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Should I remove shadows to gain performance?


weltall

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I have a old 4870 512MB graphics card and it actually let me enjoy my first vanilla playthrough easily. Ever since I started modding Skyrim though it has been coughing here and there, because of all the graphical mods I use. I recently found configurator and the only thing I have done is to lower the shadow quality to 512x, shadow filter to low and shadow blur to 10. It has helped a bit but still it seems dissatisfied at times. I recently read a thread about Shadows Remover and using mods to replace the feeling of the shadows? I am not expert so I decided to ask in here if anyone can suggest any settings to lower.

 

Currently I am using Skyrim HD Lite with quite a phew graphical mods, some of them being:

 

Enchanted blood textures
Enchanted Distant Terrain HD

Enchanted Lights and FX

HD Furniture - Barrels

Hi Rest Legible Road Signs

Improved NPC Clothing - High Res

Nicer Snowflakes
No stretching Full

Project Reality

Static Mesh Improvements

WATER

Mods that alter the resolution of armor and weapon textures.

 

I am not sure if any of these smaller mods give too much stress, for example like Flora Overhaul that as soon as I installed it I felt the computer crying, but I do know that the more I add the harder it gets for the pc. Currently I am trying to avoid anything that alters trees, flowers and grass.

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I'm on a 6670, and I can't get a stable 40fps @1152x864 (I use a few view-distance enhancing mods with distance sliders max'd) when something happens with shadows enabled, so i disabled them. Tha's my story, and I haven't regretted it.

 

To disable shadows, change all the "ishadowmapresolution" settings to 1. DO NOT SET THEM TO 0, otherwise you will actually get worse performance. You can set all the shadow distance settings to 0, though.

 

Get "Climates of Tamriel", "Realistic Lighting Overhaul" then "Colorful Lights No Shadows". That will greatly enhance the static shadows (Skyrim's lighting system) to compensate for the lack of dynamic shadows. Similar effect to having shadows enabled, but without the performance impact.

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You know if you like, I could send you my Skyrim and Prefs ini files to try out, I've tweaked them up quiet alot, if they don't help you just go back to your own set (having backed them up of course). I don't use any of the HD textures, but I'd hope that my tweaks might help you, or in fact I could post my ini files in here later when I'm on my home PC.

 

Nat

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Shadows are rendered by the CPU in Skyrim, not the GPU. If your graphics card is the weak link in your rig, then there are other changes that will have more of an impact. (Although if you are running a dual core processor, or otherwise have GPU limitations, you may find disabling shadows does help your overall performance.)

 

I, too, have an older card (9800 GT, 512 MB). I have decreased the amount of grass, number of particles, do not use the official high-res textures but do use SMIM, Vurts Flora overhaul, and Water (all on the lower-res options) to make my game pretty. I have tried a couple lighting mods but personally don't think they are worth the performance hit. I also limit my FPS around 35-40.

 

A nice guide to tweaks for lower end rigs is RookieNoob's tweak guide. It does a good job of explaining various changes and their effects on high or low graphics rigs.

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I'm sure by no means perfect or complet on tweaks, but here you go:

 

My Skyrim.ini

 

[General]
sLanguage=ENGLISH

uExterior Cell Buffer=36
bUseThreadedTempEffects=1
bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1
bMultiThreadMovement=1
bUseThreadedMorpher=1

[Decals]
bDecalMultithreaded=1

[Display]
fShadowLODMaxStartFade=1000.0
fSpecularLODMaxStartFade=2000.0
fLightLODMaxStartFade=3500.0
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=512
bAllowScreenshot=1
fDecalLifetime=256.000

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

[Grass]
bAllowCreateGrass=1
bAllowLoadGrass=0

[Combat]
fMagnetismStrafeHeadingMult=0.0
fMagnetismLookingMult=0.0

[Papyrus]
fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500.0
bEnableLogging=1
bEnableTrace=1
bLoadDebugInformation=0

[Water]
bReflectLODObjects=0
bReflectLODLand=0
bReflectSky=1
bReflectLODTrees=0

[backgroundLoad]
bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1
bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1
bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1
bBackgroundCellLoads=1
bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1
bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1
bUseBackgroundFileLoader=1

[Animation]
bMultiThreadBoneUpdate=1

[HAVOK]
iNumThreads=2

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and my Skyrimprefs.ini:

 

[General]
fBrightLightColorB=1.0000
fBrightLightColorG=1.0000
fBrightLightColorR=1.0000
iStoryManagerLoggingEvent=-1
bEnableStoryManagerLogging=0
[imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1
iRadialBlurLevel=0
bUseThreadedParticleSystem=1
bUseThreadedBlood=1
bUseThreadedMorpher=1
bUseThreadedTempEffects=1
bUseThreadedTextures=1
bUseThreadedMeshes=1
bUseThreadedLOD=1
bUseThreadedAI=1
bUseThreadedMorpher=1
[Display]
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=0
fInteriorShadowDistance=2000.0000
fShadowDistance=2000
iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=512
iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=1024
iShadowSplitCount=2
iMaxAnisotropy=1
fLeafAnimDampenDistEnd=4600.0000
fLeafAnimDampenDistStart=3600.0000
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=3600
fGamma=1.0400
fDecalLOD2=1500.0000
fDecalLOD1=1000.0000
fSpecularLODStartFade=650
fShadowLODStartFade=200.0000
fLightLODStartFade=1355
iTexMipMapMinimum=0
iTexMipMapSkip=0
iWaterMultiSamples=0
iMultiSample=1
iShadowMode=3
bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bFull Screen=1
iSize H=1050
iSize W=1680
fMeshLODFadePercentDefault=1.2000
fMeshLODFadeBoundDefault=256.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=2048.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=2844.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=3072
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=4096
iScreenShotIndex=28
bShadowMaskZPrepass=0
bMainZPrepass=0
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=0
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=0
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1
sD3DDevice="ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series"
bFXAAEnabled=0
iShadowMapResolution=512
fShadowBiasScale=0.5
iShadowMaskQuarter=3
iAdapter=0
iPresentInterval=0
iShadowFilter=3
bShadowsOnGrass=1
bTransparencyMultisampling=0
bDeferredShadows=1
bDrawShadows=1
[Grass]
b30GrassVS=1
fGrassStartFadeDistance=0
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=7000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
[MAIN]
bGamepadEnable=0
bCrosshairEnabled=1
fHUDOpacity=1.0000
bSaveOnPause=1
bSaveOnTravel=1
bSaveOnWait=1
bSaveOnRest=1
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=150000.0000
[GamePlay]
bShowFloatingQuestMarkers=1
bShowQuestMarkers=1
iDifficulty=3
[interface]
bDialogueSubtitles=1
bGeneralSubtitles=1
fMouseCursorSpeed=1.0000
bShowCompass=1
[Controls]
fGamepadHeadingSensitivity=1.0000
fMouseHeadingSensitivity=0.0125
bAlwaysRunByDefault=1
bInvertYValues=0
bGamePadRumble=0
bMouseAcceleration=0
bUseKinect=0
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=250
[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=12500
fBlockMaximumDistance=75000
fBlockLevel1Distance=25000
fBlockLevel0Distance=15000
fSplitDistanceMult=0.4
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
bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1
bShadowMaskZPrePass=1
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender=20
[Decals]
uMaxDecals=0
bDecals=0
bSkinnedDecals=0
uMaxSkinDecals=0
uMaxSkinDecalsPerActor=0
bDecalMultithreaded=1
bDecalsOnSkinnedGeometry=1
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=4.5
fLODFadeOutMultItems=4.5
fLODFadeOutMultActors=13.05
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
[Launcher]
bEnableFileSelection=1
bShowAllResolutions=1
uLastAspectRatio=4
[blurShaderHDR]
bDoHighDynamicRange=1
[blurShader]
bUseBlurShader=0
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=512
iWaterReflectWidth=512
bUseWaterDisplacements=1
bUseWaterRefractions=1
bUseWaterReflections=1
bUseWaterDepth=1
[Papyrus]
iMinMemoryPageSize=100000
iMaxMemoryPageSize=5000000
iMaxAllocatedMemoryBytes=1800000000
[Navmesh]
bUseThreadedMeshes=1
[backgroundLoad]
bBackgroundLoadLipFiles=1
bLoadBackgroundFaceGen=1
bUseMultiThreadedFaceGen=1
bBackgroundCellLoads=1
bLoadHelmetsInBackground=1
bUseMultiThreadedTrees=1

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Thank you for all the replies guys and for the config Naturlich. Also, I did not know what shadows were emulated by the CPU. All I know is that this was usually what made my games slow. I have a C2Q Q9400 @3.2GHz. The sure is that background programs are giving a hard time to my games, since when I run it normally I get 30 FPS (although its quite smooth) and when I run the gamebooster I get 30-50 depending the spot. I am going to do a format now and I am debating on even going back in Windows XP, but I have read that XP are not as good in handling newer games as 7.

 

Edit

 

Awesome guide Georgiegril! Thanks for the link!

Edited by weltall
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Shadows are rendered by the CPU in Skyrim, not the GPU. If your graphics card is the weak link in your rig, then there are other changes that will have more of an impact. (Although if you are running a dual core processor, or otherwise have GPU limitations, you may find disabling shadows does help your overall performance.)

 

Actualy shadows are calculated on the CPU for when and where they are cast and the shape of the shadow relative to what is blocking the light, the source of the light, and the camera location and angle. Then the GPU renders them in that spot just like any other texture. Basicly the exact same as a particle affect but applied like a decal.

 

Running shadows at a resoltuion of 4096 will make an older video card scream and cry, but a 512 shadow with max dynamic lighting/shadows with dynamic trees and grass(swaying in a breeze) and the PC ruinning and jumping about the place will make an older CPU scream and cry.

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