Random Long Stutter in gameplay

[Jaradin]

Yesterday I was running through an orc stronghold when I noticed a long two second long stutter that repeated every few minutes. Originally I thought it was an environmental issue, but it even occurred in interiors, menus, and even wait periods. Imagine staring at an NPC in dialogue when the game screen suddenly freezes for two seconds, but with sound and dialogue continuing. To say the least, it's not game breaking, but it's incredibly annoying.

 

Bit of background information: I have an Nvidia 660 TI with an Intel i7 CPU running 920 @ 2.67 Ghz and 9 GBs of RAM. I run the game on ultra settings with 40-50+ FPS on a regular basis. I have over 70 unique ESPs in my mod load order with several retexture mods installed. My game is updated to the latest SKSE and vanilla Skyrim versions. I also recently downloaded the Optimizer Texture application after I noticed this issue to see if that would prevent the issue; it improved my framerate even more but did not quell the problem at hand.

 

So here's what I've done so far:

 

+ Used BOSS to improve my load order (no success)

+ Uninstalled + reinstalled certain mods which needed clean updates (no success)

+ Ran Skyrim without SKSE (no success)

+ Ran Skyrim without ENB (no success)

+ Deactivated every mod I have, including retextures (no success)

+ Waited 30 days in the Testing Hall and slept for one week (no success)

 

So I uninstalled and deleted the old Skyrim folders, then made a fresh install.

 

+ Ran Skyrim without anything, ANYTHING else (completely vanilla)

 

Still catches. STILL. CATCHES.

 

So I went ahead and reinstalled everything back to my prior settings. Everything else runs fine, GREAT, but it's just that ONE f***ing stutter....

 

 

... So yeah, if anyone's heard of this issue in the past, has a fix, or has any idea on where I could search for a fix, I'd really appreciate it.

 

UPDATE: So I had the bright idea to reload my oldest possible save in my normal Skyrim folder and it seems to have eliminated the issue. I have NO idea why. But if it pops back up, I'm back to square one. Edited: Scratch that, it made it less severe, but still happens. Onto to Starfleet's recommendations.

Edited December 15, 2012 by Jaradin

[Eupraxia]

I have a couple of things i want you to try, one of them is a small but great mod: http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/6387 Four parts easy to install. The Second thing requires a little more work on your part, it involves editing two files, Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini.

 

In Skyrim.ini Add/Edit:

[backgroundLoad]

bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1

bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1

bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1

bBackgroundCellLoads=1

bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

bUseBackgroundFileLoader=1

[Animation]

bMultiThreadBoneUpdate=1

[HAVOK]

iNumThreads=XX <-- In your case set this to 5

[General]

bUseThreadedTempEffects=1

bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1

bMultiThreadMovement=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

[Decals]

bDecalMultithreaded=1

 

In SkyrimPrefs.ini Add/Edit:

 

[Navmesh]

bUseThreadedMeshes=1

[Trees]

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

bShadowMaskZPrePass=1

[backgroundLoad]

bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1

bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1

bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1

bBackgroundCellLoads=1

bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1

bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

[General]

bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1

bUseThreadedBlood=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

bUseThreadedTempEffects=1

bUseThreadedTextures=1

bUseThreadedMeshes=1

bUseThreadedLOD=1

bUseThreadedAI=1

bUseThreadedMorpher=1

[Decals]

bDecalMultithreaded=1

 

For "iNumThreads" set this to the number of CPU cores your PC has. If you have 4 or more leave this as 5 (maximum).

 

Sorry about the long post, the "Spoiler Function" did not work for me today. Hope this helps :)

Edited December 15, 2012 by StarfleetCommand

[Jaradin]

I downloaded the mod you recommended and added the .ini tweaks you listed, but the catch is still occurring. I'll keep the modifications regardless, because they sound really useful, but my problem seems unrelated.

[Eupraxia]

Can you upload your load order here in this topic?

[Jaradin]

 

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

Dawnguard.esm

HearthFires.esm

ClimatesOfTamriel.esm

WARZONES - Civil Unrest.esm

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Main.esm

moonpath.esm

ApachiiHair.esm

ApachiiHairFemales.esm

ApachiiHairMales.esm

OblivionHairPackAIO.esm

SPIKE.esm

RaceCompatibility.esm

JSwords.esm

Kyia.esm

HighResTexturePack01.esp

HighResTexturePack02.esp

iHUD.esp

Unofficial Skyrim Patch.esp

Unofficial Dawnguard Patch.esp

Unofficial Hearthfire Patch.esp

When Vampires Attack.esp

LegendarySmithingUpgrades.esp

Headtracking.esp

Run For Your Lives.esp

Dragon Soul Relinquishment.esp

DSpSoB.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-Dungeons-Hazardous.esp

ClimatesOfTamriel-Dawnguard-Patch.esp

Predator Vision.esp

The Dance of Death.esp

WATER.esp

Chesko_WearableLantern.esp

Chesko_WearableLantern_Caravaner.esp

Chesko_WearableLantern_Guards.esp

BSC_thetesseract.esp

BandolierForNPCMasterFile.esp

BandolierForNPCsWIC_V2.esp

BandolierForNPCsCheaperBandoliers_BalancedWeight_Dawnguard.esp

Dr_BandolierDG.esp

Dr_Bandolier.esp

Better Dynamic Snow.esp

Bring Out Your Dead.esp

Cloaks.esp

Cloaks - Player Only.esp

Cloaks - No Imperial.esp

DeadlySpellImpacts.esp

dD - Enhanced Blood Main.esp

Footprints.esp

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Climates of Tamriel - lvl-2.esp

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Climates of Tamriel - lvl-3.esp

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Climates of Tamriel - lvl-4.esp

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Climates of Tamriel - default.esp

Lanterns Of Skyrim - All In One - Climates of Tamriel - lvl-1.esp

moonpath_questdata.esp

dD - Realistic Ragdoll Force - Realistic.esp

Skyrim Shadow Striping Fix.esp

Skyrim Flora Overhaul.esp

StaticMeshImprovementMod.esp

1nivWICCloaks.esp

1nivWICCloaksCRAFT.esp

1nivWICCloaksNoGuards.esp

1nivWICSkyCloaksPatch-No Imp.esp

1nivWICSkyCloaksPatch.esp

ImprovedScImpUniforms - Main.esp

XAC.esp

LovelyHairstylesLITE.esp

zzz_Jenassa_MAKEOVER_by83Willow.esp

Insanity's Dragonbane.esp

hothtrooper44_ArmorCompilation.esp

Immersive Weapons.esp

HuntressArmor.esp

Ritual Armor of Boethiah.esp

SilverDragonArmor.esp

skyforgedShields.esp

Guild Duelist Armor.esp

theRoadstrokersRogueSorceress.esp

theRoadstrokersAlvinHewOutfitSet.esp

BlackSacramentArmor.esp

AsharaPrinceOfTheWoods.esp

BloodWitchArmor.esp

Chrysamere.esp

Archer's.esp

DreamBurrowsRegalAssassin.esp

GDRangerArmor.esp

zz_GDRAHoods.esp

3DNPC.esp

LustmordVampireArmor.esp

Dryad Race.esp

TheEyesOfBeauty.esp

Scoiatael Weapons.esp

JSwordsDistributionBalancePlugin.esp

Lost Art of the Blacksmith.esp

TrissArmorRetextured.esp

ValsCraftingMeltdownAlpha.esp

Weapons and Armor fixes - Hacks.esp

Weapons and Armor fixes.esp

TemptressVixen.esp

Kyia.esp

Alana.esp

AlvhildeLycan.esp

Annael.esp

Atvir.esp

Better Vampires.esp

CerwidenCompanion.esp

Claire.esp

CompanionValfar.esp

Delphine Makeover D2.esp

Dryad companions.esp

Esmeralda.esp

dunDarklightIllia.esp

HothFollower.esp

Kiera.esp

Odvar.esp

Soriana.esp

Sylvia.esp

Tauriel Standalone XCE v1_2.esp

aranea1e.esp

BORGAKH1a.esp

brelyna1a.esp

eola1.3.esp

jordis1.1a.esp

njada1a.esp

ria1.esp

Serana1.3.esp

EMCompViljaSkyrim.esp

ElisaBrea.esp

 

 

<div><br></div><div>EDIT: I should note that I've made slight edits to the list, this is merely my modlist doc from BOSS. I usually place the Unofficial Patch mods at the very start of the ESP files, followed by weapon fixes, Beth's high res files, and iHUD. I then usually follow with environmental mods, physics mods, armor mods, weapon mods, follower overhauls, NPC hair/eye mods, and then unique follower/NPC retexture mods last. </div>

Edited December 15, 2012 by Jaradin

[Eupraxia]

Hmm.. I have read through your load order and i see no obvious reason for your "stuttering" issue, It is a possibility that the Lanterns of Skyrim mod could effect your performance in exterior cells, all light sources are a bit performance heavy, especially if they cast shadows, Maybe the "Skyrim Flora Overhaul" or "Static Mesh Improvement" is the culprit, but as you said, you had tried deactivating certain mods, If you haven't tried those two maybe try it out, Or if you run Skyrim on an old hard drive, personally i run Skyrim with a i7 3770, with a Nvidia GTX 460 1GB, 8GB RAM, and with Skyrim installed on a Corsair Force 3 SSD. With 61 active mods. No stuttering what so ever. I really hope some of this helps out, it really breaks your immersion when the game lags for a couple of seconds, Best of Luck.

[Jaradin]

Hmm.. I have read through your load order and i see no obvious reason for your "stuttering" issue, It is a possibility that the Lanterns of Skyrim mod could effect your performance in exterior cells, all light sources are a bit performance heavy, especially if they cast shadows, Maybe the "Skyrim Flora Overhaul" or "Static Mesh Improvement" is the culprit, but as you said, you had tried deactivating certain mods, If you haven't tried those two maybe try it out, Or if you run Skyrim on an old hard drive, personally i run Skyrim with a i7 3770, with a Nvidia GTX 460 1GB, 8GB RAM, and with Skyrim installed on a Corsair Force 3 SSD. With 61 active mods. No stuttering what so ever. I really hope some of this helps out, it really breaks your immersion when the game lags for a couple of seconds, Best of Luck.

 

Thanks for the response Starfleet, but I figured out the cause: a bloated save file. For some reason, my save file blew up from 23 Mbs to 50 Mbs in the course of a few days. I can't quite figure out why, but I think it was just a product of a snowball effect - downloaded a whole lot of custom NPCs lately, I've had a TON of custom armor mods, and to top it all off, I've been having difficulty with Amazing Follower Tweaks. Somehow that culminated in a lot of waste data messing my file up.

 

So I've done a clean save and cut my save file back down to 21 Mbs and noticed that the long stutter is virtually gone. So that was the cause.

 

Thanks for your assistance SFC. And much appreciation for those suggestions that you made.