My Specs:

Windows 7 64-bit SP1
Intel core I5 2200K
4GB Dual Channel DDR3
Geforce GTX 560 Ti (Driver version 285.62)

Until the previous patch (not the one I downloaded today) Skyrim was working perfectly with a stable fps around 50, with mods running 60 fps with no mods.

Since the previous patch I am now getting stuttering as distant trees and terrain load, if i stand still everything is perfect, but as I run across the terrain I get little stutters every few seconds. It is minor but totally ruins the immersion for me, and is frustrating as Skyrim used to work perfectly as do all the other games I have installed.

I have tried taking the detail levels down turning off AF and AA and put all the view distance settings to minimum and it still stutters.

I have completely uninstalled and deleted all files related to Skyrim, including mods, and then did a fresh install, but it still does it.

I am pretty sure that it happened as a result of a recent patch. I have Skyrim on DVD but of course it will update from steam as soon as I install it, or I could confirm that.

Is anyone else experiencing this, or is anyone aware of a fix?

Any help is appreciated.

Use a frame rate limiter and set it to 59.

I too experienced greater lag after installing the 1.4 beta patch

Try turning VSYNC back on if you have it disabled.

Thanks for the suggestions guys.

I tried the fps limiter and forced v sync to on, but I still get the same problem.

It seems to be happening specifically when trees are loading. The game pauses for like half a second then distant tree textures update. More trees more stutter.

I defragged my HDD and checked that steam says the game files don't need defragged, just in case.

Any more suggestions?

Thanks.

Is there even a way to re install Skyrim from disk without it automatically updating on steam, so I can see if it was one of the updates that caused this?

Not that I know of. It's gotta be verified with the Steam servers and then the download begins for the update.

I also noticed a lot of stuttering with this patch. My frame rate is better but the game stutters even at constant 60 FPS.

Have you done any INI tweaks? have you tried resetting them to the default setting you had prior to 1.4?

I did a completely fresh install, I manually deleted all the Skyrim folders, and even my mod folders and re downloaded all the mods I use, but I tested Skyrim before I installed any mods or anything except the updates. I built this machine specifically for Skyrim and it ran perfectly at ultra detail levels on the highest resolution my monitor can handle. I am glad I got over 200 hours enjoyment out of it because this problem is a deal breaker for me, its small but it ruins the immersion, and it doesn't look like anyone has a solution.

Its unfortunate that you are getting the same problem Fermi, but at least I know its not just me now.

Have you done a refresh of your INI files?

Wouldn't that have happened when I did the re-install?

If not, could you explain how I do that please?

No, and sure.

Go to your Games folder in Documents, go to Skyrim, you'll see SkyrimPrefs and Skyrim as INI files. Make a backup copy of them to reference later if you have custom changes in them and want to keep them. Delete the original files and launch the game. The game will regenerate the files. It's possible that something went screwy in them, so regenerating them when one is having an issue is generally a good idea if not much else does anything.

I actually did delete that folder when I was doing the re-install, but I just tried it again anyway and it didn't help, unfortunately.

As it seems to be happening when the trees update to a closer texture I decided to install the high quality flora mod after I tried the INI refresh, but it didn't make the problem any better or worse.

Thanks tho.

Well, that bit of detail helps a lot actually. What's the information on your HDD?

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 250GB 3.5" SATA III 6GB/s

I wanted a better one but couldn't afford it.

I wondered if the slowing down was the drive accessing and uploading the texture information, but I wonder why it worked well before the patch and not now, and like I said when I increase the texture resolution on the tree textures it doesn't make the problem any worse. I set the distant objects sliders to their minimum and didn't notice an improvement either.

The latest update did change how cell transitions were handled. It's possible you could be a victim of that. Could you describe the settings you're running? Just trying to cover everything here. And that HDD looks fine, to be honest. I was concerned it was a 5400 RPM drive.

The latest patch seems to use a lot more VRAM, like, loading a lot more data into RAM, to create a more seamless transition through cells. But I'm not sure, I'm actually guessing by the behavior. If you run out of VRAM it will load from your RAM, and it's very slow, you will notice it as stuttering.

Another thing is, make sure you try a new ini file, and do detect settings and set them conservatively and try that.

Verify Steam cache files. What happened to me, I accidentally removed some files while removing my mods. LOL


You are basically having the same problem I was during beta testing. Mine seems to have gone away (for no apparent reason, maybe the ini file), but I didn't get a chance to test very much. I am in constant fear it will start doing it again now. But so far so good.

That problem was happening to everyone who loaded a new save with the first 1.4 beta patch. It would happen regardless of detail / resolution / graphics quality settings. The workaround was to save your game and then reload it, as the patch did not happen if you loaded a save that had been created with the 1.4 patch.

The bug was fixed by the third 1.4 patch, which became the new production release.

Which version of the game are you currently running? If you hit 'esc' during play the version will be at the bottom left. It should be 1.4.21.0.4.

I have the exact same problem, it's very annoying...
Mine seems to be mostly in first person though I do still get some stutter in 3rd person.