Given the idiocy shown by the official minimum system requirements, you might think you could play, when the practical facts are that you cannot:
These were wrong when announced, and commented on from the start.
Corrected Skyrim Minimum Requirements
* Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit) * Processor: Dual Core 2.3 GHzC2D or equivalent CPU * 3GB 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
retried the .ini files, changed controller and rumble settings.
System Specs:
Windows 7 64 bit intel core 2 duo 2.66ghtz 6700 4 gigs RAM Plenty HDD space (2) 9500 gt 512mb video cards. Fully Updated. sound is fine, internet access
and btw, i dont know if this makes a difference, but the main menu and my backpack work just fine, just gameplay
The only thing that I can think of is that the card is just too old for the drivers you're trying to use. The very latest just don't work well will all of the old Geforces.
A friend of mine had two 9800's in SLI and was having issues running the game. He went to a new single card and it runs much better. He got the 560. That or the 6950 can be had in the mid $200 range. The 6970 or 570 in the low $300 range.
Otherwise, you are going to have to drop your resolution until you can do the upgrade. Just to note, he said all of his other games play so much better too. Your CPU is fine to play the game, if you don't have a ton of background apps running.
You say you have 4GB of RAM, are you running a 32 or 64 bit OS? If 32, do you have the 3GB switch?