Okay, before you get your knickers in a twist and downrate me since this solution will actually cost you some money, let me say outright that it sorted every single issue I had with Skyrim. FPS slowdowns, latency, crashes, vendors suddenly losing the "What do you have for sale?" option... the lot.

The issue seems to not only be with the size of the autosave, but also how much the game manages to load around you while simultaneously trying to save your game. The solution is to speed up your harddrive.


In my own PS3 I installed an intel 320 Solid State drive, 80 gigs. Got it for under 100 USD at my local retailer. Installing it is a cinch (using an old Fat PS3, 60 gigs) and Skyrim runs like a dream. Load times are cut by about half, and no latency is apparent even during extended periods of play. Also, load times do not "extend" as you play, they remain at a flat around 10-15 seconds when fast travelling.

My friend has a slim and customized it to contain a 7200 RPM drive (as opposed to a 5400 RPM that is the standard in the PS3s) and he's still having some slowdown, but not nearly as much as I had on my old 5400 RPM drive.

Another solution if you are unwilling to form out the cash for a pure SSD drive is getting a Seagate Momentus XT drive or similar which has a harddrive portion and a small SSD portion where it places recently accessed stuff, getting you almost up to SSD standard at a lower cost.


Again, I realize this solution is not for everyone, but it will give you a perfect game for less money than the extra cost for a Skyrim Collectors compared to a normal one, and it will boost your future games as well, lowering their load times considerably.

Just thought I'd throw this out there in case people that are willing to upgrade their units are reluctant to do so since they are unsure if it will have the desired effect.


Tally ho,
Asuka, Proud owner of PS3 with (as of Skyrim) an SSD drive.


EDIT: Uploaded a vid of the performance with a 10 meg savefile and 4 hours of uptime on the PS3 with the SSD in it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EoXcw5FhjM

SSD's are VERY expensive and small in size, I upgraded my 40gb PS3 to 320gb and even now I only have 120gb free.

I'd need to buy at least a 250gb SSD and they probably cost more than my PS3 did.

I noticed you didn't say how big your saved game is?

Did you have frame rate issues before the SSD upgrade?

i have a new 500GB WD 5400 rpm....but i have not such problems like slowdown...as others have...

but to buy a extensive ssd drive only for skyrim is madness because its not confirmed 100% on every game....and if it is it supposed that every game must be run well on the
original drive like the most other games do..... like cow...shift 2...dark souls....killzone...etc.etc.......

A Momentus XT (hybrid) is 150$ for a 500 GB which brings you close to the SSD performance. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591 for instance.

My savefile is at over 10 megs atm, 10182 KB to be precise.

And yeah, I had extreme FPS slowdowns after extended play earlier, making the game entirely unplayable. A reboot of the console sorted it temporarily but it resurfaces soon enough.


I just threw this solution up there since there has to be people contemplating the fix but are wondering if it works. It's not for everyone but if you're the kind of person who forks out the extra for a collectors, you might be interested in the SSD as well, for this game and future ones.

pay 60 dollars for a game that is broken pay another hundred and pray it works lol no thanks ill be waiting for bethesda to do there job and patch the frame rate and save issue

The more I read, the more I'm convinced it has nothing to do with save-game size and everything to do with disk reads. All "lag" I've experienced appears to be streaming related. (NPC Dialog Audio, Terrain zone popping, etc..)

This would also explain why the 360 users aren't typically reporting this, because the install to hdd is optional, and gamesas warned them not to.

This is essentially the point I'm trying to make . It's a pity that people get their stockings in a twist when someone tries to be helpful since it doesnt suit em

I've been thinking about this myself however, I've decided to see if Beth actually fix this with a patch or not before apending anymore, if it's clear they'll never fix it I may just do as you suggest.

a lot of crap because some people here have many to spent...or whatever.....how old are you guys???????????

Thu, Nov 17, 2011 | 15:51 GMT
Skyrim PS3 users experiencing lag, workaround suggested until patch is released

Skyrim players have reported issues with the PS3 version once 5-6MB of stored save data is surpassed, which is apparently causing lag and the inability to interact with NPCs.


According to various forum posts, the issue isn’tt caused by having too many manual game saves, as one save slot can cause the issue as well, since the longer the game is played the larger the stored save file becomes.

Until a fix is issued by Bethesda, which has been working on a patch for various issues on all platforms, users on the forum suggest turning off the autosave feature, and restarting PS3. The later of which seems to help for a few hours at least.


if you want facts....read my post every day...i will keep you posted...>>>>>>>>>>>Latest News for Patch *FIXING* and more...<<<<<<<<<<<<<
if not you can say what you want....

The OP clearely stated that the solution he has used may not suit everyone but that it works if you want to go down that road and the reasoning he has used is sound. He has not said OMGWTFBBQ you must do this right now so you should back off imo.

The forum is also well aware of what is in the works as the mods do have a presence here so users have little need to keep reading your output thanks.

Have a nice day wont you and dont get stepped on by a giant.

Hmm...that may make http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1275912-how-many-save-files-do-you-have/ useless, but I guess it's still good to have the info, just in case...

Yeah lots of manual saves would only be an issue on systems low on HDD space but any game on such a system would become flaky. Skyrim only loads a single save file and evidence suggests that in many cases a file over approx 6.3Mb starts to cause issues.

Yes some users have larger files before hitting snags and some arer not getting problems but I would bet that to get away with larger file sizes those users would tend to be the ones with plenty of free space and / or newer consoles, including those with upgraded HDD's.

I'd rather buy an Xbox...

When I've read the title I thought you would suggest buying Xbox

That exactly what I've asked for a few days ago (but no one responded though). Could you tell us exact model name of SSD you've bought? Could you also confirm that there is no framerate drops at all now, after the installation? Even on large battles, horse riding, etc.?

I'm using an intel 320 (SATA-II) 80 gig in my PS3. The 510 is basically better in every way so it should work dandy.

Most SSDs should be just fine, I actually got the idea to try it when I read an article sorting GT5 load times with an OCZ Vertex drive (http://www.tomshardware.com/news/playstation-ps3-ssd-upgrade-loading,11811.html).

I just stick to intel since they tend to come out on top of the SSD comparisons back in the day. Old habits die hard.

I don't get any FPS slowdowns at all, at least not unless you count the game going from (guessing here) 30 to 22-25 (barely noticable and still very playable) when there's a crapload of spell effects on screen.

Man, I switched from PC to console precisely so issues of compatibility/upgrading wouldn't pop up.

But I appreciate your help Asuka, and if this really does reduce load times in all/most other games as well, the cost may be worth it.

Thanks for reply!

Umm, what a pain, now I dunno if I can handle the idea of buying the SSD instead of buying food for my family (joke). Can't decide if it worth spending.
I think I'll wait for the patch and if they don't fix it, I'll take it....

I'm not spending that much money because Bethesda can't port a game properly

For the size of SSD I would need to hold all my game data, game saves and downloads, it would actually work out FAR cheaper to buy a 250gb Xbox and Xbox Version of Skyrim!

Interesting? I can't say for certain, but your theory may have some merit. I have a PS3 slim. Awhile back I had replaced the 120 Gb stock drive with a Seagate 1 Tb 7200 RPM. I have not experienced so much as a frame of lag. But my save file is sitting at 5800, so I simply may not have crossed the threshold yet.

Someone else WITH FRAMERATE ISSUES MIND TESTING THIS AND CONFIRMING PLEASE?!

I've uploaded a video of my system running Skyrim after a 4 hour uptime on youtube now (after prying my girlfriend from the playstation for a moment to hold the camera) and recorded a short to show how the SSD system behaves when fasttraveling and autosaving while quickly changing locations and talking to people on a heavily saved/large file environment with a long uptime.

You can check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EoXcw5FhjM

I'd love for others to confirm that this works btw, or even if you are using a hybrid drive or a 7200 RPM drive to see if that alleviates the issue.

Is it dumb consumer day?

False. I have a top of the line SSD and while it may improve load times by a hair, does not stop you from getting lag. Sorry.