Figure I might as well write on here since the Steam forums are down due to some attack (oh yeah, that makes me feel sooooo much better about using this). So basically, my problems are:
1) Steam noticeably slows down my computer and laptop. It stalls on the windows welcome screen for 10-20 seconds if I have it on load with windows (as opposed to just flashing up on the screen for half a second on my desktop or ~5 seconds on my laptop).
2) For whatever reason it makes both my computer and laptop ~30% slower than normal (i.e. games are running and videos are encoding at ~70% their normal fps). I'm just gonna go ahead and assume this isn't due to a lack of RAM or CPU power, seeing as I have 12GB of ddr3 1600 installed and an i7 950 clocked at 4.6GHz.
3) Steam has crashed twice in the ~30 minutes that I've been trying to play the game.
4) Even though I have my desktop completely off, my laptop will not let me log onto steam because I'm supposedly logged in on another computer.
5) When I try playing without an internet connection, steam comes up, says the usual 'there's no connection so steam will be in offline mode' thing but then doesn't continue.

Also, why does it only say "Requires internet connection and free Steam account to ACTIVATE" on the box, when it needs Steam installed for more than just the activation?

I would ask on the steam forum.

So would I, but like I said in my first sentence, "the Steam forums are down due to some attack".

I wouldn't be so quick to blame Steam. I run it on 3 PCs and a mac and have for years without incident. Plus, you can quit it anytime you're not gaming (right click on the tray icon)

I don't know how I can be quick to blame Steam. I mean, when it's running, stuff's slower. When it's not, stuff's normal. When the game crashes, it comes up with "Steam is not responding". When I can't install the game onto my laptop, it's because Steam can't log in. Also, even if I can close Steam when I'm not gaming, the fact still remains that I need it to play this game, and when I have it open I lose a fair amount of fps.

Just a tip, if you go to the steam directory for the game (\Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim) and find the TESV.exe, (not the launcher) you can launch it without using steam.

If your FPS is dropping due to steam being open, you really need to upgrade. Seriously.

Steam shouldn't affect your fps to any noticeable effect.

Not that that helps you.

Probably not it, but if you're using a mechanical disk (not SSD) try defraging the system. Steam can fragment pretty badly with all of it's zillions of files (both game files and Steam's install/core files).

Thanks, I'll try that.


Upgrade to what exactly?


Running an Agility 3 SSD here.

The OP's specs are more than decent, if you'd read his whole post.

If Steam is completely disabled (not in the r-side sys icon tray) then clicking on the exe file has never worked to run the game for me. It'll still pop up with the Steam login screen. (edit: maybe it's just me tho...or skyrim is different)

Welp, Tango3's suggestion worked perfectly. No steam and way more fps And the performance is way better than I expected as well. High settings with a 9800GTX+ and no noticeable lag, really can't wait to get my 5970 and try pushing max everything. Still can't get my laptop working though

Awesome, glad it worked for you. Hmm....I'll have to check my settings and see if there might be something in there that I missed that makes mine always want to run Steam....

It's because steam uses the launcher, not the actual game's .exe, you'll find that any other game that uses a launcher (F:NV etc) will work perfectly with no steam.