Elder Scrolls Skyrim - low fps

Hey guys, i'm having pretty horrible fps (<30) consistantly at 1280x800 resolution with low-medium settings (??), setup is as follows:


Intel core I7 740qm
8gb ddr3 1333mhz
2 x Radeon 5870m
Windows 7 64bit


The odd thing is, disabling crossfire slightly increases my fps, but it's still pretty unbearable, this isn't the only game i have had issues with, specifically with crossfire. I'm pretty confidant at this point that something in my system is faulty or defective.

Currently running 11.10 drivers with 11.9 cap 4.

Any help is appreciated, thanks.

 

How the hell did you manage to lay hands on skyrim before release date?!! TELL ME PLEASE!!!

 

It's out in Australia.

 

DAMN I SHOULD LIVE IN AUSTRALIA!!

btw I am %100 percent sure it is a problem with your system, skyrim is supposed to be well playable in way lower machines than yours (recommendations speak for itself, it is no BF3 or crysis 2)

 

Yeh i figured as much, have had constant problems with stability and just about every game ever since i have had it and have multiple internal parts already replaced. It doesn't help when Dell talk to you like you are completely computer illiterate and just nagging them lol.

Thanks for the help man.

 

I wish I could do something to help, just ask pros what is going on tomorrow (when skyrim will be release this part of the planet ), man you are so lucky, even with lowest graphics playing skyrim a day ago rocks you know what, if I were you I would have clean installed my drivers and gave it another try..

 

Yeh i might try doing a fresh wipe of the drivers, installing the official Dell ones and then installing 11.10 over them, but for now i'm going to get a few hours sleep since it's 3AM here =P.

 

yepp, seriously other side of the planet, 11:15am here have a good sleep man!

 

We just need to wait for updated drivers that support Skyrim. The reason you get worse performance in crossfire is called negative Crossfire scaling and is a driver issue You could try radeon pro and mess with the settings in there to get better performance Hope this helps

 

You'll need to wait for updated CAPs (xfire app profiles) for Skyrim. Currently, CAP4 is the lastest and i don't think skyrim is supported

AND...i can't wait till tomorrow, you lucky bugger!

 

srry for hijacking the thread but what are CAPs exactly? I just install the newest ocl drivers for my 6990M and that's it.

 

Catalyst Application Profiles - preconfigured game profiles by ATI/AMD

 

its really only for crossfire setups, so for a single card system like yours you don't have to worry about it. They are Cat Application Profiles used in dual card systems

More info here:
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/pages/crossfirex-app-profiles.aspx

 

I'm having issues too...I have a 460m, though. After getting Skyrim up and running it literally crawls, totally unplayable. Was confused about why this would be. But I noticed my computer isn't making any noise. like my graphics card isn't even trying.

So for kicks I booted up Oblivion, which I play on max settings, and it has become unplayable as well. Computer is running dead silent, no matter what I throw at it...

 

awe yeah, im aussie also got skyrim aswell, althouth its the morning and i have to work all day Dx

 

Not really, cap is intended for single and cf configs. . Or at least is worth reading release notes and see if a certain cap can be usefull for single card configs.

this is the release note from 11.8 cap3 for example

Catalyst 11.8 CAP3 9/2/11

- Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Improves performance on Single GPU configurations
- War Inc Battle Zone: Resolves image corruption seen when enabling Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center
- Call of Juarez The Cartel - Improves CrossFire performance
- Rome Total War: Disables CrossFire support
- F1 2011:
- Improves performance on Single GPU configurations
- Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center has been disabled
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows Part 2
- Forced on Anti-Aliasing through the Catalyst Control Center now works
- LA Noire - Improves CrossFire performance
- Need for Speed World – Disable CrossFire support
- Serious Sam HD : The First Encounter – Disable CrossFire support
- Serious Sam HD Demo: The First Encounter – Disable CrossFire support
- Serious Sam HD : The Second Encounter – Disable CrossFire support
- Deus Ex3: Human Revolution(DX9) - Improves CrossFire performance
- Shaun White Skateboarding - Improves CrossFire performance
- MaxPayne3 - Improves CrossFire performance

 

Ya, i read that...I get how CAP increases dual card performance, but i don't see the purpose of downloading this when improvements are already done in the driver and game patches for single card setups. It would be retarded of AMD to make you download 2 files instead of just the driver

plus i normally like to tweak game configs myself for better performance

 

Yeah I'm down in oz also, not overly impressed with the performance, but bethesda have always done a good job at ing up optimizations...

Skyrim is pretty fun, not a big as leap from morrowind to oblivion, and has nothing on the witcher 2, but its fun at what it does..and I'm currently at working running of 3.5 hours sleep....

 

I run Skyrim on 1920x1200 on Ultra settings, 8x AF no AA. Tried with 4x AA but the FPSes are low.
I'm with 11.9 driver though. Had trouble with the 11.10.

Config is:
i7 920XM
2x 5870
4 GB 1333 Mhz
2x OCZ Vertex 2
Win7 x64

You are most likely having driver issues. With your CPU you should be able to run on High at least.

 

If you pre order on steam Skyrim unlocks at 9 p.m. tonight.

 

Ok just run it with crossfire off,

Didn't drop below 58,..

So we need a CAP or driver sooner rather than later..

 

I'm going 2 buy skyrim for the ps3, Oblivion was awesome.

Thanks for the responses btw I always wondered what caps were XD

 

I have a question about the leveling system. Is it like Oblivion where you had to use a blunt weapon to increase that stat, or heavy armor to increase that stat? OR, is it like Fallout 3 and NV where you level up and choose where you want the stat points to go?

 

From the videos that I have seen, it is like Oblivion leveling.

 

Its very similar to oblivion...its a core concept within the elder scrolls games and I doubt they would ever change it. Although, the overall leveling system is less complicated because they got rid of specific attribute points and have fewer skills to choose from. Plus, now you level with any skill...not just a particular segment.

In relation to the OP...I have a similar config. As soon as I get this business up and running (sometime in the next 2 to 24 hours depending on when I can get ahold of my copy) I will post how it ran as I have a similar config to yours. If someone would tell me how to post a video to the forum I can use fraps to do that as well (I'll make it as spoiler free as possible). Or I guess I could just upload it to youtube and provide a link...whats the html code for putting a link here? Or does it just work automatically?

Also, anyone else have a comments on if I should start with crossfire on or off?

 

I'm running Skyrim 1920 x 1080 on Ultra settings, 16x AF 2x AA just fine

i7 2630
6970M
8 GB 1333 Mhz

 

I am actually so excited about this game that I might buy a new m17x if my lappy has major difficulty. But I do not think this will be the case. I am guessing I will be able to run it on "high" settings with AA off or low. Once all the crossfire/driver issues are fixed that is...

 

Yeah I just ran it up on an M11xR3 and that little machine beat my monster desktop with dual 6870s in Crossfire. AMD will release a new CAP soon - in the meantime just disable crossfire. Someone on another forum also reported some success by hitting ctrl alt del and then cancelling the dialog that appears.

 

Any ETA on that CAP? How do we get it? Also, how do I disable crossfire? I googled it, but all I got was talk about catalyst control center, and all AMD gives me is an install wizard when I download it on their site.

 

You'd need to download a full driver set with CCC from AMD.

However, I did just confirm that if you run the game up, then in game hit Ctrl Alt and Delete, and then Cancel the screen that appears, all is well.

I don't have a 17x, but on my dual 6870 crossfire machine I just saw a jump from 7fps in Ultra to around 50 after doing that.

 

This sort of wierd malarky is why people get frustrated with PC gaming. What dialog do you mean? The windows screen? Or something that skyrim puts up?

 

I know I know. Alas it is what it is.

The screen I'm referring to is the Windows "Are you sure you want to nuke your apps" screen - big blue one, cancel button at the bottom.

Edit: Personally I prefer this malarky to the one that involves disabling Crossfire to play tho

 

Big blue one? Are you sure about that? All I get is the alienware options list of logging out or opening task manager.

EDIT: If you're talking about that options screen that initially covers the screen when you crtl+alt+delete, it doesn't help me at all.

 

Thats the one. Just cancel it =- you'll drop back into the game and performance should (hopefully) be fine. I removed the alienware theme stuff from my machines so forgot about that.

 

see above, doesn't help.

EDIT: So, assuming my patience holds out, how do I get the Skyrim CAP update? Also, my Skyrim keeps saying I'm running Intel, and I have an intel manager, but how do I get a manager for my amt?

 

Damn - Sorry man. Worked like a champ on my desktop here.

 

Well, I have it installed and have completed the intro sequence and arrived in the first town. Initial impressions:

1. This game looks fantastic. I am running at 1920x1200, "high"settings. I didnt tweak or change anything yet. It runs excellent. I get a solid 30-35 fps out in the world and 35-60 in caves. Currently I left crossfire off, and it seems to run a little better. Hopefully CAP/driver updates are immenent.

2. Gameplay is similar to Oblivion but feels really fine tuned. The skills/menus seem fine to me despite what I read about them being clumsy on PC.

3. Sound is excellent...but for some reason very quiet. I have my volume all the way up in windows and the game, and yet it is very quiet.

4. I went a murderous rampage in a village and then ran over to a cave and walked around in there killing folks. Uploading video to youtube as we speak.

Conclusion: This game freakin' rocks!!!

 

running it almost always 60 fps outdoor and 45 / 50 in cities , detail ultra. Use radeon pro with Oblivion profile and CF works fine. Of course Caps or new driver will improve it a lot.

give it a try

Edit: it is amazing how much fun and content bethesda managed to put in only 6 GB of installation.... almost 22Gb of Rage anyone?

Edit: looks like 11.11 will be out next week and also new cap. This should support skyrim cf and also fix rage

 

I forced Oblivions crossfire profile and i'm getting only slightly better performance, i can also confirm that my gpu's are not going over about 30-40% utilization, i guess new caps will fix this.

 

I wish the new beta drivers, that Nvidia just put out, would work on my lowly M17X with dual 280's. :^( Currently it's not supported so, no SLI for those of us with this setup.

Only reason I want the 285.79's is for the sli profile for Skyrim.

 

It is a shame, the game is incredibly fun but runs like crap at the moment =/.

 

Dude, we have the same exact config and it runs pretty damm good for me. I think you may have another issue of some kind.

Unless, what is your idead "funs like crap"? Cause to me solid 30's is pretty nice looking.

Ok youtube link:

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim g - YouTube

edit: Note that it is running fine even with Fraps recording a video. Sweet.

 

I will openly admit that it is very possible i have an issue unrelated to the game, but an elder scrolls message board i'm on seems to indicate unpredictable performance, some people with dual gtx580's are getting horrible lag.

What settings are you playing it? I am currently at 1280x800 resolution with low-medium settings and no AA, fps goes <20 in/around towns.

 

some people with gtx 580 SLI having problem?!! impossible, either the card is somehow overestimating the game, or horribly wrong profile?

 

How did you centre the camera?

 

A tonne of people are complaining, some with lower end rigs are running it flawlessly while others with top end systems are suffering low fps and bad stuttering, both on similar settings.

Granted, a lot of the issues people are complaining about are due to negative crossfire scaling, as most of them seem to have Multi GPU ATI cards.

The elder scrolls games aren't exactly known for their optimisation, but hopefully these issues are resolved soon enough.

 

Mad flickering atm as well.

 

So how do I disable crossfire? Is there any way without CCC, which I can't seem to download? Everybody's talking about fixes but it's all just greek to me.

 

Dont know if this helps but I have a gtx 580m and skyrim wont use that card unless I run it as admin. Maybe try that?

 

That was the first thing I did.

EDIT: How do I actually get CCC? I tried downloading it, as I said earlier, but all I got was an install manager and a folder full of stuff that's not CCC. All I wanna do is disable crossfire and enjoy my game.