[Skyrim] M11x Video/Discussion/Benchmark (All inclusive) Thread

I made of video of what settings I'm using to play Skyrim. I'm getting, while overclocked at 164 (166 is unstable for me, for whatever reason) about 25-60 FPS : The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim on the Alienware M11x R2 - YouTube

The framerate is generally high, but while romping on the countryside on my horse I occasionally hit a hiccup and the framerate drops to the low 20's...

Inside is never the issue for me. The framerates are always 60 (because I play with Vsync to get rid of the horrible screen tearing) but outside is where the frames take a hit. If the action gets really busy, the frames can take a hit as well.

Like I said, the game is "playable" on the M11x, and I logged over 40 hours and even beat the main storyline with minimal crashes. However was it enjoyable to play this on the M11x? I dunno. I'm looking for an M17x to play this game with a little more power. I'm not dogging the M11x, because I love it, but Skyrim is not very optimized at all.

 

Playing it on my M11x R1 (No pinmod) pretty well, maxed graphics and medium shadows. (Lower settings make no difference to framerate) even chucked in a few high resolution texture packs.

Average is over 30FPS and very playable, lowest I've seen is 20FPS at Dragonsreach looking over Whiterun. Pretty much all dungeons are 40-60FPS.

What made a HUGE difference was a GPU overclock. Almost doubled my FPS going from stock to 585/1405/850.

Also worth noting that the FPS indoors seems more stable since the 1.3 patch, so I'd recommend getting that. Also fixes the mouse problems and the 1.2 patch issues.

 

it's decent, but that stuttering on the horse and other lag would really drive me crazy, even if fraps is saying 20-25 FPS. also, waiting for 45 seconds for your last save to load is pretty terrible. maybe mount your camera on something so you can use both of your hands to show us some combat of some sort? also, don't use fraps since it's probably costing you a couple FPS with it on?

also, i'm not sure just how optimized the game could be for the M11x. there are insane draw distances, and there are always tons of things going on when you're trekking across Skyrim (NPCs farming wayyyy out in the distance, random rabbits scurrying around in front of you, water flowing, trees blowing in the wind, shadows accompanying everything)...i think you're asking a little too much for a game with this much detail in it to run flawlessly (40-60 FPS all the time) on an M11x that was built in 2010 and already behind the gaming curve at that time. just my two cents.

 

Did anybody get at least 30fps or higher with their m11xr1 because I play at like mid 20s at like 25fps when outside and pretty good fps indoors. I heard people play the game at like 40fps on the m11xr1?

 

That's about right to be honest, make sure your shadows are on medium to help boost the framerate. Unfortunately Skyrim isn't extremely well optimized.

 

I run it pretty well on medium settings, no frame issues.

 

yea same, works fine for me on medium

 

and does anybody get framerate drop? my framerate spikes once in a while

 

im playing it now, best thing you can do to up your framerate is OC your GPU, the problem appears to be the CPU bottlenecking the system (who would have guessed!) so unless you try a pin mod that's your framerate.

ok guys, all i can say is WOW! I tried the Better Skyrim Performance mod and that thing is nothing short of magic! I had to get rid of the 1.3 update for it to work but whereas before i was playing at 25 to 30fps at medium, now im playing at 30-40 fps on high with 4x AA! Here: Skyrim Better Performance - UI - Skyrim Mods - Curse

 

Anybody know any High res mods I can istall without losing framerate?

huh this is new, while walking around the world map and fighting a dragon my framerate kept spiking and dropping, according to msi afterburner so was my gpu usage, and tips to fix this?

 

This guy's instructions has me confused a bit. He wants us to put the d3d9.dll file into the skyrim folder, NOT the data folder, right? The thing that has me confused is that he mentions that users should back up their original d3d9 file but I don't even have one in the folder he mentioned.

Edit: So basically, I just figured out that the mod you mentioned fools the game into thinking that there's a desktop GPU (my launcher graphics settings says that my GPU is a gts 8800).

 

i guess, my gpu is still reading as 335m tho. But what you do is delete your old d3d9 file in the skyrim folder and replace it with his. copy the original .dll to someplace safe first though.

 

I didn't have a d3d9 file to begin with. I think it's because I lost track of all my mods (probably downloaded over 1 gigs worth).

 

if u didnt have it your game probobly wouldnt load, it there trust me. its NOT in the data folder its in the skyrim folder that is one level before that

 

Thank you guys for this!

I've played Skyrim ~probably quarter way through on low settings (and even then it was lagging a bit) because I thought that that's normal.

Luckily I read through the thread earlier and have just performed whitelisting. -never had any problem with that before so I really wasn't expecting it.

After whitelisting BOTH the autoplay and TESV, the game started on high via auto-detect.

 

you were playing on the integrated graphics? lol. good to know that it will run on the HD3000 tho.

 

Yeah, now we know that the HD3000 is quite a capable piece of work. At Least something good came out of my bad experience.

I'm quite relieved actually, my initial thought was that my m11x had taken an arrow to the knee (problematic motherboard - as with my old r1, fried graphic chip etc). Luckily that's not the case.

Also, in the future, I'll whitelist every game I install just to be sure.

 

actually no its broken beyond repair and you should send the one you have now to me and go buy another

 

I used to do that but then I took an arrow to the knee

 

Well , till today , I played without modded d3d9 file , but I would like to have some extra fps too . I searched very diligently D3D9 file in Skyrim files , but definitely no found such file. When I put mods d3d9dll. to the files with the skyrim.exe , the game recognizes that it is active, change the settings , but I'm getting a significant deterioration in performance with the same graphics settings . Can anyone help , and tell me what I'm doing wrong ?

 

huh, interesting. what model m11x do you have and what does the game auto detect to? Also, what do you mean by deterioration? (Low fps, stuttering, etc.) and are you OCing your GPU.

 

I have the R1. Automatically the game detects high settings (I play with mixed ). After applying modded dll file. the game again detects the settings on high, changing the GPU on the BND model or something like that. When I turn the game ( using the same mixed settings like without modded dll. ) I have significantly reduced fps (7-10 less).
I do not have the card overclocked , only CPU by bios . I use the newest Nvidia drivers ( no switchable GPU ) .

 

hey all, I have been playing skyrim comfortambly at ~30 fps on high for over a week now, during whitch my gpu uses between 60-80% outside and 99% inside. However, while playing today my game crashed and most of my saves were corrupted! while I was able to salvage 1 save and play ever since then the games been running at 10-15 fps. I checked the GPU usage and its all the way down to 20-30 percent outside! anyone know whats going on with this?

 

Balanced mode on GPU? or power saving or w/e. Thats my guess atleast

 

Am I the only person that backs up my Skyrim save games to a external hard drive? Too many folks seem to be having corrupted game saves.

Did you check your whitelist to make sure Skyrim is on it? Maybe it is using the Intel graphics?

 

Nvm I did a cold reboot and all is well

 

Ah well there's your problem you have to OC the gpu, I actually saw a 10 fps difference doing it. Use msi afterburner and set the gpu to 550/ 1350/875, that works for most people

 

Some updates from my m11x r2, I'm getting significantly higher fps with [REL] TESV Acceleration Layer - Bethesda Softworks Forums
and the new nvidia beta drivers. At the top of dragon reach looking at the town i'm getting 27-28fps

 

Guess what guys, I found this AWESOME mod, check it out! ThuuMic v1 - Real Life Dragon Shouts - FREE at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community I lets u use your PC mic to actually say the Thuum shouts yourself!

 

M11x r1 bios overclock to 1.7ghz

4gb ram

7200rpm HDD

335M with the latest "skyrim beta" drivers and switchable graphics turned off from the bios

I get low 20fps wherever I go with bad stuttering outdoors or in cities I consider this borderline unplayable. It gives me bad headaches (I think it's the stuttering) if I try to play it to long. I get this FPS on the lowest settings. Help?

 

Have you overclocked the gpu? Download and use msi afterburner and set your clock speeds to 550/1350/875. If your gpu downclocks or you BSOD try a lower OC until you are stable. A good gpu OC works wonders! Also try installing this mod: TESV Acceleration Layer at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community. It gives better framerates. I have done both these and play on high on my r1 at about 30+ fps.

 

It is strange . I play Skyrim on R1 . Cpu 1.6 by bios , gpu no OC . Mixed settings ( med , med , high ) and It gets me to 28-40 fps outside . Sometimes the game stutter , no often . In cities 22-28 fps .

 

Anyone tried to play with 1.4 patch ? Is there any increase of performance ? Or any problems maybe ?

 

I'm on a m11x i5 r2 and I'm getting an average of 35fps intown and 40-45 fps in dungeons. Also, the game is running on high settings.

 

I have the R1 and post-1.4 patch I am clocking 25-40 FPS. It's runs quite steadily at the mid-30s most of the time and only slows when I am loading. I haven't detected a huge difference since it was very playable pre-1.4, but I guess I am getting slightly higher FPS. Oh and I am running it on Medium settings.

 

Ok, I got MSI afterburner what are some stable numbers for it don't want to experiment to much and fry my graphics card.

 

Well experimenting is how you find what your gpu will be stable at, what version do u have?

 

nvidia gtx 335M with beta drivers

 

check out my guide in the link, you will probobly find the answer.

 

that did it I get a solid 30-40fps with dips into the 20's occasionally

 

yup same as me, you also might wanna check out the skyrim nexus, they have a mod that actually makes the game run better! I went from ~25-30 fps on medium to 30+ on high!

edit: actually, here you go! http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=4387

 

Can anyone find the link to the mod that allows Skyrim to stop using the 2GB cap and let Skyrim use 4GB of ram?

 

Here: Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim - 4GB Skyrim Mod v1.5

 

hello!

i have aw m11x r1 so i wanted to ask if i need any patches for playing skyrim fluidly??

and 2nd question: which driver is the best for the Nvidia 335m atm??