Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Performance Thread

This guide will equate Laptop Mobility GPUS to desktop counterparts using focal points from the Skyrim offical requirement release.

Sections
*INI Tweaking for Laptops that will maximize performance
*General Performance Guide

---------------Performance Tweaks-------------------

UPDATES

[The Complete Shadow FIX]:
tired of streaky/flickering shadow patterns appearing randomly on textures? Tired of Low shadow Resolution even though you've set shadows to High/Ultra. Here is a complete tweak guide to fix most of your problems.

Streaky/Flickering Shadow patterns fix

Go to SkyrimPref.ini, find fshadowbiasScale. set this to 0.7
Go to Skyrim.ini
Under [Display], add
fSunShadowUpdateTime=0
fSunUpdateThreshold=2.0
fShadowBiasScale=0.7

Improve Shadow Resolution: This is the only way I've found to rid of terrible shadow resolutins. Beware, this will lower your FPS.
Start Skyrim - Options, change shadows to Medium (for some reason this step is essential, as having shadows initially on High/Ultra does not improve shadow quality)
Open SkyrimPref.ini
Find ishadowresolutionsecondary, set this to 4096
Find ishadowresolution Primary, set this to 4096
Find ishadowmapresolution, set this to 4096
Open Skyrim.ini
Find ishadowmapresolution, set this to 4096

Turning on Self Shadowing for Trees/Landscape
Open SkyrimPrefs.ini, find
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
bDrawLandShadows=0
Set both to 1.


This is my personal settings, with this you can achieve ~Ultra graphic fidelity with the fps of your game under medium-high settings. On my machine, I'm enjoying 50-60 fps with texture mods installed.

Feel free to rep if this works for you.

You should be able to get 40+ with this setting with the game looking better than high settings.

Here's what I've found so far.

-Shadows are very taxing on the system
-FXAA >>>>> regular AA in performance.
-Draw distance does not put as much stress on hardware as shadows/AA/AF

Here are my settings

In ati catalyst controls, make sure everything is set to use application settings, or you might encounter graphic problems.

Select High preset.
turn off AA.
Make sure Anisotropic Filtering in at 8x.
Go to advance.
Under Details set Radial blur to high, Decal to ultra, and shadows to Medium
Check FXAA
Check reflect sky for water details
Go to view distance tab.
Set every distance to max. Set distance object detail to High.

Additional Important Tweaks:

Make sure you force V-sync OFF in catalyst control. V-syn causes mouse lag and lower performance in this game.
This can be done: Wait for vertical Syn - performance (always off)

Make sure you uncheck ATI surface optimization: this causes problems with certain textures. Unsure if it lowers performance but better safe than sorry.

Optional Tweaks: (will see slight performance drop for increased graphic fidelity)
Go to Documents -> My games ->Skyrim
Open SkyrimPrefs

find:
uiMaxSkinnedTreesToRender =20
this basically controls the amount of trees rendered on screen at one time, you can safely set this to 80 without much performance loss

also
find:
bTreesReceiveShadows=0
bDrawLandShadows=0
Set both to 1. This turns on self shadowing for trees and land.

------------------Essential MODS------------------

these mods work in conjunction with the above settings to change how skyrim looks. These mods allow you to heavily modify the way your game looks, by tweaking variables such as bloom/Vignette/tonemap/Pre-Sharpen/Post-Sharpen, etc. Remember that after installing Post FXAA Injector, even if you don't like the way the game looks, the engine allows you to tweak it beyond the levels of SkyrimPref.ini tweaks.

Guide to FXAA Injector.

Install the engine
Optional: you may look up various custom tweaked FXAA profiles that users that customized for distinct Skyrim appearances. Go to SkyrimNexus and search for FXAA.

Open Skyrim Folder in Steam/Steamapps/Common/Skyrim.
Find injFX_Settings.h.
Right Click--> use the second open option. This should bring up the notepad.

Quick Guide on personally tweaking your FXAA Injector
Changing FXAA settings can be done in real time. If you open injFX_settings.h, change variables and save, the effect can be immediately seen in game.

So open injFX_Settings.h.
Filtersection: this is the control panel for the various effects that the engine uses. Places // in front of the given effect shuts it off: (ie. //#define USE_BLOOM turns off bloom while #define USE_BLOOM turns on bloom). Remember that while you're modifying the various aspects of the engine, make sure that the specific function is turned on in the filtersection in the first place.

Have fun tweaking the engine to your own settings. A quick reference to several functions found in the engine:
Pre-Sharpen - controls a sharpening method used by the engine
Bloom - controls special lighting effects.
ToneMap - controls the tone of the game.
Vignette - controls special filters that can darken the edge of your screen for a cinematic effect.
Post-Sharpen - controls another sharpening method used by the engine.


---------------Performance Estimates Based on your Laptop-----------------

Remeber that you can increase performance by a huge margin if you decide to lower resolution. So cards near the top of one performance threshold can easily cross to a upper threshold by doing so.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Offical Desktop Requirements
Recommended Specs
•Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
•Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
•4GB System RAM
•6GB free HDD space
•DirectX 9 compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher; ATI Radeon 4890 or higher).
•DirectX compatible sound card
•Internet access for Steam activation

Minimum Specs
•Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit)
•Processor: Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor
•2GB System RAM
•6GB free HDD Space
•Direct X 9 compliant video card with 512 MB of RAM
•DirectX compatible sound card
•Internet access for Steam activation

How does the Offical Requirements translate to our Laptop gpu. All we have to do is equate mobile GPUs to their desktop counterparts.

A desktop GtX 260 has the about the performance of GTX 285m
A desktop Radeon HD 4870 has about the performance of Radeon 5870m

Using these evaluation points, we can rank mobile GPUs, using the benchmark guide from Notebookcheck.com

Here is the estimation of how well your mobile gpu can run the game @ 1080p. Remember, you well be able to squeeze alot more performance out of your card if you decide to run the game at 720p.


Ultra
1. Radeon HD 6990M
2. Nvidia GTX 580M
3. Nvidia GTX 485M
4. Radeon HD 6970M
5. Nvidia GTX 570M
6. Radeon HD 6950M
7. Radeon HD 4870 X2

HIGH

8. Nvidia GTX 480M *
9. Nvidia GTX 470M *
10. Nvidia GTX 560M *
* These cards can reach ultra settings if you decide to overclock.
11. Radeon HD 6870M
12. Radeon HD 5870M
13. Nvidia GTX 460M 1.5GB
14. Nvidia GTX 460M 1GB
15. Nvidia GTX 285M
16. Radeon HD 4870
17. Nvidia GTX 280M
18. Radeon HD 3870 X2
19. Radeon HD 3850 X2
20. Nvidia GTX 9800M
21. Nvidia 555M GT 2GB
22. Radeon HD 6770M
23. Nvidia 555M GT 1GB
24. Radeon HD 6850M
25. Radeon HD 5850M
26. Radeon HD 4850

MEDIUM/HIGH:


These cards will be able to run the game @ high settings should you decide to run the game at 720p.

27. Nvidia GTX 260M
28. Nvidia 9800M GT / 8800M GTX
29. Nvidia GT 445M
30. Nvidia GTS 360M
31. Radeon HD 6750M
32. Nvidia GT 550M
33. Nvidia GTS 260M
34. Nvidia GTS 160M
35. Nvidia GTS 9800M
36. Radeon HD 6830M
37. Radeon HD 5830M
38. Nvidia 9800M GS
39. Radeon HD 4830M
40. Radeon HD 6730M
41. Radeon HD 5770M
42. Nvidia 8800M GTS
43. Radeon HD 5750
44. Nvidia 540M GT
45. Radeon HD 5730
46. Radeon HD 6670M
47. Nvida 435M GT
48. Radeon HD 6650M

MEDIUM:
These cards will be able to run the game @ Medium to High Settings if you decide to use 720p. The cards near the bottom of the list will produce graphical fidelity mostly on par with consoles, with a few extra eye candy.



49. Nvidia 350M GTS
50. Nvida 250M GTS
51. Radeon HD 6630M
52 Radeon HD 5650M
53. Nvidia 525M
54. Radeon HD 4670M
55. Nvidia 425M
56. Nvidia 9700M GTS
57. Nvidia 335M GT
58. Radeon HD 3870M
59. Radeon HD 4650M

Low

Cards near the top of this list can run the game as well as console versions if you're willing to dive into the right tweaks. Cards Further down the list, past 9600m gt will run the game but at this point, you should consider console versions.

60. Radeon HD 3850M
61. Nvidia 420M GT
62. Nvidia 330M GT
63. Nvidia 240M GT
64. Nvidia 7950M GTX
65. Nvidia 9700M GT
66. Nvidiia 230M GT
67. Radeon HD 6490M
68. Nvidia 325M GT
69. Nvidia 130M GT
70. Nvidia 7900 GTX
71. Nvidia 9650M GS
72. Nvidia 9650M GT
73. Nvidia 8700M GT
74. Nvidia 7800 GTX
75. Nvidia 7900 GS
76. Nvidia 9600M GT <--------- cut off point for switching to console
77. Nvidia 220M GT
78. Nvidia 120M GT
79. Radeon HD 6470M
80. Nvidia GT 520M
81. Radeon HD 3670M
82. Nvidia 320M GT
83. Radeom HD 2600M XT
84. Mobility Radeon X1900
85. Mobility Radeon X1800 XT
86. Mobility Radeon X1800
87. Nvidia 7800M Go
88. Nvidia 9600M GS
89. Nvidia 9500M GS

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Conclusions

To run this game at full settings via 1080p you would need at least a Radeon 6950.

Cards that performs at about the same level as the 460m should run the game comfortable at High settings via 1080p.

Cards around the performance level of 6770m/Nvidia 555m can run the game via 1080p with some settings at high while others at medium; but will most definitely be able to run the game at 720p using high settings.

The mainstream Nvidia 540m/Radeon 6650 will run the game well at medium settings. And these cards will produce a level of graphical fidelity slightly higher than console versions.

Lastly, in my opinion, you need at least a 9600m gt or equivilent to run the game. You need to tweak the ini files to get the game running smoothly @ console graphical standards. If you have a card that is less powerful, strongly consider getting a console version.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I think your estimates are off and exaggerated. And there are already a few Skyrim threads with discussions on performance and hardware. IMO this thread isn't needed.

This game is going to have relatively low textures. Graphically probably not much better than FO3. Really the only difference would be a revamped AI. About it. Everything that Bethesda has posted indicates this game will be a breeze to run. I think your estimates are really really really off.

It's a DX9 game with flat textures, no bump mapping or anything that would actually tax the GPU. I think it's hilarious how much Skyrim fans overestimate the hardware requirements from this game. The screenshots speak for themselves. This is not a graphically intensive game... not by a long shot.

http://multi.systemlink.me/2011/09/over-100-ultra-high-quality-skyrim.html

Personally I am underwhelmed by the Creation Engine. Compared to 4A Game's Engine, CryEngine 3, Red Engine, Frostbite 2.0 etc, Creation Engine looks really dated. It's too bad Bethesda doesn't have better technology.
- UE3 with DX11, and bump mapping looks so much better than this Creation Engine so far, from the video demo Bethesda released... I don't understand why Bethesda didn't just go with either ID Tech5 or UE3 since Creation Engine is really disappointing to look at.

Also the interface, sorting loot etc, it's really disappointingly consolized... Even more so than Witcher 2 was.

 

Wow, that first screenshot looks almost like an XBox 1 game. I was playing Halo on PC earlier today and this looks eerily similar to that (2004) level of graphics.

 

With all due respect to the effort you put into this thread, the game hasn't been released yet. Nobody's played it, and nobody knows how it will run on any hardware. You're just making some very long-shot assumptions based on two sets of specifications, which are all the official information we have.

 

Yeah, thanks goes to consoles i'm sure. Looks like Oblivion.

 

12. Radeon HD 5870M <---------Desktop Radeon 4870

That is wrong it's an underclocked Desktop 5770.

 

I think its meant to show they have equivalent performance, not what the 5870m is based on.

 

All we have to go on so far is the three PC screenshots that have been released:


1. 3000x984
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8613775/Skyrim/PCscreens/NorthernCoastAuroraPanorama01.jpg

2. 3580x1000
http://oyster.ignimgs.com/ve3d/images/08/65/86535_CompositeMountain.jpg

3. 1600x900
http://elderscrolls.net/img/skyrim/screenshots/sk_43.jpg

 

I would keep my fingers crossed until PC version is actually released. Games are known to perform way off their official system requirements.

 

This is true, I would be incredibly surprised if it turns out to be that much more demanding than Fallout New Vegas, especially since Skyrim will make use of DX11 optimization features, so you should get a higher frame rate with any DX11 card.

 

I'll probably be able to play on all high at 1080p with my OC'd 5650. Fallout 3/NV run like dreams, and Creation engine is just a souped up Gamebryo.

 

Yeah very limited. It's really a DX9 game though. We'll have to see what performance gains there actually are from DX11 with some comparisons. But actual visual improvements with DX11 will be lacking it seems.

 

Hm, I never read up on DirectX stuff but, why are developers neglecting Dx10 (they just skip from 9 to 11)?

 

because dx 10 does almost nothing for games

 

Huh, DX10 reminds me of that dud: The Age of Conan

 

DX11 makes use of everything DX10 offered, so developers don't need to do any DX10 optimizations.

It simply works that selecting DX11 with your DX10 card activate everything except what only a DX11 card can utilize. See Dragon Age 2 for an example.

 

So why not just have games for dx10 and dx11 instead of dx9 and dx11?

Is dx9 like the WinXP of Windows (and in the same regard, dx10 being Vista, the one that people just skip over for Win7), old but stable?

 

I imagine perhaps there are a lot of DX9 cards still installed out there and quite a few DX11 cards.

 

Probably because consoles are based on DX9 cards.

 

I never really liked oblivion, but will have to give this game a shot!

I guess i can run it on medium ish then at 1080p hopefully.

 

Hello!

I've spent the last 6 hours of my life trying to figure out whether or not my laptop will run skyrim (I just want to play, don't care about low settings)

Here are my laptop specs (bought ~2years ago):
Dell Studio XPS 1640
Intel DuoCore @ 2.4/2.4
4gb RAM
ATI mobility radeon hd 3670 512mb

Note that both the processor and ram are above skyrim's stated min reqs, it's just the video card I'm worried about!


Any help would be EXTREMELY appreciated!!!

 

I'm not very familiar with the AMD 3670m; however, I can tell you that the recommended specs were a bit exaggerated IMO.

This game is running excellent on my envy 15 (AMD 5830m) at 1080p, all settings maxed except no FXAA and I reduced AA from 8x down to 4x. Still using 16xAF.

FXAA [no]
Water Reflect Land, Trees, Objects Sky [yes]
Distant Object Detail [Ultra]
Object Detail Fade [yes]


I haven't checked using FRAPS yet, but the game is very playable at these settings, running much better than Witcher 2 (which was almost unplayable even on the lowest possible settings).

It slows down a bit in areas with a lot of foilage, esp. when it's raining, and in the introduction part when riding on the carriage, but it looks absolutely stunning and for the most part the frame rate is solid. The frame rate is sufficiently high that controls feel much more responsive than they did with Witcher 2.

 

@darkmouser

I dont think it will run as: 512MB GPU is too little, and no quad core.
There are quite a bit of mixed reports of people with i7s and 2GB GPUs of 6990 and up that cannot properly run it.
I wouldnt get my hopes up.

 

Skyrim works on my AMD E-350 netbook with IGP. Runs at 800x450 low settings at about 20fps, depending on what's going on. No real extensive gameplay yet, but it runs and is playable.

Haven't installed on my DV6z yet though.

 

HT wingnut - what are the specs on that? I have no idea how good the various models are.

TheHanstheDampf - But the minimum official reqs for skyrim aren't quad core or >512?

moviemarketing - I'm not really sure if you think mine would run it or not =) yours seems much more powerful.

 

E-350 is a 1.6GHz 17W "APU" (CPU / GPU combined in one chip). The thing doesn't even have a heatsink, lol, and it is actually playable. I wouldn't play for any extended period, but for a quick romp if I'm tied up somewhere it would be fine.

 

Oh cool. Here's hoping mine doesn't have any problems then! I'm literally drooling for this game...

 

I have a 1645 with the 1gb 4670. It runs smoothly at 720p (~60fps) with textures high, shadows low, 2xAA, 4xAF. Basically looks like the 360.

If you could run oblivion, you can run this.

 

If you guys aren't already doing this and have FPS issues, lower your Shadows. I feel Skyrim is another game where the shadows were not implemented correctly. Also it's been said numerous times but lowering your res to 720p will make an enormous difference in your frames.

 

Yes you can play it. Skyrim is not very demanding and it only utilizes up to 2 processor cores, since it is dual threaded. Your GPU will be fine for low/medium at low res like 1280x800 ish with ok performance. Even some integrated cards like a radeon HD4200 can run it on low.

 

A treat for you x64 bit users

NTCore's Homepage

 

Very cool program +rep

 

So how does this help Skyrim? Curious. I'll probably give it a go, but what improvements should we see?

 

Never mind had a brain fart lol

 

I'm running the game on max (except lowered object/NPC distance) at 1080p, on my ATI 5650, lol.

Framerates are not optimal but very playable.

 

Brilliant news. I will be able to run at max then on my 5850.

 

Possibly, however your CPU is worse than mine and could potentially limit the performance (a few people are proposing the idea that Skyrim is very heavy on CPU usage).

 

For Skyrim, CPU doens't matter. Skyrim far as I know limits itself to 2 threads. It's really bad PC optimization. It may be spread among the 4 cores but it's still only 2 threads.

Meaning the performance of Skyrim won't matter if you have a good single core, 2 core or quad core, it's only 2 threads.

 

My cpu is only slightly worse than yours. The only difference is .27 Ghz processing speed.

 

I've been getting some random crashes to desktop with no error message lately but this completely fixed my crashes. So thank you & +rep!

 

Did you put it on yours? How much performance did you gain?

 

new performance section up in OP. This is from my personal experience of tweaking the game utilizing upper mid range gpu 6770m.

long story short, you should see a sizable performance boost while improving graphic fidelity very very close to ultra settings.

 

I highly recommed FXAA injector from skyrim nexus. This mod makes the game look so much better.

 

I cant afford Skyrim especially not so close to a series of birthdays and christmas with the kids, but my fellow gamers at WSGF said about 5 frames per second in some areas.

Prob will be even more important to have that extra memory if you start using texture mods and stuff.

 

How time flies! Christmas is around the corner already! Anyways thanks, i'll try it out.

 

For AMD been told disabling Surface Format helps a lot in CCC. You have to do some registry editing to get that option enabled in CCC since AMD thinks mobile users are undeserving of it for some reason. Big peeve of mine since mobile are often just underclocked version of desktop.

 

yeh for some reason, this game is anti catalyst/nvidia control center settings. Game tends to have lower performance/encounter bugs unless every setting is checked to use application settings.

 

Thanks for updating the OP with these details. Previously I had FXAA unchecked, but if I understand correctly, in your experience checking the box to enable FXAA will result in better performance and visuals?

By FXAA injector, are you referring to this mod?

[PC-HD]Skyrim FXAA Post Process Injector - YouTube

Skyrim Mod - FXAA Post Process Injector - YouTube

After watching these videos, the FXAA injector appears to be boosting saturation and green/blue/yellow part of the color spectrum. Some of the areas look interesting, but for the most part the vanilla saturation and tint looks preferable, just going by these two videos.

 

Here are the links.
The FXAA Post Process Injector (this is pretty much the main engine)
Enhanced Night Skyrim at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community

Custom made settings for the FXAA Post Process Injector (there are other files like this if you search on skyrim nexus)
4 Profiles for FXAA Injector at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community

There are alot of different looks to the game - some of them have vanilla skyrim colors but increases the sharpening and AA effects to make texture look High definition. Others mess with the filter/saturation to bring about different colors to the game.

If you like vanilla colors, check out the second link, there are 4 profiles on the download. Profile 2 has vanilla colors + very sharp texturing. Try them all out to see which you like the best.

Also, when you check the FXAA box in options turn off AA.

 

How is the performance impact of this mod, for us people with lower-performance laptops?