Okay, so anyone getting good performance with their PC? : V - Skyrim

» Sat May 19, 2012 4:17 am

Was getting 55-60FPS with sig rig on Ultra.

Thought that was completely unacceptable.

So I've been doing anything and everything to make my PC scream with ini and hardware tweaks. So far, the only thing to really slash my FPS was forcing Ambient Occlusion on High Quality. Brought me down to 30-35FPS. Surprisingly, not even significantly increasing the distance in which objects/trees/etc. fade was enough to put a serious damper on my rig. Lowest I'll see it go is 27FPS and generally 30-35FPS, which is totally legit for this type of game.

It wasn't until I set my iShadowMapResolution to 8192 that I had unplayable frame rates, but 4096 is totally acceptable.

SkyrimPrefs.ini

Spoiler

[General]
fBrightLightColorB=1.0000
fBrightLightColorG=1.0000
fBrightLightColorR=1.0000
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
[Imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=2
[Display]
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3
fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000
fShadowDistance=8000.0000
iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=4096
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=8192
iShadowSplitCount=2
iMaxAnisotropy=16
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=10000000.0000
fGamma=1.0000
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=2000.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=3500.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
iWaterMultiSamples=4
iMultiSample=8
iShadowMode=3
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=1200
iSize W=1920
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=10000000.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=10000000.0000
iScreenShotIndex=167
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100
bFloatPointRenderTarget=0
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570"
bFXAAEnabled=0
iShadowMapResolution=4096
fShadowBiasScale=0.1500
iShadowMaskQuarter=4
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=1
iShadowFilter=3
bTransparencyMultisampling=1
bDrawShadows=1
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=1
fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
[MAIN]
bGamepadEnable=1
bCrosshairEnabled=0
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=4
[Interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=0
bGeneralSubtitles=0
bShowCompass=1
[Controls]
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=1
bMouseAcceleration=1
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=750
[SaveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID7=0
fVal6=1.0000
uID6=0
fVal5=1.0000
uID5=0
fVal4=1.0000
uID4=0
fVal3=1.0000
uID3=94881
fVal2=0.4000
uID2=466532
fVal1=1.0000
uID1=554685
fVal0=0.8000
uID0=1007612
[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=75000.0000
fBlockMaximumDistance=250000.0000
fBlockLevel1Distance=70000.0000
fBlockLevel0Distance=35000.0000
fSplitDistanceMult=1.5000
bShowLODInEditor=0
[NavMesh]
fObstacleAlpha=0.5000
fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000
fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500
fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000
fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500
fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000
fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000
fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500
fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000
fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000
fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000
fEdgeThickness=10.0000
fPointSize=2.5000
[Trees]
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=4000
[Decals]
uMaxDecals=1000
bDecals=1
bSkinnedDecals=1
uMaxSkinDecals=100
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=60
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=30.0000
fLODFadeOutMultItems=30.0000
fLODFadeOutMultActors=30.0000
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=5.0000
[Launcher]
bEnableFileSelection=1
bShowAllResolutions=1
uLastAspectRatio=4
[BlurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=1
[BlurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=1024
iWaterReflectWidth=1024
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1

Skyrim.ini

Spoiler

[General]
fBrightLightColorB=1.0000
fBrightLightColorG=1.0000
fBrightLightColorR=1.0000
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
[Imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=2
[Display]
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=3
fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000
fShadowDistance=8000.0000
iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=4096
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=8192
iShadowSplitCount=2
iMaxAnisotropy=16
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=10000000.0000
fGamma=1.0000
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=2000.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=3500.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
iWaterMultiSamples=4
iMultiSample=8
iShadowMode=3
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=1200
iSize W=1920
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=10000000.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=10000000.0000
iScreenShotIndex=167
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=25
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=100
bFloatPointRenderTarget=0
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570"
bFXAAEnabled=0
iShadowMapResolution=4096
fShadowBiasScale=0.1500
iShadowMaskQuarter=4
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=1
iShadowFilter=3
bTransparencyMultisampling=1
bDrawShadows=1
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=1
fGrassStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
[MAIN]
bGamepadEnable=1
bCrosshairEnabled=0
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=4
[Interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=0
bGeneralSubtitles=0
bShowCompass=1
[Controls]
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=1
bMouseAcceleration=1
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=750
[SaveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID7=0
fVal6=1.0000
uID6=0
fVal5=1.0000
uID5=0
fVal4=1.0000
uID4=0
fVal3=1.0000
uID3=94881
fVal2=0.4000
uID2=466532
fVal1=1.0000
uID1=554685
fVal0=0.8000
uID0=1007612
[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=75000.0000

Those are my ini's with nVidia Inspector forcing AO, 8xQ AA, 8xSS TrAA (Supersampling Transparency Anti-aliasing) and 16x AF.

Some screenshots:
http://maxxron.imgur.com/all/

» Sat May 19, 2012 12:01 pm

I've read so many bad things about the performance of the PC version, just wondering if there were any ppl who are pleased with the performance of the game on their PC, besides me?

I've got an older rig, duel core, 2.66Ghz, with 8gb RAM and Win7. I'm also running an old Radeon 3870 graphic card. I

I can play on high and it looks amazing at 1920 x 1600 I do not have any frame rates but my eyes tell me its silky smooth :dance:

Q9650 Quad core duo, 8GB XMS2, ASUS GTX460 woot :clap:

» Sat May 19, 2012 5:06 am

Both my computers are auto-configured to be set to medium settings but both lag badly :\. It doesn't detract from my experience playing on low either since I can easily just set texture detail to high with no noticeable performance hit

Edit: As a note, I still get some bad lag in some interior areas. Anyone know why?

» Sat May 19, 2012 1:10 pm

You got me! I lied because _____________ and ___________________!

fill in the gaps!

I'm not really good with fill-in-the-gaps games but one reason people lie is because they're boastful idiots with low self-esteem who want others to think they're better than they are. Or they want others to think their systems are better than they really are. Or any number of reasons.

That said, I'm not accusing you of such. If you built your system this year there's no reason to believe you're not getting great performance. My system probably has half the power of yours and on half those settings I'm getting very good performance. On high, in fact, I'm getting great performance.

I think what some people would find unbelievable is the idea that anyone is getting CONSISTENTLY 70 frames. No Bethesda game dating back at least to Morrowind has ever had consistent frame rate. Ever. You may be getting such high FPS that you don't NOTICE the dips, but they're there. They have to be. And that's the trick. We all need systems so good that they basically ignore and blast through Bethesda's crappy engines.

» Sat May 19, 2012 3:05 am

Being pleased with 30-40 fps dips is entirely personal preference.

Personally I'm only 100% pleased when my fps never dips below 60.

I have a 2500k/6970 and I'll roll around most places 70-125 fps... then I look at a town center and my fps plummets to 35-40, my CPU usage goes up from around 20-40% to 50-70% and my GPU usage goes from 99% to 50-70%.

Am I please, no.

» Sat May 19, 2012 10:30 am

I had some initial issues with bsods and crashes due to my video card overheating. I bought a few additional fans for my case and it resolved the issue. I initially played in windowed mode to monitor the temps but have been playing in full screen today and it's been stable. Playing on medium settings with a 4 year old computer. It doesn't look bad at all.

AMD 64 X2 5000 (going to swap it out with a 6000 soon)
4 gb of ram
Nvidia 8600 GT (going to replace this soon since it has had heat issues for ages with pretty much everything. not sure to what yet)
windows vista.

I haven't monitored my fps yet but i will check it out. It's fairly smooth. I plan to build a new computer next year since this one is pretty maxed out and dated but it will have to do for now. I'm happy getting medium on skyrim

» Sat May 19, 2012 8:04 am

Sorry, I doubt that are getting 70 fps everywhere including cities like markarth. Actually, I know you aren't.

i get over 120 inside on ultra, and i'm getting anywhere from 60-120 outside. rarely drops to 60, stays mostly in the high 80s.

» Sat May 19, 2012 1:32 am

For those that don't have fraps, open your console and type"TDT" it should bring up the FPS thing like in Oblivion, if not may have to search for
it in google as I'm sure they added a simular command to Skyrim.

PS. Game is Running great on my system.
Q9505 3..4Ghz
4GB DDr3 1600Mhz
Evga GTX 560 Ti Superclocked.
Average FPS of 50-60 everywhere running on ultra @ 1920X1080P on Full HD 32" LCD TV.

» Sat May 19, 2012 5:33 am

Hey I am using a i7 2nd Gen Quad Core. 3.7 GhZ Processor
a NVIDIA GeForce 560 Ti with DDR 5 RAM
and 8GB of Ram
I am also running two monitors

I am topping out at 60 FPS with V-Sync on and it drops randomly from 58-60 wherever I am after I just come out of a load it stumbles to 30fps then recovers to 60 after I move.
Thats when I am not crashing every 1-5 minutes to desktop without warning.

» Sat May 19, 2012 3:50 am

I get great performance, 60 fps most of the time, though it dips down in weird places but for the most part it never get's below 30fps at Ultra, sometimes 25 fps in places where things get crazy with lighting and shadows and reflections, but this is very rare. I can go hours without any stuttering. I built my system in 2008, have only upgraded my video card a few times. Need some more ram but it's okay for now.

Intel cor 2 duo cpu e8400 @ 3.00ghz 3.00ghz
4 gb ram
64 bit win7
evga geforce gtx 460

» Fri May 18, 2012 10:53 pm

I had some initial issues with bsods and crashes due to my video card overheating. I bought a few additional fans for my case and it resolved the issue. I initially played in windowed mode to monitor the temps but have been playing in full screen today and it's been stable. Playing on medium settings with a 4 year old computer. It doesn't look bad at all.

AMD 64 X2 5000 (going to swap it out with a 6000 soon)
4 gb of ram
Nvidia 8600 GT (going to replace this soon since it has had heat issues for ages with pretty much everything. not sure to what yet)
windows vista.

I haven't monitored my fps yet but i will check it out. It's fairly smooth. I plan to build a new computer next year since this one is pretty maxed out and dated but it will have to do for now. I'm happy getting medium on skyrim

Your processor is ancient in the gaming world, and the 6000 won't be much of an upgrade.

Go ahead and purchase a new motherboard and a matching processor and ram modules. I recommend you get nothing slower than the Phenom II series by AMD or the i5 series by Intel.

You may want to go ahead and purchase a 560Ti/6950 or greater also. You can suffice with a 6870 or 6850 however.

I also recommend a 600-700 watt power supply to power your single GPU system, seasonic, corsair, etc. Stay away from cheap brands.

You're looking at spending at least 700 dollars on new parts going this route.

» Sat May 19, 2012 7:33 am

Most og the time i get 60fps(Vsync) at ultra settings with ini-tweaks and FXAA-injector in 1080p, but it will dip down to 30fps in towns and certain areas. This is with GTX570 in SLI and a i7 2600k with HT deactivated. The funny thing is that my cards are only at 50-60% load most of the time. When the fps dips they go even lower, down to 30% load each.

I'd really liked to see a patch soon :rolleyes:

» Sat May 19, 2012 6:31 am

40-60 fps sustained.

i7 2800
GTX460 SLI
8gb ram

» Sat May 19, 2012 1:13 pm

About 35-50 fps all the time.

Athlon X2 2.7Ghz
Radeon HD 6850
6gb DDR2

Basic high-ultra settings with AA and AS disabled. (But enabled via the ATI CCC)

» Fri May 18, 2012 11:18 pm

40-60 fps sustained

intel i7 2600k
2x AMD Radeon 6950 Crossfire
8GB RAM
Windows 7 x64

» Sat May 19, 2012 2:35 pm

I don't see why people are whining that this is a "bad port" or "not optimized" when they are running low end graphics cards. This game preforms great compared to "bad console ports" etc (crysis, gta iv, metro 2033)

» Sat May 19, 2012 6:35 am

Aside from the odd CTD or purple texture bug, and that damn y-axis mouse sensitivity, I'm running perfectly on high settings at 1366x768 (my native resolution). I don't know what my FPS range is, but I don't care as long as it's playable.

i5 2410M (2.3 GHz)
GeForce GT 540M
4 GB RAM

» Fri May 18, 2012 11:42 pm

Everyone has different standards obviously but it should be noted that 30-40 FPS is not very good. The problem with Skyrim, just like Oblivion is that towns eat your FPS. It's something in the programming and I really thought Skyrim would have outgrown that quirk. It's obnoxious to go from 60 - 75 FPS outdoors then get a half reduction in performance in towns.

Based on the years of development and the $60 price tag, this game should be shiny in and out, and gamers really need to understand the standards so as not to be gullible. Solid code is what separates a great game from a good game. Sure we can wait a year for better hardware but requiring more powerful hardware to push wasted cycles in software is inefficient and should never be advocated. That sort of thinking simply fosters slack code.

» Fri May 18, 2012 11:45 pm

Does anyone remember when Oblivion came out? Back then, even up-to-date machines struggled to max out graphic settings without killing their FPS. Skyrim not only looks much better, most medium level and higher computers can enjoy this game without sacrificing too much of the visual goodies. I understand that some of you are ultra obsessed with using ultra-high setting with 50+ FPS, but lets be real. Unless you "just built" your PC or spent a lot of $$$ on it a year or two back, you cannot expect to hit those levels.

I have a:
AMD 965 3.4ghz
4 gig ram
ATI 5770
Windows 7 (64bit)

I run the game next to maxed out (with 16x AF and 2x AA) but I do hits some slow ups (mostly in town or in areas with a lot going on graphically) I know for a fact I'm no where near 50+ FPS sustained, but I would rate my performance as acceptable. I plan on upgrading my GPU to a ATI 6970, but not because of Skyrim. My rig is 3 yrs old now (only cost me $1200 to build it myself) and it is time to get a new GPU. I'm sure the 6970 will get me through to the end of my current computer's life costing me a grand total of $1500 for a rig that played games on high settings for 5 - 6 yrs.

Point is, if you obsess over your FPS you're going to notice more "hick ups", lose a lot of the immersion of the game, and end up spending butt loads of unnecessary $$$ to hit unnecessarily high FPS in every latest game so you can say "OMG OMG, I'm pawning this game at 60+ FPS with everything in super dupper max mode, max AA /AF, with super dupper high res textures loaded". It is a game guys, have fun with it. You dont need 50+ FPS as a min. If that's your preference, that's cool, just know you're being very OCD ;-)

and don't act like anything less is not worth playing. Again, this game runs a LOT better then Oblivion did when it first came out!!!

» Sat May 19, 2012 11:53 am

With my current skyrim/skyrimprefs along with some hd retexturing.... (see below images)...

using 2x fsaa i get about 15-25FPS .... fairly steady..... But there are some places where it chokes ... setting 0x fsaa resolves that..

i've ran completely out of VRAM.... i need something with 2gb or more.... lol

my eyes are crying rainbows here

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/4665/omultrafg1.jpg
http://img62.imageshack.us/img62/65/omultrafg2.jpg
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/3267/omultrafg3.jpg
http://img444.imageshack.us/img444/5372/omultrafg4.jpg

» Sat May 19, 2012 12:25 am

I have most things maxed, and even a number of things in the ini turned on (tree and other shadows). My game is running smooth, no slow downs and only two crashes in 34.5 hours, considering with FNV it was 2 crashes every 4 hours, that is a major improvement (note that is before mods, with mods FNV crashes once every half an hour).

» Sat May 19, 2012 9:19 am

Your processor is ancient in the gaming world, and the 6000 won't be much of an upgrade.

Go ahead and purchase a new motherboard and a matching processor and ram modules. I recommend you get nothing slower than the Phenom II series by AMD or the i5 series by Intel.

You may want to go ahead and purchase a 560Ti/6950 or greater also. You can suffice with a 6870 or 6850 however.

I also recommend a 600-700 watt power supply to power your single GPU system, seasonic, corsair, etc. Stay away from cheap brands.

You're looking at spending at least 700 dollars on new parts going this route.

can't really afford 700 dollars in parts right now as much as i would love to. Mostly it's the mother board and cpu that would be out of budget to replace. ultimately replacing the computer is my goal but it's not happening until after tax time. I've got nearly 2 year old little boy who needs christmas presents. I have a corsair power supply right now in this computer that i put in recently but it's 500 W not 600-700.

» Sat May 19, 2012 2:51 am

Everyone has different standards obviously but it should be noted that 30-40 FPS is not very good. The problem with Skyrim, just like Oblivion is that towns eat your FPS. It's something in the programming and I really thought Skyrim would have outgrown that quirk. It's obnoxious to go from 60 - 75 FPS outdoors then get a half reduction in performance in towns.

FPS is always going to change depending on what you are doing.

e.g. look straight down at your feet and the FPS will leap up to 60FPS. this is not a fault of anything but merely that there is not much to draw

i think you are a tad unfair to the game

» Sat May 19, 2012 3:29 pm

I have no problems with performance at max settings. I only have the occasional CTD, but those didn't start to occur until I was about 20-25 hours into the game.

» Sat May 19, 2012 8:26 am

can't really afford 700 dollars in parts right now as much as i would love to. Mostly it's the mother board and cpu that would be out of budget to replace. ultimately replacing the computer is my goal but it's not happening until after tax time. I've got nearly 2 year old little boy who needs christmas presents. I have a corsair power supply right now in this computer that i put in recently but it's 500 W not 600-700.

running a 560 or even a 560 ti on a 500 watt PSu; as long as it has decent 12v rails (which your corsair should have) should be ok.
the new breed of gpu's are nowhere near as power hungry as their older brethren and you can get away with alot with a well made power supply that has correct voiltage across the rails.
i run my old GTX295 on a 500 watt corsair..and at the time of its release everybody stated it required at least a 650 watt psu! it comes down to how well the psu is made and also what usb devices etc are draining that power for you.
anyway, this generation of mid range video cards shouldnt be a problem with your psu.
on a personal level the 560ti is an awesome card!
ive compared it side by side with my old gtx295 and its shockingly good! considering the 295 was the dogs when it was released the 560ti will virtually keep up with it in most cases; dropping maybe 10% of FPS to it.....but consider the 560ti is adding directX 11 gaming goodness to that FPS in the form of tessalation etc and it looks alot better even with the drop!