Seriously I swear there is such a thing as too many mods/plugins...

[CoriW]

Well, basically as the title says.

I currently have 32 mods/plugins, KSP is not reaching it's RAM limit, and my computer is also not nearing it's RAM limit... Yet my KSP runs so slow...

I've confirmed that it doesn't seem to be any particular mod/plugin that causes the lag because no matter which ones I remove, it only starts to speed back up again when I get down to around 20 of them.

I'm also playing on relatively low graphics settings, in fact I've made a custom "Very Low" setting for the Terrain Detail, which is basically just the "Low" setting with all ocean max subdivisions set to 1. Below is a list of my graphics settings.

Terrain Detail: Very Low

SM3 Terrain Shaders: Enabled

Terrain Scatters (WIP): Disabled

Render Quality Level: Simple

Texture Quality: Half Res

Fallback part shaders: False

Aerodynamic FX Quality: Low

Screen Resolution: 1920x1080 (I've also tried it on 1600x900, but the results are still the same lag.)

Full Screen: Enabled

Anti-Aliasing: 2x

V Sync: Every VBlank

Frame Limit: 60 FPS

Pixel Light Count: 4

Shadow Cascades: 4

And this is my mod/plugin list. (Copy and Pasted from the file I use to keep track of my mods.)

[19 NO PARTS / 13 PARTS][29 UP TO DATE / 3 OUTDATED][32 TOTAL]

IN USE [32]

01) [0.22] KerbalAlarmClock (2.6.4.0)
02) [0.22] Engineer Redux (0.6.1.4)
03) [0.22] Protractor (2.4.3)
04) [0.21] Actions on the Fly (1.1.1)
05) [0.22] RCS BuildAid (0.4)
06) [0.22] Navball Docking Alignment Indicator (0)
07) [0.22] Editor Extensions (0.6)
08) [0.22] MechJeb (2.1)
09) [0.21] Targetron (1.2.2)
10) [0.22] ModuleManager (1.5)
11) [0.22] Enhanced Navball (1.2)
12) [0.22] SelectRoot (Oct17)
13) [0.22] PreciseNode (0.6)
14) [0.22] Kerbal Joint Reinforcement (1.4.2)
15) [0.22] Active Memory Reduction Mod (1-1)
16) [0.22] GPWS (1.2)
17) [0.22] Kethane (0.8.1) [PARTS]
18) [0.22] Ferram Aerospace Research (0.11)
19) [0.22] Procedural Fairings (2.4.2) [PARTS]
20) [0.22] Procedural Dynamics (0.5) [PARTS]
21) [0.22] Kerbal ISP Difficulty Scaler (1.2)
22) [0.22] Deadly Reentry Continued (4) [PARTS]
23) [0.22] ECLSS (1.0.12) [PARTS]
24) [0.22] KerbalAttachmentSystem (0.4.4) [PARTS]
25) [0.22] StretchySRB (v6) [PARTS]
26) [0.22] Engine Ignitor (3.0.1)
27) [0.22] EVA Paracutes (1.2) [PARTS]
28) [0.22] RemoteTech 2 (1.2.6) [PARTS]
29) [0.22] RealChute Parachute Systems (0.3.1) [PARTS]
30) [0.21] Radial Stack Separator (Aug01) [PARTS]
31) [0.22] RocketPowerIndustries Ullage Pack (6.0.0) [PARTS]
32) [0.22] RLA Stockalike (0.9.4) [PARTS]

NOT IN USE [0]

Seriously I don't understand why my KSP is lagging. Even with reasonably sized ships under 100 parts it still begins to lag immediately once the physics load.

I'm torn because I really want to play with all these mods/plugins, yet I don't want to play a laggy game, and I can't seem to figure out any way to fix it.

Oh and also I may as well give some system spec's as well.

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 215 (Dual Core Processor)

Memory: 3072 MB DDR2

Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5570 1GB

Edited December 15, 2013 by CoriW

[ferram4]

Remove ECLSS and see if that fixes it. I know that there have been some serious performance issues with that one that increases with the number of craft you have in your save. Try closing MJ and KER windows that you aren't using, particularly the dV calculation ones, since they are slightly expensive.

[CoriW]

Remove ECLSS and see if that fixes it. I know that there have been some serious performance issues with that one that increases with the number of craft you have in your save. Try closing MJ and KER windows that you aren't using, particularly the dV calculation ones, since they are slightly expensive.

Alright I'll try that when I get a chance, hopefully it works.

[EndlessWaves]

A common cause of lag is message spamming to the logs, so open your log (alt+F2 or alt+F12) and see if you're getting messages scrolling faster than you can read then (or almost). A copy of the log is saved as KSP_Data/Output_log.txt

Edited December 15, 2013 by EndlessWaves

[Stone Blue]

You only have 3GB of RAM installed? What OS?

[CoriW]

A common cause of lag is message spamming to the logs, so open your log (alt+F2 or alt+F12) and see if you're getting messages scrolling faster than you can read then (or almost). A copy of the log is saved as KSP_Data/Output_log.txt

Will check it out, loading KSP up right now.

You only have 3GB of RAM installed? What OS?

Windows 7, but my computer is about 4 years old.

Although when I'm running KSP my RAM usage only goes up to about 2.2GB, so it's definitely not running out of RAM.

EDIT: Alright so I've figured something out. Right now I'm using my 277 ton lifter with an orbital stage on top, it consists of 84 parts. I've found that when the physics initially load on the launch pad I lag very badly, however almost immediately after I release the clamps the lag gets much less noticeable, there is still a little bit of lag that appears to come from KSC, but for the most part it appears that the launch clamps are causing my lag...?

As for debug spam, I've watched the debug console for an entire flight and haven't noticed any outstanding spam.

I also took ferram's advice and removed ECLSS, which actually does seem to have helped the lag a bit, but it's really unfortunate because I really want to play with Life Support.

Edited December 15, 2013 by CoriW

[Mokmo]

So your Ram probably runs out because of everything else you have at the same time.

[Stone Blue]

Win7 can easily use 1.25-1.5GB of RAM all by itself...Leaving only 1.75-1.5GB for everything else you have running....Not a lot left for KSP to play nicely with...I'm surprised you have that many mods working at all...

[CoriW]

Then why does my task manager tell me that my computer is only using a total of 2.2GB of RAM when KSP is running...?

EDIT: I've also made sure to end all non-critical processes when KSP is running, to reduce RAM usage.

Edited December 16, 2013 by CoriW

[Rassa Farlander]

When I used my laptop I had everything turned off and at the lowest setting and it did ok for what it was.

try this:

Anti-Aliasing: off

V Sync: off

Frame Limit: 60 FPS

Pixel Light Count: 4

Shadow Cascades: 2

Texture quality all the way down.

Also the slider on the first page of the settings, Max Physics delta-time rate, try moving that to to around .03 and see if it helps

EDIT: No kw or nova punch? surprising!

Good luck!

Edited December 16, 2013 by Rassa Farlander

[CoriW]

When I used my laptop I had everything turned off and at the lowest setting and it did ok for what it was.

try this:

Anti-Aliasing: off

V Sync: off

Frame Limit: 60 FPS

Pixel Light Count: 4

Shadow Cascades: 2

Texture quality all the way down.

Also the slider on the first page of the settings, Max Physics delta-time rate, try moving that to to around .03 and see if it helps

EDIT: No kw or nova punch? surprising!

Good luck!

Oh whoa, that really helped with the lag. I'm still getting a bit of lag when attached to launch clamps. (Though I have no idea why, it could be because Engine Ignitor adds a new module to them?)

I changed everything to what you said except I set the Max Physics Delta Time to 0.05, and it runs like a dream.

[EndlessWaves]

Then why does my task manager tell me that my computer is only using a total of 2.2GB of RAM when KSP is running...?

EDIT: I've also made sure to end all non-critical processes when KSP is running, to reduce RAM usage.

If you're running a 32-bit version of Windows 7 then KSP will be limited to 2GB instead of the usual 4GB.

[jpinard]

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 215 (Dual Core Processor)

Memory: 3072 MB DDR2

Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5570 1GB

You have a terrible CPU.

[Kilmeister]

Processor: AMD Athlon II X2 215 (Dual Core Processor)

Memory: 3072 MB DDR2

Graphics: ATI Radeon HD 5570 1GB

KSP is CPU intensive, and your CPU is rather outdated. Changing graphics options will have little effect when your CPU is the bottleneck.

[Jobin]

ECLSS lagged me horribly with more than one ship active for some reason... it even caused unplayable framerate lag when I planted just one flag. There definitely is such a thing as too many mods, which is a shame because there are so many fantastic ones! Turning the graphics down when I know I'm getting lag from mod overload never helps me noticeably either. Unless it takes me from ~15 fps to 40+ fps I'm not turning down graphics.

Why are you using Protractor, MechJeb, and Precise Node together? Mech Jeb already has a node editor AFAIK. I found Protractor to be way too guess and check also, unless you want to sit there and do all the calculations in real time. I was reading up on orbital mechanics and thinking about coding something for myself in Matlab, but then I found Arrowstar's Trajectory Optimization Tool which calculates the transfer pretty much how it would be in Phase A design. TOT is nice because it doesn't run inside the game and lag it like other mods would!

[CoriW]

If you're running a 32-bit version of Windows 7 then KSP will be limited to 2GB instead of the usual 4GB.

Running Windows 7 64-bit. So KSP is limited to 4GB, however my computer only has 3GB, and uses around 1GB for Windows... So KSP may as well only use 2GB. (1.5GB to be safe.)

You have a terrible CPU.

KSP is CPU intensive, and your CPU is rather outdated. Changing graphics options will have little effect when your CPU is the bottleneck.

Yeah, I immediately realized this when lowering the Max Physics Delta Time fixed the issue. I'm planning on getting a new computer some time in (hopefully) early 2014, just trying to hang on there until I can afford it.

ECLSS lagged me horribly with more than one ship active for some reason... it even caused unplayable framerate lag when I planted just one flag. There definitely is such a thing as too many mods, which is a shame because there are so many fantastic ones! Turning the graphics down when I know I'm getting lag from mod overload never helps me noticeably either. Unless it takes me from ~15 fps to 40+ fps I'm not turning down graphics.

Why are you using Protractor, MechJeb, and Precise Node together? Mech Jeb already has a node editor AFAIK. I found Protractor to be way too guess and check also, unless you want to sit there and do all the calculations in real time. I was reading up on orbital mechanics and thinking about coding something for myself in Matlab, but then I found Arrowstar's Trajectory Optimization Tool which calculates the transfer pretty much how it would be in Phase A design. TOT is nice because it doesn't run inside the game and lag it like other mods would!

Basically as stated above, turns out it was a CPU bottleneck, so graphics really isn't the issue at all. As soon as I reduced my Max Physics Delta Time from 0.10 to 0.05, I can run 36 mods/plugins with barely any lag at all.

As for using Protractor, MechJeb, and Precise node together... I use protractor because it's what I've always used for interplanetary, I use MechJeb solely for the Smart A.S.S and Warp Helper, and Precise Node because it let's me switch conic mods on the spot, and let's me move the maneuver node around based on universe time.

EDIT: Oh and as for ECLSS, I've not had to time to actually see if there's lag with more than 1 ship... I really need to play KSP more.

Edited December 16, 2013 by CoriW

[Beowolf]

Then why does my task manager tell me that my computer is only using a total of 2.2GB of RAM when KSP is running...?

Just an FYI: We're talking about two different types of RAM. You're looking at physical RAM. Each Windows process also has an allocation of "virtual RAM". Because of the limits of 32-bit architectures, KSP can only use 4GB of virtual RAM, no matter how much physical RAM is in your PC. And that 4GB has to include all of Windows that's currently loaded into memory, too, so as someone else said, under older versions of Windows the actual amount available to KSP could be as low as 2GB.

In Task Manager, look at how much memory the "ksp.exe" process is using. That's how you check the virtual RAM.

Confusing enough for you?