Hey,

I've done some testing to see what variables effect gpu usage. I have a ASUS GTX 580 (782mhz) and used MSI After OSD for measurement. I have about 50+ textures mods installed using the STEP guide. I will list the variables I've found and the percentages are in terms of gpu load.

Settings (Initial); 8xQ AA, AFx16 and 2x Transparency Supersampling. Ultra everything except shadows on High. Condition: Standing on the stairs by Dragonreach overlooking the tree.

1# Ambient Occlusion (AO)

AO Off - 68-69%
AO Performance - 84% (+15%)
AO Quality - 99% (+30%) - This is with the Skyrim AO compatilbility setting.
AO Quality - 80% (+11%) - This is with the COD: Modern Warfare III setting. You may as well use the MW3 setting, looks the same and uses less of the GPU.

The rest of the variables were done when I OC'd to 860mhz with AO @ Quality but it makes no difference in showing the variances.

2# Triple Buffering

TB Off - 94%
TB On - 94%

TB makes no difference to gpu load but turning it off decreases vram by 17mb.

3# Transparency Antialiasing (TRAA) - 2x Supersampling was used in testing

No Supersampling - 90%
2 x Supersampling - 94%
Multisample - 90%

Multisampling in the Nvidia Control Panel does not affect gpu usage but using 2x Supersampling increase gpu load by 4%.

4# Shadows - No AO.

Shadows at High - 64%
Shadows at Ultra - 78% (+14%)

5# Texture Quality - No AO.

Hi-Res Textures DLC - 64%
S.T.E.P Textures - 64%

STEP textures are textures much higher than the DLC ones. They are typically 2048 and higher while DLC are 1024 or lower. Texture quality has no bearing on gpu load but using DLC textures lowered my vram usage by 150mb.

6# Resolution

I found that lowering my resolution from 1920x1080 to 1650x1050 lowered gpu load by 8-10%.



Conclusion

In terms of order AO has the highest impact on GPU, shadows and then resolution. TRAA makes a little difference and Triple Buffering has none so as texture quality.

If you have any questions, just ask!

That's because triple buffering is only for OpenGL in the NVIDIA panel, you need to use the D2DOverrider to force it on and it's only beneficial with V-Sync on. AO is done on the GPU instead of the engine so yes it's always going to be a big frame-rate killer.

Sorry, I did used D3DOverrider to turn the setting on and off.

Well, to be honest, there is no surprise there

I am at this point still testing to find my new upper limit. what i can tell is that ...

The worst of all VRAM killers is ...bFloatPointRenderTarget=1(found in your INI) Looks amazing but at a serious cost.

@Kazekage

Have you tried setting Skyrim's AO Compatibility to Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare II and set the enabled setting to performance?

Should run alot better than Skyrim's AO Compatibility, I tested it and it only ate about 4 FPS (Dragonreach stairs - 49 FPS Before - 45 FPS After)

Wondering how this works for lower end users.

Internal AO would be alot nicer and the FPS hit would be alot less, would be nice if Beth put this in

OMG! I love you!

I loaded up my test save at Dragonreach with AO @ Quality and my gpu usage was 80%!! Before at Quality it was 99%! That's a 19% reduction with the same visuals. Thank you! will edit my post.

What does this setting do? I have looked on google and cannot find an answer. I tested it and changed the value to 1 and my GPU usage hit 99% but couldn't see any difference in quality except my I was stuttering everywhere.

I have always had a slight visual anomaly ...standing still . move mouse ever so slightly, and the screen blurs and the color bleeds. With this set to on, it increases the precision that the GPU is using , giving you locked smoothness. everything comes out clearer and a noticeable smoothness IF you have the power to use it. IT takes a lot of Power ...added 800 meg to my cards...lol

Fallout AO worked better for me when using a 560ti but wont load on my new card for some reason?...the Fallout profile for AO looks better (but not in fog), Skyrims AO profile looks much better in fog (but is a resource hog)...theres a lot of fog in Skyrim..

@Kazekage

Ahhh niceeee.

BTW bFloatPointRenderTarget=1 I think has something to do with HDR setting, I remember Boris (ENB Author) saying that it was essential for it or something, something to do with HDR....

Ohh and AO Performance (MW3 Setting) seems to eat about 40 - 110 MB and VRam for those curious, haven't tested Quality. I love the noise effect Performance gives. (call me strange?)

No you're not strange

I have lowered my AO to performance. Although I was getting 80% GPU usage in Whiterun, but once I was outside there in the fields the draw distance was causing my card to hit 99% again and causing stuttering. But with performance it never goes over 90% so I'm smooth as butter. Thanks again for the MW3 tip