So, I have been having issues running Skyrim lately, and no matter what I tried I could not fix the low fps:
http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1264458-skyrim-runs-at-aprox-10-fps-regardless-of-settings/
Thanks to http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/user/726616-minusthedrifter/, I have been able to solve my problem!
All you have to do is open the Nvidia Control Panel (which you can find by searching "nvidia control panel" in the start menu) then click on Manage 3D Settings, then all you have to do is change the Preferred graphics processor to "High-performance NVIDIA processor" under the Global Settings tab.
This helped me immensely, and I hope it can help anyone else who was having my same problem!
NOTE: You may have to restart your laptop for the changes to take effect. (I did)

Hehe the funny thing is that thats what my setting was at and I changed it to Adaptive. Thats what fixed my FPS......weird.

NVIDIA 560sc ti

My problem is that my global settings don't list anything like that.

Look for Power Management Mode, then switch it to its opposite.

There isn't anything like that in my settings. I right click my desktop, nvidia control panol, manage 3d settings, and there is not a preferred card option nor is there a power management mode

I suddenly remembered that sometimes games default to the integrated intel gpu, came back and couldn't find the topic. Glad you got it figured out, looks like many were affected by this

I was getting good FPS with no real problems, but tried this on a lark and I'm now getting even BETTER framerates. I particularly see a difference where I might have had slow-downs before (lots of light or fog) and now maintain a smooth framerate.

If I could, I would build a statue in your honor. Seriously, this improved my fps significantly, a million thank you's!!

No problem! Im just glad I could help others