Hello,
my name is Reis.
Over time with my Skyrim save, the game has slowed down, until now it crashes if I try to fast travel or load a new cell.
I looked up the causes of the issue and it seems that many are experiencing file sizes that are growing too large. My last save's file size was 18 megs, and I've seen previous saves in my folder that are even larger!
I am playing on a Geforce GTX 560ti SLI setup, and this game should not be an issue.
Is Bethesda aware of these issues? If so, is there any sort of fix for this?
I have only been playing the game for 48 hours according to Steam, and that does not seem long enough to be having these issues at all.
Thank you,
-Reis

I would really appreciate a reply to my topic. I have been unable to play Skyrim for the last two weeks because of the file size.

Hi Reis,
If your savegames are growing too large, you've done it to yourself (with mods).
The 'vanilla' game plays beautifully...
(Except for rampant quest-bugs, heheh.)

I have one player-character with 600 hours invested.
He is Level 68 and savegames are approximately 13.5 MB.
I run a handful of mods (but nothing too frivolous).
You must select any mods very carefully and cautiously...
Regards

There is a mod you can try that helps with the save game bloating problem. I don't know whether it would help on your current game or if it only works on new ones but it sounds like it's worth a shot. Here's a link if you want to check it out.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=8216

Most of the fixes in Mart's mod are now superseded by the Unofficial Skyrim Patch, FWIW. (I don't know about the excess arrow removal and the Nirnroot activators being reduced, but everything else for sure.) I'd recommend using that as well.

@ the OP - make sure you have Skyrim patched to the latest version, first of all. 1.3 and 1.4 included some optimizations that had an added bonus of reducing save file size. Second, are you using any mods at all? Some mods do seem to lead to increased save game bloat...vanilla games typically don't bloat that large unless you've been doing everything humanly possible to deliberately bloat the game, and even then it takes more than 48 hours.

@Tyraa Rane, Gryphon:
I am using about 20 mods. This must have been the cause of the problem; I was unaware that mods would increase the save file size.
Now, the question is this: Is there ANYTHING I can do about it, or is my save basically screwed? I tried uninstalling all my mods before this, but this did not seem to affect my save file size at all.
Does this basically mean my save game is dead?
That would be a real shame.
Thanks.
-Reis

I use about 20 mods, mainly UNPB body, high ress body / face textures, CHSBHC, Oriental Face, then mainly UNP armour mods and my save game files are 9.7mb to 10.2mb each and have no problem running al the mobs

Hi Reis!
It depends on what mods you have. I'm no expert, but if you have script heavy mods that leave scripts running in the save even after they are gone (this is how the saves work I heard - most mod authors are not to blame) I don't know if you can solve the issue, even after uninstalling the mods.
Check the mods descriptions and the comments to see if anyone else has had problems. But be mindful not to listen to absolutely everyone that says "Bad mod", sometimes a lot of issues come from people not reading the install/uninstall procedure carefully and bad things happen.

Also, you can put your modlist here, in a spoiler tag, so that someone more experienced can identify the problem - if it's mod related.

Edit: SLI is for dual cards at nVidia, right? Have you tried disabling SLI and running the game with only one card? I'm not in the know-how with nVidia so I don't know if Skyrim has issues with SLI, but if it won't cause any problems it's worth a try...

@Reis - With the bloated saves there's not much option (currently) to "debloat" or reduce the current file size causes your issues.
The mods (marts debloatifier & possessive corpses & parts of the UESP ) are moreso active and preventive measures in addition to selective mod use to minimize and avoid the bloated results.
I had tremendous bloated issues on my last playthrough and went through every approach I could find available, to no avail. As the result I was forced to begin a new playthrough. It svcked, but I had no only choice.
Good luck, and if u do have any success, please post the measures you took so we can all take advantag

If Bethesda officially release a modding tool, shouldnt they make sure the save files work on the game no mather what ?