know they owe me nothing. I am entitled to nothing. I have no rights of ownership. If I don't like the response or the mod I don't make a stink I just say thanks for listening and leave. No one is forced to use any mod or ENB for that matter. I know a lot of great mod authors who left Nexus and modding because what they got for donating some of their time was a lot of headaches from users.

Anyhow this seemed like a good time to just point out Boris has done a lot to make all our games look better, and run smoother, and he has done it, basically, for free giving up his own time to the many gaming communities that use his ENB code. I for one am very thankful for that as I can't imaging every playing Fallout or Skyrim without an ENB preset running

^^This^^ I'm sick of self entitled pricks on nexus and now here,yeah Boris is a bit ruff around the edges and i think the language barrier makes him seem worse than he is,but he does this for ALL of us for NOTHING,ZERO,NADDA ETC ETC and he and many other Mod authors have to put up with constant shit from ungrateful dickheads. I've had more fun out of the free software like ENB that has kept me playing Skyrim from release than i ever did for Vanilla Skyrim that cost me £39.99.Sorry to rant, but I didn't realize how many assholes the world contained untill i started using the internet regularly lol.(Rant off ).

[Madpaddy]

Messing with the other memory lines, I have stopped my CTD/ILS.
I initially started with the previous .251 that had the expandsystemmemoryx64.
Setting the line to false I had crashes and freezes.
Here is where I finally resolved;
Pre
[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true // setting this to false caused CTD/ILS
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=true
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false

Post
[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false

Installed the latest ENB that has the ExpandSystemMemoryX64 removed and kept my other values. 45 minutes of running around, fast travel, interior/exterior transitions. I appear to be stable again.

I use the SKSE 1.7a. Perhaps there is something there that is in conflict.
Removing the line entirely, I don't believe was a suitable alteration. There is going to be those rare individuals that will not install SKSE for whatever reason. And ENBoost is going to be their choice for memory management.
Really all Boris had to do is tell the individual(s), that if it is conflicting, then set it to false.

Well, after much research ( about 5 mins ) i found that for me it is the new skse memory setting, causing crashes again,so i removed the memory section from the new skse ini reinstalled the SSME dll and everything is back to normal, including using the ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true,so i say Boris carries on as before and let the SKSE team fix it,we can still use the new SKSE just disable the memory section in the ini and use another sheson method.

[Furball]

Hi KeithInHanoi

Reference the site you link :

@Jafin16:
on the iParadigm ENBoost Option Selector webpage

I got curious, so I tried the latest ENB binary. My Skyrim is moderately texture modded with only Bethesda Hires pack and 60 mods. I have ENB compression on and ENB reduceMemUsage enabled, and I also have the iGrassCellRadius configured recommended from http://enbdev.com/ctdfix.html. I was able to run around in Riften and Whiterun without issue. Both TESV.exe and enbhost.exe kept below 1GB usage, so total of 2GB usage.

One odd thing I noticed with memX64 disabled is the initial few seconds after a game load no longer has stutter when I pan the camera.

I can back this find up. I saw someone on the step forum once talking about ENBoost and NOT using Expandsystemmemoryx64 ..

He had tried on three different machines ( I am pretty sure they were 2 64 bit, and one 32 bit OS, with varying capabilities ) and seemed to know the ins and outs of using those machines very well

He was looking for advice on some conflicting information reference things to try if experiencing stutter ..


Anyway long story - I tried what he suggested, ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false

And tried the test of standing in the middle of Riften market, and spin around 360 with your mouse

Before with ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true - Stutter
After with ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false - Smooth

I have not used ExpandSystemMemoryX64 since then and I always have good performance compaired with the dark days before ENBoost.

I have x64 bit win 7 with 4gb ram, so personally I dont see what the fuss is over this setting, even Boris says "when memory manager enabled, it almost useless."

And he must have had a good reason to remove it besides blaming this one person - Considering it had an off switch anyway, and the conflicting software is only an alpha.

Someone else ( Keithinhanoi ) posted earlier a very nice description of what this feature did, and I get the same impression that there has been a lot of misunderstanding about what the setting actually did .. Maybe some of you need to look at another setting which is causing your system problems without also relying on ExpandSystemMemoryX64 ?

Edit : One more thing to note, Boris description on things to try when experiencing stutter ..

3) If stuttering bother too much, edit enblocal.ini file vriables ExpandSystemMemoryX64, ReduceSystemMemoryUsage(especially this one), DisableDriverMemoryManager.

IMHO it should read ExpandSystemMemoryx64(especially this one)
I mean ( correct me if I am wrong ) but ReduceSystemMemoryUsage = ENBoost / enbhost.exe = Setting this false would be even less desireable.

ofc all of this is going to be subjective depending on your hardware.

But dont dismiss Boris latest change too soon is what I am saying.

Furball: Do keep in mind that you are testing on a system that use 4Gb of memory.

With that low an amount then you would not notice any change over using a 32bit system since you simply do not have enough memory for it to make a difference. Hence what you describe makes perfect sense... ofc you would get stuttering etc. by activating it since you do not have enough memory overall, hence you need to read/write to page file which is really slow and causes stuttering.

The fuss is for people with 8Gb+ who run with alot of high res textures. These people have run with no issues on the setting, but now without it then they get CTD and ILS again. Hence it is clear that the parameter is useful for a large part of the user base.

Here and on the STEP forums and whereever else I have read, then it is really a vast minority of people who have had issues with the SKSE alpha version, or Shesons patch. Hence it stands to reason that it is not a general flaw in the code, but rather something specific to those peoples setup´s and/or hardware choices. Since using many high res textures will tax your entire machine and not just the GPU then all it takes for some stuttering or direct CTD is a semi bad memory stick that was not designed for that sort of data load.

None of the options on that site have a path which includes people with 4gb ( or less ) of system ram, so iaw Aiyen's response which has not been contested, for anyone using that site with 4gb or less the results are always going to be wrong ?

( at the moment with the option not being extant, they are all wrong anyway, but being optimistic it comes back for those that need it its too early to change .. )

-----------------------------------------

Furball
You obviously weren't around when ENBoost was still in development. Lots of things left and came back during that time, and they still do on occasion. Let's just see how this plays out.

Fair, prerogative of genius I guess so thats why there are presets out there with old options possibly waiting for a change of weather - If they dont come back they are not being used, if they do come back they are already enabled.

[Furball]

Well, after much research ( about 5 mins ) i found that for me it is the new skse memory setting, causing crashes again,so i removed the memory section from the new skse ini reinstalled the SSME dll and everything is back to normal, including using the ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true,so i say Boris carries on as before and let the SKSE team fix it,we can still use the new SKSE just disable the memory section in the ini and use another sheson method.

Yeh I wondered earlier if using SSME would solve problems for some people. Even if you do need SKSE as a dependancy for mods that need it, SSME can still be used instead .. Which to me = another reason ExpandSystemMemoryX64 did not need to be removed.

[Jay_ombie]

I am finding that after many attempts with different combinations, I am at present with :

SKSE : 1.6.16
SSME : 1.8.0.0
Nvidia : 332.21 drivers (new ones TDR me)
WRAPPER : .251 (before ExpandSystemMemoryX64 was took out)

[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false
ReservedMemorySizeMb=512
VideoMemorySizeMb=6000
EnableCompression=true
AutodetectVideoMemorySize=true


I am using a GTX 670(vram 2gb) with 8gb Ram.

Seems the best option with less CTD so far at least for me.

[Madpaddy]

Well, after much research ( about 5 mins ) i found that for me it is the new skse memory setting, causing crashes again,so i removed the memory section from the new skse ini reinstalled the SSME dll and everything is back to normal, including using the ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true,so i say Boris carries on as before and let the SKSE team fix it,we can still use the new SKSE just disable the memory section in the ini and use another sheson method.

Yeh I wondered earlier if using SSME would solve problems for some people. Even if you do need SKSE as a dependancy for mods that need it, SSME can still be used instead .. Which to me = another reason ExpandSystemMemoryX64 did not need to be removed.

Agree, I'm using the 251 since before Boris disabled ExpandSystemMemoryX64, without it set to true my game has random crashes, I also found another strange thing, don't know if anybody else has it, but if UseProceduralCorrection= is set to true my game will load fine to the start screen but will crash if loading or starting a new game.

[Madpaddy]

I am finding that after many attempts with different combinations, I am at present with :

SKSE : 1.6.16
SSME : 1.8.0.0
Nvidia : 332.21 drivers (new ones TDR me)
WRAPPER : .251 (before ExpandSystemMemoryX64 was took out)

[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false
ReservedMemorySizeMb=512
VideoMemorySizeMb=6000
EnableCompression=true
AutodetectVideoMemorySize=true


I am using a GTX 670(vram 2gb) with 8gb Ram.

Seems the best option with less CTD so far at least for me.

Pretty much the same except I'm using the alpha SKSE (without memory setting) and I have no crashes ATM.

[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=true
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=false
ReservedMemorySizeMb=512
VideoMemorySizeMb=10240
EnableCompression=false
AutodetectVideoMemorySize=false
SSME : 1.8.0.0
AMD 7870 2g latest beta driver, windows 8 64, 16g ddr.