What to do to improve 64 bit KSP performance

[Zamolxes77]

For me the release of 64 bit KSP on Unity 5 was a real boon, before I was limited into launching crafts not bigger than 150 parts - my system would crawl to low 10 fps range, which for me was unplayable.

Anyway, with 1.1.3 installed, I can launch crafts of 300-400 parts complexity and still get a decent frame rate. However, I noticed that even without launching such monsters, my game seems to slow down after long periods of time. In my current game  (year 2) I have something like 10-20 Space objects: 4 satellites, 3 space stations, one around each body of Kerbin, Minmus and Mun, descent vehicles around Minmus and Mun, a planetary base on Minmus, a nuclear TUG in Kerbin orbit. None of these vehicles are bigger than 100 parts or so, some considerably less, but regardless, my game doesn't seem to run as smooth as when the space was empty.

I don't use many mods, Engineer and docking assist are the only tools I can't live without, no beauty mods.

My PC specs: i5 2500k quad core @ 3.3 Ghz, 8G ram dd3, Win 7 64 bit, 1 Gig Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 video card, SSD HDD for OS only.

My question is what can I do, besides buying more RAM (I know its a bit low at 8 Gig) or a faster CPU to improve my gameplay experience, perhaps adding some extra beauty mods and PlanetShine ? Thank you for your input.

[Curveball Anders]

54 minutes ago, Zamolxes77 said:

1 Gig Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 video card

I'm running a similar rig (except an i7-2600) and a GTX-570.

Judging on my own experiences and watching cpu and memory load I'd say that the real big gain would be to update that GPU.

Getting more RAM doesn't really do much unless you start running out.
(Well, there a little gain to be had since 'free' ram is used by the OS but it's no biggie).

 

[sal_vager]

You should have enough RAM at 8 gigs, but more RAM won't help unless you're filling it and Windows is using the page file (writing memory to disk).

KSP is most affected by your CPU, so closing other applications that are using the CPU will not only leave more CPU time for KSP, but that will also remove them from memory, reducing the likelihood of Windows having to use the page file.

Reducing KSP's graphics settings can also help a bit, as well as fewer or smaller craft in flight.

[Zamolxes77]

7 minutes ago, sal_vager said:

You should have enough RAM at 8 gigs, but more RAM won't help unless you're filling it and Windows is using the page file (writing memory to disk).

KSP is most affected by your CPU, so closing other applications that are using the CPU will not only leave more CPU time for KSP, but that will also remove them from memory, reducing the likelihood of Windows having to use the page file.

Reducing KSP's graphics settings can also help a bit, as well as fewer or smaller craft in flight.

Sadly I'm not filling the ram up, I'm not even hitting 4 Gig, with mods. If a 3.3Ghz quad ain't enough, that means this game has some horrible optimization, even after all this time and patches. I can play Ark Survival for christ sake, at a decent fps on this rig.

Graphic settings are already pretty low, to lower them even more would mean it would like crap. 

[sal_vager]

17 minutes ago, Zamolxes77 said:

If a 3.3Ghz quad ain't enough, that means this game has some horrible optimization

That CPU should be fine, but it will still reach a limit with very high part count craft so the cause must be elsewhere.

Can you upload your logs from an unmodded KSP install, and your dxdiag to dropbox please.

[Zamolxes77]

On 8/10/2016 at 4:01 PM, sal_vager said:

That CPU should be fine, but it will still reach a limit with very high part count craft so the cause must be elsewhere.

Can you upload your logs from an unmodded KSP install, and your dxdiag to dropbox please.

Sorry it took a while for me to get back, how do I get a hold onto the KSP logs please?

[sal_vager]

18 hours ago, Zamolxes77 said:

Sorry it took a while for me to get back, how do I get a hold onto the KSP logs please?

There's the KSP.log file in the same folder as the KSP.exe, and the output_log.txt is in KSP_Data.

Also, use the run or find programs box in the start menu to open dxdiag (type in dxdiag), you can use dxdiag to save a hardware report as a text file.

Please put these three files on dropbox, googledrive or something and post the links to them here, don't forget to make them public so we can access them.

[Zamolxes77]

1 hour ago, sal_vager said:

Please put these three files on dropbox, googledrive or something and post the links to them here, don't forget to make them public so we can access them.

Ok here they are, though I cannot put them in a public folder, that's a payed service on dropbox. Give these links a try, see if they work, if not I'll change the file host. There are 5 links, one for each file, I added an extra copy with the .log for a modded install, very few mods, the ones I can't play without: Redux, Docking assistant, Hyperedit, Kopernicus and SVT (last two are a recent addition, I can live without them).

-DxDiag: https://www.dropbox.com/s/k3e5nwqaq2ab8w0/DxDiag.txt?dl=0

-KSP.log: https://www.dropbox.com/s/etef8j3bjjfzrdh/KSP.log?dl=0

-KSP.log (modded): https://www.dropbox.com/s/1io054w4lvrwn98/KSP (modded).log?dl=0

-output_log.txt: https://www.dropbox.com/s/lcp6l7xh0ipjaqd/output_log (modded).txt?dl=0

-output_log.txt(modded): https://www.dropbox.com/s/lcp6l7xh0ipjaqd/output_log (modded).txt?dl=0

 

Thank you very much for taking time to look over these.

[sal_vager]

Well there's a newer driver available here.

You have more mods than you mentioned, they might be causing it as plugin code still has to run, but if you also upload the save someone could give it a go.