Looking for an Oblivion killer

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Kaldskryke

[H]ard|Gawd
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Aug 1, 2004
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I've got a lot of Oblivion mods and it's starting to kill my framerate with a 8800GTS640MB. I need more than 512MB of video memory, but according to Anandtech the two best solutions for oblivion are both 512MB (3870x2 and 8800GT SLi). I know the 8800GT comes in 1GB variety, but I only have one PCI-E slot.

Is there a 2x1GB 3870X2 or a 2x1GB 9800GX2 in the works, or am I stuck stomaching the stuttering that happens when the framebuffer exceeds available vram?
 
i dont think u need more than 512 mb of memory on ur graphic card . Get a 8800gt and more amount of RAM , u'll notice the difference in framerates .
 
8800GTS 640 should be more than enough. What type of mods you running? I have maybe around 100 mods, Martigen's Monster Mod, Francesco's, and Qarls Texture Pack being the largest; I'm around 30-40fps when running around outside, 15-30fps when in crowded cities and over 60-100fps when in a dungeon.

If you have a lot of scripting mods running like Oscuro's Ob Overhaul, WarCry, Deadly Reflexes, Crowded streets/cities, etc. what you're experiencing may not be a GPU limitation. Have you tried Jaga Telesin's Streamline? http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=811319&hl=streamline
 
SPARTAN VI said:
8800GTS 640 should be more than enough. What type of mods you running? I have maybe around 100 mods, Martigen's Monster Mod, Francesco's, and Qarls Texture Pack being the largest; I'm around 30-40fps when running around outside, 15-30fps when in crowded cities and over 60-100fps when in a dungeon.

If you have a lot of scripting mods running like Oscuro's Ob Overhaul, WarCry, Deadly Reflexes, Crowded streets/cities, etc. what you're experiencing may not be a GPU limitation. Have you tried Jaga Telesin's Streamline? http://www.bethsoft.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=811319&hl=streamline
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You'd think it would be enough, but it's not.
I run "setdebugtext 13" in the console so that "tct" displays graphics information. It clearly shows my vram usage going between 500-600MB outdoors, sometimes more. So 512MB is really just a little shy of what I seem to need. I haven't tried Streamline because I don't want my view distances being messed with, but I suppose just streampurge would probably aleviate my vram issues a bit - I should look into that.

The reason my framerates are a bit lower than yours may be in part due to the bleach bypass I'm using (comes with the motion blur mod). But OVEP looks promising and more effects will only drop performance more. I'd really like to have 60fps almost all the time, and I'll probably upgrade to 1920x1200 sooner or later, so my current card isn't going to cut it.
 
Kaldskryke said:
You'd think it would be enough, but it's not.
I run "setdebugtext 13" in the console so that "tct" displays graphics information. It clearly shows my vram usage going between 500-600MB outdoors, sometimes more. So 512MB is really just a little shy of what I seem to need. I haven't tried Streamline because I don't want my view distances being messed with, but I suppose just streampurge would probably aleviate my vram issues a bit - I should look into that.

The reason my framerates are a bit lower than yours may be in part due to the bleach bypass I'm using (comes with the motion blur mod). But OVEP looks promising and more effects will only drop performance more. I'd really like to have 60fps almost all the time, and I'll probably upgrade to 1920x1200 sooner or later, so my current card isn't going to cut it.
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Yep yep, don't think Streamline messes with your view distance and such. And IIRC, the frequency in which it purges memory is completely adjustable.

Ah, I was considering grabbing the motion blur mod too, it's fairly new. Requires obse v0.14 I think, and I'm still on v0.9. :)
 
SPARTAN VI said:
Yep yep, don't think Streamline messes with your view distance and such. And IIRC, the frequency in which it purges memory is completely adjustable.

Ah, I was considering grabbing the motion blur mod too, it's fairly new. Requires obse v0.14 I think, and I'm still on v0.9. :)
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Streamline's FPS smoothing system changes your graphics settings behind the scenes to attempt to keep your framerate within specified limits, including object draw distances. It's a great idea, but it's not what I want.

OBSE is so amazing I can't imagine scripting without it. Oblivion's default function library is SO limited.
 
Have you used any of the texture reduction packs? That can drop your memory usage dramatically.
 
Kaldskryke said:
Streamline's FPS smoothing system changes your graphics settings behind the scenes to attempt to keep your framerate within specified limits, including object draw distances. It's a great idea, but it's not what I want.

OBSE is so amazing I can't imagine scripting without it. Oblivion's default function library is SO limited.
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You sound like you've done some modding yourself, any WIPz or RELz you'd like to plug? :)

The only "big" mod I've released was my Diverse City Guards, which diversifies the guards' uniforms from city to city (officers' armor are even more unique). I used armor from Ghogiel's armor pack, which includes sallets, coifs, and closed knight's helmets. Also makes their level static among other things.

Other than that, I released Cryo's Ordinator armor and historic Spartan armor (which isn't entirely historically accurate).
 
Grab a nVidia 8800GTX. They come with the 768 MB of VRAM needed for you and arwe faster than the 8800GT or 8800SGTS.
 
Go back and look at the benchmarks. According to AnandTech the 8800gts out-performs the GTX model. I doubt the change from the gts to a gtx would give any sort of worth while increase anyways. A better option is to jump over to a Radeon HD 3870 X2 or a 9800GX2 later.
 
I've got many mods running including QTP3 and crowded roads and my rig(in sig) runs the game at 60fps nearly all the time at 1680*1050, the G92 GTS handles it just fine. I also have all graphical options maxed including draw distance without a hitch.
 
SPARTAN VI said:
You sound like you've done some modding yourself, any WIPz or RELz you'd like to plug? :)
Click to expand...
Nothing released yet, I'm still working on an add-on for Tejon's "Progress"
* Range Based Skill Progression - the distance of your marksmanship targets affects how fast your Marksmanship increases.
* Speed Based Skill Progression - the speed of your weapon inversely affects how fast your melee skills raise. I had wanted to do 'damage-based' but this turned out to be a lot easier and better balanced, as far as I'm concerned. My problem was that daggers level up your blade sooo much faster than claymores, simply because you hit more often. I love 2h weapons and didn't want to feel like I was at such a disadvantage, so now slower weapons give more skill per hit. Power attacks now give 2.5x as much as a regular strike to make them more worthwhile.
* Sneak Attack Skill Progression - If pickpocketing increases your Sneak skill, then backstabbing should too. This just gives your Sneak skill a boost every time you strike an enemy while still undetected.
All of the above will be configurable with Progress.ini.
Unfortunately I came accross a rather significant bug and I have to rework a lot of code from scratch. That's a project for this weekend :)

Reaper737 said:
I've got many mods running including QTP3 and crowded roads and my rig(in sig) runs the game at 60fps nearly all the time at 1680*1050, the G92 GTS handles it just fine. I also have all graphical options maxed including draw distance without a hitch.
Click to expand...
Are you using 4xAA and 16xAF?
 
tacosareveryyummy said:
Go back and look at the benchmarks. According to AnandTech the 8800gts out-performs the GTX model. I doubt the change from the gts to a gtx would give any sort of worth while increase anyways. A better option is to jump over to a Radeon HD 3870 X2 or a 9800GX2 later.
Click to expand...

the GTS in that article has the G92 GPU, which is different from what he has now. an 8800GTS 512MB, even though it has less memory, is more efficient, and that's the card performing on par with the GTX, and probably the best single-card solution on the market.

from what i've read the 1GB version of the 8800GT and GTS(G92) don't really help all that much, and sometime actually produces lesser performance. better to focus on efficiency over high numbers. the 8800GTS 512 and HD3870X2 is the best single-bus solutions; the GTS has an edge with better drivers, but IMO the radeon could prove to be better as a longer-term "investment" (i used the term loosely with electronics) as drivers will likely mature. in either regard, you might want to wait until the 9800 series rolls our later this month to compare (or use eVGA's step up program).
 
Kaldskryke said:
Nothing released yet, I'm still working on an add-on for Tejon's "Progress"
* Range Based Skill Progression - the distance of your marksmanship targets affects how fast your Marksmanship increases.
* Speed Based Skill Progression - the speed of your weapon inversely affects how fast your melee skills raise. I had wanted to do 'damage-based' but this turned out to be a lot easier and better balanced, as far as I'm concerned. My problem was that daggers level up your blade sooo much faster than claymores, simply because you hit more often. I love 2h weapons and didn't want to feel like I was at such a disadvantage, so now slower weapons give more skill per hit. Power attacks now give 2.5x as much as a regular strike to make them more worthwhile.
* Sneak Attack Skill Progression - If pickpocketing increases your Sneak skill, then backstabbing should too. This just gives your Sneak skill a boost every time you strike an enemy while still undetected.
All of the above will be configurable with Progress.ini.
Unfortunately I came accross a rather significant bug and I have to rework a lot of code from scratch. That's a project for this weekend :)
Click to expand...

Hey that's pretty neat. My character is ranged thief/assassin so I'd definitely have use for that mod. :)
 
tacosareveryyummy said:
Go back and look at the benchmarks. According to AnandTech the 8800gts out-performs the GTX model. I doubt the change from the gts to a gtx would give any sort of worth while increase anyways.
Click to expand...
You should note that he isn't running the vanilla Oblivion configuration. With QTP3 (I assume he's using QTP3), he is running short on VRAM in some cases, no doubt leading to some significant thrashing as textures are moved off and on VRAM. The average frame rate is pretty meaningless for his purposes -- adding more VRAM wouldn't dramatically increase the average frame rate.

What additional VRAM will do is reduce thrashing. Streamline attempts to do this by purging 'old' textures (which Oblivion should be more aggressive at to begin with), which is helpful, but the ideal solution is to up the amount of usable storage so that GameBryo can continue to fill the VRAM with textures as additional cells are loaded and not hitting a constrictive ceiling.

Now, would the OP benefit immensely from upgrading to a GTX or an Ultra? No, likely not. Is the Ultra his Oblivion killer? Abso-fuckin'-lutely :)
 
dystopic said:
you might want to wait until the 9800 series rolls our later this month to compare (or use eVGA's step up program).
Click to expand...

I'm going to wait for the 9800GX2 and then decide between the GX2 and the X2. Hopefully Streampurge will help keep choppiness down, but if it doesn't I'll just have to remove some of my texture mods. Not QTP3R, of course, but maybe others.
 
Kaldskryke said:
I'm going to wait for the 9800GX2 and then decide between the GX2 and the X2. Hopefully Streampurge will help keep choppiness down, but if it doesn't I'll just have to remove some of my texture mods. Not QTP3R, of course, but maybe others.
Click to expand...

i'm doing the same thing, but for me it's more in hopes that the X2 will drop in price.
 
I am running a ton of mods too but I realized Oblivion would never be Crysis in terms of distance views or realism so I decided to sacrifice the long-distance textures. To be honest, the 512KB compressed LOD textures look just as good as the 4048 ones.

My game does sneak over 512MB usage sometimes and it is a little annoying. But I can't live without Qarls TP3 or Open Cities or at least some degree of good LOD objects and textures. Why don't you grab a 1GB 8800GT and give it a try, it'll be faster than your old 8800GTS 640, especially when overclocked.

I also make sure to do this in oblivion.ini
uInterior Cell Buffer=16 (default is 3)
uExterior Cell Buffer=102 (default is 32)
iPreloadSizeLimit=104857600 (100MB whereas default is about 25MB only)
 
all i know is that 256 is definately not enough lol my poor 7800gt
 
Inu said:
all i know is that 256 is definately not enough lol my poor 7800gt
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and my 7600 GT , that too AGP . LOL .
Oh well , atleast i get to play default oblivion at 25 fps , after waiting for 3 years to finally get my first graphic card .
 
dystopic said:
the GTS in that article has the G92 GPU, which is different from what he has now. an 8800GTS 512MB, even though it has less memory, is more efficient, and that's the card performing on par with the GTX, and probably the best single-card solution on the market.

from what i've read the 1GB version of the 8800GT and GTS(G92) don't really help all that much, and sometime actually produces lesser performance. better to focus on efficiency over high numbers. the 8800GTS 512 and HD3870X2 is the best single-bus solutions; the GTS has an edge with better drivers, but IMO the radeon could prove to be better as a longer-term "investment" (i used the term loosely with electronics) as drivers will likely mature. in either regard, you might want to wait until the 9800 series rolls our later this month to compare (or use eVGA's step up program).
Click to expand...

Not on par. 8800GTX still rules to this day.
 
vixer said:
Female EyeCandy - Body Replacer (nude) 1.0
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Ho..okay!

You msut be referring to Exnem's mod. I personally prefer the version with panties. Simply because sometimes I run into female NPCs that aren't wearing armor and I don't need their double D's flopping around.
 
The X2 does do well in "Oblivion" and better than my overclocked GTX in very heavy grass. The GTX with all distance and detail sliders @ 100% will drop to 32FPS using 4xAA + HDR and 8xAF @ 1680x in very heavy grass. The X2 did 40FPS at precisely the same point and under the same conditions. Again I am talking iMinGrass 80, no performance mods and all detail|distance sliders @ 100%.

If you really want to pwn "Oblivion" in heavy foliage situations try an X2 plus a HD 3870 in Crossfire.

I must warn you that Crossfire causes a performance hit in some games, or that is you get well less than a single card's performance. If you disable Crossfire by killing CAT AI you would be left with single HD 3870 performance, which wouldn't be too bad depending on the res you play.

Crossfire causes a performance hit in; SupCom, Gothic 3, NWN2, Need for Speed: Pro Street, WiC on the DX10 path with AA, Lost Planet: Extreme Condition, Tomb Raider: Legend, Hitman: Blood Money, Hellgate: London, and Jericho with edge smoothing active.

If you don't mind using an nVidia chipset you could likely do well with 8800GT or GTS 512Mb SLi too.
 
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