Seeking Advice on Optimizing my Mod Configuration : IV

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:20 pm

I've only been playing for about a month, but have done 100 to 200 hours of play and have pretty much tapped out the advice in my http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1099292-any-first-time-advice/page__st__80__gopid__16149695&#entry16149695 thread in General Discussion. So AndalayBay recommended I post my questions here in the mod section.

The most salient (I'd think) details from my DxDiag

Spoiler

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 4/22/2010, 16:48:53
Machine name: CENTURION
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100216-1514)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: MSI
System Model: MS-7390
BIOS: Default System BIOS
Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz
Memory: 3328MB RAM
Page File: 583MB used, 4627MB available
Windows Dir: E:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode

------------
DxDiag Notes
------------
DirectX Files Tab: No problems found.
Display Tab 1: No problems found.
Sound Tab 1: No problems found.
Music Tab: No problems found.
Input Tab: No problems found.
Network Tab: No problems found.

--------------------
DirectX Debug Levels
--------------------
Direct3D: 0/4 (n/a)
DirectDraw: 0/4 (retail)
DirectInput: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectMusic: 0/5 (n/a)
DirectPlay: 0/9 (retail)
DirectSound: 0/5 (retail)
DirectShow: 0/6 (retail)

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8500 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0421&SUBSYS_C7473842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 512.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Default Monitor
Monitor Max Res:
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0011.5827 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 5/11/2007 06:03:00, 5421312 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp: n/a
VDD: n/a
Mini VDD: nv4_mini.sys
Mini VDD Date: 5/11/2007 06:03:00, 6738432 bytes
Device Identifier: {D7B71E3E-4761-11CF-314D-4CE700C2CB35}
Vendor ID: 0x10DE
Device ID: 0x0421
SubSys ID: 0xC7473842
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Revision ID: 0x00A1
Video Accel: ModeMPEG2_A ModeMPEG2_B ModeMPEG2_C ModeMPEG2_D
Deinterlace Caps: {6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YUY2,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(UYVY,YUY2) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(YV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
{6CB69578-7617-4637-91E5-1C02DB810285}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_PixelAdaptive
{335AA36E-7884-43A4-9C91-7F87FAF3E37E}: Format(In/Out)=(NV12,0x3231564e) Frames(Prev/Fwd/Back)=(0,0,0) Caps=VideoProcess_YUV2RGB VideoProcess_StretchX VideoProcess_StretchY DeinterlaceTech_BOBVerticalStretch
Registry: OK
DDraw Status: Enabled
D3D Status: Enabled
AGP Status: Enabled
DDraw Test Result: Not run
D3D7 Test Result: Not run
D3D8 Test Result: Not run
D3D9 Test Result: Not run

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
Description: Realtek HD Audio output
Default Sound Playback: Yes
Default Voice Playback: Yes
Hardware ID: HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0888&SUBSYS_14627390&REV_1000
Manufacturer ID: 1
Product ID: 100
Type: WDM
Driver Name: RtkHDAud.sys
Driver Version: 5.10.0000.5605 (English)
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
Date and Size: 4/17/2008 16:33:26, 4707328 bytes
Other Files:
Driver Provider: Realtek Semiconductor Corp.
HW Accel Level: Full
Cap Flags: 0xF5F
Min/Max Sample Rate: 8000, 192000
Static/Strm HW Mix Bufs: 33, 32
Static/Strm HW 3D Bufs: 33, 32
HW Memory: 0
Voice Management: No
EAX™ 2.0 Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
I3DL2™ Listen/Src: Yes, Yes
Sensaura™ ZoomFX™: No
Registry: OK
Sound Test Result: Not run

My most recent BOSSLog

Spoiler

-----------------------------------------------------------
Better Oblivion Sorting Software Load Order Utility

© Random007 & the BOSS development team, 2009-2010
Some rights reserved.
CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/
v1.51 (2 April 2010)
-----------------------------------------------------------

Master .ESM date: Tue Jan 02 17:03:46 2001
FCOM not detected.
OOO not detected.
Better Cities not detected.

------------------------------------
Recognised and re-ordered mod files:
------------------------------------

Oblivion.esm
. Note: Masterlist Information: $Revision: 788 $, $Date: 2010-04-02 12:04:08 -0700 (Fri, 02 Apr 2010) $, $LastChangedBy: pacificmorrowind $

Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
. Note: Recommend installing UOP hotfix for additional fixes: http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=27710
. Bashed Patch tag suggestion: {{BASH:Actors.AIData,Actors.AIPackages,Actors.CombatStyle,Actors.DeathItem,Actors.Stats,C.Climate,C.Light,C.Name,C.Owner,Creatures.Blood,Delev,Factions,Invent,Names,Relations,Relev,Scripts,Stats}} and remove the C.Water tag (only exist in older version).
. Note: Remember to use the 'MOBS' version when using Francesco's or FCOM.
. Note: Newest MOBS and non-MOBS versions have the same name.

UOP Vampire Aging & Face Fix.esp

Oblivion Citadel Door Fix.esp

DLCShiveringIsles.esp

Spell Delete And Item Remove.esp

Enhanced Economy.esp
. Note: Replaces Living Economy plugin

Map Marker Overhaul.esp

Map Marker Overhaul - SI additions.esp

Thieves Arsenal.esp
. Requires: OBSE.

MD_Saddle_Bags_Lite_v2.esp

MD_Saddle_Bags_Accessories.esp

HorseCommands.esp

MD_FasterHorseTurning.esp
. Note: Use Wrye Bash Bashed Patch tweak instead where possible.

Knights.esp

The Lost Spires.esp

Harvest [Flora].esp
. Bashed Patch tag suggestion: {{BASH:Scripts}}

Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp

Bag of Holding.esp

My game is GOTY, so I also have Knights. In addition to the mods listed above in the BOSSLog, I'm running

OBSE_0018
OBMM
Oblivion Crash Prevention Arsenal (followed almost all the relevant advised steps to optimize performance)
Windom Earle's Crash Prevention (weOCPS)
Oblivion Stutter Prevention (sr_Oblivion_Stutter_Remover)
Game Booster (not really a 'mod' but running it to help with running mods)
UOP is with the "supplemental" addition

Before installing and running BOSS I had quite a bit of problems with CTDs and lockups at game Exit.

Since then, I've mostly I've suffered three issues that I'd like to mitigate/resolve:

1) Crashes at saving after making transfers of large numbers of items (mostly ingredients) between containers. Not sure if this is being caused by TQP or Alchemy Advanced.

2) Slow Game shutoff. Without Lost Spires running, I get consistent shutoff, i.e., it doesn't delay for so long that I resort to Taskmanager to force it to stop (e.g., about 30 seconds to one minute to shut off). With Lost Spires running I pretty much consistently have to use Taskmanager. I've left the computer for 3 to 5 minutes after Exiting Game, come back to find it still
in the Exit screen, and had to use Taskmanager to force Oblivion to stop processing.

3) Just general advice on possibly less obsolete mods or tweaking these in this list to optimize performance, minimize crashes etc.

I'm not really having graphical issues.

I really like the functionality that the set of mods listed above offer, definitely want to keep Thieves Arsenal and Advanced Economy. I'd love to be able to get Lost Spires to run simultaneously. I don't think I need to resort to a major overhaul setup like OOO or FCOM quite yet. I've really only just figured the game out and have yet to play through one complete character, so I'd like to hold off on total overhauls.

Thanks for any advice or suggestions!

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:33 pm

See the *Random* section at the bottom of the opening post of my site's thread (second link in my sig) for a bunch of tuning suggestions. Installing Fast Exit 2 will take care of the exit problems, and you can find a link to in on the Stabilization and Optimization Mods page. See the Popular Outdated Mods page for #3, and #1 sounds like general instability. Regenerating the Oblivion.ini, defragging your HDD and doing a clean boot could all help with that, unless the problem is completely mod-related.

Edit: Install Quiet Feet Max (link on the Stabilization and Optimization Mods page) and apply the on-board sound tweaks (Oblivion.ini Tweaks page) after regenerating the Oblivion.ini.

Please, post your load order, as it is easier to read than the BOSS log, which contains much extraneous information: http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=know_how_to#PostYourLoadOrder

» Sat May 28, 2011 3:38 pm

See the *Random* section at the bottom of the opening post of my site's thread (second link in my sig) for a bunch of tuning suggestions. Installing Fast Exit 2 will take care of the exit problems, and you can find a link to in on the Stabilization and Optimization Mods page. See the Popular Outdated Mods page for #3, and #1 sounds like general instability. Regenerating the Oblivion.ini, defragging your HDD and doing a clean boot could all help with that, unless the problem is completely mod-related.

Edit: Install Quiet Feet Max (link on the Stabilization and Optimization Mods page) and apply the on-board sound tweaks (Oblivion.ini Tweaks page) after regenerating the Oblivion.ini.

Please, post your load order, as it is easier to read than the BOSS log, which contains much extraneous information: http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=know_how_to#PostYourLoadOrder

Thanks Tom. Will follow your advice, and I understood all of that except "defragging HDD and doing a clean boot." By that do you mean:

(a) uninstalling Oblivion (after coying everything so I don't have to re-DL all the plugin .esp, mod zips, etc.), defragging my entire Hard Drive, reinstalling Oblviion and re-activating all of my OMODS and utilities? or

( b ) not uninstalling Oblivon but just defragging the entire hard disk drive, then tuning the mods, etc.?,

© defragging the game using Game Booster

Note, I did a defrag of the Hard Drive where Oblivion is installed before installation. I also recently ran the Game defrag function on Oblivion using Game Booster. Obviously, doing (B) or © is not a big deal, but I wanted to clarify if, in your expert opinion you are suggesting to go so far as doing (a)?

ADDIT: and here is my load order:

Oblivion.esm
Unofficial Oblivion Patch.esp
DLCShiveringIsles.esp
Spell Delete And Item Remove.esp
Enhanced Economy.esp
Map Marker Overhaul.esp
Map Marker Overhaul - SI additions.esp
Thieves Arsenal.esp
MD_Saddle_Bags_Lite_v2.esp
MD_Saddle_Bags_Accessories.esp
HorseCommands.esp
MD_FasterHorseTurning.esp
Knights.esp
The Lost Spires.esp
Harvest [Flora].esp
Harvest [Flora] - Shivering Isles.esp
Bag of Holding.esp
DropLitTorchOBSE.esp
P1DkeyChain.esp
Toggleable Quantity Prompt.esp
Tyler's Hungry, Thirsty, Sleepy, Tired.esp
RshAlchemy.esp

Thanks again!

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:18 pm

Defrag just means defrag. It has nothing to do with Oblivion. The same goes for doing a clean boot - http://www.ehow.com/how_5331553_clean-boot-windows.html

Edit: Your load list is very simple and does not need much in the way of optimization. You could save a bit by using Kuertee's Saddle Bags and drop the MD Saddle Bags options, which have a few bugs. You do not even have the latest version of that mod (which still has bugs.)

Edit: Horse Commands includes saddle bags.

Edit: nope, just bad memory

» Sun May 29, 2011 12:57 am

Defrag just means defrag. It has nothing to do with Oblivion. The same goes for doing a clean boot - http://www.ehow.com/how_5331553_clean-boot-windows.html

Edit: Your load list is very simple and does not need much in the way of optimization. You could save a bit by using Kuertee's Saddle Bags and drop the MD Saddle Bags options, which have a few bugs. You do not even have the latest version of that mod (which still has bugs.)

Edit: Horse Commands includes saddle bags.

Edit: nope, just bad memory

Thanks Tom! Your site is amazing

Installed Fast Exit2: DONE.

Copied original Oblivion.INI with a new name and deleted it: DONE

Will check into the Install Quiet Feet Max and making those tweaks to the INI after I regenerate the INI . . .

Thanks for clarifying on the meaning of defrag and clean boot, and esp. the link to that excellent how-to page. Will do one thing slightly different however: leave my Security Package to startup as normal. I realize that _could_ be the source of some problems, and could simply disable my internet then clean boot, then reactivate the Security, but at the end I'm still gonna be running the Security package as a startup item so . . .

Will check into the Kuertee's alternative to the MDsaddlebags. Thanks!

» Sat May 28, 2011 5:39 pm

If you are running Win7 or Vista, reinstalling the game outside of the default folder, Program Files, should help as well.

Edit: What is this security package?

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:48 pm

If you are running Win7 or Vista, reinstalling the game outside of the default folder, Program Files, should help as well.

Edit: What is this security package?

ADDIT: Nope, I'm still on XP!

Charter Security Suite. Charter also my ISP, so I like to use it since I pay them I figure I can when/if necessary get substantial support; never had any malware problems that I'm aware of, though if I still have problems after all the other steps you suggest will do a clean boot too.

Question/Clarification about the Quiet Feet Max 2.0 mod. Following through the Readme and installing the npc folder from the Whisper Feet MAX

My Sound/fx directory has a couple of sub-directories in it that correspond to special sounds for Thieves Arsenal, spl, and Tyler's Hungry, Thirsty . . . but there was not a default "npc" folder. Will the game actually know to use that npc folder without installing an .INI or .esp or something?

All I have to do is just put that npc folder into my Sound/fx folder and it will run the mod?

Getting ready to regenerate the Oblviion.INI and will then do the SirDrinkaLot Onboard sound-card tweaks.

» Sun May 29, 2011 12:26 am

Thanks for all your advice Tom!

Other than the defrag and clean boot (which I will do if problems recur) I did everything you suggested, and the game exited without mishap, even with Lost Spires installed!

You're a hero!

ADDIT: now back to the _GAMING!!_

» Sun May 29, 2011 12:59 am

Thanks for all your advice Tom!

Other than the defrag and clean boot (which I will do if problems recur) I did everything you suggested, and the game exited without mishap, even with Lost Spires installed!

You're a hero!

ADDIT: now back to the _GAMING!!_

Cool. ^____^

Happy gaming!
- Tomlong75210

Edit: Quiet Feet MAX OMOD - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15942

» Sat May 28, 2011 11:49 am

Cool. ^____^

Happy gaming!
- Tomlong75210

Edit: Quiet Feet MAX OMOD - http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=15942

Hey Tom, I played for a few hours last night with no problems, but I kinda missed the music. So I reset the line in the Oblviion.INI to =1 to enable music.

Now I've got the problem with saves corrupting and crashing when saving after transferring things between containers. It seems to occur most often inside buildings, and when I've transferred fairly large numbers of items and item-types using the Shift-key function in Toggleable Quantity Prompt.

I'm now doing the Defrag and will do a clean-boot as you suggested, and will also go back to running with music disabled.

I suppose that buying a better sound card is a fairly easy thing to do, but I'm wondering: what would you say the chance is that this type of crash corruption problem is a result of the music and not just a result of either TQP or Alchemy Advanced?

ADDIT: thanks for the link to the Quiet Feet MAX OMOD. Switched out my manual installation with the OMOD install.

» Sat May 28, 2011 11:07 pm

Another user is having trouble with Alchemy too, a real doozy. The problem might be hardware acceleration. Crashes due to playing certain music files seem unlikely. However, getting a sound card is a very profitable, cheap investment for gaming. You should see a noticeable boost after adding it. Search the Oblivion.ini for "acceleration" and turn off the HAA for sound.

» Sun May 29, 2011 2:23 am

Thanks again.

The only use of "acceleration" I find in the Oblviion.INI is

[Audio]
bDSoundHWAcceleration=0

I think I already set that one to zero from the SirDrinkAlot tweaks you suggested on your site.

I will keep trying with music enabled for now. It just makes the game so much more fun to me.

Yep, have put off buying a sound card for this rig for too long

» Sat May 28, 2011 7:11 pm

I run WinXP, and I only ever turned down HAA in the Dxdiag menus. I presume that that is not necessary since you have turned it off in the INI, but I cannot verify that. Do the crashes go away if you take out those two mods you pointed out? I have used TQP for quite some time, but Alchemy Advanced is newer... If turning on music was the only stimilulus for the crashes, those mods are not likely candidates.

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:24 pm

Okay, going back to my original post, with modded game I'm continuing to have

1) Crashes at saving after making transfers of large numbers of items (mostly ingredients) between containers. Not sure if this is being caused by TQP or Alchemy Advanced.

With the exception of leaving music enabled, I have carried out every other suggested optimization action, including defragging the hard disk drive and running in clean boot (including without any wireless, or security apps running, i.e., true and total clean boot). With mods activated, but all the other fixes done, I still get that same type of crash/save-corruption.

Here is an example of it.

It is 1:30AM, and I just robbed Bruma Castle. I go into Ongars house and he is not there, so I rob him too. Take some corn & cheese from one table then a bunch of blackberries from another table. Then when I try to save, CTD and on subsequent reload that last save file is corrupt.

So I deactivated Alchemy started last clean save, saved again, exited game, then reloaded the last save: same problem.
Deactivated TQP and retried (same process to get the mod unloaded): same problem.

At that point I remembered that (sometimes? always?) getting mods to _actually_ turn off necessitates turning off ALL of them. So I emptied my horse and just deactivated all mods in OMOD, including OBSE. I then ran BOSS, and restarted with vanilla Oblivion. Problem Gone.

So at this point, my best guess is that the culprit is one of my mods, I suspect it is either Alchemy Advanced, MD Saddlebags, or TQP, but I suppose it could also be Harvest Flora or Tyler's Hungry,Thirsty,Sleepy.

Whenever this problem has occurred in the past, at least one of those was running. However, my first 3 core mods that I played for many hours with were: MD Saddlebags, Harvest Flora, & HungryThirstySleepy, and I never had this crash until recently after I installed Alchemy and TQP.

BTW: I'm also now running Let There Be Darkness, love that mod!

. . . So! I'm not entirely sure what I should do at this point so that I don't spend too much time chasing my tail.

I suppose the safest bet is to only install one mod at a time, and keep playing until I replicate the crash, then re-un-install all of them again, and then re-install all of them except the last one that caused the crash, and keep going through the rest of the list?

Another approach I guess would be to load only the ones that I _really_ want to have:
1. UOPsupplemental
2. OBSE
3. Let There Be Darkness
4. HungryThirstySleepyTired
5. Harvest Flora
6. Thieves Arsenal
7. DropLitTorch
8. Keychain
9. Bag of Holding
10. Enhanced Economy

I figure with Bag of Holding, Saddlebags is optional anyway.

I would LOVE to have TQP and Alchemy running, but given they are culprits I include them in the list to avoid at least for now. Lost Spires sounds wonderful, but honestly I'm still so new to the game I don't really need more quests/guilds per se. I can always come back to that one later.

QuietFeet MAX: hmm, well I never honestly noticed that much of a problem with stuttering, though granted once it was installed the image DID seem a bit less blurred or something . . . still, I kind miss the clop, clop, clop sounds of footsteps from the original. Given that even with that one running, I still had the same crash problem, I question if it is really necessary?

MapMarker & Spell Delete I had made little use of so far anyway, so I guess I'll leave those deactivated for now too.

That is a wall of text I just generated, but I appreciate any additional feedback on my proposed next step, i.e., reduce mod list to the list of ten mods above, and see if that prevents the crash/corrupt-saves after transferring between containers.

ADDIT: one last question Tom, are all 10 of those mods in that list what you would consider, "well-established" low-problm, low-bug mods? If not, are you aware of less risky alternatives to any of them?

» Sat May 28, 2011 7:37 pm

You have not yet mentioned a mod for which I have heard saving-crash-related bugs. Enhanced Economy had had conflicts with some other mods, none of which you've mentioned. Some users have trouble with Keychain, but the bug that is usually reported about it was supposed to be fixed in the latest version, v5.00. I think it is related to which UI mod they were using, but I have not run into the problem myself and I cannot really remember the details outside of the bug itself. You can try disabling that and see how things go. Did you eliminate enabling music a cause? I thought that the problem returned after you turned it on...

» Sat May 28, 2011 2:48 pm

You have not yet mentioned a mod for which I have heard saving-crash-related bugs. Enhanced Economy had had conflicts with some other mods, none of which you've mentioned. Some users have trouble with Keychain, but the bug that is usually reported about it was supposed to be fixed in the latest version, v5.00. I think it is related to which UI mod they were using, but I have not run into the problem myself and I cannot really remember the details outside of the bug itself. You can try disabling that and see how things go. Did you eliminate enabling music a cause? I thought that the problem returned after you turned it on...

Thanks Tom. I'll turn off Keychain and music for now. I'm not running any UI mods, but hey, why not strip it down to the absolute minimum.

Though it hurts, I'm also going to play without Harvest Flora and Hungry,Thirsty,Sleepy for a while and see if I ever get that dang crash. If I don't then I'll probably add Harvest Flora first.

After all these on/offs of OMODs I've done, should I regenerate the .INI again?

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:53 pm

You only need to regenerate the INI if it is corrupt. If you do not mind re-tweaking it, regenerating it certainly will not hurt testing. Man, I would not ever want to get rid of the Keychain mod. I cannot remember when I didn't have it, except for when I was only using the UOP...

» Sat May 28, 2011 3:54 pm

Only tweaks I did to it were the three for the onboard sound card so small work.

Yeah, the keychain one is nice. Assuming I don't get crashes, I'll probably reinstall it pretty soon too.

Also, decided what the hell, and reactivated the QuietFeet one. I figure I need to figure out a solid stable configuration so I've got to be willing to compromise a bit

Thanks for all your help Tom!

BTW, is there a thread where you've posted _your_ list of mods? I'd be very interested to see what you play with.

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:51 pm

Only tweaks I did to it were the three for the onboard sound card so small work.

Yeah, the keychain one is nice. Assuming I don't get crashes, I'll probably reinstall it pretty soon too.

Also, decided what the hell, and reactivated the QuietFeet one. I figure I need to figure out a solid stable configuration so I've got to be willing to compromise a bit

Thanks for all your help Tom!

BTW, is there a thread where you've posted _your_ list of mods? I'd be very interested to see what you play with.

You can find my old load order on TESIV:POSItive in the miscellaneous section. I am not playing anything right now, but I hope to start doing that within the next two weeks. I would be really, really surprised to find that Quiet Feet MAX killed it for you. That would certainly be unfortunate...

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:52 pm

Not that I thought QuietFeet was killing it; rather, I wondered if NOT having QuietFeet running was killing it.

I kind've like the vanilla foot noises, and QuietFeet definitely mutes those a lot, so if it is not really essential to get my rig stable, I'd prefer to go with the vanilla noises.

Guess that is where buying a better sound card for this mobo comes in . . .

» Sat May 28, 2011 12:46 pm

You can find my old load order on TESIV:POSItive in the miscellaneous section. I am not playing anything right now, but I hope to start doing that within the next two weeks. I would be really, really surprised to find that Quiet Feet MAX killed it for you. That would certainly be unfortunate...

OMG!! Your Load Order is like the U.S. Tax Code!!

Interesting WishList Builds there too. That Centurion case is what I have myself, though I'm using an MSI motherboard, and an nVIDIA GFX.

» Sat May 28, 2011 9:59 pm

Not that I thought QuietFeet was killing it; rather, I wondered if NOT having QuietFeet running was killing it.

I kind've like the vanilla foot noises, and QuietFeet definitely mutes those a lot, so if it is not really essential to get my rig stable, I'd prefer to go with the vanilla noises.

Guess that is where buying a better sound card for this mobo comes in . . .

One of the reasons why I said the investment is profitable is because you do not even need a good sound card. As long as it supports hardware acceleration (as nearly all current sound cards do) Oblivion should play much more smoothly. You do not have to invest in a "good" card is unless you really, really like superior sound quality and/or you have speakers with which you can (and want to) make use of the upgraded specs.

» Sat May 28, 2011 10:55 pm

One of the reasons why I said the investment is profitable is because you do not even need a good sound card. As long as it supports hardware acceleration (as nearly all current sound cards do) Oblivion should play much more smoothly. You do not have to invest in a "good" card is unless you really, really like superior sound quality and/or you have speakers with which you can (and want to) make use of the upgraded specs.

What sort of rig were you using with that massive Load Order on your site Tom?

I'm just stunned that, here I am with only 10 or 15 mods running, and having stability issues, and then I see you serious dudes have scores of mods running. I wanna run with the Big Dogs too!!

» Sun May 29, 2011 2:04 am

What sort of rig were you using with that massive Load Order on your site Tom?

I'm just stunned that, here I am with only 10 or 15 mods running, and having stability issues, and then I see you serious dudes have scores of mods running. I wanna run with the Big Dogs too!!

My load order is no longer up-to-date, so I would not want to see anyone running that, haha. My specs are posted in my profile here or on the Nexus forums (Tomlong54210) can't remember which, maybe both...?

RLO Database - http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=rlo_database <-- You can find more information on other user's setups here. I will fill out a page for my setup this summer too.

» Sun May 29, 2011 12:44 am

My load order is no longer up-to-date, so I would not want to see anyone running that, haha. My specs are posted in my profile here or on the Nexus forums (Tomlong54210) can't remember which, maybe both...?

RLO Database - http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=rlo_database <-- You can find more information on other user's setups here. I will fill out a page for my setup this summer too.

Here is a very basic Face Palm question Tom: from my DxDiag

AMD Athlon? 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5000+, MMX, 3DNow (2 CPUs), ~2.6GHz

So this thing says I have a 64 X2 Dual Core Processor, but I seem to recall that XP only runs 32 bit? I'm vaguely recalling when I bought this rig nearly a year ago that I intended to switch to a newer OS once it seemed stable. I think Windows 7 was maybe just out at that time, about a year ago? And then I got distracted by too much work, and this issue just slipped my mind.

So am I like halving my rigs performance here or something?

If I upgrade to Windows 7, will that mean I have to reinstall all my games, etc.? Geeze, you would think I would know such a basic question.