Performance Affecting Mods Listing

The following listing of Mods and performance was done by a fellow workshop member and originally posted on the workshop.

The information below is too valuable to bury in the forum threads.

All credit goes to RottenDub for his laborious and tedious effort to test these mods affects on his game performance.

While your mileage may vary and results a bit different, these results can be used to give you a guiding point on where to start looking and trying to recover some I/O or trying to decide if that one extra mod you want will impact you.

At some point I will alphabetize the listing, and when RottenDub gets his extra ram and reposts, I'll recompile the guide or just give him access to mod as necessary.

All info posted with permission from the original author.

Original thread is here ... http://steamcommunity.com/app/255710/discussions/0/1692659135915855227/?tscn=1517785208

Don't Forget To Upvote!

Guide Version Info

Current Version 1.01

Version	Date U.S.	Changes
1.01	02/10/2018	- Added pastebin - Added contributor - Added versioning
1.00	02/09/2018	-Initial Upload

PC Specs

It's a personal quest to find what mod is responsible for making the game run at 47FPS on a new map load.

The goal is to start a new city with 70+ FPS while zooming on ground level while still be able to use a decent amounts of mods and assets.

I hope you guys find it useful !

PC specs

Asus Strix Z270F Gaming

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-6700K CPU @ 4.00GHz (liquid cooled OC @ 4.4)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti

16GB DDR4 @ 2666 + 16GB Pagefile of Virtual Memory from an m.2 drive where CS is also located (Samsung SSD 950 PRO 256GB)\

Game will be running at 1440p maxed details + realistic LUT and game speed 3

Will start the same map while adding assets and mods gradually. New Game|New Map (Garden Rivers)

Methods Used for Testing

1.Load a new map without a said mod.Document performance and resource drain.

2.Load the same map/new game with a said mod.Document performance and resource drain.

3.Rinse and repeat.

Mod Results 1 thru 49

1.)No mods|No assets (loading screen mod only)

• Load time 13s | FPS 122 zoomed out , 100 FPS ground level | CPU 30% | RAM 11.8 GB | GPU 65% 4.6 GB |

2.)Added 1315 assets

• Load time 22s | FPS 110 zoomed out, 95 ground level | CPU 27% | RAM 18.8 GB | GPU 60% 7.8 GB

3.)Added NEXT2

• Load time 42s | FPS 108 zoomed out, 85-90 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 19.9 | GPU 60% 8.5 GB

4.)Added Extra Landscaping tools

• Load time 42s| FPS 100 zoomed out, 85-89 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 20.0 GB | GPU 59% 8.5GB|

5.)Added Extra Train Stations Tracks

• Load time 42s| FPS 110 zoomed out, 80-90 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 20.0 GB | GPU 50% 8.5GB|

6.)Added Road Options a.k.a Crosswalks Remover / Road Colors Changer ++ - Game Crashed for the first time and loaded on the second attempt and the loader seemed to be sluggish

• Load time 56s| FPS 99-107 zoomed out, 80-85 ground level | CPU 43% | RAM 21.9 GB | GPU 64% 9.4 GB |

Decided to remove this mod because of the crash + 2GB RAM usage and almost 1GB VRAM usage. (also removed it's config from C:\Users\USER\AppData\Local\Colossal Order\Cities_Skylines)

7.)Added Traffic Manager PE

• Load time 42s| FPS 93-102 zoomed out, 87-89 ground level | CPU 38% | RAM 20.4 GB | GPU 60% 8.7GB|

8.)Added Extended InfoPanel

• FPS went down by almost 10 so i removed the mod

9.)Added Advanced Toolbar

• FPS went down by almost 10 so i removed the mod

10.)Added Toggleable Whiteness

• Load time 42s| FPS 108 zoomed out, 87-91 ground level | CPU 32% | RAM 20.5 GB | GPU 50% 8.7GB|

11.)Added Fine Road Anarchy and Fine Road Tool

• Load time 42s| FPS 102 zoomed out, 87 ground level | CPU 40% | RAM 20.6 GB | GPU 63% 8.7GB|

12.)Added Precision Engineering

• Load time 42s| FPS 101 zoomed out, 86 ground level | CPU 34% | RAM 20.8 GB | GPU 45% 8.7 GB|

13.)Added Quay Anarchy

• Load time 42s| FPS 100 zoomed out, 85 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 20.8 GB | GPU 54% 8.7 GB|

14.)Added 81 tiles

• Load time 42s| FPS 97 zoomed out, 86 ground level | CPU 44% | RAM 22.0 GB | GPU 44% 9.1 GB|

*Decided To remove due to 1.2GB RAM usage and 400MB VRAM usage

15.)Added Extended Game Options

• Load time 42s| FPS 78 zoomed out, 71 ground level | CPU 44% | RAM 21.0 GB | GPU 63% 8.8 GB|

Decided to remove due to big FPS drop (15FPS)

16.)Added Mod Achievement Enabler

• Load time 42s| FPS 102 zoomed out, 88 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 20.9 GB | GPU 50% 8.7 GB|

17.)Added All spaces unlockable (25)

• Load time 42s| FPS 101 zoomed out, 86 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.0 GB | GPU 57% 8.7 GB|

18.)Added American RoadSigns v2.1.0

• Load time 42s| FPS 102 zoomed out, 89 ground level | CPU 34% | RAM 21.0 GB | GPU 54% 8.7 GB|

19.)Added Mark-a-Route

• Load time 44s| FPS 99 zoomed out, 86 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.1 GB | GPU 49% 8.7 GB|

20/21.)Added Unlimited Outside Connections (Beta) and Any Road Outside Connections

• Load time 44s| FPS 100 zoomed out, 85 ground level | CPU 38% | RAM 21.1 GB | GPU 49% 8.7 GB|

22.)Added Decal Prop Fix + Prefab Hook (Mod Dependency)

• Load time 44s| FPS 99 zoomed out, 85 ground level | CPU 38% | RAM 21.2 GB | GPU 53% 8.7 GB|

23.)Added Daylight Classic

• Load time 44s| FPS 100 zoomed out, 86 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.2 GB | GPU 48% 8.7 GB|

24/25.)Added More Beautification + Find It! |

• Load time 44s| FPS 90 zoomed out, 74 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.3 GB | GPU 48% 8.7 GB|

Removed More Beautification and kept Find it

• Load time 44s| FPS 86-91 zoomed out, 74 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.3 GB | GPU 56% 8.7 GB|

Removed Find it and added more beautification

• Load time 44s| FPS 83-87 zoomed out, 73 ground level | CPU 38% | RAM 21.3 GB | GPU 44% 8.7 GB|

Conclusion both mods eat quite a bit of FPS (10 FPS combined so removal is the only way) sad to see them go but...

• We can't add or test plop the growables or force level up since they require find it
  
• Added Less Steam + Telemetry Control = Weirdly enough these 2 brought down fps by 10 in some cases

26.)Added Sort Mod Settings

• Load time 44s| FPS 100 zoomed out, 86 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.7 GB | GPU 48% 8.8 GB|

27.)Added Ambient Sounds Tuner 2.0

• Load time 44s| FPS 96 zoomed out, 73 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 22.4 GB | GPU 48% 9 GB|
  

Decided to remove due to 10FPS drop 700mb RAM usage and 200MB VRAM usage

28.)Added No Seagulls by thale5

• Load time 44s| FPS 97 zoomed out, 84 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.8 GB | GPU 48% 8.8 GB|

29.)Added Advanced Vehicle Options (AVO)

• Load time 44s| FPS 99 zoomed out, 88 ground level | CPU 30% | RAM 21.8 GB | GPU 50% 8.8 GB|

30.)Added Building Themes (Green Cities)

• Load time 44s| FPS 98 zoomed out, 84 ground level | CPU 30% | RAM 21.9 GB | GPU 46% 8.8 GB|

31.)Added Climate Control 1.2.7.0

• Load time 44s| FPS 82 zoomed out, 64-70 ground level | CPU 30% | RAM 22.8 GB | GPU 58% 9.1 GB|

Decided to remove due to 20 FPS drop in some cases and 900MB RAM usage

32.)Added Clouds & Fog Toggler

• Load time 44s| FPS 95 zoomed out, 77-84 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 22.0 GB | GPU 48% 8.8 GB|

Decided to remove due to some FPS fluctuations

33.)Added No Border Limit Camera

• Load time 44s| FPS 95 zoomed out, 81 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 22.0 GB | GPU 41% 8.8 GB|

34.)Added TimeWarp Fix

• Load time 44s| FPS 96 zoomed out, 81 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 22.0 GB | GPU 41% 8.8 GB|

35.)Added Citizen Lifecycle Rebalance v2.2 (lifespan 16)

• Load time 44s| FPS 99 zoomed out, 82 ground level | CPU 34% | RAM 22.0 GB | GPU 43% 8.8 GB|

36.)Added RealCity V1.0.13.18

• Load time 44s| FPS 74 zoomed out, 62-70 ground level | CPU 34% | RAM 22.1 GB | GPU 48% 8.8 GB|

Decided to remove due to 20 FPS drops in some cases

37.)Added Set Start Money

• Load time 44s| FPS 94 zoomed out, 83 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 22.1 GB | GPU 52% 8.8 GB|

38/39.)Added Profitable Tourism and Profitable Offices

• Load time 44s| FPS 93 zoomed out, 84 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 22.1 GB | GPU 53% 8.8 GB|

40.)Added Prop Remover

• Load time 44s| FPS 94 zoomed out, 82 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 46% 8.8 GB|

41.)Added No Radioactive Desert And More!

• Load time 44s| FPS 91 zoomed out, 82 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 48% 8.8 GB|

42.)Added CSL Show More Limits

• Load time 44s| FPS 96 zoomed out, 83 ground level | CPU 38% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 67% 8.8 GB|

43.)Added Not So Unique Buildings

• Load time 45s| FPS 97 zoomed out, 82 ground level | CPU 38% | RAM 21.9 GB | GPU 45% 8.7 GB|

44.)Added District UI Tweaks: Hide Names

• Load time 45s| FPS 94 zoomed out, 85 ground level | CPU 41% | RAM 21.9 GB | GPU 47% 8.7 GB|

45.)Added First Person Camera

• Load time 45s| FPS 91 zoomed out, 81 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 21.1 GB | GPU 55% 8.8 GB|

46.)Added Move it!

• Load time 45s| FPS 90 zoomed out, 83 ground level | CPU 39% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 47% 8.8 GB|

47.)Added Touch This!1.1

• Load time 45s| FPS 91 zoomed out, 82 ground level | CPU 36% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 64% 8.8 GB|

48.)Added Network Skins!

• Load time 45s| FPS 92 zoomed out, 82 ground level | CPU 37% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 46% 8.8 GB|

49.)Added Ship Converter

• Load time 45s| FPS 90 zoomed out, 80 ground level | CPU 39% | RAM 22.2 GB | GPU 44% 8.8 GB|

Mod Results 50 thru 52

50.)Added Sub-Buildings Enabler (DEPRECATED)

• Load time 45s| FPS 90 zoomed out, 81 ground level | CPU 41% | RAM 22.3 GB | GPU 44% 8.8 GB|

51.)Added Metro Overhaul Mod and it's required mods/assets

• Load time 55s| FPS 80 zoomed out, 64 ground level | CPU 42% | RAM 23.0 GB | GPU 44% 8.9 GB|

Decided to remove due to 20 FPS hit.

52.)Final test with 41 mods and 1315 assets

• Load time 45s| FPS 91 zoomed out, 80 ground level | CPU 49% | RAM 22.3 GB | GPU 42% 8.7 GB|

Final Results

Final result went from 47FPS to 80FPS on a new map/new game (test on building/gameplay to follow in the next week)

*Note on assets : I've made sure to pick them carefully only having a few with high poly count even if they are more than i would like.

Picking assets at randomly and on whim can kill your performance either hitting the RAM limit or VRAM limit

Other Performance Tips

Other performance tips

-Do NOT get Building Anarchy 0.4 [BETA] it will murder your FPS (as low as 11) when trying to place any building (it was a pain in the♥♥♥♥♥to pinpoint this mod)

-Do NOT get vehicle assets that are 10MB or 20MB+ in size unless you really like the said assets it will kill your RAM

-Get Mesh Info Mod to see what mods can negatively affect your performance.

21 August 2022

Hey guys a bit late to the party but I took another stab at the game today.
I started from 0 with assets and mods and basically modded and looked at the loading screen for about 16 hours.

This "mini" test was done differently than the previous one, mostly making sure there are no problems between mods with the mod compatibility report and also making sure there are no missing or broken assets.

All well and good, loading into a new map with 100+ FPS (further tests later on)

• What I did notice though` was the RAM usage:

-Game and mods installed on an M2 drive and also using that drive to use pagefile as RAM. (gave it 60GB to use as RAM.

-Interestly enough i didn’t go overboard with mods or assets and what I've seen is a combine usage of 47GB (13.4GB physical RAM and 33.3GM of virtual RAM from the M2 drive)



*What is committed RAM?
Formally committed memory is the memory that is backed either by physical memory or in the page file because it is being used. This represents the actual memory being used and is ultimately limited by physical memory and page file size.

**Why is committed RAM higher?
If the Total Commit Charge exceeds the Total Physical Memory, you probably need more RAM. When the Commit Charge is regularly higher than the Physical Memory available, it means that you have to regularly use a Page File, which slows your system down.

***Is committed RAM good?
It's much slower, but it's useful when you need to use more memory than you have in your computer. Windows stores parts of memory that have not been used for a while in the page file when it needs to store more memory but doesn't have any space in the RAM to store it


•Conclusion:

-Pagefile can be used as temporary solution if you don’t have enough ram, but more testing is needed to be conclusive

*BE CAREFUL when using pagefile on an M2 drive as they might damage you card over time

*Even the fastest M2 card will only hit ¼ the speed of a RAM but at least in some heavy modded situations you game won’t crash because you game has no RAM to use

-Might try to make another guide once I have more information and possibly buy more RAM.

*This will take quite some time as I am swamped with work and in a poorly paying country.

TL:DNR : Having more RAM will definitely help out the performance of a modded CS.

Big Performance Hit Mods

Do not get these mods if you are already using lots of mods, they will probably lower your FPS by big amounts

1.Added Road Options a.k.a Crosswalks Remover / Road Colors Changer ++

2.81 tiles

3.Extended InfoPanel

4.Advanced Toolbar

5.Extended Game Options

6.More Beautification

7.Find It!

8.Less Steam

9.Telemetry Control

10.Added Ambient Sounds Tuner 2.0

11.Climate Control 1.2.7.0

12.Clouds & Fog Toggler

13.RealCity V1.0.13.18

14.Metro Overhaul Mod and it's required mods/assets

Final Thoughts

These are personal tests on a PC that i see as decent for gaming and with lots of year of modding experience.
These test result values may or may not apply to your configuration. More data on them is needed to count this as a conclusive performance test.
I consider all the mods very good or even essential (i used them a lot in the past) and might or might not be at fault for bad game performance.
This not an attempt to slander them or any of the creators.

Used assets for the test - https://pastebin.com/HMX5RdJL

You can see the mods used in the list.If anyone needs a clickable list let me know and i'll create one

I hope people will gain use of them and that it will help optimize performance on some heavy modded setup!

Guide Author Thank You

On behalf of the workshop community, I would like to thank RottenDub for his work on these statistics.

[Simuscape]

Just found this... very intreresting - and informative!

[RottenDub]

21-August-2022

Added more info to "Other Performance Tips"

Feel free to try if they change anything on your modded setup but please do some research on that subject beforehand.

TL:DNR : Having more RAM will definitely help out the performance of a modded CS.

[rainbowsandvich]

Thank you for your help! I always (naiively) thought that only assets affected the game to large degrees. A few mods I had were quietly eating FPS. Keeping ambient sounds tuner but really cut down on most mods and assets now

[SkiRich]

You will need to contact the content creator. I only organized his thoughts. See original post link up above.
Either that or anyone that has an update can contact me and I'll add it to the guide.

[CaddyShack]

Can we get an update to this guide? This is really informative for us mod users that prefer higher fps over quality of life improvements

[Overlord]

Its interresting and sad at the same time. You just need to have some of the mods to be even able enjoy the game itself (if you dont want to build weird crap vanilla cities with washed out colours and stupid cars and props everywhere). I wish they would come with CSL2 on better (proper) engine and we could ditch this worries about fps mods hit etc. Of course some mods are probably heavy because of what they do. Some mods are probably made because they are badly created. For example 81 tiles mod it pushes the default game limits by 9 times. So its obvious it will be a fps and ram hit but its worth it in my opinion.

[Aco]

Thank you very much!

[DRen72]

I've been conducting a similar experiment on my rig. So far, I'm not seeing much difference in FPS with any mod I add or remove. It's odd, but every PC is different. However, in my case, the biggest FPS impact seems to be the trees. I love a lot of trees ( I host the Unlimited Trees Mod) so it's not unusual for my maps to have up to 1.5 million trees on 81 tiles. While covering the map with trees isn't so much the cause of low frame rates on my rig, it's more so what trees I've chosen to use. The Forest Brush Mod has been awesome in that allows me to spread a nice mix of trees and bushes all over the map. It's when I start adding smaller bushes and grasses that things really start to slow down. Each tiny bush impacts the frame rate as much as a large tree. I'm still playing with things hoping to find the best combination of detail vs. impact on frame rates, but no doubt adding too many trees and bushes can drag frame rates quickly. GPU is a 2080ti, so it's not that.

[PhoeniX^]

This test works little bit. Just try and see the difference by yourself

[KaitouShunUS]

So this test is solely done based on an empty map?

I think depends on how many cims, vehicles etc are running, some mods will slow down the game too even it does not when the map is empty. But it is very difficult to give out the result accurately because every map is different, we still have to try them on our own maps with our own combinations of mods.

But thanks for the general idea and results of this whole test, it is still very useful information.