How do I change the graphics card my Skyrim uses? Intel to Nvidia?

[bluesky200]

Sorry, that is frustrating!

I have to think that the crash there is directly related to your game using the wrong graphics.

 

You could try forcing your graphics through your driver...not sure if this would work in your situation but it probably wont make it worse.

First, if you have not downloaded NVidia Inspector, do that. (Its free and it has much better functionality than the standard CP)

Then, in your skyrim prefs.ini, try setting

iMaxAnisotropy=0

and

iMultisample=0.

(Make sure you are changing the ones in your mygames\skyrim, not the ones in your data folder.)

That will turn off AA and AF in the game controls.

Then, open Nvidia Inspector, find the game profile pulldown and look for Elder Scrolls: Skyrim.

Choose that--it will bring up all the default values for the game.

Set AA and AF to your preferences (I suggest using MSAA or SSAA instead of regular AA--better visuals for less performance hit.).

Also make sure that the power usage is set to performance, not adaptive or power saving.

Finally, make sure the monitor choice is appropriate. (Force single monitor unless you are actually using multiple monitors.)

 

Try the game. If that helps, yay. If it makes things worse, just go back to the Inspector game profile and hit the revert to default button.

 

Of course, even if that does work, it doesn't solve the steam crashing on attempting to read your system specs.

For that the only things I can think of would be to try a complete reinstall of steam (which would cause you to lose all of your game stuff), or to contact the steam support team to see if they can help.

If the Inspector workaround doesn't help, I would suggest contacting Steam.

 

One last thought--did you happen to install steam somewhere other than your main hard drive? Or did you recently reinstall your OS or upgrade to 8.1?

 

 

Thanks again for reply and sorry again for replyintg late (had to go to work, lol)

 

 

Before I start, you mentioned where I installed Steam ; I installed it on my main hard drive I think.... it shows up under program files x86

 

I haven't upgraded to Windows 8.1 as I have read a lot of posts here how it has ruined the game

 

But I have downloaded that Nvidia inspector, and I cannot see any game drop down

 

I have included a screen shot here... maybe you can point to where I have to click lol

[Georgiegril]

Yeah, it can be hard to find the first time, sorry.

Click on the tools icon to the right of the driver version.

Or, if you find the NVidia folder in your programs list and click the arrow next to it, it gives you a few options, you can pick game profiles.

 

That will bring up the correct area of the Inspector.

 

Also, not to confuse things, but you are several versions behind on your driver version. (It is now at 331.82.)

If you are having graphics issues, it is usually a good idea to update your drivers.

If you do this, do not use the Windows driver update or the Steam driver update to do this-- they will result in file corruption (this according to the official Geforce Installation guide.)

You can find easy to follow directions and great explanations at the EVGA ultimate driver install page--it is appropriate for anyone with NVidia drivers, not just those manufactured by EVGA.

 

The Inspector is good at keeping up with your updates, but I have had it reset to the defaults after upgrading my drivers, so you may want to update your drivers and then make changes on the game profile, if you decide to update your drivers.

[bluesky200]

Yeah, it can be hard to find the first time, sorry.

Click on the tools icon to the right of the driver version.

Or, if you find the NVidia folder in your programs list and click the arrow next to it, it gives you a few options, you can pick game profiles.

 

That will bring up the correct area of the Inspector.

 

Also, not to confuse things, but you are several versions behind on your driver version. (It is now at 331.82.)

If you are having graphics issues, it is usually a good idea to update your drivers.

If you do this, do not use the Windows driver update or the Steam driver update to do this-- they will result in file corruption (this according to the official Geforce Installation guide.)

You can find easy to follow directions and great explanations at the EVGA ultimate driver install page--it is appropriate for anyone with NVidia drivers, not just those manufactured by EVGA.

 

The Inspector is good at keeping up with your updates, but I have had it reset to the defaults after upgrading my drivers, so you may want to update your drivers and then make changes on the game profile, if you decide to update your drivers.

 

 

Thanks again,

 

Since updtating the driver, I can now access my "system information" in steam. Wherew abouts would it tell me what graphics my Skyrim is using?

 

 

I will now try the Nvidia Inspec tor and see what happens

 

 

Thanks so much for your help... I will report back

 

 

:)

[bluesky200]

Here are two screen shots from the Nvidia Inspector

 

 

[bluesky200]

The next screen shot:

 

 

 

[Georgiegril]

Hi, that is elder scrolls online, not Skyrim.

 

AS for your graphics information in the steam system info there is a section that says video card.

[bluesky200]

I have corrected the screen shot :smile:

 

The second one I posted above was Skyrim though

 

 

 

Thanks again :smile:

[bluesky200]

After running the Skyrim Performance Moniter, I thought I would share a screen shot and ask your verdict on it:

[blitzen]

If you are adding a video card to an existing system, you should disable the onboard graphics. That prevents any confusion about what is being used. That is exactly what I did when I installed a graphics card in a computer that came with onboard graphics only.

[bluesky200]

If you are adding a video card to an existing system, you should disable the onboard graphics. That prevents any confusion about what is being used. That is exactly what I did when I installed a graphics card in a computer that came with onboard graphics only.

 

I use a gaming laptop, so the Nvidia graphics card came with it.... as well as a HD Intel graphics integrated

 

I am seriously thinking about getting a desktop computer