looking for ways to improve preformance on my pc

does screen resution do any thing higher or lower *800-600 and such*
does window mode help

on actor fade what is a good number to set it to that will let me see them comming and not just appear in front of me

also does lowering texture setting help

Here is an excellent guide to tweak performance http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide#1

Even if you don't have an NVIDA card, it is in depth w/ pics and explanation for any user.