How to increase FPS when lowering resolution has no effect? : V

» Sat Jan 05, 2013 2:35 pm

As the title states, I would like to increase my FPS, but decreasing my resolution from 1680x1050 to any other option has absolutely no effect.

I've heard that, if your FPS does not increase when lowering resolution, that's a tell-tale sign of your CPU causing the problems. Is this true? If so, what should I do to decrease the load on my CPU?

I've already tried lowering texture settings, shadows, distance, grass, trees, etc., but none of that has any effect on my framerate. At best, I get a 1 or 2 frame boost when ALL of them are lowered (including my resolution), so I see no point in lowering them.

I use HiAlgo boost, and therefore get a comfortable enough framerate (~20 FPS), but in more resource-demanding areas or when loading up new cells, I see a noticeable dip in performance. What are my options here for improving FPS?

As for my system specs:

Spoiler

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01 - Operating System
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0101 - Operating System : Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.120830-0334)
0102 - Language : English (Regional Setting: English)
0103 - BIOS : Default System BIOS
0104 - Processor : Intel? Core? i5 CPU M 540 @ 2.53GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.5GHz
0105 - Memory : 4096MB RAM
0106 - Available OS Memory : 3958MB RAM
0107 - Page File : 2479MB used, 5434MB available
0108 - Windows Dir : C:\Windows
0109 - DirectX Version : DirectX 11
0110 - DX Setup Parameters : Not found
0111 - User DPI Setting : 96 DPI (100 percent)
0112 - System DPI Setting : 96 DPI (100 percent)
0113 - DWM DPI Scaling : Disabled
0114 - DxDiag Version : 6.01.7600.16385

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02 - Processor
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0201 - Caption : Intel? Core? i5 CPU M 540 @ 2.53GHz x4 ~2528MHz
0202 - Current Clock Speed : 2528MHz

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03 - Video Adapter
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0301 - Card Name : NVIDIA GeForce GT 330M
0302 - Manufacturer : NVIDIA
0303 - Chip Type : GeForce GT 330M
0304 - DAC Type : Integrated RAMDAC
0305 - Device Key : Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0A29&SUBSYS_00C7106B&REV_A2
0306 - Display Memory : 1933 MB
0307 - AdapterRAM : 256.00 MB
0308 - Current Mode : 1680 x 1050 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!

» Sat Jan 05, 2013 9:01 pm

If you lower resolution from 1680x1050 to 1280x720, there should be some frame rate increase, because your laptop only has to render a little more than half the amount of pixels per frame.

Apart from reducing display resolution, in my case the only settings that seemed to make a significant difference performance-wise were anti-aliasing and shadow detail. Try turning off AA and using FXAA instead (looks about as good as 4xAA, but with negligible performance cost). If the frame rate is still too low, try reducing the shadow detail setting, or reducing to 1280x720 (or lower). Most of the other settings don't really affect performance much, as detailed in http://www.geforce.com/optimize/guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide#1