Tips on Pinning Down which Mod is Wrecking my FPS?

[smokytehbear]

Hey guys, more of a general question here, not so much a bug report or support request. I've got 170 or so mods installed, ranging from the minimalist Quick Exit to Blue Dog Design Bureau and stuff. For the most part my performance handles alright, and I don't mind dropping into the teens for FPS with megaton, several-hundred parts rockets trying to dock with each other. But recently, in what seems like almost entirely random instances that I can't pin down to a single or even multiple causes, my FPS just tanks to 1 and kills even the in-game time progression to where I can't even click on stuff. Is this the fabled "RAM leak" that I hear about occasionally?

So I'm not a complete dolt with technical stuff but I'm no genius either. I know the standard trial and error troubleshooting method is to isolate each mod with clean installs until I can pin down the culprit, but I'm assuming there must be a better way. Are there recommended error reports, additional tools, console menus, or just general tips anyone has on hunting down specific causes of huge lag spikes? Thanks in advance everyone.

[Benoit Hage]

When exactly do you suffer from a fps drop? Is it when docking, or while flying into atmosphere? Landing?

Do you have mods that enhance your graphics? Those are usually consuming.

What are your system specifications? 

Are you sure your mods are all up to date? Tracking 170 (!!) might be challenging.

Check your task manager to see if your RAM went berserk during a lag spike.