Can Skyrim Use 8GB of RAM? : V

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 6:30 am

I found this memory tweak guide today: http://www.rcrncommunity.com/five-quick-skyrim-tweaks-you-may-not-know

This section stands out in particular:

Spoiler

Bethesda released the “4gb patch” more than 8 months ago, but this doesn’t really matter, it was just a LAA fix in order to allow the properly handling of memory under 64 bit systems. But this doesn’t necessarily mean your system will automatically use more than 4gb of RAM! In order to tell to Skyrim your correct amount of system memory you have to apply the following tweak:
Open your Skyrim.ini, usually located at the path: C:\Users\youruser\Documents\My Games\Skyrim and search for the line under the [Papyrus] section:

iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=*******

Then change the value marked as “*******” with the approximate amount of your system memory, by consulting the tab below:

if you have 4GB of ram -> iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=2000000000

if you have 6GB of ram -> iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=3000000000

if you have 8GB of ram -> iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=4000000000

Now my initial reaction was "bull****, they're making this info up." But hope and curiosity is getting the better of me. Can anyone confirm this? Can those of us with more than 4GB of RAM actually get Skyrim to utilize it?

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:17 pm

Wait a second.Bhahahahhahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.Okay, the game engine is so crap, you won't get much out of it.I run Crysis 2 at a 1920x1080 resolution with Very High Settings and with 4x AA and I get 40 fps.Skyrim with texture,lighting(and generally modds that make the game look better) alongside another 70 mods(I have 8 GB of RAM too and an i7 3.4 CPU) and I get 30fps.Yeah, see the problem here?

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:55 pm

Crysis 2 has view distance of 100m...

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 1:38 pm

Why do people bring up Crysis and other Shooters when talking about the performance of this game? Shooters are nothing like this game in regards to CPU and GPU load.

As for this tweak, the only way to find out is to try it. For the record, Skyrim runs just fine on 2GB of RAM. It is only when you add large texture mods that you need to have more memory space allocated.

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 11:57 am

Err, thanks for stopping by? Hasn't this argument been repeated to death anyway? Crysis 2 is a series of small closed environments separated by loading screens and with very little world interaction. Skyrim is a huge open world that's constantly streaming data around you and is significantly more interactive.

Having 8GB of RAM is besides the point, since Skyrim only uses up to 4GB by default. My question was whether these tweaks can get Skyrim to use up to 8GB as the site reports (which I thought was impossible without a 64bit executable). But thanks for your random opinion

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:05 am

Skyrim runs just fine on 2GB of RAM. It is only when you add large texture mods that you need to have more memory space allocated.

Yep, I use a ton of texture mods, the flora overhaul, a load of town expansion mods, and ENB. Another 4GB of available RAM would be a blessing from the Divines

I was wondering if anyone could confirm this before I dipped back into .ini tweaking, but I guess I'll bite the bullet and test it myself

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 4:45 am

Wait a second.Bhahahahhahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.Okay, the game engine is so crap, you won't get much out of it.I run Crysis 2 at a 1920x1080 resolution with Very High Settings and with 4x AA and I get 40 fps.Skyrim with texture,lighting(and generally modds that make the game look better) alongside another 70 mods(I have 8 GB of RAM too and an i7 3.4 CPU) and I get 30fps.Yeah, see the problem here?

Yeah, crysis is a linear game, meaning enclosed levels, and limited view distance. They have more control over performance. Skyrim does not simply because of its engine design, not because its a bad engine.

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:24 pm

Despite the LAA patch the game is a 32-bit application, hence it cannot use more than 2GB - 3GB of RAM.

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:37 pm

Wait a second.Bhahahahhahahahhahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.Okay, the game engine is so crap, you won't get much out of it.I run Crysis 2 at a 1920x1080 resolution with Very High Settings and with 4x AA and I get 40 fps.Skyrim with texture,lighting(and generally modds that make the game look better) alongside another 70 mods(I have 8 GB of RAM too and an i7 3.4 CPU) and I get 30fps.Yeah, see the problem here?

Notice the fact you're also running 70+ mods...

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 2:19 am

Err, thanks for stopping by? Hasn't this argument been repeated to death anyway? Crysis 2 is a series of small closed environments separated by loading screens and with very little world interaction. Skyrim is a huge open world that's constantly streaming data around you and is significantly more interactive.

Having 8GB of RAM is besides the point, since Skyrim only uses up to 4GB by default. My question was whether these tweaks can get Skyrim to use up to 8GB as the site reports (which I thought was impossible without a 64bit executable). But thanks for your random opinion :smile:

If you look down in the comments section of the article you posted, the author states that increasing the number of allocated bytes to over 4000000000 doesn't seem to have a noticeable effect.

Here's the actual post

January 27, 2013 11:28 pm by aLaaa
as far as we know 4000000000 is the limit, and we haven't found any benefit in pushing it higher!

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 9:34 am

If you look down in the comments section of the article you posted, the author states that increasing the number of allocated bytes to over 4000000000 doesn't seem to have a noticeable effect.

Yep, in response to a query about using 16GB of RAM. The author said that 4000000000 (so 8GB of RAM) was the limit. I would love to go higher than that since I have 16GB

Despite the LAA patch the game is a 32-bit application, hence it cannot use more than 2GB - 3GB of RAM.

So I'm not even getting 4GB!? Bethesda, you milk drinkers!

I'm going to test this out anyways, in vain and delusional hope, and report my findings tonight. Solitude is an area that leads to regular crashes for me when my ugrids is higher than default (presumably because there are so many different environments nearby with their own unique textures to load - grass, forest, snowy mountains, swamp etc).

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 12:34 pm

Despite the LAA patch the game is a 32-bit application, hence it cannot use more than 2GB - 3GB of RAM.

Under a 32 bit system. It can use up to 4GB if you have a 64 bit system.

I don't think the tweak works how you (or the author) think.
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=4000000000 <- it's still 4 GB, the most Skyrim can use. However, it makes sure that up to 4GB will be allocated to Skyrim if you have that much free memory. Leaving it at iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=2000000000 would make Skyrim use only 2GB even if you have more, and that defies the point of LAA.

I guess the recommended values are lower than your actual RAM have because there are other processes running in the background that use up memory too.

If you look down in the comments section of the article you posted, the author states that increasing the number of allocated bytes to over 4000000000 doesn't seem to have a noticeable effect.

Probably because Skyrim can't use more than 4GB...

EDIT: I just googled this post from the Nexus forums:

under [Papyrus]

"iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes" is the maximum bytes allocated to Skyrim in relation to RAM, with a maximum of 4294967295 bytes (4GB) as it is a 32bit application. I wouldn't set too much more than half of your available RAM to this. Some examples are below;
3GB; iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=1800000000
4GB; iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=2400000000
6GB; iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=3600000000

Lets say you wanted to allocate 2.5GB, you would calculate it like so:
2.5 x 1024 x 1024 x 1024 = 2684354560 bytes (iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=2684354560).

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 8:00 am

Yep, in response to a query about using 16GB of RAM. The author said that 4000000000 (so 8GB of RAM) was the limit. I would love to go higher than that since I have 16GB

So I'm not even getting 4GB!? Bethesda, you milk drinkers!

I'm going to test this out anyways, in vain and delusional hope, and report my findings tonight. Solitude is an area that leads to regular crashes for me when my ugrids is higher than default (presumably because there are so many different environments nearby with their own unique textures to load - grass, forest, snowy mountains, swamp etc).

That's just the limits of a 32-bit application. Having 8 GB of RAM gives Windows more headroom to load services and background applications so it can maximize the amount of memory available to Skyrim. Frankly, 16 GB is overkill, unless you're doing heavy duty graphics or video editing/rendering.

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:37 am

Frankly, 16 GB is overkill, unless you're doing heavy duty graphics or video editing/rendering.

I do a lot of work with Photoshop, and 16GB was only like ￡30 more than 8GB, so I figured "what the hell"

At least I'm future-proofed for a good long while

Under a 32 bit system. It can use up to 4GB if you have a 64 bit system.

I don't think the tweak works how you (or the author) think.
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=4000000000 <- it's still 4 GB, the most Skyrim can use. However, it makes sure that up to 4GB will be allocated to Skyrim if you have that much free memory. Leaving it at iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=2000000000 would make Skyrim use only 2GB even if you have more, and that defies the point of LAA.

Ahhh, okay. So it does help, but only ever so slightly? I wonder why the author was saying that value is for 8GB when it's only 4GB..? I'll give it a whirl and see if there's any noticeable improvement.

» Wed Feb 06, 2013 3:32 am

No.

As for that setting in the INI file, I wouldn't mess with things like that. Especially since there's no official documentation on it.

As for the engine: the engine is fine for the most part. It just has a few kinks in it that are slowly being worked out with each use of it.

As for the RAM amount: 6 GB is the what I consider the optimal amount for games in general, even ones that have a 64-bit executable. A game will rarely need to make use of more than 4 GB of system memory, leaving 2 GB available for the OS and some background programs.