Graphics Mod for Lenovo laptop

[not giving a name]

this is not a debug question, more of a query of which mod I should use. what Would be a optimal graphics mod for a computer specs below, I can accept some slow frame rated, but the default waterfall + scatter + avp  running at 2fps near water is too much lag even for me.  I just want to spruce up the games graphics while having a acceptable (10-60)fps

RAM : 8.00 GB (7.89 GB usable)

CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2760QM CPU @ 2.40GHz   2.40 GHz

[darthgently]

The key question is what graphics hardware (GPU) does your laptop have?  Since you didn't supply it, I'm going assume you are still learning some things and so I'll simplify the following a bit so it makes sense.  Looking at the RAM and CPU specs I think the GPU is probably an average or so laptop GPU from a few years ago.  I suspect that running all those mods might be a bit much depending on what your KSP graphics settings are, and what the actual GPU is.  You'd need to look in the OS to see the GPU info.

For the KSP settings, when you run the game, before you select which savegame to run, go into Settings and see what your screen resolution is, and what your other graphics related settings are.  Turn them down until you get acceptable performance.  Screen resolution is probably going to have the biggest effect.  Some of them can be changed after in the game from the [Esc]->Settings menu, but I think resolution can only be set from the pre-game Settings menu, not sure.  Generally, the higher some of those settings are, the more RAM you may need.  Others are more GPU intensive.  But most graphics settings will need more of both. 

8G RAM is I think the recommended minimum requirement for KSP so you may find you have a lot more fun running zero visual mods.  With those machine stats.

The number of parts in the craft will also have a big effect on FPS.  A minimal machine with high part count craft is doomed to go very slow

Finally, with only 8G RAM you probably don't want to be running anything other than KSP.  You can check the OS to see if you are using virtual memory or swapping and if that is happening it would definitely explain 2fps on a machine of that capability.

All that said, you can have plenty of fun on a minimal machine, you just have to dial down the graphics settings, visual mods, and keep your part count down to what the machine can handle.  I think your machine qualifies, but given all the updates since I ran a machine more like yours I'm not sure if KSP is still friendly on machine that tight but I'm pretty sure it will.  If you don't push the visual mods, graphics settings, and craft part count

Edited April 3, 2022 by darthgently

[not giving a name]

ok, I do run full res with no stuttering, and i'll look into optimizing performance

[Lisias]

2 hours ago, not giving a name said:

this is not a debug question, more of a query of which mod I should use. what Would be a optimal graphics mod for a computer specs below, I can accept some slow frame rated, but the default waterfall + scatter + avp  running at 2fps near water is too much lag even for me.  I just want to spruce up the games graphics while having a acceptable (10-60)fps

RAM : 8.00 GB (7.89 GB usable)

CPU : Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-2760QM CPU @ 2.40GHz   2.40 GHz

Your problem is the GPU and some less than ideal decisions on threadings made by Unity and Squad.

You first bottleneck is the amount of VRAM for your GPU. Drop the Textures Quality to free some VRAM (there're some metadata in need to be also on the VRAM, as the PQS cache, you can't use all of it for textures).

The second bottleneck is the less than ideal decisions on threading.

I suggest to downgrade your KSP to 1.11 , you will get some good performance improvements only in this.

If even on 1.11 you are not satisfied, try KSP 1.7.3.

Depending on how old your GPU is, your best option is 1.4.3 - seriously, 1.4.3 runs absolutely marvelously on a i5 mobile with Intel HD3000 and 384MB of VRAM. (About 2012 more or less). Just don't install a lot of parts with custom textures and you will be fine.

From 1.4.4 to 1.7.3, an Intel HD4000 with ~1Gb of VRAM is alright (you will not get too much benefits by using i7). Even KSP 1.8.1 and 1.9.1 will run fine, if you limit the MONO_THREADS_PER_CPU stunt to 1. [This is somewhat cumbersome to set on Windows, but it's really your best shot for older CPUs. See this post for further instructions.]

From 1.10.0 to 1.11.x, older GPUs with 1GB or less start to suffer. You will probably get pretty lower FPS on these that you would get on 1.7.x or even 1.9.x

Don't use KSP 1.12 on any older notebook without a discrete 2GB VRAM GPU. Seriously. A mobile 1060 with 3GB of VRAM or similar is probably your minimum setup for an enjoyable moderately modded KSP session.

Edited April 3, 2022 by Lisias
Adding links.