Upgrading Video Card = Slow Skyrim? : V

» Thu May 31, 2012 3:56 pm

Yesterday I installed my newly purchased Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 and everything went pretty well - until I tried to play Skyrim. Before upgrading, I had been using a GeForce GTX 6800, and I always ran it on the lowest display settings. With that card I never had a problem with fps, things always ran smoothly and loaded fairly quickly. However, with this new, 'better' card, I can't even play the game. It takes about five minutes to load everything (going in and out of buildings is a nightmare) and the fps is ALWAYS ~5. Sometimes it just stutters. I have no idea why using a new card would cause so many problems, since everything else on my system has stayed the same. Does anyone have any idea what is going on?

Full Specs:
Windows 7 32 Bit
AMD Anthlon II X3 440
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6850 1G
DDR3 4G memory
500GB hard drive

EDIT: I should add that all the drivers are up to date, and the problems I have with load times/stuttering/fps are consistent no matter whether I try to play on low or high settings. I have tried uninstalling/reinstalling various versions of the drivers, but nothing has helped. I'm able to play other games just fine. Unfortunately Skyrim was the main reason I upgraded in the first plave,

» Thu May 31, 2012 8:01 pm

Refresh your INI files.

Also, you may have issues on a 32-bit system.

» Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:40 am

Refresh your INI files.

Also, you may have issues on a 32-bit system.

Just refreshed the ini files. FPS went up to about 8ish, but very little improvement at all. Still unplayable.

» Thu May 31, 2012 12:45 pm

Just refreshed the ini files. FPS went up to about 8ish, but very little improvement at all. Still unplayable.

Make sure you have completely removed all traces of the Nvidia drivers and card from your system as well.

Also make sure you are not using the official texture pack.

Along with those points, start out with the settings at the lowest setting and work up from there.

» Thu May 31, 2012 4:09 pm

Make sure you have completely removed all traces of the Nvidia drivers and card from your system as well.

Also make sure you are not using the official texture pack.

Along with those points, start out with the settings at the lowest setting and work up from there.

I'm almost certain there is nothing left of Nvidia on my computer.

But how are you supposed to disable the official texture pack? And is there some set alternative that works?

» Thu May 31, 2012 2:55 pm

In the Data Files screen. Make sure you are not using it as you are on a 32-bit OS.

That's only if you downloaded it, of course.

Also, did you replace your PSU with the video card or not?

» Fri Jun 01, 2012 1:17 am

In the Data Files screen. Make sure you are not using it as you are on a 32-bit OS.

That's only if you downloaded it, of course.

Also, did you replace your PSU with the video card or not?

Oh, alright, well then I never had it in the first place.

And no I did not. I thought that it would be fine without a new PSU.

» Thu May 31, 2012 11:41 pm

Oh, alright, well then I never had it in the first place.

And no I did not. I thought that it would be fine without a new PSU.

Judging by how old the 6800 is, you probably need a new one. Check the recommended wattage on the box for the new card first and go from there.

I used to have an old 4000 series, replaced it with a 6600, replaced my MB and got a 7600, which was replaced by a 260 and I needed a new PSU. So you more than likely need a new one.

» Thu May 31, 2012 9:34 pm

Judging by how old the 6800 is, you probably need a new one. Check the recommended wattage on the box for the new card first and go from there. I used to have an old 4000 series, replaced it with a 6600, replaced my MB and got a 7600, which was replaced by a 260 and I needed a new PSU. So you more than likely need a new one.

Well, the 6800 was an old spare my dad had after an MSi card went bad. I'm almost positive that the PSU is at least 500W, which is what the video card needs. But there isn't a way for me check because the side where the PSU sticker is is against a tower wall which won't come off.

» Thu May 31, 2012 9:09 pm

Well, the 6800 was an old spare my dad had after an MSi card went bad. I'm almost positive that the PSU is at least 500W, which is what the video card needs. But there isn't a way for me check because the side where the PSU sticker is is against a tower wall which won't come off.

How old is the PSU? PSUs degrade over time.

» Fri Jun 01, 2012 2:31 am

How old is the PSU? PSUs degrade over time.

A little over three years. That probably has degraded it some. Do you think that having an insufficient power supply would cause problems in one game but not others?

» Thu May 31, 2012 11:01 am

A little over three years. That probably has degraded it some. Do you think that having an insufficient power supply would cause problems in one game but not others?

Possible. It is hard to say, though, without all the hardware being up to snuff.

» Thu May 31, 2012 2:53 pm

I think you may be using skse (syrim script extender)?
You need to start the game once using just Steam, to set the video settings properly for your new cards.

» Thu May 31, 2012 7:14 pm

Open your computer up at look at sticker on the PSU, it will give you the amp ratings for the +3 +5 and +12 volt rails the 12 volt rail amperage is what you need to know to support any upgrades and you can google your video card and find the amprage rating need for it to run properly.