More mods need more RAM?

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mexel75
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More mods need more RAM?

Post by mexel75 »

What will probably be the most likely bottleneck in my computer performance, if I use a lot of mods? I'm guessing it's the RAM. But I'm no computer expert. Is 16GB RAM more than enough, or would it help to double it to 32GB?

Is there some way I could monitor if my computer is starting to hit the ceiling on how many mods it can handle? Used RAM? Lagging game? CPU usage? Reduced FPS? Would appreciate a small computer lesson on this :smileynew:
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theSeb
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by theSeb »

All of the above, depending on the mod and exactly what you mean by "use a lot of mods".

Lots of mods of all types = slower initial loading of the game and the save game and increased memory use

Lots of script mods running in the game = potential lag / reduced FPS . Potential conflicts between mods breaking intended functionality, Note that some equipment mods come with their own scripts. Scripts are generally executing something every frame or every set time interval, based on various conditions. As you can imagine, this mostly impacts your CPU.

Lots of equipment bought in the game = reduced FPS / increased memory / increased video memory . The more stuff on "show" in the map, the more stuff that needs to be loaded and drawn. Also, and this is very important, there are many equipment mods that look very pretty, but are also "resource hogs". This will show up as clear FPS drops when looking directly at them. Note that some mod maps may have models in them, such as buildings, or horizon background textures etc , that exhibit the exact same problems.

It's impossible to say how much RAM is enough, because what is a lot of mods to one person is different to another person. Load your save game and alt-tab out of it, open task manager and you can see memory use for FS19. 16 GB *should be plenty" for the majority of users.

TLDR: more mods = more stuff processing and being drawn. This increases the resource needs of CPU, GPU, RAM (both system and video). Also it helps to have a fast SSD, so game loads faster.
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mexel75
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by mexel75 »

Thanks Seb, for a very informative answer. I'm sure we are many that uses several hundred mods, that have been collected over the years. But it's not worth it, if it bogs down the computer to much and affects the overall game experience. So understanding when you are about to hit the limit of your computer, is good knowing.
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DEERE317
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by DEERE317 »

I have 8gb (single channel for even more tech geekery) it handles fine, I may be running up to its limits (or something else in my system) in my old Medicine Creek save I blogged on but handles fine otherwise. Think file explorer put my total mod count at roughly 1,000. If you open up task manager you can see RAM, CPU, GPU, and Disc/drive utilization.(and can alt+tab or hit the windows key to see it)
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Ekan
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by Ekan »

I got 330 mods in my folder, most I use is high quallity. Quite heavy impact on the system, but FPS is still fine. I had 16gb ram before and now 32gb ram and tbh I didnt notice any diffrens. The big diffrens was when I change the GPU from gf1080 to rtx 3070.
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CowsGoMoo
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by CowsGoMoo »

DEERE317 wrote: Tue May 04, 2021 1:41 pm I have 8gb (single channel for even more tech geekery) it handles fine, I may be running up to its limits (or something else in my system) in my old Medicine Creek save I blogged on but handles fine otherwise. Think file explorer put my total mod count at roughly 1,000. If you open up task manager you can see RAM, CPU, GPU, and Disc/drive utilization.(and can alt+tab or hit the windows key to see it)
When I did look at building a pc American Truck Sim minimum specs and fs17 specs were the same so I went by the ATS recommended specs which was 6gb RAM and 2gb gpu. I don't think fs19 was much more taxing than 17 on paper anyway. I did talk to Virtual Farmer before his upgrade like a year ago and he was running 19 on a 1060 3gig card and I think 8gigs of ram. The big pc building yt tech channels almost always recommend 16gb ram for modern games and even more if one plans on doing more streaming and video editing.
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DEERE317
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by DEERE317 »

16gb would definitely be ideal but 8gb is what mine came with.
FS15 & FS19 Platinum Edition PC (and War Thunder, Gaijin is way worse than GIANTS ever has been accused of being)
FS Comunity Trader: https://fs19communitytrader.freeforums.net/
Desktop: i5-9400f, RTX 2060, 8gb RAM, 256gb SSD.
Laptop: Pentium Silver N5000, UHD605, 4gb RAM, 1tb HDD.
Deere, Fendt, Claas, and sometimes the rest of Agco.
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mexel75
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by mexel75 »

Yeah, 16GB seem to cover atleast a few hundred mods without any problems (ofc a bit dependent of which mods you use)
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theSeb
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Re: More mods need more RAM?

Post by theSeb »

The more RAM the merrier. Modern operating systems will also use free RAM to cache often used system, application and user files thus making your experience more "snappy" in general day-to-day computer use.
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