from "iShadowMapResolution=2048" to "iShadowMapResolution=4096". I know there is a performance hit... but effing 20?! Is it something on my end?


GPU1: AMD Radeon HD 6870 1gb DDR5 PICE (12.4 official drivers)
GPU2: AMD Radeon HD 6870 1gb DDR5 PICE
CPU: Intel i7-875k @ 2.93GHz
MEM: 8GB DDR3 Ram
HD: 1 TB SATA III 6GB/S 7200 RPM
MB: Gigabyte P55A-UD3 Crossfire/SLI DDR3
PSU: Xtremegear 700w

This is a brand new .ini file generated and un-tweaked aside from that one setting. 22 FPS seems way too severe.

Most likely yes. Although I have now upgraded to an i5-2500K, I have had no problems playing with that setting using one old GF 8800 GT (which I am still using for the moment) and an even older AMD FX-60 (2x 2.4 GHz), 3GB DDR RAM and WinXP.

But then, I used "medium" overall quality settings, so maybe I had slack somewhere else.

Another thought: It could also depend on your expectations, When I say I had no problems, I am not saying I did high FPS constantly. It would vary from just below 30 (at the most challenging locations) to 75 (when staring at a corner), but be perfectly playable even with my old CPU.

Remember, Shadows are CPU generated in this game, not GPU.

Yes, it can cause a huge impact on the game performance. What can help is doing things like a Clean Boot to stop background apps. Turning off AV programs, updaters, things like that.

However, there are other Shadow related things to try to improve their look that do not impact FPS as much, like the refresh cycle and other things. In fact, if you slow the Refresh down, you might see less of a FPS hit from the higher res.

I am using a PhenomII x4 810 (OC 3.1ghz) with a Radeon HD5770 and i am playing on ULTRA detail on 1280x1024 and getting a max fps of 75 and a average of 55-60 fps with a min of 43 FPS.

I am not picky, i think 1280x1024 is quite good.

I think I need to hurry up and buy a new PSU. I think I am not getting the proper power I need. I can't even run crossfire on ANY games without it lagging and turning into a slideshow. I brought it up on the PCGamer forums a while back and was told my PSU was most likely the culprit.

Another thought, just looking at you gear:

I wonder if Skyrim (more so than any other game) might be better played with one fast GPU having more video RAM, though I don't think that would matter with the issue at hand. I don't know for sure, but I suspect that if you go for a lot of HIRes textures, 1 GB can get crowded at some point. Anyway, that was just a thought that spontaneously came to me, and there may be no need to take it too seriously. There are much better experts than myself to comment on such things.

Extremegear PSUs are not that good. However a dodgy PSU would not result in lowered performance, more like system instability and other weirdness.

However, you are not doing your expensive PC parts any favors by running them on a PSU that has known ripple issues. With 700 Watts or more, spending less than $100 on a PSU is probably going to buy you junk. Sure, some are on sale, some are on close out, but quality PSUs of this size are not cheap and should not be.

Here is one example of a decent one, this is the price range you should be looking in.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194086

That is the next to do on my upgrade list. I play it out of crossfire right now and when I get the money I am buying a 3gb card of some sort. Also, I don't know much about CPU's so I am wondering if my CPU is needs to be upgraded. When I look it up it gets all sorts of great reviews but 2.93 GHz really seems kinda on the low side to me and I don't know a single thing about overclocking so I don't want to mess it up.

Actually, I already have one lined up http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139015&Tpk=Corsair%20AX850 Just need to wait until I can afford to buy some computer stuff.