The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Performance discussion
- Thread starter LiquidMetal14
- Start date
zephervack
Member
Just tried the new drivers.
They do enable Crossfire without the artifacts i used to get when forcing MVPU
In best case scenario, I went from 47fps to 64fps
Worst case scenario, I went from 21 fps to 26fps
Step in the right direction but still not totally happy with them, i pretty much get the same performance i used to get when forcing Crossfire but now there is no artifacting in my face or the menus.
They do enable Crossfire without the artifacts i used to get when forcing MVPU
In best case scenario, I went from 47fps to 64fps
Worst case scenario, I went from 21 fps to 26fps
Step in the right direction but still not totally happy with them, i pretty much get the same performance i used to get when forcing Crossfire but now there is no artifacting in my face or the menus.
I'm using a similar mod that increases the exponent of the exp needed to level. It brought me from leveling every hour or so to leveling every 5 or so hours.
I like it better this way.
I don't think I would. I'm already tired enough of picking up the same exact loot all the time, leveling slower would mean even more of that, wouldn't it?
les papillons sexuels
Banned
is there a mod that allows XP gain from quests/killing monsters? I'd love to be able to max out every perk.
I think there is only so much AMD can do when the game is so heavily CPU dependent due to only really using two cores (or two threads, maybe?).
An example I did using my i7 920 and the worst performing area I could find in Whiterun (Near Dragonsreach, overlooking the city) using the 11.11a drivers, crossfire disabled
Stock 2.6ghz HT Enabled: 22fps
OC'd 3.3ghz HT Enabled: 30fps
OC'd 3.7ghz HT Disabled: 36fps
At my max OC, areas I would get 45'ish FPS on normally I'd hit a steady 60 pretty easily.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I actually got 1 error but no crash. All DL's have worked without a hitch too so definite improvement.
They way I see it is mods and fixes are slow or not that awesome yet. Right now I sense the tech stuff to be a bigger issue thus that's getting the attention. In the future, the mods will be the focus. I went that route and asked a mod to edit me into the 2nd post for that and that post has been taking shape for a while. If people want , I will migrate that to its own thread as the tech talk will give way to mod talk after a bit anyways. It's rather convenient to have it all in 1 place anyways and keeping the thread active in this manner is also good as sometimes threads get buried and don't stay on the front page as often.
So again, 1 thread 2 topics, high PC tech talk traffic and slow or non great mods yet. Patches and drivers fix things somewhat and people are happier which gives way to mod talk as the creation kit hits. I like this format because the main issues are tech related now and mods are slow so it keeps things lively. I'm repeating myself but I do believe this is for the better and I have things lined up for the future of the modding section as that actually becomes more relevant but as of now, we are in mere peanuts phase compared to what we will be seeing.
I'm basically managing 2 OT's in 1 and it's been almost all tech talk or like an 85/15 ratio in favor of tech. I understand the trend and am looking at it more and in the future, I plan on switching the Mod post to the 1st post and keeping the tech one in post 2. I though this through so I hope no one feels upset because they can't make the mod thread. I'm taking this quite seriously at the moment and am open to ideas on bettering the mod portion but again (blah blah broken record), I have plans.
ColonialRaptor
Member
So I don't know if these have been posted in this thread yet or not... but here are 20 of the best Skyrim Mods out there (from PCGamer)
1. FXAA Post Process Injector - Video Link.
There’s a lot of post processing mods for Skyrim, but FXAA has emerged as the best. It layers on several handy effects like sharpening, technicolour, sepia and saturation, but the best part is that it’s all totally customisable. Modifying the settings file will let you turn settings on and off or adjust them to your preferences, giving you full control over the look and feel of your Skyrim game.
2. Val's Crafting Meltdown
Playing Skyrim inevitably results in picking up a lot of items you don’t necessarily need. Weapons or armour you aren’t properly trained with, or just useless pots and pans, every Dovahkiin ends up with a lot of clutter in their inventory. Val’s Crafting Meltdown, has an ingenious solution to that problem, giving players the ability to melt down weapons, armour and junk into raw materials like iron and steel. It also provides an invaluable service for archers, letting them use smithing to create arrows, an ability inexplicably missing from the original game. Val’s Crafting Meltdown is built to be compatible with other crafting mods, so if want to expand your crafting options, be sure to check out The Lost Art of the Blacksmith and More Craftables, which let you craft faction specific items like Thieves Guild armour or Skyforge Steel weapons. Alternatively Craftable Staffs lets mages get in on the smithing action too.
3. QD Inventory
Frustrated with Skyrim’s inventory interface? Annoyed at excessive scrolling? Wish you could see the stats of your items without selecting them? QD Inventory is the answer to your problems. The mod replaces the default interface with a very different one, categories are arranged at the top of the screen while the armour, damage, weight and value of your items is displayed along the side. Creator Roltak describes this as a ‘quick and dirty’ solution to the interface problems, better interfaces will likely come in future, but for now this is streets ahead of the original Bethesda UI.
4. Xenius Mods
Xenius has rapidly carved himself a niche as Skyrim’s premier character enhancement modder, producing a whole series of texture improving mods at a tremendous rate. He started with No More Blocky Faces and Detailed Faces, but he’s since expanded into (deep breath) Detailed Bodies, High Quality Eyes, Detailed Lips and Better Beast Races (breath out) all of which offer significant improvements on the default character models. The only gripe is that you have to download them all individually, hopefully Xenius plans to package all his components into a single install when he’s finished.
5. Skyrim HD
Like Quarl’s Texture mod for Oblivion or NeilMC’s for Fallout 3, Skyrim HD is an ambitious project to replace the majority of in game textures with new, high resolution versions. It’s still very much a work in progress, only Windhelm and Whiterun have both been updated, as well as several forest and cave texture, but Skyrim HD looks set to match it’s illustrious predecessors.
6. Realistic Smoke and Embers
Another neat little improvement to Skyrim’s effects, Realistic Smoke and Embers completely overhauls the appearance of fire in the game, improving it greatly. It’s the mod that screenshotmancer Duncan ‘Dead End Thrills‘ Harris used to create this stunning image (along with plenty of other mods and tweaks). If you’re playing Skyrim as a fire throwing destruction mage, you must install this mod.
7. Realistic Water - Video Link
The water in Skyrim already looks pretty lovely, but Realistic Water pushes it that little bit further. Based on high resolution photography, Realistic Water makes Skyrim’s streams foam and bubble in a beautiful and convincing way.
8. Skyrim Sunglare - Video Link
If you like lovely sunlight effects Skyrim Sunglare is the mod for you. It makes the game’s sun produce delicious rays of beamy goodness, including optional lens flare effects for those who favour the ‘cinematic’ look. There’s something special about cresting a mountain and watching the sunbeams break through over the horizon, and this mod makes it even better.
9. Nicer Snowflakes
There’s a lot of snow in Skyrim, so it’s a shame it’s mostly represented by vague white blobs floating past. Nicer Snowflakes fixes that problem completely, replacing the default snow with beautiful, high resolution flakes. There’s several flavours to choose from, but I like the ‘Whimsical’ version best. It might not be what snow really looks like, but it’s what we all wish it did.
10. Glowing Ore Veins
If you’re like me, you probably played several hours of Skyrim before even realising mining was in the game. The problem is that ore veins don’t actually look that different from the surrounding rock. Thankfully, Glowing Ore Veins solves that problem, tweaking minable rocks to make them stand out more from the background. As an added bonus it’ll fade back to normal once you’ve extracted all the ore, once again blending harmlessly into the background.
11. Map in Full 3D
Not so much a mod as a set of tweaks, Map in full 3D shows you how to modify the game’s ini file to make it possible to zoom the in game map right down to the ground. The result is essentially a free camera mode that lets you roam anywhere in the world. It’s like the google street view team was let loose in the frozen north.
12. ENBSeries patch - Video Link
The ENBSeries mods are famous for adding improved post processing and lighting effects to make games like GTA4 and Deus Ex: Human Revolution look amazing. Sadly this patch doesn’t do that, instead it’s focused on fixing graphical errors and letting the game play better on a lower end PC. Don’t worry though, ENB creator Boris Vorontsov is already working on a full graphical overhaul, and has included some test footage, which I’ve included above.
13. Skyrim 4GB
If you’ve been reading this list and installing all the graphical improvements, there’s a possibility you’ve encountered some stability issues. But fear not! A solution is at hand. Like previous Bethesda games, Skyrim doesn’t use more than 2gb of RAM, regardless of how much you actually have. Using a large address aware patch like Skyrim 4GB will fix that, allowing Skyrim to make full use of your system’s abilities, reducing crashes and maintaining a stable FPS count.
14. Simple Borderless Window
Simple borderless window does what it says, it makes Skyrim run in a false fullscreen mode, allowing for the easy alt tabbing of windowed mode but while still keeping your screen full of wonderful landscapes.
15. Enhanced Night Sky
A nice little mod I enjoyed in Fallout. Enhanced Night Sky replaces the Skyrim stars with a high resolution texture taken from starfield photography. This version is so seamless it doesn’t even effect the in game constellations.
16. No Spider Mod
Arachnophobes like PC Gamer contributor Richard Cobbett have a hard time with games like Skyrim. Which is why No Spiders patches are so useful. This first attempt at a spider free Skyrim is particularly hilarious, as it replaces the models of the spiders with hilariously out of place bears.
17. Interface Hard Coded key tweaks
Skyrim’s interface can be really awkward, Hard Coded key tweaks aims to improve that. Now you can (for instance) turn lockpicks with whatever direction keys you chose, not just WASD, or being able to close the favourites window by pressing Q and myriad other improvements.
18. TESV savegame manager
An update of the popular Fallout 3 savegame manager, TESV savegame manager mod helps save and organise your games far more efficiently than the game does by default.
19. Vurt’s Skyrim Flora Overhaul
This is going to be one to keep an eye on. Vurt’s Skyrim flora overhaul is dedicated to improving the quality of the vegetation in Skyrim, starting with trees. It even offers several different colour schemes to let you tailor your foliage to your own desires.
20. Enhanced Blood Textures
Enhanced Blood Textures does exactly what it says, it improves the resolution of the blood textures in the game, but does it so well that it’s one of the most noticeably improved texture mods available.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
That post is painful to read with the giant images stretching the thread.
I added 2 of the mods. The others I either have or are not on my list yet as they are WIP's or just not prime time yet. This is the slope I'm riding. Mods aren't truly amazing yet but will be. The Skyrim HD one, I've looked at the one but it doesn't look ready for prime time yet but will add it to the new Up and coming section. QD inventory, haven't read enough on it but already knew about it. I haven't altered any UI yet as I know we've yet to see truly great ones yet and those will becoming.
This thread was like the text at first. I worked on it a lot and formatted it for hours one day. I'm tweaking and editing so many things no one cares about while keeping an eye on mods and tech talk. Little things like not having to scroll horizontally to read are important to the OP. Future consolidations will happen but much like the actual fixes and stability, the verdict is not out. Same for mods. Mods will come to form and be great. They aren't there yet so I can't just fill the mods post with junk. I've added 2 sections which may help and the featured so I hope people appreciate that.
Small addition, ColonialRaptor, I planned a post like that when we get to that point but honestly, we aren't there yet. Sites and stuff are handling that and I love the pics too but I don't feel like that's so important yet.
dreamer3kx
Member
That post is painful to read with the giant images stretching the thread.
I didnt have a problem with it, thanks a bunch for that post, good stuff.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
Anyone feel like testing the PS3 button icons? The user says he plans to fix the other issues but it seems fully functional even if in WIP form and the shoulders still showing as 360.
The quick save one is good too.
The quick save one is good too.
That'd be nice since I'm playing with a DS3. I'll try it.
Grinchy
Banned
Awesome, can't wait to read about the results. I stupidly thought my shouts and dragon souls were bugged because I kept hitting "X" instead of 360's X, which is square lol
ColonialRaptor
Member
I'm level 35. All possible loot that I know of already appears.
Besides, its worth it (to me) to not have any ridiculous scaling going on.
Friend is level 48 and he rarely sees ebony armor drops and no daedric armor (not sure if this drops) or dragon armor (almost positive this doesn't drop).
So you're basically cheesing the game by letting yourself get stupid high attributes while combating weakling low level enemies. To each his own I know there are lots of ways people like to play this game.
It has some problems. There are issues looting enemies and such with it on. In the comments, they recommend removing specific files but then the screens that those files correspond to don't get the icons replaced.
RukusProvider
Banned
Hey guys, started my first playthrough with the following settings
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=32717568&postcount=2835
The only additional things I added were ugrid 7 settings. NO MODS.
I'm getting crashes going into caves. In the beginning of the game when you get out into Skyrim, I entered the Grotto and part way, my whole PC blue screened.
Went back into it and evertying was fine. Went into another cave and had a crash to desktop.
Any ideas?
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=32717568&postcount=2835
The only additional things I added were ugrid 7 settings. NO MODS.
I'm getting crashes going into caves. In the beginning of the game when you get out into Skyrim, I entered the Grotto and part way, my whole PC blue screened.
Went back into it and evertying was fine. Went into another cave and had a crash to desktop.
Any ideas?
I've got a full suit of Ebony and am missing only Daedric boots.
Playing on master without letting myself use smithing/enchanting potions to make my gear OP gives me plenty of challenge.
RukusProvider
Banned
I've been aggressive with the LOD and particles to increase long-range detail (mountain snow, tree LOD2 quality, etc) and my FPS is still 60 or near 60 at all times, even on two 580s, so maybe it'll work on one?
No crashes, no performance issues, no ugrids, no mods beyond blood and faces, and no trickeryShadow distance is set to 8000 to avoid shadow pop, but you may prefer increased detail so just reduce the figure.
Have you noticed any weird crashes when you go into new areas and such? I'm using your settings on a 580GTX and it's starting to crash on me. My FPS are fine and then the game will crash when loading up new caves. AFter the crash, I can go into the cave and get through them fine. Just first time it tends to crash. Any recommendations?
Unfortunately not, still only crash on the occasional fast travel, which the game did anyway before I started tweaking.
I was lvl 28 when I got a pair of dragon boots from a chest, so I'm guessing they do pop up every now and then.
RukusProvider
Banned
At this point, I'm wondering if ugrids is the problem. That's the only difference between our settings. Even my nvidia inspector is identical.
I'm using the 4GB exe to launch the game. Are you using that also?
MeBecomingI
Member
I've been using it work awhile and it works fine for me. Not had any noticeable issues other than the aforementioned shoulder button icons not being changed. But everything looks good!
Using ugrids 7 and no 4GB modifiers.
Pagusas
Elden Member
So tonight I was overclocking my i7 2600k for the first time, wanting to get some extra fps out of skyrim after all the new mods... and I kept noticing my temps hitting 96c after running some prime 95 stress test!!!! And the CPU was throttling it self wayyy down to keep it self alive. Keep in mind I built this rig about 4 months ago and havnt actually taken the time to watch my temps at all....
Needless to say I knew something was f-d up, so I did things like under clocking it, disable hyperthreading, updating the motherboard bios (in case of a temp misreading). I looked at the Heatsink to make sure it was tightened tight on (aftermarket Dark Knight HSF).
Kept scratching my head, so finally i got fed up and desided to tear apart the whole rig.... and guess what I found still attached the bottom of my heatsink...
Yup... I never removed the protective thick plastic sticker from the bottom of the heat sink... Sometimes my stupidity astounds me.
Now that its all back assembled, I have her running at 4.7ghz, at 65degrees after an hour of stress testing.
A true testament to this i7, its basically been running with no HSF for the last few months and still been playing games and running at stock speed without much of a problem! Amazing. Not only that, Skyrim truely is CPU bound, The game is running silky smooth now.
Needless to say I knew something was f-d up, so I did things like under clocking it, disable hyperthreading, updating the motherboard bios (in case of a temp misreading). I looked at the Heatsink to make sure it was tightened tight on (aftermarket Dark Knight HSF).
Kept scratching my head, so finally i got fed up and desided to tear apart the whole rig.... and guess what I found still attached the bottom of my heatsink...
Yup... I never removed the protective thick plastic sticker from the bottom of the heat sink... Sometimes my stupidity astounds me.
Now that its all back assembled, I have her running at 4.7ghz, at 65degrees after an hour of stress testing.
A true testament to this i7, its basically been running with no HSF for the last few months and still been playing games and running at stock speed without much of a problem! Amazing. Not only that, Skyrim truely is CPU bound, The game is running silky smooth now.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
FUCK
I installed QD Inventory and now I am screwed because it doesn't work with 360 controller. There should be a bold red warning about that at the top of the mod page.
If I run a verification it'll screw up a bunch of other mods. Can someone send me their unmodded interface folder?
I installed QD Inventory and now I am screwed because it doesn't work with 360 controller. There should be a bold red warning about that at the top of the mod page.
If I run a verification it'll screw up a bunch of other mods. Can someone send me their unmodded interface folder?
Count yourself lucky, between Windows 7 throttling and BIOS alarms, features and auto shutdowns it's pretty hard to kill a CPU these days. In the past though, yea, that'd be one dead chip and it wouldn't be under warranty because it'd be entirely your fault
My Interface folder consists of one file called Translate_English.txt. Contents pasted here: http://pastebin.com/4TRUNe13
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Ah, so that mod just adds files... good. Thanks anyhow.
Well you could always switch to the superior mouse and keyboard. As a mod I suppose you cannot expect them to go through that extra trouble though.
Dice
Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
Nothing at all superior about it for this game.
How long does it take you to turn around?
Snap turns, son!
Is this normal? Worse snow texture I've seen in the game yet. "hey guys, let's just make this wood white. It doesn't just look like paint, right?"
How long does it take you to turn around?
The same amount of time as you. :lol @ dat frame drop on mouse look.
Castor Krieg
Banned
KB&M have terrible implementation in Skyrim, it's much better to play with a pad. Also, I play in 3rd person, so don't need uber 180-degrees turns.
Basileus777
Member
That interface mod doesn't work for me. The controls stop responding once I go into my inventory.
Is this normal? Worse snow texture I've seen in the game yet. "hey guys, let's just make this wood white. It doesn't just look like paint, right?"
Instead of using separate textures they have a dynamic system for snow build up on textures based on its normal.
It's not an elegant solution, but it allows for a more varied palette and makes better use of their modular assets.
How long does it take you to turn around?
Almost instantly? I always do 360's when I jump off small ledges lol
Basileus777
Member
Most PC games do the same, it's not just Bethesda.
This is awesome. Thanks for this, my mouse was jank, now it isn't perfect, but is soo much better.
Is this normal? Worse snow texture I've seen in the game yet.
this looks ok to me. I'd prefer dynamic solution even if it is not that elegant.
Ploid 3.0
Member
Yeah I never had problems turning around with these games on pad. I hated that Oblivion has poor controller support and had to use mouse and keyboard (played it on pc after playing all three previous Bethesda games on PS3).
D
Deleted member 10571
Unconfirmed Member
Would be pretty cool if you actually see 'clean' landscapes getting all white snowy over a few minutes, never noticed that before.
I don't think the effect can be applied from within the game, just from the CK.