Multicore utilization and mods on Skyrim and fallout 4

[Guest]

I was wondering how optimized mods for Skyrim and fallout 4 are? Is it better have quick cpu or more cores.

 

Prevailing wisdom was long as you enough cores (say 4 core) faster speed will be better but when i tried afterburner on few different system it seems all cores are being used.

 

Is there a cut off to benefit of speed or cores? For example if you at 3.8ghz then faster will do nothing to improve running mountain of mods equally if you go past six cores no benefit is given.

 

Sorry if similar questions been asked before

[Frisky Kitsune]

Heyo,

 

this is not so much about the mods, but rather about Skyrim's engine.

 

To keep stuff (as) simple (as possible):

Skyrim SE does use multicore/multithreading, but it's really bad at it.

Most usage you will see is on the first core/single-thread.

 

If you are sure that your CPU is limiting Skyrim and not any other hardware, a higher frequency will help you more than more cores.

 

But beware: Single-Threading performance is not the same as "more GHz".

For example Intel (i7s) have (almost) always been better at single-threading than AMDs (FX or Ryzen).

So an I7 4.0Ghz would give you significantly more performance in a single-thread situation than an AMD FX 4.0 GHz, while the AMD might be much better in a multi-thread situation.

 

-Kitsune

 

Edit: This is for Skyrim, not sure about Fallout 4, not been much into modding that one ?

[Guest]

This is question is born from building a secondary pc to mod (my work machine is very precious) i need it for work lately  im scared to use it now as gaming machine or anything non work related

 

thank you for your input - i prefer intel tbh

[Papitas]

2 hours ago, dribbles2 said:

I was wondering how optimized mods for Skyrim and fallout 4 are? Is it better have quick cpu or more cores.

 

Prevailing wisdom was long as you enough cores (say 4 core) faster speed will be better but when i tried afterburner on few different system it seems all cores are being used.

 

Is there a cut off to benefit of speed or cores? For example if you at 3.8ghz then faster will do nothing to improve running mountain of mods equally if you go past six cores no benefit is given.

 

Sorry if similar questions been asked before

 

Aside from what you have been answered, remember this example. 

 

Imagine you want to put on some shoes. 

You would need to:

• Put on a sock on your right foot. 
• Put on a shoe on your right foot. 
• Tie shoe on right foot. 
• Put on a sock on your left foot. 
• Put on a shoe on your left foot. 
• Tie shoe on your left foot. 

Now imagine that you are given multithreading powers and you grew another pair of cores (arms). 

 

Let us speed the process:

• Put socks on both feet at the same time. 
• Put on shoes on both feet at the same time. 
• Tie shoes on both feet at the same time. 

Nice! Being multithreaded reduced by half the time that task took. 

 

What happens if we double the cores and now we grew 8 arms? 

Does this mean we can speed up our algorithm above by 2x once again? 

 

Turns out, no. Even if you had 3000 arms, there's no way you can do that step faster, because some tasks need to be finished before others are done. 

It isn't possible to put on socks along with shoes, or tie them while you are putting them on. 

 

Well, that's the thing with parallel processing. 

Even if Skyrim wasn't known for being sloppily made in almost all fronts, even if it effectively used multiple cores (no easy task, by the way. A new engine would need to be written from the scratch, since they are using one that was designed when multiple cores weren't a thing), even if Papyrus was really able to create parallel processing threads (ha! Keep dreaming xD), even if modders were able to create bug free multithreading mods (an achievement by itself. Threads are known for being hard to program in non functional languages), even if modders knew how to do multithread algorithms, there's a limit on how much performance you can squeeze from parallel processing. 

 

So... forget about those kinds of things while Bethesda still uses their home brew Gamebryo engine, and even if they abandon it for something modern, don't expect that much from any front when it comes to multithreading. 

[27X]

Both benefit from multicore usage, that benefit scales to about +30% max, that 30% is minimum framerate, btw.

 

Bethbryo benefits the most from ram speed more than any other mechanical issue.

[KoolHndLuke]

2 hours ago, 27X said:

Bethbryo benefits the most from ram speed more than any other mechanical issue.

That seems about right because my cpu is the oldest and weakest component of my setup and while it does get utilized heavily, I don't think it's ever 'choked' on most games besides just one RTS that calculates a stupid amount of variables constantly while playing.

 

 

 

[Guest]

9 hours ago, 27X said:

Both benefit from multicore usage, that benefit scales to about +30% max, that 30% is minimum framerate, btw.

 

Bethbryo benefits the most from ram speed more than any other mechanical issue.

 

I do find that curious that ram speed would have such an impact. 

 

Using the same chain of thought if accessibility speed makes difference would an ssd for install of game /mods matter? 

[27X]

yes.

[Frisky Kitsune]

An SSD actually matters A LOT ... and that's for almost everything computer related, not only Skyrim.

 

Switching from HDD to SSD is one of the biggest performance boosts you can get nowadays (in terms of loading times, not FPS...the FPS difference is (almost) non-existent)

 

[Guest]

I know its faster, but i was looking at this from running a bucket loads of mods

 

for example after game and mods are loaded in - would an ssd give performance difference? running lot mods and enb can really tank performance.

 

 

 

 

[27X]

Using an SSD matters quite a bit for any bethbryo game, and not just initial loads, it also affect cell loading and transition time.

[Frisky Kitsune]

1 hour ago, 27X said:

Using an SSD matters quite a bit for any bethbryo game, and not just initial loads, it also affect cell loading and transition time.

^this

 

Basically whenever something needs to load from the disk.

It will not give you any FPS, but it will load significantly faster.

 

If your PC has an M2 slot I would recommend an M2 tho, since the prices are basically the same by now (at least here).