FPS Issues with a Decent Computer

[SpiritDrak]

Just an update, I've been monitoring my VRAM usage during gameplay as well to check if that was the issue. It seems that my memory usage for skyrim only goes up to 350~380MB before my fps drops. Considering I have 2GB VRAM, I don't think that would be the issue there. Also, I've tested this several times and every time my fps has dropped consistently at about two minutes of game time. I've tested several areas, interiors, exteriors, even the character creation screen, all of which display the same behavior.

[Georgiegril]

Did you try the driver suggestion? You are several versions back on your driver update. A complete clean reinstall of your drivers, followed by a careful check of all the profile settings might solve it for you.

 

Edit: Also, I am wondering about the .ini files you posted. Did you post the ones from MyDocuments/Mygames/Skyrim?

If you posted the ones in the program files folder (Steam/steamapps/common/skyrim), could you please replace those with the ones in your documents folder? The ones in the program files folder do not affect your game.

[SpiritDrak]

Yea all of my drivers are completely up to date now. Forgot to mention I did that, sorry.

 

Here are the .ini files from My Documents

 

Skyrim:

 

[General]
sLanguage=ENGLISH

uExterior Cell Buffer=36

[Display]
fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0
fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0
fLightLODMaxStartFade=3500.0
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048
bAllowScreenshot=1

[Audio]
fMusicDuckingSeconds=6.0
fMusicUnDuckingSeconds=8.0
fMenuModeFadeOutTime=3.0
fMenuModeFadeInTime=1.0

[Grass]
bAllowCreateGrass=1
bAllowLoadGrass=0

[GeneralWarnings]
SGeneralMasterMismatchWarning=One or more plugins could not find the correct versions of the master files they depend on. Errors may occur during load or game play. Check the "Warnings.txt" file for more information.

[Archive]
sResourceArchiveList=Skyrim - Misc.bsa, Skyrim - Shaders.bsa, Skyrim - Textures.bsa, Skyrim - Interface.bsa, Skyrim - Animations.bsa, Skyrim - Meshes.bsa, Skyrim - Sounds.bsa
sResourceArchiveList2=Skyrim - Voices.bsa, Skyrim - VoicesExtra.bsa

[Combat]
fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0
fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

[Papyrus]
fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0
bEnableLogging=0
bEnableTrace=0
bLoadDebugInformation=0
[Water]
bReflectLODObjects=0
bReflectLODLand=1
bReflectSky=0
bReflectLODTrees=0

 

 

SkyrimPrefs:

 

[General]
fBrightLightColorB=1.0000
fBrightLightColorG=1.0000
fBrightLightColorR=1.0000
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
[imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=0
[Display]
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=1
fInteriorShadowDistance=3000.0000
fShadowDistance=2500.0000
iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048
iShadowSplitCount=2
iMaxAnisotropy=1
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=3600.0000
fGamma=1.0000
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=500.0000
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=1000.0000
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
iWaterMultiSamples=0
iMultiSample=4
iShadowMode=3
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
bDrawLandShadows=0
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=900
iSize W=1600
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=3072.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=4096.0000
iScreenShotIndex=2
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=3
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=10
bFloatPointRenderTarget=0
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GT 640M"
bFXAAEnabled=1
iShadowMapResolution=1024
fShadowBiasScale=0.3000
iShadowMaskQuarter=4
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=1
iShadowFilter=3
bShadowsOnGrass=1
bTransparencyMultisampling=0
bDeferredShadows=1
bDrawShadows=1
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=0
fGrassStartFadeDistance=3000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
[MAIN]
bGamepadEnable=1
bCrosshairEnabled=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=2
[interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=0
bGeneralSubtitles=0
fMouseCursorSpeed=1.0000
bShowCompass=1
[Controls]
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=1
bMouseAcceleration=1
bUseKinect=0
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=750
[saveGame]
fAutosaveEveryXMins=15.0000
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000
fVal7=1.0000
uID7=0
fVal6=1.0000
uID6=0
fVal5=1.0000
uID5=0
fVal4=1.0000
uID4=0
fVal3=1.0000
uID3=94881
fVal2=0.4000
uID2=466532
fVal1=1.0000
uID1=554685
fVal0=0.8000
uID0=1007612
[Clouds]
fCloudLevel2Distance=262144.0000
fCloudLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fCloudLevel0Distance=16384.0000
fCloudNearFadeDistance=9000.0000
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=25000.0000
fBlockMaximumDistance=100000.0000
fBlockLevel1Distance=32768.0000
fBlockLevel0Distance=20480.0000
fSplitDistanceMult=0.7500
bShowLODInEditor=0
[NavMesh]
fObstacleAlpha=0.5000
fCoverSideHighAlpha=0.8000
fCoverSideLowAlpha=0.6500
fEdgeFullAlpha=1.0000
fEdgeHighAlpha=0.7500
fEdgeLowAlpha=0.5000
fTriangleFullAlpha=0.7000
fTriangleHighAlpha=0.3500
fTriangleLowAlpha=0.2000
fLedgeBoxHalfHeight=25.0000
fEdgeDistFromVert=10.0000
fEdgeThickness=10.0000
fPointSize=2.5000
[Trees]
bRenderSkinnedTrees=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20
[Decals]
uMaxDecals=100
bDecals=1
bSkinnedDecals=1
uMaxSkinDecals=35
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=20
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=2.5000
fLODFadeOutMultItems=3.5000
fLODFadeOutMultActors=3.0000
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
[Launcher]
bEnableFileSelection=1
bShowAllResolutions=1
uLastAspectRatio=3
[blurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=1
[blurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=512
iWaterReflectWidth=512
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1

 

[Georgiegril]

Well, I don't see anything in particular that would cause a problem. You might try lowering your AA-- I use Nvidia Inspector, which allows me to turn of the game AA and then force 2xQ and @x SparseGrid Supersamppling, which looks better than the games 4x AA to me and performs much better. AA is a huge drain on performance.

 

Noticing that you are dealing with a laptop, which Skyrim doesn't seem to like as much. I just have some general ideas--have you turned off everything you dont need--apps, processes, services, things like background scans from your antivirus, automatic email checks etc. Any chance your computer is constantly scanning for available wireless networks or checking for updates of any sort?

 

Other than that, maybe try an fps limiter? There are a lot of opinions about what works the best. I use EVGA precision and that works fine but there is also one in nvidia inspector (and lots of other places, too.). I set my fps to 40 and it really helps smooth the game out. Without it I average more like 45-50 (old video card, alas) but the hurry up-slow down effect is super irritating.

 

Finally, not knowing your mod list, there may be something there that is adding to the problem, you might try the lower-res or "lite" versions of your texture or encounter mods.

 

Edit, reread the whole thread and noticed you have your 3d settings to have VSync off, but your pref ini has vsync set to be on. To disable Vsync, you need to set

iPresentInterval=0

instead of 1. That will allow you to limit your fps. Maybe that will help?

[drbeavis]

May I suggest trying the game on High, disabling AA/AO, and using a performance ENB Series? Project ENB, RealVision both have performance versions. Ultra is very intensive on my 660. I've also downloaded custom ini settings for smooth gameplay

[helloguy1232]

try booting into your BIOS and changing the main graphics adapter that way.

 

BIOS is hardware control, other suggestions are all software controls.

[SpiritDrak]

Alright final update guys.

 

So it turns out, it actually WAS my fan needing some cleaning. So I did that and am now running a smooth 60fps.

 

Thanks very much for your help guys.

[K1DD4rkn355]

hi guys, i read all the posts and i have to say that i tryed everything too, i have a laptop with and ATI Mobility Radeon HD5470 1GB, Intel I5, 4GB Ram.

 

the more thing i try the lower my fps gets, before i had 20 fps's and now i only have 15, sometimes 10 or less... i am freaking out guys, i played Far Cry 3 very well, i formated my pc and continued the same, i uninstaled and installed the game and the same... i have gamebooster + turbo mode to deactivate all the unnecessary background app's and even so i have only 15 fps :S can you guys help me? if you want to do it via skype or teamviewer i am willing to do it, its been 4 days research now and still no fps's :S