[copperpen]

I agree with charlie on this, with the proviso that the mem switch should not use a figure which is greater than half of installed ram or 2048 whichever is the smaller figure.

[Noisemaker]

Cool, so it does encompass 2048 then. Definitely smoothed a lot of things out for me. But still getting this dang hang and crash in this one area. It was suggested to move the signals just a bit, so I'm going to give that shot. But for all else, 2048 makes it as smooth as a kitten pretty well.

[jared2982]

The problem could also be in an adjacent tile and causing the crash when MSTS goes to create the items for that tile.

[burgerbern]

as i have win 7 64bit and it can see all of my memory and use it, i use -mem:4096 and it makes a heck of a difference, tests with it in the shortcut on say the Bufalo Route gives me frame rates of 30+ using the shortcut, without it gives me 8-9fps, on less demanding routes i use either 3072 or 2048 and get 59fps with them all (no idea why it won't go the full 60fps.)

i do find however that if i come out of MSTS a few times and restart, that when total machine memory usage gets to around 50% MSTS will crash, but if i go in and run without coming out i can run an entire act on the new SLI seligmans at 40-59fps in one go. If i want to keep on starting MSTS then i generally restart the PC to clear the memory once in a while.

i tested a number of routes using 1024 then 2048 then 3072 and then 4096 to gauge the differences and in all cases on the high load routes each increase in assigned ram brought noticable fps increases. i have 8GB of memory installed, when i double that to 16GB this year i will try even higher values.

[Jovet]

The "mem" switch definitely makes a difference, especially when using MSTSBin since it manages memory much better. Using the switch doesn't really seem to alter how Windows treats the game, but allows the game to have a better plan with what to do with the memory it uses.

Numbers above 2048 can't make much sense. Under normal circumstances, Windows cannot assign a 32-bit process more than 2 gigabytes of memory at a time. It doesn't matter how much memory your computer has or how many bits are pumping through the operating system you're running.

I think specifying more than 1024 for the "mem" switch is unnecessary, but I guess as demonstrated above it can (rarely) make a difference if you have the memory to spare. You need to be using a 64-bit operating system with at least 4 GB of physical memory before you even consider specifying 2048, though. For 99% of users, 1024 will be fine, provided you have at least 2 GB of physical memory installed.

If you have 2 GB or less less of memory installed, you should be specifying half of that value for the "mem" switch. For 2 GB, specify 1024. For 1.5 GB, specify 768. For 1 GB, specify 512. If you don't know how much physical memory your computer has available to Windows, it's easy to find out. The System Properties Control Panel is one place.

[captain_bazza]

Basic, but valuable information - spiked for future reference.

Cheers Bazza

[Jovet]

One more tidbit of important information:

If you intend to specify the "mem" switch to start MSTS, you must specify it by starting train.exe directly. By default, the MSTS installer points the shortcuts to start launcher.exe. But launcher.exe will not turn around and pass on the extra information you gave it to MSTS.

So, to start the game normally:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator\train.exe -mem:nnnn

To start the game windowed:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator\train.exe -vm:w -mem:nnnn

To start the Route Editor or Activity Editor:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Games\Train Simulator\train.exe -toolset -mem:nnnn

Keep in mind that the path shown here is the default path to train.exe....which is likely different on your system.

[Noisemaker]

After buggering my registry and knocking out the tools icon completely, I did a fresh install of MSTS again. Just out of curiosity, does setting the icon to Run As Administrator, or going into the properties of it and setting it that way - does that have any bearing on anything performance wise? Also, if I leave the Tools icon 'as is' with launcher.exe - editor - does that hinder anything?

[SVRy_Steve]

I forgot all about this and had it set the same as my old machine, -mem:1024. My new machine is running Win7, i5 processor, 8Gb RAM, a Radeon 6670 w/1Gb of VRAM and 700 watt power supply.

As some of you know, my own route, where I am experimenting with 2048 and 4096 terrtex tiles, 1024 and 2048 aces for the trees close to the tracks and ridiculous numbers of forest regions, has been having issues with Tim's NP W class steamers double headed. Frame rates have been dropping in the worst areas to 5-8 fps. I changed it to -mem:2048 and in a couple spots the rates have dropped to 37, otherwise staying in the mid 40's to mid 50's! Almost no stutters anywhere! It's a new route!

Steve

[Jovet]

Noisemaker, on 28 January 2013 - 09:50 AM, said:

Just out of curiosity, does setting the icon to Run As Administrator, or going into the properties of it and setting it that way - does that have any bearing on anything performance wise?

Won't affect performance per se, but If you're using a paranoid operating system (Vista or better) you should always be using Run as Administrator with MSTS to ensure it has the proper permissions.

Noisemaker, on 28 January 2013 - 09:50 AM, said:

Also, if I leave the Tools icon 'as is' with launcher.exe - editor - does that hinder anything?

You'll be "hindered" without the use of the "mem" switch, which benefits the Route Editor just as much as the normal game (some might say more!...see above :yahoo: )