It's become apparent that many many people are having all sorts of problems due to Skyrim's game engine being tied to framerate. In an effort to bring this major oversight to Bethesda's attention, I've summarised below the major problems people have experienced directly related to framerate, and also a range of periphery issues that people may be less aware of.

It all began after launch when a huge number of people experienced the dreaded stuttering when moving the camera during gameplay. This was an unusual problem because it tends to happen when framerate is apparently maxed out at 60 FPS. There are too many threads on this for me to link to, but it's now accepted to be due to the engine maxing out at 64 fps like some past Bethesda games. The extra frames are causing the stutters. There were 2 generally accepted "solutions" that people discovered:

1) Turn Vsync off
2) Use a framerate limiter

There are issues with both "solutions". By turning Vsync off, you allow the framerate to go above 60 FPS at times, and the result was physics glitches (where things would fly around violently upon contact), and also graphical glitches where black or grey bars would flash across the screen rapidly. The second "solution" was mainly in response to the first "solution". People began capping their framerates using Dxtory or Skyrim antilag, myself included. It was only through conincidence that I noticed that these limiters also resulted in engine issues:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1275049-arrow-delay-glitch/

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1321635-delayed-actions/

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1327300-arrow-lag-after-shooting/

Basically, capping the framerate to anything at all would result in timing desync in the game. Symptoms include arrows shooting many seconds after release, menu loading delays, and recently confirmed cell loading issues:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1337843-14-does-not-like-dxtory

I've personally experienced majorly delayed cell loading ONLY while using a framerate limiter, so this definately wasn't an issue tied to 1.4 beta as that thread suggest. I've also noticed that I no longer CTD at all after removing my framerate limiter.

So now it's all clear why Bethesda shipped the game with no V-sync options - the game must run at 60 FPS maximum or you would get yourself into all sorts of issues. This basically means the only way to play the game is at a default 60Hz as imposed by Bethesda. To support this claim, here's a sample of other issues that arise when your monitor(!) is not the default 60Hz:

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1329030-bug-annoying-sound-something-stuck-sound-in-inns-and-shops

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1338894-running-skyrim-with-120hz-monitors/

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1338218-skyrim-long-load-times-on-1080p-24hz-bug

I think it's pretty clear that Bethesda made a MAJOR mistake tying the game engine not just to framerate, but the REFRESH RATE of your display. Sure, I'm hoping that Bethesda respond to this in some way so we will now if a fix is coming or not. I don't have my hopes up because it seems like the foundation of the engine was built like this, and correcting it may be an unfeasibly big task.

Please post any experiences you've had that support my findings (or refute them!), so that this thread can educate people experiencing these issues and hopefully stir Bethesda to action.

Your first three links are bad, just to let you know.

However, your point stands, it is really beyond me why Bethesda did not account for any advances in PC tech when porting the game (goes to show just how lazily done it was). You can completely break their frame-timing "fixes" just by buying a 120Hz monitor, for crying out loud.

I never thought I would ever see a game that was actually incompatible with NEWER hardware. That was in production when the game was released.

Thanks, fixed now!

Here is a thread I made, which outlines the best way to stop micro stuttering in 1.4 (and 1.3) without causing any ill effects.

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1337843-14-does-not-like-dxtory

The reason using a limiter while having vsync on became a recomendation by people, was to stop micro stutter (which happens when vsync is on but the engine still pushes past 60 fps by a frame or 2).

My last post in that thread is the solution, and gives me a super smooth experience without cell loading problems. It took a few hours of testing various settings and configurations.

Glad that worked for you B1gBad - You've done a truckload of great work trying to find solutions to the basic oversights Bethesda have thrown upon us. The question still remains of why the game is like this in the first place though, and why we have to work so hard to get it working.

I honestly think its a bug left over by the 64hz problem from their previous engine version. It's not a direct link to it, but definitely a left over of some kind.

I'm just trying to help people out like everyone else until problems are fixed by Beth, it's down to people like us

Because Bethesda is operating like an Xbox 360-exclusive developer that decided to provide multiplatform support at the last minute. The PC version suffered because Bethesda didn't do their homework (leaving compiler optimizations off, excessive use of frame-timing) and the PS3 version suffered because Bethesda again did not do their homework before porting (thus the game is trying to use the PS3 like an Xbox 360 and the PS3 is vehemently objecting).

What really grinds my gears about this is that this is bad practice. You don't just stop the port once the game is rudimentarily functional, that's akin to an office opening without any desks or computers in any of the cubicles. You can still work there, but it is going to be a lot harder than it should be.

for nvidia users: just limit your frames in the nvidia inspector instead of the fps limiter. simple as that. no arrow delays or something like that anymore

One thread is enough.