Fallout: New Vegas tweaks and optimization + optional enb effects 2018 (will be updated by end of next month / May 2023)

Ignore this guide for now, i'll update it during 2024.

Do you want to get rid of that horridous lag and the annoying stutter? If so, look no further, this guide is the best guide you'll find as of today, simple and straightforward so anyone can understand it well.
This guide is mostly made for people with high-end computers, it sure is a good thing to use this guide with a low-end computer but don't except to be able to play with 4k textures and/or lot of mods, you can't magically make the game run better using 4k textures and lot of mods using a 2008 computer but the guide could help nonetheless but if your game is unmodded and has no textures mods then the game should already run smoothly, since Fallout: New Vegas is a 32bit game, the game is limited on resources and memory, thanks to the consoles but also thanks to the modding community, we are now able to make it run a lot more smoothly even with tons of mods and textures mods.

Some settings depends of the computer, for example, fps clamp, for some it's better off while for some it's better on. So try and play with different settings to see what's best for your computer.

There are some settings that depends entirely on your specs and other things that has to be considered such as are you using lot of textures or not.
[MEMORY] in enblocal.ini is something you'll have to play with for a bit. Check online to understand exactly what each of them do, it really is important.

First and foremost

You should set up the settings recommende for your computer, if you plan on using the ENB effect then you have to set anti-aliasing and anisotropic filtering off, you'll be able to use those settings in another manner which i'll talk about later in the tutorial.

Always install your mods manually, even though the majority says the opposite, most of the people loves to talk a lot without having the knowledge first.

Be sure to disable auto-saves and to always make a new save each time you save your game and that should be done in most of the games.

Using Nvidia or AMD software, you should set the power management to the highest, you should also set Sync on, preferably on fast or adaptive.
Maximum number of threads on thread block should be set to the highest your processor has.
Threaded optimization should also be set to on, you should try enabling it and disabling it then comparing the results.

Never change the value of uGridstoload for the simple reason that it is simply not a good idea to do so even if your computer is a beast, quests can get buggy, NPCs can be killed/missing if set above 5.

For the rest of the guide, you'll need to download Fallout: New Vegas Script Extender, Fallout: New Vegas enbseries (latest version), Fallout: New Vegas Anti Crash (NVAC) and Stutter Remover.

Also, you'll need to clean up some of the mods, load order is very important and mod compatibilities also are, so is making a merged patch, if you want to know on how to do all of that, check out some other guides on the internet or on Steam.

Links:
http://nvse.silverlock.org/ - Fallout: New Vegas Script Extender
http://enbdev.com/download_mod_falloutnv.htm - Fallout: New Vegas enbseries
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/53635/ - Fallout: New Vegas Anti Crash (NVAC)
https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/34832/ - Fallout: New Vegas Stutter Remover

Script Extender Tweaks

Once Script Extender is in your Fallout: New Vegas folder, you'll have to create a file name "nvse_config.ini" located in Fallout New Vegas/Data/NVSE

Open it with Notepad and add this:

[Memory]
DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=400
scrapheapsizeMB=128


For me, DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=400 works very well, i haven't tried higher numbers, if you set it above 500 (if i remember well) it will just crash the game.

scrapheapsizeMB= is supposedly not supported for Fallout: New Vegas but you can add it too and with the number 128.

Once it's done, you can save and pass to the next section.

Stutter Remover

Go into your Fallout New Vegas game directory -> Data -> NVSE -> Plugins and create a file named "sr_New_Vegas_Stutter_Remover.ini".

Open it with Notepad and check the following settings/lines to be exactly as following:


Master = {
_comment = You can turn on or off each distinct feature from here.
bManageFPS = 1
bHookCriticalSections = 1
bHookLightCriticalSections = 0
bHookHashtables = 1
bReplaceHeap = 1
bReplaceGetTickCount = 1
bLogToConsole = 0
bFastExit = 1
bFlushLog = 1
iSchedulingResolution = 1
bReplaceRandom = 1
bExperimentalStuff = 0
iMainHookPoint = 1
}
Experimental = {
_comment =bReduceSleep and iThreadsFixedToCPUs can probably reasonably be used at 1. > 1 is a bad idea atm.
_comment =other settings here you're probably better off not touching
bReduceSleep = 0
iThreadsFixedToCPUs = 1
bSuppressRandomSeeding = 0
bBenchmarkHeap = 0
bAlternateHeapHooks = 0
iHeapMainBlockAddress = 0
}
FPS_Management = {
_comment =Absent a good reason otherwise, bInject_iFPSClamp=1, fMaximumFPS= 30 to 85 (or 0), fMinimumFPS= 10 to 20, iFPS_Report_Period = 2000 to 60000, fExtraSleepPercent = 0.0 to 0.2
bInject_iFPSClamp = 1
fMaximumFPS = 60
fMinimumFPS = 20
iFPS_Report_Period = 4000
fExtraSleepPercent =0.05
}
GetTickCount = {
_comment =This section is disabled by default - see Master/bReplaceGetTickCount
bForceResolution = 1
bPreserveDC_Bias = 1
bPreserveHighFreqComponents = 0
bForceSync = 0
iSyncLimitMilliseconds = 50
}
CriticalSections = {
_comment = CS stuff helps Oblivion, Fallout, and New Vegas significantly
_comment = much of the benefit comes from the Renderer+0x180 suppression (see overrides below)
_comment = modes: 1=vanilla, 2=fair, 3=staggering(hybrid of 1 & 2), 5=suppressed
bUseOverrides = 1
iDefaultMode = 1
iDefaultSpin = 1000
iStaggerLevel = 5
bEnableMessages = 1
bEnableProfiling = 0
}
LightCriticalSections = {
_comment =LCS stuff is like CS stuff, but with a Bethesda implementation. And inlined sometimes, so difficult for me to work with
bEnableProfiling = 0
bEnableMessages = 1
iDefaultMode = 3
iDefaultSpin = 1000
iStaggerLevel = 5
bFullHooks = 0
bUseOverrides = 0
}
Heap = {
_comment =This section is disabled by default - see Master/bReplaceHeap
_comment =I recommend enabling it however.
_comment = Heap replacement can produce MAJOR improvements in performance on Oblivion at a significant cost in stability
_comment = It crashes instantly on Fallout3 last I remember checking
_comment = It seems to work on Fallout: New Vegas ?
_comment = Algorithms: 1=FastMM4, 2=Microsoft (slow on XP), 3=SimpleHeap1, 4=TBBMalloc, 5=ThreadHeap2, 6=ThreadHeap3, 8=tcmalloc
_comment = Algorithms numbers 1, 4, and 8 require external DLL files in the Data/OBSE/Plugins/ComponentDLLs folder
_comment = Size is in units of megabytes, and only effects algorithms 3, 5, and 6 (other algorithms dynamically determine their own size)
iHeapAlgorithm = 6
bEnableProfiling = 0
iHeapSize = 450
bEnableMessages = 0
bZeroAllocations = 0




iHeapSize should not be set above 500.
iHeapAlgorithm should be set for 6, it works best for me and should also work best for most people, i haven't tried the other ones so i can't really tell anything about them.

enbseries

Open "enblocal.ini" located in Fallout New Vegas game directory (after you have extracted enbseries).

Now you'll have to change some numbers but here's what i have, if you have a GTX 1080 ti Founder's Edition and 16gb of ram then you can copy all of the following, otherwise you'll have to change some numbers.



[PROXY]
EnableProxyLibrary=true
InitProxyFunctions=true
ProxyLibrary=other_d3d9.dll

[GLOBAL]
UseENBoostWithoutGraphics=false

[PERFORMANCE]
SpeedHack=false

[MULTIHEAD]
ForceVideoAdapterIndex=false
VideoAdapterIndex=0

[MEMORY]
ExpandSystemMemoryX64=false
ReduceSystemMemoryUsage=true
DisableDriverMemoryManager=false
DisablePreloadToVRAM=false
EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks=true
ReservedMemorySizeMb=256
VideoMemorySizeMb=22784
EnableCompression=false
AutodetectVideoMemorySize=false

[WINDOW]
ForceBorderless=true
ForceBorderlessFullscreen=true

[ENGINE]
ForceAnisotropicFiltering=true
MaxAnisotropy=16
AddDisplaySuperSamplingResolutions=false

[THREADS]
DataSyncMode=0
PriorityMode=0
EnableUnsafeFixes=false

[LIMITER]
WaitBusyRenderer=false
EnableFPSLimit=true
FPSLimit=60.0

[INPUT]
KeyCombination=16
KeyUseEffect=123
KeyFPSLimit=36
KeyShowFPS=106
KeyScreenshot=44
KeyEditor=13
KeyFreeVRAM=115

[ANTIALIASING]
EnableEdgeAA=true
EnableAccumulativeAA=true

[FIX]
FixGameBugs=false
FixTransparencyBugs=false
IgnoreGECK=true
StutterFix=false







ReservedMemorySizeMb=256 - You'll have to choose between the following numbers: 64, 128, 256, 384, 512, 640, 768, 896, 1024, it is always best to use the lowest number but if you have stutter on that number then you should set it higher until there's no more stutter, don't set it right away at 1024 even if your computer is a beast, it doesn't work like that, i'd recommend you to try 128 first then 256, 512 and then higher if the problem still persists but 256 do just fine for me.

VideoMemorySizeMb=22784 - Either you download vramsizetest which can be found here: http://enbdev.com/download_vramsizetest.htm or read on how to do the calculation here: http://wiki.step-project.com/ENBoost#Recommendations, it varies on the operating system you use.


EnableFPSLimit=true and FPSLimit=60.0 - You should limit the fps because later in the guide, there will be a command which will set it to unlimited which also makes the game run smoother but if it goes above 60 fps, there'll be script errors and other sort of problems.

[ANTIALIASING] - If you want anti-aliasing while using an enb effect then set both to true, if you don't plan on using the enb effect then you can set bothj to false and simply set anti-aliasing in the Fallout: New Vegas Launcher.

EnableUnsafeMemoryHacks= - For this setting, you should try both true and false to see if there's a difference and if so which one is better.

StutterFix=false - You're probably wondering why it is set to false, it's simple, it seems to bring more problems and to fix them when set to true, at least that's the case for me, feel free to experiment by yourself.

The rest should stay exactly like it is shown in this guide.

General Tweaks

Now, generally you'd have to open Fallout.ini and FalloutPrefs.ini located in C:\Users\YOURUSERNAME\Documents\My Games\FalloutNV.

But i'll give you a better advice, download Fallout: New Vegas Configator (https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/40442) or BethINI (https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/60560).

I personally use New Vegas Configator and manual edits.
But for now i'll let you know what to change using New Vegas Configator.

Once it has been downloaded, open the software and select "Performance".

I won't be talking about the personal settings but remember that the higher a setting is, setting such as "Tree Lod Fade", it will have an impact on your FPS.

Now let's get to what's really important:

Threaded Morpher - on
Threaded Blood - on
Threaded Particles - on
Threaded AI - on
Background Pathing - on
Havok Threads - Depends on how many threads your processor has, set it to the number it has, in my case it's 4 (Intel I7 7700k Kaby Lake).
FPSClamp - on

Now, sorry if i forgot about some settings, i do not remember exactly what is set on/off by default.

Next click on the "General" tab.

Audio Caching = on
Audio Cache Size = The higher the better but it causes problems on low-end and onboard soundcards, i personally use 16384 and i do not have any problems.
Multi-Threaded Audio = on


That's pretty much it, there are other important settings but that should do it for now.


Bonus: You should download "Improved Sound FX" which can be found here: https://www.nexusmods.com/newvegas/mods/35293/
Experiencing sound issues? This should fix most of it.

[Menhera Otaku]

I hope this game gets OpenMW ified soon so i can use my than eight of my memory

[vGold]

the one thing i hated about Open Freeside was the lag, and this guide completely fixed that. thanks a ton fr, chad author

[Giant From The East]

easy of follow now i can play in 720p 30fps in my laptop all in low but hey it's the resolution i want

[SeeSquared]

damn, i thought i followed this to a T but now the game wont launch :/ i suppose the only thing i can do is completely uninstall and try again eh?

[Necrosis]

Absolutely amazing. You're a saint. Wish more people knew about this guide.

[Rettznom]

Yeah, I skipped the step for installing NVSR, cause I'm already using Tick Fix.

[CelestialAfroJungle]

You're welcome, i'll try and update this guide soon because we can do even better now, for some, this may work without crashes and problems like it does for you or me but for some it may but there are new things to help with problems these days.
Such as tick fix instead of NVSR, there's also some other stuff.

I'll try and update it in case it doesn't work for some people because that can happen, but of course, remember that the more ram you have, the better it is, but no need to have 126gb either, that may be a bit overkill.

[Rettznom]

After following your performance recommendations with NVConfigurator (thanks for letting me know this exists btw), this is the smoothest my New Vegas has ever been. I can now enjoy a solid 60fps no matter where I am. It always annoyed me that, for such an old game on my decent hardware, there were so many areas with huge frame drops. Like 10-15 frames lost while in New Vegas, or 20+ frames lost in Vault 22. Now no more! Thanks.

[The Roach]

Nevermind, I've figured it out, it had to do with my reserved memory size, I had it set to 256, but I guess it didn't work, once I changed it back to 512, the game finally started up correctly. I can tell the difference, thank you for posting this.

[The Roach]

I've done everything in this guide and for some reason, even if I turn off fullscreen the game instantly crashes, are there any settings here that could risk breaking the game on startup?

I'm trying to find the reason that it broke.