Skyrim Performance Tweaks

For getting that maximum graphic fidelity to performance ratio.
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 Ive found so far.
Shadows are very taxing on the system, the difference between high/ultra shadows is negligible and not worth the performance dip.

FXAA >>>>> regular AA in terms of looks AND performance.

This machine should be able to run in between high and ultra settings @ 720p.

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
This turns on self shadowing for trees and land.

 

wow thanks a lot!!!
Only tried mid/high before
but now I'm getting 40-60fps with the exact same settings u just wrote (high/ultra)
Didnt think it would run so smooth

 

Wileycoyote, do you enjoy your HP Pavillion DV6t Quad Edition? I am interested in purchasing one with a 2nd generation Intel Core i7-2670QM processor (2.2 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 3.1 GHz, the 1080p anti-glare HD display, 1GB Radeon(TM) HD 6770M GDDR5 Graphics, 8GB 1333Hz RAM, and either a 1TB 5400 RPM HDD or a 750G 7200 RPM HDD. Do you like yours? What color is yours? Would you have any recommendations for me?

 

@imitch22.

I really really enjoy this laptop. I think its a great buy if you want the performance of a gaming laptop but don't want to shell out 1.5-2k for something with similar performance. The closest gaming laptop to this rig is the M14x alienware with the 555m gt, and thats a 1.5 k+ laptop.

The 6770m gpu is great at running most games at high-ultra settings, especially if you're adventurous enough to attempt some overclocking, one thing that this laptop can do really well. I especially like the installed HP coolsense program, which control the fan speed as well as cpu throttle in conjunction to lower temperatures. The internal temperature of this laptop runs @ 70-74c which is amazing especially considering that I am overclocking at the same time.

I think you'll really enjoy this laptop if you're fine with not being able to max every game you play, but still able to run every game on high settings.

Also, don't spend the additional money on upgrading the cpu. The stock cpu is really really powerful. I am currently forcing the computer to not overthrottle, staying at default 2.0ghz instead of 2.8, b/c the machine runs cooler and the overall gaming experience is more enjoyable b/c of so. This machine does not ever need the cpu to run above 2.0ghz, even for the most demanding games like the witcher 2/crysis.

The bottleneck for this laptop is actually the harddrive. a 7200rpm drive is a must, and even then its a bottle neck. My windows experience index are all in the 7s except for HD with is a 5.9.

If you have the cash, skip cpu upgrade, make sure you only get the 1gb GPU (2gb is a scam and gives you no performance increase), get at least a 7200rpm hdd. Also use coupons to save money.

 

Hi guys I keep having issues running skyrim. At first I was getting 17-20fps no matter what settings I put it on( The first scene when you are brought in as a prisoner and waiting in line) and I kept messing with it until randomly I got it working at 44fps on high at 768 and I played for 3 hrs in 1080p avg 30. Now I started it again and i'm having the same issue getting 17fps. As far as i can remember I haven't done anything to drivers since then. I can't seem to figure this out.

 

I don't understand, I can play this game on Ultra without any lag on my Dv6. People have had issues running this game?

 

I didn't have issues running this game on ultra 1080p but for some reason like i stated above it gives me issues and randomly it'll run good. And now I won't run fine again.

 

At high resolution?

1) What drivers are you using?

2) What Framerates are you getting?

I can run it at Ultra with shadows medium,2x AA 8x AF but low resolution (as low as 896*504) to get consistent 50+ FPS, though the game is playable with anything above 30. It looks great even in lower res.

 

My framerates drop so bad in few places, and i noticed when it happened GPU usage will drop below 50%. I hope this can be fix with a tweak or patch..

 

My max temps using your settings and no overclock with coolsense set on performance were 82 for GPU and 90~ for all 4 cores(except core # 2 , it runs cooler than the rest always for some reason).

Im a little worried that my GPU temps are too high, even with crysis 2 my max temps for GPU is like 75 and for CPU is 75 too.

the graphics of this game are awful compared to counter strike source let alone crysis 2 so i have no idea why my temps are so high.

 

So i set coolsense to coolest and my FPS are still above 30 but my temps are like 70 all around

 

yea theres no reason not to have coolsence set on coolest mode, I have played many different games and the highest I ever reached was 72C gpu and 80 cpu

 

For those of you that play this at 1080P, what graphics settings do you recommend?

 

High, fxaa instead of msaa, low shadows, default draw distances. Runs like a charm for me.

 

To those who want to run @1080p smoothly, I would use this. You can prob turn AF up to 4-8x with this setting.

 

How does the 6770M compare to the 6750M?

 

^ No idea, i believe if both using the same clock their performance is the same.