Heavily modded Skyrim on a low-end laptops. Before/After pics

[mindw0rk2]

Opinion? Ok, I dont see anything spectacular on this screenshots. Mod that changes Whiterun is pretty bad, there are better ones like Pines of Whiterun or A Better Whiterun 1.6. Other screenshots also just meh. Install RCRN and it will look better then what you have atm without any fps drop. May take a look at RCRN screenshots: http://www.rcrncommunity.com/rcrn-skyrim-screenshots-hd

Edited March 15, 2013 by mindw0rk2

[LoneLycan]

i am using all of this mods and tools , except fps backgorund booster, cause my pc is overclocked all the time , and this tool is not reccomended with overclocked cpu.. but my fps is over 30-40.. :(

intel pentium 4 3.2 ghz

nvidia geforce 9600 gt

3 mb ram

.. playing elder scrolls on elder pc..

 

about nvidia control panel settings, yes please pm me or drop here

Edited March 15, 2013 by LoneLycan

[FiftyTifty]

To get the biggest fps boost, go into SkyrimPrefs.ini and Skyrim.ini, and change all the shadow distance settings to 0.

 

E.g,

 

fShadowDistanceInterior=0000.0000

 

And then change the ishadowmapresolution settings to 1.

 

E.g,

 

ishadowmapresolution=1

 

That will disable shadows, and will net you the biggest FPS gain. I'm using a 6670 DDR3, and I can keep a steady 60fps at all times @ 1024x768 with shadows disabled. With them enabled, however, my framerate plummets to the 30s. Me? I prefer smooth action without blocky blackness everywhere, rather than juddery action with blocky blackness everywhere.

[Laptoprocker]

I can tell you guys my in-game and nvidia settings If you are interested. I used to have the same problem that I have High settings detected but I could run the game only on low acceptably.

My settings:
First of all I use FXAA instead of AA which gave me a HUGE fps boost, for me AF doesn't give any performance hit, maybe 1 fps no matter how high is it. The real fps sucker is AA, some people don't like FXAA because it makes everything "blurry" well I don't see that, using FXAA is a must if you need performance. I don't have any traditional AA on just FXAA and I have never ever seen jagged edges ingame. When I had AA-on 4 or 6 samples I had around 10-15 fps less and still jagged edges (objects in direct light for example)

Resolution: 1280x720
AA: 0 Samples
AF 16 Samples

Advanced:
Texture Quality: High
Radial Blur Quality: High
Shadow Detail: Low (I use an .ini tweak which looks way better than the shadows on high)
Decal Quantity: High
FXAA: On

Water: (These settings doesn't matter that much really)
Reflect Land: On
Reflect Trees: On
Reflect Objects: On
Reflect Sky: Off

View Distance:

- These variables doesn't affect performance THAT much, I just realised that if I set for example "Actor Fade" above 6 I see around 1mm big miniatures on the screen which I wouldn't notice anyway so why give even 1 fps for it?, same with Specularity Fade it's really just about cosmetics, Light Fade as well (funny if for example in whiterun you set object fade to low and light fade to high then you'll see just "fire" from a distance, you move close and there's a torch or a lantern.

- Grass Fade is just annoying if there's plane nothing on the ground, you step one and it's suddenly full of grass soo immersion breaking. Object Fade is important if you want to "explore" for example spot a castle or a tower from afar. Item Fade is just fine as it is.

Object Fade: 7
Actor Fade: 6
Grass Fade: 5
Specularity Fade: 10
Light Fade 25
Item Fade: 4
Distant Object Detail: Ultra (setting this to low gives some fps boost)
Object Detail Fade: Off (this one as well)

Nvidia Control Panel Settings:
(using the latest driver is a must)

If you need performance turning V-sync off is a must! You may experience some screen tearing, I have recently capped my fps to 50 so it wouldn't jump from 40 to 120 when I enter dragonsreach from whiterun and the physics won't go "berserk". (if you turn off v-sync I suggest capping fps to 50 or 60 with NVIDIA inspector, it will spare you from many nuisances, and give a more smooth gameplay.

Turning V-sync off:
Place the line: iPreserveInterval=0 to the bottom of the [Display] section.

I also force it through the Nvidia panel:

Manage 3D settings -> Global Settings (I don't use any other game at the moment) -> Vertical Sync: Off

 

Other Nvidia settings:

 

Ambient Occlusion: Off

AF: Application-controlled

FXAA: On

AA Mode: App- controlled

AA Transparency: Off

Cuda GPUs: All

Max Pre-rendered frames: Use app settings (I've seen that someone set it to 3 for better performance, haven't tried it yet)

Multi display mode: Single display performance mode

Power management: Max performance

Texture Filtering Negative LOD bias: Allow (turning it off may give an fps boost)

Texture Filtering Quality: High Quality (turning it to performance may give you a 3-5 fps gain)

Threaded Optimization: On

Triple Buffering: Off

 

That's about the settings.

 

If you wish to tweak the .ini files I recommend using this software: Notepad++, you can search for words way more easily than in the original Notepad and it makes the text more clear and transparent.

 

I also recommend using the latest drivers, don't forget to set your Windows power management mode to High Performance at all times, and you can check the settings to squeeze out the maximum performance.

 

You can also turn off the visual effects Control Panel ->Performance Inf and Tools->Adjust Visual effects->Best Performance (some say it doesn't speed up your computer for me it did)

 

I also changed my windows theme to the classic grey Windows 98 to gain even more performance.

 

Make sure that your virus protection software has a setting for "Gaming Mode" so you can eliminate the unnecessary background processes.

 

Turning off the internet and wifi adapter while playing can also make sure that you don't have any processes in the background using the internet.

Get a new Defragging-Boosting software, I use Advanced System Care Pro (bought it but the freeware version is just as good) it cleans my registry, defrags the discs and if you turn Turbo Boost on it eliminates background programs and frees up around 100-200mb RAM.

 

 

I'm not an expert or anything, these things worked for me I may be wrong and I did every settings by trying it out in the game. Also sorry for my English I'm not a native speaker :smile:

 

If somebody's interested I can send the mods I'm using and the fps loss (or gain) they are giving.

 

I love DYNAVISION for example, it's a really nice effect and it doesn't give any fps loss.

 

http://i50.tinypic.com/2rhs1vs.jpg

 

http://i46.tinypic.com/fjp5r4.jpg

Edited March 15, 2013 by Laptoprocker

[Laptoprocker]

Opinion? Ok, I dont see anything spectacular on this screenshots. Mod that changes Whiterun is pretty bad, there are better ones like Pines of Whiterun or A Better Whiterun 1.6. Other screenshots also just meh. Install RCRN and it will look better then what you have atm without any fps drop. May take a look at RCRN screenshots: http://www.rcrncommunity.com/rcrn-skyrim-screenshots-hd

 

Yeah it's not that spectacular, I don't have a powerhouse but I think I squeezed out the maximum from my gear. I tried ENB, RCRN, RLO, FXAA post-process injector and COT and COT gave me little to no fps drop, RCRN didn't give me THAT much fps drop but I still missed the 5-4fps (and I still had to lower my settings). ENB ran at 19-20 fps for me, RLO, FXAA injector was the same. For me it's not that spectacular but still way better than the original, immersive and nice to look at. I'll give a shot to the Pines in Whiterun I haven't tried it yet

 

I'm trying to share and find out what people do on mid-low laptops to get some decent looking visuals and gameplay experience. From the 189 mods I'm using around 15-20 are about visuals.

 

I also admit I'm a complete newbie to modding, and skyrim :)

Edited March 15, 2013 by Laptoprocker

[LoneLycan]

thanks friend , for trying to help , if it all works or not , doesn't matter :wink:

also, could you link that shadow tweak for me.. :)

Edited March 16, 2013 by LoneLycan

[Xezcente]

My specs.

Intel Core i5-2410m @ 2.3Ghz

8GB RAM, 1.6 VRAM

NVIDIA GeForce GTX560m

Resolution ouput is set to 1080p which can be a bit taxing for my CPU.

 

I use GameBooster to close any unnecessary programs running on the background and also ATTK Power Loader by Jason2112 to remove stutter during heavy combat scenes. I get 40-50FPS in some areas and it drops in very heavy scenes to about 26FPS. That's the lowest I go. I use Hi-Res texture pack, and some retextures. No ENB though, that eats my FPS by a lot.

 

@ShimoOkami - Was it always 17FPS, or did it start happening recently? You could try lowering your shadow resolution, see if that improves performance.

[Jason2112]

To get the biggest fps boost, go into SkyrimPrefs.ini and Skyrim.ini, and change all the shadow distance settings to 0.

 

E.g,

 

fShadowDistanceInterior=0000.0000

 

And then change the ishadowmapresolution settings to 1.

 

E.g,

 

ishadowmapresolution=1

 

That will disable shadows, and will net you the biggest FPS gain. I'm using a 6670 DDR3, and I can keep a steady 60fps at all times @ 1024x768 with shadows disabled. With them enabled, however, my framerate plummets to the 30s. Me? I prefer smooth action without blocky blackness everywhere, rather than juddery action with blocky blackness everywhere.

This works well but change resolution setting to 128 not 1. Also the hires pack is a killer on everything. consider how much you really need it. And test without it just to see. Grass is also something you can nerf for better FPS.

Edited March 16, 2013 by Jason2112

[Laptoprocker]

Here's the .ini setting which blurs the shadows:

 

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=7

 

The lower = the more blurry and more fps (also it looks way better in my opinion than the original blockyness)

 

iShadowMapResolutionSecondary=1024

iShadowMapResolutionPrimary=2048

 

(I use these shadow resolution settings)

 

Also I'd suggest changing the sun update time (how often the shadows are changing their position) In the original setting it can be very annoying when the shadows are going crazy, flickering all the time.

 

Skyrim.ini ->

 

[Display]

fSunShadowUpdateTime=25

fSunUpdateThreshold=1.5

 

I also turn off the shadows on grass (who cares about them really). Also comes handy when you use any flora overhaul mods (I didn't like any of them personally)

 

[Display]

bShadowsOnGrass=0

[vahn19]

I wish I could get my laptop to make the game as nice looking as your screens.

 

My system specs are: Asus Laptop - AMD E2-1800 APU /w RADEON HD Graphics 1.70 ghz (yes, crap I know)

 

WIN 8

3.59 GB RAM out of 4 GB total

64 bit OS

Both Cores are Unparked

I am running ENB Boost (graphics disabled) and FXAA injector

I try to use MED graphics settings (recommended by Skyrim) but I do drop to LOW

I have made edits to my Skyrim ini's to try and boost performance (such as editing the grass and shadows, vysnc mouse accel- etc)