Skyrim, running at 45-50 fps then huge drop unless restarted

A

Aumakua

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 14, 2009
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has anyone else had this problem, getting a super smooth 45-50 fps for 30 minutes and then all of a sudden the fps drop to like 20, no matter where I am, if I close the game and restart it, its back to super smooth 45-50 fps. Is this a problem with the game, my GPU or something else (RAM?) I have done a few tweaks, the latest one is the uGridsToLoad=7 one, maybe thats causing it?
 
thanks, I was thinking because of the timing it was VRAM, I mean for it to happen after 30 minutes each time, and then be fine after restarting the game, seems like the restart clears the VRAM which is why the FPS gets much better... I have 8GB of physical RAM, shame Skyrim is a 32 bit program and can only use 4GB. my GTX 560 448 has 1.28GB VRAM, only way to get more would have been to go with a GTX 580 (twice the price), can't way for the new generation of cards where 1.5GB will be standard on the mid range high performance cards like the 660/670
 
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Skrim and Dragon Age 2 both run me out of VRAM, thats why I'm getting a pair of 6950 2gbs when my boy upgrades to 7970s in a couple weeks...
 
If its exactly a set time this happens (after 30 minutes) then I would say heat somewhere. Try the application layer patch see it that helps or fixes the problem.
 
Being playing it in 3D Surround with a widescreen fixer that centers the menus on multi-monitor systems with the 290.53 drivers and performance seems to be very solid, some dips into the mid 20s but overall in stays well above 45 and averages about 55 and for 3D the rate is capped at 60 so close to maximum performance for 3D. For 3D it's recommended to turn off all of the water reflections but 3D works VERY well in this game. So far enjoying it for an RPG, not my style but this is really more of an adventure game than a hardcore RPG fortunately for me.
 
I'd suspect GPU heat.

That sounds very much like what I'd seen when using Folding@Home, if the GPU decides it needs to drop into a 'low power state'.

Try taking your GPU overclock out of the picture, and see if you get stable framerates, then. (Not just reducing it - literally, no overclock at all...run at stock)
 
well I was looking around the web today and it looks like it could be a number of things, VRAM running out, or possibly power throttling from either my CPU or GPU, I hadn't thought of that before, especially with my CPU since I have it overclocked using an offset, so when it isn't stressed it will volt down and clock down, this could be the problem.

Tonight/Tomorrow I will have to hook up my second monitor and have some utilities opened to see what is happening with all the hardware when this happens.

I doubt its heat since my gpu never goes above 60 and my cpu never above 65 which are both low temps for an i5 2500k and a GTX 560 Ti 448. I will try increasing the fan speed to 90 or 100 on my GPU when temps hit 55 to make sure it stays under 60. This happened with a core voltage overclock and with a normal overclock without voltage, but I did not try running Skyrim at my stock GPU speeds yet.

Thanks for the tips, I will update when I figure out what is causing it (gotta do it one step at a time to pinpoint the problem, which is a pain when it only happens after playing for 20+ minutes).
 
I'm running a 768mb GTX460 and haven't had any real issues that I could attribute to VRAM issues, except for the CPU related lag that everyone gets in cities. Running on Ultra, no AA, 1920x1080, uGrids of 7 and GrassDistance of 14000.
 
Could be a number of things, good luck with the troubleshooting. Stuff can come out of left field when it comes to sudden inexplicable performance losses, background apps competing for resources, freakish mouse/keyboard/game incompatibility (F.E.A.R Logitech mouse bug) etc. The FEAR bug sounds almost exactly like what you're experiencing, hopefully it's not because they never did get that fixed properly.
 
Increasing ugrids could be causing trouble with the pcb command. If it's clearing a cell and reloading the cell over and over again, it's doing a lot of work trying to start and stop the AI scripts for nothing and the container lists get duplicated. Acceleration Layer will help with improved efficiency, but it's not going to solve the problem that's causing this. If you want to test lowering the ugrids, do it to a new save slot:
setini “ugridstoload:general” 5
saveini
refreshini
Create a new save game.
Exit and restart the game.
Click to expand...
 
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well I shouldn't have a problem running 7 grids but this is probably why it is defaulted to 5, because its 100% stable...

I made a few tweaks last night, like turning on Vsync through NVidia control panel as I heard turning that off completely has caused issues. Then this morning I fired up the game with the acceleration layer plugin, 15 minutes in and my FPS went from 40-50 down to 25 in all the same areas and even inside (where I normally get 60). I quit, de-activated the acceleration layer and played for 30 minutes with no slowdown, maybe this is just totally random. 25 FPS is not unplayable, but 40-50 is so much smoother.

I am 99% certain its either the UGrids = 7 or the GPU overclock and power throttling. My temps on the CPU never get over 50 and the GPU never over 55 while playing this game, which are both really low. Of course since I am playing at 2560X1440 it could be the VRAM since I only have 1.28GB.

The other strange part is that I have read about a similar problem on other sites where the FPS will drop in half but only for a little while or once they go to a different area (load screen) it goes away, for me once it drops it stays that low no matter where I am (constant 25 fps) until I restart the game.
 
I have the same problem. Normally I have 60 fps, but sometimes it goes down to 25-30 and only restart helps. Anyone found solution?
 
Why not run GPU-Z and see what your temps and vram usage is?
 
Just run GPU-Z or afterburner in the background, and alt-tab when it hits the problem. It'll plot over time so you can see where the limit is.
 
I have msi afterburner and everything is okay. temps are good. Problem is in game itself, but don't know exactly what it is or how to solve it.
 
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