Hopefully this thread can become a sort of "one stop shop" for fixes and tweaks related to problems with Skyrim. I'll start it off briefly, and can add to the main post if people wish to add something helpful

For general performance, at this time it is recommended that you use the latest Beta graphics card driver (unless it causes you problems), and also force Triple Buffering using either Radeon Pro, or Direct3D Overrider (if you are playing with iPresentInterval=1) For a detailed look at the settings and performance for each, the Skyrim Tweak Guide is fantastic. Found here: http://www.geforce.com/Optimize/Guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide

*The following fixes assume that your PC meets at least the minimum requirements to run the game. These are too generous however, so idealy you need to have a better CPU. It is also assumed that you are infact using a dedicated graphics card by AMD/ATI or Nvidia, and not an intel onboard display adapter. Lastly, if your are using a pirated copy, I can not promise these fixes will work for you.

Update 27/1/12

Bethesda is fixing a good amount of problems with their 1.4 beta patches. Here are some of the fixes (which may make fixes below redundant). These should carry over into the official 1.4 patch release.

Day/Time sync issues have been fixed.
Crash to Desktop problems have mostly been resolved.
Compiler optimisations have made TESVAL and Skyboost mods no longer required.

See below for RED areas for updated info on stuttering and framerate limiters, aswell as other things.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Section 1: Performance.

1. General Performance tips and recommendations.
2. More specific performance tips for hardware.
3. Tips and tweaks for Windows.


Section 2: Specific problems (crashes, stutter etc).

1. First person stuttering, not there in 3rd person. Updated
2. Crashing after hitting PLAY in the Skyrim Launcher, or during gameplay. Updated
3. Low framerate in some areas even on high end CPUs? Updated
4. Low performance when using a high end/multicard setup. (after trying fixes in category 3)
5. Sound problems including crackly audio, unable to hear people when looking at them, and low volume. Updated
6. Day of the week not changing at midnight. Updated
7. Shimmering shadows/ shadow streaks on objects
8. "Completely bonkers graphics/textures"

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Section 1: Performance.

1. General Performance tips and recommendations.

To begin, the minimum and recommended specs for this game are a bit off. You need to exceed the minimum specs to actually run the game well enough. Recommended specs are a bit better, but do not specify CPU speed, which plays a huge part (discussed in further detail shortly). Thanks to Gorath the Elder, here are some corrected minimum requirements:

* Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
* Processor: Dual Core 2.3 GHz C2D or equivalent CPU
* 2GB System RAM
* 6GB free HDD Space
* Direct X 9 compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM (and
sufficient performance to actually put that VRAM to use)
* DirectX compatible sound card
* Internet access for Steam activation

At the moment (7th Jan 2012) it is a good idea to have the latest current Beta graphics card driver installed. Also ensure all of your other drivers, including sound card, are up to date. If you have a slow or low end CPU, I personally would recommend using a dedicated sound card, and not onboard, to take some load off of your CPU.

Do not overload your game with Texture mods, ini tweaks to increase draw distances, and such like, and expect to not have any problems. It is good practice to anticipate this, as Skyrim will tax your system differently than other games. The tired old saying, "I can run Battlefield 3 and Batman Arkham City max without issue!!" is as old as the elder scrolls itself. Do not assume just because one game runs great with great settings, that Skyrim also will. This is a little naive (my opinion) and can only lead to frustration and anger when gaming is meant to be fun!


2. More specific performance tips for hardware.

CPU: Seemingly the most misunderstood aspect of running Skyrim well, is the processor. Whether you're on an i7 sandy bridge, a Core2Duo, or AMD Phenom II, the most important thing for Skyrim is Clock Speed. It's all well and good having an i7 8 Core CPU, but if it only clocks at 2.5ghz, you'll have issues running Skyrim at higher settings. Shadows play heavy on the CPU, so try lowering this is you are having low frame rates. I would also recommend overclocking to increase your clock speed, but ensure that you have adequate cooling and do your research beforehand.
In most cases on high end systems, the CPU is the bottleneck. For tips on increasing performance for your CPU, go to Section 2, fix 3, to learn more about Skyboost and TESVAL.

GPU:As is the case with the CPU, you need to think bigger if you wish to achieve higher settings. If you are wanting to play on High or above, a 1GB card is recommended. Settings that can really tax your GPU more than other games, is Resolution, Anti-Aliasing, and Distant Object Detail. If you are getting lag or low frame rates, lower or disable your Anti-Aliasing, and try lowering your Distant Object Detail. Higher Resolution texture mods will each your VRAM and can cause freezes and crashes. If you are experiencing these things, you need to lower your settings or remove the texture mods.

Hard Drive:Due to the way the game engine streams/loads textures and world data like buildings and trees (in areas called Cells), you really need a hard drive with a speed of at least 7200rpm. Green or energy savings hard drives will make your game stutter more as new data is loaded. These will also increase your load times, especially if you're using higher settings or texture mods. A SSD is known to give a smoother game experience, lowering load times and making cell transitions much smoother. Whatever your HDD may be, it is always a good idea to do regular Defrags and clear out your junk files (a great and free program for this called CCleaner).

Sound Card: If you are low on CPU power, having a dedicated sound card will take some load off of your CPU, and depending on the system can give you a smoother experience.


3. Tips and tweaks for Windows.

For a trouble free gaming experience, it has always been a good idea to run as little in the background as possible. This includes disabling any Windows Gadgets, closing the likes of iTunes, Internet, Messengers, and anything else you have running that is not needed for Skyrim. This can also help with random crashes.

Thanks to Toutatis for pointing this out: A clean boot can sometimes help identify problems and it is very easy to do: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796. This can help not just with crashes, but also performance.

A program called Gamebooster does basically the same thing also. Here is a topic regarding this. Thank you to am1590. http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1330021-game-booster-freeware-fixed-my-skyrim-randomly-crashing-to-desktop/

Not just disabling programs you don't need to start on boot, a more advanced option to give a boost to system and game performance is to disable unnecessary Windows services. I will not link or endorse these however, as I mentioned this is an advanced user process.

If you find you are running out of memory, increasing your system Page File can help with this. Also disable visual themes to gain a little extra performance overall.

To keep your system running smooth, as mentioned above, keep your hard drive defragmented often, clean out system junk files, and also clean your registry (CCleaner).



Section 2: Specific problems (crashes, stutter etc).


1. First person stuttering, not there in 3rd person.

For whatever reason, in fullscreen mode and only when in first person, some areas induce a horrible stutter, and yet your framerate is not the cause (and most of the time will be at 60fps). There are two fixes.

• Only works with game version 1.3 or below, for 1.4 see underneath. Download and install DXtory (http://dxtory.com/v2-home-en.html). It is basically an fps monitor and gameplay recorder. But it has a nice feature called a frame rate cap. Open DXtory, then click the Advanced tab. At the bottom you'll see "Limit Video FPS". Ensure that box is ticked, and change the value to 59. Unless you want your fps to be displayed in-game, click the Overlay tab (the one with the screen showing 69 ), and untick all the boxes. (It has come to my attention that FPS limiters may cause bugs in the game relating to time and event syncing. Each system is unique though, so just wanted to have a little warning).
  
• Patch 1.4 users. If you are using 1.4 and using Dxtory as outlined above, you will experience cell loading problems and possibly other sync issues. Follow these instructions to stop microstuttering with no known side effects: All you need to do is have Dxtory open displaying your FPS, ensure that the fps limiter reads 60 but the box for it isn't ticked, and that is it. Just have it open. If you have Vsync/iPresentInterval on, with Dxtory open, you will get much much less first person stutter. Currently this is the only known way to stop microstutter, other than windowed mode (detail below).

• Download the Simple Borderless Window Mod at http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4. The instructions are simple. Open Skyrim in steam. In the launcher window, click Options. At the bottom, tick the box marked "Windowed Mode". Then in the resolution box, select the resolution you usually play in fullscreen (1920 x 1080 for me). Download the mod, extract it, and place SBW.exe in your main Skyrim folder (which has TESV.exe in it). Now launch the game with SBW.exe instead of steam or any other shortcuts. This will open Skyrim in a window, but leave it for a little bit, and it'll stretch to fullscreen. If you use SKSE it will load that instead of TESV.exe. This mod if fully compatible with steam and SKSE. (Some users may infact have a drop in performance in certain areas when running in Windowed mode. I'm one of them.) Warning, in windowed mode ingame brightness and gamma settings will not work (thanks to SomeWelshGuy)

2. Crashing after hitting PLAY in the Skyrim Launcher, or during gameplay.

This is a very common problem, and it is not a problem with the game. It happens because of certain software configurations, and what can fix it for one person, something else will fix it for another. This shows the diversity of PC configurations that we all use. Each fix is given as stand alone, one may fix it for your pc, and for some it will need to be a combination of fixes.

• Generate new INI files. Even if you haven't changed any INI settings, it's always good to try. Go to your Documents folder, then My Games, Skyrim, and delete the files Skyrim.ini and Skyrimprefs.ini. Also remove RendererInfo.txt. If you have changed uGridstoLoad however, you have to change it back to default a certain way.
  
• Disable Steam Community. Open Steam, click on Steam in the top left corner, then go to Settings. Click the IN-GAME tab, and uncheck Enable Steam Community In-Game.
  
• Some software is known to cause the problem on some configurations. So far the known ones are EVGA Precision, and ASUS OSD Gamer. Ensure these are not running, or better still, uninstalled.
  
• Corrupted Direct X software. Download and install the latest Direct X End-User Runtime from the Microsoft website.
  
• Uninstall your graphics card Driver (and ideally use Driver Cleaner to remove left over files). Then reboot, and reinstall your driver.
  
• Change your Windows Audio settings to a lower quality. In the sound options, click the Playback tab, the select your speakers, click Properties, and then in the new window click Advanced. In the dropdown box, select 16 bit, 44100 hz (CD Quality).
  
• Mods. Something else that can cause this problem is incompatible mod files, or leftover mod files. When removing mods ensure you don't just deselect them in the Skyrim Launcher. Make sure you delete every file the mod added, including any ini files it created in your main Skyrim directory. If you had no problems before using mods, this is where you should start. Please note that if you have a save that was created while using a mod, and now you don't use it, in rare cases your save file might not work any more. Always backup before adding/removing mods. For SKSE users you will need to update it if you update your game. This may be the case for other mods also, some only work on the most recent game version (before a patch).
  
• Windows UAC. Some people report that when launching the game, it gives a UAC warning. When they click YES, the game does not load. This could be the cause. Locate your Skyrim Directory, find TESV.exe and SkyrimLauncher.exe. Right click them, select Properties, then Compatibility, and ensure nothing is ticked like Run as Administrator. HOWEVER, some people report that actually running the game as Administrator, or selecting Disable Visual Themes and Desktop Composition, actually fixes the instant crash. Which brings me back to my earlier point, different configurations work for different people.
  
• Corrupted Installation. Sometimes when a game installs, even if download through an online service like Steam, something goes amiss. Right click on Skyrim in your Steam Library. Select Properties, then click the LOCAL FILES tab. The click the button Verify Integrity of Game Cache. If something is missing, it'll download it from steam. (I tried this, and it downloaded an 18 bit file. I wasn't having any problems either, so just shows you).
  
• Background Programs (second entry). interference caused by background running programs. A clean boot can sometimes help identify the problem and it is very easy to do: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796 - Thanks to Toutatis for this.

3. Low framerate in some areas even on high end CPUs?

• Skyboost or TESVAL. These simple files/mods optimise the game code and make it run better. Skyrim is very CPU intensive, and some would say too much. These mods fix this, and people can get upto and beyond a 50% increase in performace. Skyboost found here http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1326816-skyboost-topic-3/ requires no other mods to work, and is compatible with SKSE. TESVAL here http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=4387 however requires SKSE (here http://skse.silverlock.org/) No longer required post 1.4 official patch.
  
• Shadow quality plays havok with your framerate/CPU. Lower your shadow quality one or two settings lower.

4. Low performance when using a high end/multicard setup. (after trying fixes in category 3)

• Drivers. The latest offerings from AMD and Nvidia (beta releases) offer not only performance increases (minor) on single GPU setups, but also SLI and Crossfire. Ensure you follow good install practices, and get the latest beta driver.
  
• Got the latest driver, still no improvement? The drivers will not always work for you, and the game is not at fault for not taking advantage of your multicard setup. That's down to the GPU folks. So for now, until a better driver is released, disable your other cards and use a single one. This also goes for single cards that have 2 cards built in to.

5. Sound problems including crackly audio, unable to hear people when looking at them, and low volume.

• Try the fix above to lower audio quality. it may ironically improve your sound.
  
• Go to your windows Sound options, then Playback. Select your speakers, and click Configure. Some surround audio setups simply don't work in Skyrim, so instead of 7.1 or 5.1, choose Stereo. Also select Stereo if you only have 2 speaker (or 2 speakers and a subwoofer).
  
• In the same window (Speaker Setup) after choosing Stereo or something, click Next. Here if it is supported, you can select Full-Range Speakers. This will help with the low volume problem.
  
• Update to the latest audio drivers for your hardware. Realtek drivers http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1329260-b1gbaddaddys-big-post-of-fixes-and-tweaks/page__view__findpost__p__20013012 (thanks DHJudas)

6. Day of the week not changing at midnight. Fixed as of official patch 1.4

It used to be believed that changing the ini setting iPresentInterval=1 to 0 (which disables Vsync) also caused the bug where the day of the week changing goes out of sync. This is proven not to be the case, and at the moment is thought to be a game bug caused by fast travelling. Until a patch comes out that fixes it (official or otherwise) use this method.

1) type show gamedayspassed

2) take the fractional part (the number after the decimal point) of what you see from the above command, you multiply that by 24.

3) type set gamehour to

Example:

If show gamedayspassed returns 30.5425, you do:

0.5425 * 24 = 13.02

then type set gamehour to 13.02

Thanks to Nash Muhandes (as well as others) for finding this fix.


7. Shimmering shadows/ shadow streaks on objects

Thanks to Thomas Kaira for the following fix for this problem.

"Shimmering shadows/ shadow streaks on objects: this is a graphical artifact called Shadow Acne, basically imprecise or very low quality shadow-mapping causes certain objects to cast improper self-shadows that show up as shimmering streaks. It is a horrendously ugly effect that can (and does for me) cause eyeball strain.

To fix: open your SkyrimPrefs.INI (back up first!) and search for the setting "fShadowBiasScale." It defaults to 0.15. Change this to 0.6.

Character shadows will be slightly off, but this setting massively reduces the "streaky shadows" you see on objects."


8. "Completely bonkers graphics/textures"

There's no way to explain the purpose of this part, other than having problems with crazy textures and bizzare graphics. Here some possible fixes (although an exact cause of these problems cannot be given for every person, as each system is different.

• Another cause for this can be a faulty/dying graphics card/cpu/PSU/HDD, pretty much anything inside your PC. Test out other games and applications to see if there is a problem with those.
  
• Overheating graphics card or CPU. If your hardware is fine, and you have enough cooling, the only suggestion is to lower your graphics settings.

5/1/12
For now this is all I'll post. As I said above I will add to it soon and over time, and post below if you'd like something in there.


7/1/12
Added some performance tips, and tweaks/fixes from users posting below.

27/1/12
Added more tips from forum members, as well as new info on the beta patches.

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I hope this can go to help some people, it's good to have one place for fixes I suppose.

Nice roundup! Bookmarked.

That seems like a bold statement, especially with the "always".

Corrected!

Great Post....I recommend this as a sticky..this Forum needs one BAD.

As is tho, I will link to this thread for general help first!

So great to have a one-stop compilation of fixes and work-arounds.

So sad that it takes player volunteers to create and maintain it.

If possible, and when applicable, we should credit whoever creates particular fixes...nobody getting paid, but at least we can put some names in lights.

Great stuff Daddy

Thanks a ton for this Daddy

Yeah, nice job:)

Just an addition for item #2: interference caused by background running programs. A clean boot can sometimes help identify the problem and it is very easy to do: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

Very true! I'll add it tomorrow mate

Thanks for putting together this list!

I would like to make a contribution regarding shadows if you are accepting tweaks to sort out graphical problems:

Shimmering shadows/ shadow streaks on objects: this is a graphical artifact called Shadow Acne, basically imprecise or very low quality shadow-mapping causes certain objects to cast improper self-shadows that show up as shimmering streaks. It is a horrendously ugly effect that can (and does for me) cause eyeball strain.

To fix: open your SkyrimPrefs.INI (back up first!) and search for the setting "fShadowBiasScale." It defaults to 0.15. Change this to 0.6.

Character shadows will be slightly off, but this setting massively reduces the "streaky shadows" you see on objects.

I always reboot my computer before running Skyrim as well as unplug my headset.

I'll include this in the additions I'll be making tomorrow

Nice work

I'd just add a warning to note that if you're playing the game in windowed mode, the ingame brightness/gamma settings won't work. Just a FYI.

Didn't know about changing it to 0.6 as I just set it to the Low default setting of 0.5, which solved the problem for me.

I currently use:

fSunShadowUpdateTime=0
fSunUpdateThreshold=1.0

it solves the flicker but every say 10 secs the shadows update their position. It is a lesser of evils type of fix. What would this one you guys suggest do in contrast to the one I am using? Is the one I am using detrimental? My shadow setting is High. Also this change I am using is in the skyrim.ini not the skyrimprefs.ini. The one that is in documents/mygames/skyrim folder. So I assume that I change the shadowbiasscale in the same folder in the skyrimprefs.ini there....and not the one contained in steamapps/common/skyrim or w.e.

Your method is okay if you don't mind really jarring shadow transitions.

And yes, that tweak is located in the SkyrimPrefs.INI. It's in the same place as the Skyrim.INI, that's the one you want to edit.

I do not need these fixes but it is thrilling to see people put effort in a helpful post like this. Thanks!

I DO in fact mind jarring shadow transitions but the other effect was making my eyes bleed. I copied my vanilla ini's and made the .6 change gonna give it a shot. Also my default was .25 not .15 just an FYI....I assume it is based on the hardware detection. Thanks for the alternative option.

Most may already know this stuff, but thought I would post anyway.

From the read-me that came with the Game.(its in the Skyrim Directory)
also
The above is nice...it does it instantly when you click Default, it re detects.

Added some tips for performance, as well as some fixes and tips from users

Someone else just met the same results of my own experiment with setting 'bFloatPointRenderTarget=0' to 1 and the results were completely bonkers looking, may want to mention that this is definitely a 'big no no' at least until we learn what its actually meant for and if there's ever a reason to try it.

You can see first hand what it looks like in the vid this guy posted here: http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1330302-someone-respond-quickly/

For ENB-based mods to work properly, bFloatPointRenderTarget must be 1 .

Added

Hrm, maybe for ATI cards perhaps? Believe me I just tried setting it to 1 again and it brutalized my view, like in the dragonreach->tree view the water of the two little pools flanking the bottom of the stairs was showing up but everything else was an extremely amplified view of the companions hall with tiny fires all over it. I'm also running an ENB and it definitely works without that set to 1. Either way probably shouldn't clog up this thread with this issue but yah I'm kind of thinking this is an ATI native thing since everyone who's brought it up seems to be sporting ATI hardware.