performance laggy w/16g RAM

[chexmix]

Hi --

Boy do I love this game. However, my most up to date machine is struggling to run it. Motions are jerky, sometimes I have to repeat actions because they fail to 'take', and my laptop vent is burning my leg.

Note, I am running KSP via Steam on a Linux box (Slackware Linux, for what it is worth). This laptop is ca. 2012 -- a bit old, sure, but has a core i5-3210M CPU @ 2.50GHz and 16gb of ram. Should this not be adequate to run the game well? What else should I be considering?

I just installed the Making History expansion. Could that be causing problems (I didn't think this was a 'mod' so posted here)?

I'm looking into changing settings, too, but any insight would be welcome.

Thanks,

Glenn

Edited April 15, 2018 by chexmix
missed a '?' mark and added a tag

[Zeiss Ikon]

There are three issues that can affect your performance.  RAM solves one -- your 16 GB is plenty for even a moderate level of "extra parts" mods, providing you're using a 64-bit (or extended addressing 32-bit) Linux distribution.  Having an SSD covers the second -- even a cheap SSD is better than any platter hard disk, but for KSP, this only affects time to load the game in the first place, and the time to make or load saves.  The other is CPU -- if your cooling port is burning you, it's almost certain you're seeing the kind of thermal throttling I get with my Core i7-3520 (2.9 GHz, 2 cores) Thinkpad T430.  I run a CPU clock speed and temperature monitor, and when playing on my laptop I routinely see my CPU temperature reach 100 C, followed immediately by automatic throttling to as low as 350 MHz until the temp drops into the mid-70s.  This causes terrific lag for the 30-60 seconds it takes for the CPU to cool down.

The likely solution is to use an external laptop cooler, at least while playing.  I've been planning to get one, but I mostly play on my desktop at 4 GHz, 16 GB RAM, and with a big, new fan (built the machine in February 2018).  I still get yellow clock (that seems to be unavoidable), but I don't get pauses, even with BOINC tasks keeping all 8 cores at 100%/4.1 GHz turbo.

Edited April 15, 2018 by Zeiss Ikon

[Geonovast]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/LED-Adjustable-Stand-USB-6-Fan-Cooling-Cooler-Pad-for-12-17-Laptop-PC-Black/191533925558?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

My brand new laptop with an i5-7200U gets hot enough for the wifi to cut out while playing KSP, so I bought the above cooler.  6 freaking fans, and it's nice and quiet.  Plus it doesn't actually take up a USB port, since there's two ports on the pad.

There's also a really good chance that, with your laptop being 6 years old, the airflow path is being blocked from dust/hair.  So make sure that gets blown out.  Could also be a weak fan, or poor thermal paste.  If you or someone you know if comfortable disassembling laptops, I would rip it apart, make sure you get anything blown out that might be blocking airflow, and replace the thermal paste.  Replace the fan too if it's suspect.  They're usually pretty cheap.

As stated, a large amount of memory only really helps if you are running a ton of mods.