Ram vs map size

[sull51]

How much ram and or processing speed is needed to run the larger maps before the program slows down.? I understand that too many cities (people) is a factor no matter the map size What would the recommendation be on the number of cities on a large or experimental map?

[MagnusA]

The main bottleneck in this game for large maps is CPU, not RAM. The more population and freight moving around the harder load on the CPU. When too much for your hardware the game will come to a crawl.

[CashonWheels]

Originally posted by MagnusA:

The main bottleneck in this game for large maps is CPU, not RAM. The more population and freight moving around the harder load on the CPU. When too much for your hardware the game will come to a crawl.

That used to be the case. I have 16 GB of ram and I need to reduce the graphics when I get into late into saves. Now there are mods that chop down population and make saves last even longer.

Can anyone look at this and give me a guesstimate of how much RAM I could effectively use. I'm Debating 32GB or more.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2592198770

[Vimpster]

The game definitely uses up a lot of ram on larger maps and more developed maps. But I'm unsure whether it is video ram or system ram that the game requires more of. I hear my HD being used nonstop suggesting that it is using the HD as a page file since it has run out of ram. I don't know if video cards are able to use HD as a page file when they run out of ram though. But the the video card does use system ram if it uses up it's own video ram, which in turn would result in system ram being used up and resorting to a page file either way.

My video card has 8gb of ram and will use upto an additional 8gb of system ram if needed, but I only have 16gb of system ram. I imagine having 32gb of system ram would do the trick of saving my HD from being worn out.

[CashonWheels]

Originally posted by Vimpster:

The game definitely uses up a lot of ram on larger maps and more developed maps. But I'm unsure whether it is video ram or system ram that the game requires more of. I hear my HD being used nonstop suggesting that it is using the HD as a page file since it has run out of ram. I don't know if video cards are able to use HD as a page file when they run out of ram though. But the the video card does use system ram if it uses up it's own video ram, which in turn would result in system ram being used up and resorting to a page file either way.

My video card has 8gb of ram and will use upto an additional 8gb of system ram if needed, but I only have 16gb of system ram. I imagine having 32gb of system ram would do the trick of saving my HD from being worn out.

Does anyone have examples of the game using lets say 60GB of ram and its not a slide show?

This game(s) have come a long way! I remember the bad ole days of cpu usage of 11%!

[Tsubame ⭐]

RAM is a bottleneck on large maps with lots of assets, and/or lots of mods.

But this is a primarily CPU-limited game, and in maps with lots of assets and cities, GPU is also a bigger limitation as well.

[sull51]

To summarize what has been said so far
Higher ram is needed on larger maps to record non moving assets (trees rocks etc)
Less crowed map less ram needed
Higher processing speed (3.5 or higher?) to keep track of moving things (people ,trains etc)
With people being the largest number of moving objects it would seem that fewer and smaller cities would go along way of solving the problem.
Considering what has been said above there are however many examples on Youtube of people using large maps choke full of moving things. So to re ask the question on the first post of this thread. How much ram and processing speed is necessary based on your experience to have a good experience in using large maps

[michaeljhuman]

If it helps, I turned off this Primo cache program I use, to gain access to all my RAM, which is 32GB with no improvement. So perhaps 16GB is enough RAM for this game. ( I was using 16GB for caching.) I noticed some rather low frame rates, once I had a lot of routes going. I am pushing 200 routes, unknown numbers of vehicles on a large map.

[CashonWheels]

16 gb will get you though extra large maps. Deep into a save, you might need to reduce the graphic settings to stop the game from running out of ram. If you plan on playing out an experimental size map, 32 gigs of ram is reccomend.