Memory Issues??

[bprice]

Recently I have observed a drop in fps in some sessions. I am running on a Samsung laptop.

Intel i5 2430 M CPU 2.4 GHZ 64 bit with 4GB of RAM, Intel integrated graphics. ( no video card slot)

On flatland routes I like to run extended viewing as much as 6000m so that items don't just suddenly pop up.

It is not uncommon to run in the 5-7 fps but the effect is usually acceptable with little noticeable stutter.

I was running a large train with SLI engines and stock in timetable mode. With the setting set at 6000m it shows an FPS of 5-6 but the train shows no movement. Changing the camera will give a few seconds of movement then everything stands still. In this particular instance, automatically tuning to 10 fps resulted in scenery popping up right in front of the train's location.

The f5 debug shows render processes at nearly 100%. With smaller trains this is not nearly as high.

I checked and discovered the available RAM was pretty low.

I think that the available RAM has something to do with this but I am not sure.

Short of getting a new machine with a video card, Would increasing RAM memory to 8 or 16 GB have an effect? Or is a video card a necessity?

Thanks
Basil

[Snowman]

First, you have no graphics card, so thats bad. Second, you run at 6000m distance levels. I have a faster machine than yours and I dont run my settings like that. Obviously cut back on that distance. Id say, at least to 1000m and get a computer that has a PCI-E slot so you can get a graphics card. Your RAM is low because of all that work thats being put on to your machine by not having a graphics card. Thats why we have graphics cards

Adding more ram wont help because OpenRails is a 32bit program and I think it can only use up to 2GB of system memory. That leaves 2GB for everything else AND in this case your graphics. You could get a motherboard and put your i5 in there and basically switch everything over to a new MB. You may need a new PSU if youre using a system like Dell.

[MCDemuth]

I checked and discovered the available RAM was pretty low.

In most cases, users of most computers will discover that many programs (processes/services) will Automatically load when computers startup...to ease the use of specialty functions and hardware on demand... And those make use of some of the available RAM...

( Off The Top Of My Head: ) Some of these include things like Printer Drivers & Software, Lightscribe ROM Burning, DVD Movie Software... as well as Antivirus...

I rarely "print" anything on a regular basis, and won't during my simming time... So...

If you don't plan to use these programs during your current active computer session, you can shut many of these down manually while you use your simulator, and that will increase the available RAM that you have that can be used for the simulator. "Windows Task Manager" can help you do a lot...

Some programs are also available from the internet, that will allow you to activate a "Gaming Mode" which will shut down many of these for you with a "single" click. When you are done, you can deactivate "Gaming Mode" to resume all these programs. Many of these programs will allow you to set up a profile that will allow you to select which programs you wish to shut down... Just do a search on Google...

While shutting some of these down, may not FREE up a lot of the RAM, it could reduce some "Background" CPU usage, and you could gain some Simulator speed up that way...



Just a suggestion.

[R. Steele]

I know this suggestion is subject to individual budget resources and personal taste. Have you considered a purchase of a desktop/box rig especially for the simulator?

That way you can use an up to date Graphics Card ... OR uses the GPU

Also by including more system memory (4G to 128G depending which version of WIN7 OS you decide upon) you'll have enough memory to run background programs, load everything and still run OR

Widescreen Monitor

If you run WIN7 pro 64bit or one of the versions that allow more memory you can run OR with the Large Address Binaries option checked which will allow more memory to be used.

All this may be impractical for your situation but it is something to consider for a better experience with Open Rails

[bprice]

Also by including more system memory (4G to 128G depending which version of WIN7 OS you decide upon) you'll have enough memory to run background programs, load everything and still run OR

This is a major part of my question. I have a slot to add 4G of memory making the total 8. Or I can get 2 8G cards and have 16. Would that help or be a waste of money?

Eventually it will be time for a new computer and I may eventually consider a computer just for OR. At any rate the next one will be with a consideration for optimum performance. For now I am just looking for some improvement without too much sacrifice of some of the great features OR has.

Thanks
Basil

[mikeebb]

You're likely to get the usual gripe about Intel graphics here. There's some truth to it, and if you ever want to run Real MSTS (rather than Open Rails) you will probably not get it to work well (if at all) with Intel graphics.

That said, for ORTS, Intel graphics while relatively low-end should work. I think your memory question is a good one - more RAM would provide more room for the graphics driver to work in. As it is now, in 4G, even with 64-bit Windows, you will probably have only 2-2.5G available for ORTS. The graphics driver uses about 1G (if it's like my daughter's old laptop with i5 and HD3000 Intel graphics) of RAM for its own purposes. So bumping the total up to 8G will help - it would make more space available for other programs, and would allow you to use LAA mode in ORTS giving it 4G to work with (in 64-bit Windows).

If LAA mode is enabled in your OR options, you might want to uncheck it and try again. I think it's enabled by default in recent builds. If you have 64-bit Windows, LAA mode lets OR try to use all available RAM (up to 4G), which could slow things down with limited memory as you have. Unchecking it drops back to a 2G limit for OR, which might make more space available for the system including the graphics buffers. However, some of the latest tweaks might not be in the non-LAA binaries.

You also might want to check whether you're using 32- or 64-bit Windows. With 4G, somebody might have cheaped out and installed 32-bit, in which case LAA mode isn't worth the effort (you would need changes to how the system boots up to make it worthwhile). By itself, though, 32-bit Windows shouldn't run noticeably slower than 64-bit with 4G of RAM - in fact, it might be a tad faster; but if you don't have 64-bit Windows, adding RAM won't help (32-bit Windows can only use 4G).

Finally, if you look for a new laptop, you might want to get not only more RAM (8G is a good minimum these days) but also nVidia graphics. nVidia and AMD are both better than Intel graphics, and either should run OR fine, but in Windows 8 or later nVidea is needed to run the original MSTS. Unless you go for a high-end gamer laptop, it's likely that any of the on-motherboard graphics systems use system RAM for their buffer, so you need that 8G total to allow space for it. Few laptops have provision for a separate graphics card.

[Snowman]

This is a major part of my question. I have a slot to add 4G of memory making the total 8. Or I can get 2 8G cards and have 16. Would that help or be a waste of money?

Waste. This isnt going to help frame rate with what you have. You are not going to have 6000m draw distance with onboard video and get acceptable frame rate in OR. Cutting back on that draw distance will help tons. Think about it, youre loading objects at 6000m away and all of that going into memory. Cut that draw distance back and take advantage of the address large binaries option that is in the experimental tab. Also, try to cut down on services that are running that dont have to be, or useless. Game Booster is a program that will close these for you and restart the services if you wish after youre finished playing your game.

[bprice]

Thank you for the input.

I do not always run 6000m. Only on some routes that are scenery sparse. And, I make adjustments as I go. Often I can run that setting and, while not perfect it is acceptable. If the route is scenery dense there is no need for such extended viewing. Ultimately I hope to upgrade to a new machine which will be purchased with OR in mind.

Right now I am looking for any tweaks that might help.

[mikeebb]

I think the extra RAM (assuming your Windows version will let you use it) will help, but only a little. The main thing it would do, if you have 64-bit Windows, is let the LAA mode of ORTS do some good. The frame rate problem is more related to the rest of your hardware and your ORTS settings, as others have noted. So ... if another RAM module (upgrading to 8 GB total; don't bother with more) is nearly free, try it. If it's expensive, don't bother, and start saving for a newer, better-for-games computer.

[conductorchris]

The extra memory is generally not a waste when it comes to the rest of the things you do on that laptop besides open rails.
Christopher

[bprice]

The LAA setting apparently resolved the hang-up. There was not a significant improvement in overall FPS but everything is loading now and stuttering reduced. OR was able to use considerably more memory.

Thanks again for your input.