M.E.P. v5
 

I love this mod! It really makes water look great but it bogs my laptop down just a little. Not terribly just enough to bother me. Is there a comparible mod that is not so hard on the machine?

1) How much hard? If, in game, you press the CTRL+F8 combo you will see the FPS count. I'm using MEP5 in a laptop too, and even with 20/30 FPS my experience of it is fine (no lag or choppines of the graphics).

2) Are you sure MEP5 it's the main/only culprit? Maybe there are some other mods that contribute to slow down things... If you post your JSGME active mod list I'm sure many subsimers here will be able to take a look at it and give you some advice, if it's the case...

For example:
I'm on a ASUS laptop, Windows 7 Professional 32 bit, with Intel Core Duo CPU T6500 @2.10 Ghz, I've 4 GB of RAM and I've a nVidia GeForce G102M (512 MB video memory) and I have the following mods:
And I make about 20+ FPS in port, and when I have burning ships in sight. In any other case I have some 40/60+ FPS. I'm happy enough :D

Like I said it is not terrible. I get a lag in my cursor when im on the bridge, but not much else. And if I come across a convoy, once in a blue moon I will CTD. But again, not much else. I would rather have a fast cursor. I am running NYGM.

m.e.p. v5
Harbour traffic
bearded faces
maGUI F
Merchant Fleet Mod
Alternate Dials
1500m bearing
red message screen
captains log v2

Mmm... :hmmm:
You speak of two symptoms:
1) Lagging mouse pointer
2) Crash to desktop

I'm not an expert but I'm not also a newbie when we speak about computers... And I can say with some confidence that both symptoms doesn't look like to be related to heavy graphics issues to me.

For symptom #1, if you also does not experience low FPS, it is not a graphic issue in the sense of "heavy graphics to be render each frame for the video card"...

For symptom #2, it looks like you simply run out of memory (a classic OutOfMemory error) and the culprit (AFAIK) could more probably be the awsome "Merchant Fleet Mod" than "MEP5".
About MFM: do you have a 64 bit system and didi you installed the 4GB patch?

Once again I ask you if you could measure (CTRL+F8) your in-game FPS and report it back here.

Use my SH5 tutorial post #9 in how to put your mod list on Subsim

I am using the 4G patch yes.

Well, I don't know then.
If you have low FPS then it is indeed a rendering problem.

Maybe the problem is you are running the game on a laptop.

What do you mean?
I'm asking because I too am running the game on a laptop and I've no problem at all (with MEP5, I've not installed MFM).
Please, could you elaborate?

Indeed. My laptop runs GWX + MEP + MFM, (1400x1050 resolution), at 20-30 FPS, even with 24x antialiasing, 16x anisotropic filtering at the highest texture quality.
If I had to guess at the problem here, I too would say MFM is the culprit, not MEP.

Just to clarify, it is just the cursor drags only on the bridge. The water, the effects of water, every thing else dedicated to mep is fine a beautiful mod. It's just that cursor drags a little slow! Even when I click the screen at the bridge and I scan around, no problems at all.

I use magui f and it annoys a little to play with the dials, because u have to concentrate to adjust them because the mouse moves a little slower than your hand moves. Once I remove the mep mod, the mouse works great again. Maybe it's something I can tweak with the mouse!

It will help me and other readers if you post the complete activated mod list in JSGME. Open JSGME, click on Task... Generate activated mod list, then copy and paste it here.
That would be helpful!

How about this!

NYGM Tonnage War V2.5 – Stand Alone Version
NYGM3_New
NYGM3_6F
Merchant_Fleet_Mod_3.2
NYGM_HiRes_Submarines_3_6F
MaGui F
Fubars harbor personnel
Harbor Traffic Add-In
Alternate Dial Faces
1500 meter bearing overlay
Single Merchant Contact Mod
Bearded faces

Well, I don't see MEP5 in that list, mate!
It's a pity because I wanted to know the order of installation of the various mod with respect to MEP5... You know, as the saying goes: the devil is in the details :-)

I'm sorry I did take it out. It was in between fubar harbour personnel and harbour traffic add in. Hope that helps.