Tweaking Skyrim Image Quality @ [H]

aggies11 said:
Probably loading more geometry since it's near the city? Toggle the wireframe (twm console command) see the diff between views that are normal, and framerate drops. I personally find that it's mostly a case of excess geometry becoming a chokepoint.
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I'd like to say that but other cities are fine. Even in the country side around Riften have a lot of issues. There's even one point where the game locks up as it loads whenever you pass it (along the SW side of Riften). It does it every time. Something is funny in that area of the world.
 
4.4ghz 2500k, so not sure but doubtful.

I found this post in the Nvidia boards. It's the same problem I'm noticing. When around 40-55 FPS the game is stuttery. It's not smooth at all. It's really noticeable when you move side to side. It maintains 40-55 FPS but the image seems to quickly jump frame to frame rather than smoothly transition. It's hard to explain.
Problem is, when I'm playing - game is smooth, but when fps drop under 60, even to 55-56fps game is getting laggy.

I did a research about this particular problem. I've found some solution:
1. Disable vsync, and use fps limiter - doesn't solve problem, and I get tearing (hate it).
2. Use 4gb mod - game is more stable, but lag problem still exist.
3. Disable vsync in game, and force it via drivers/D3DOverider.
4. Use performance .dll from skyrimnexus - no impact at all.
5. Lower/disable AA/Aniso - well it's weird but AA/Aniso has veeeery minimal impact on my performance (like 1-2fps). I've tried to disable it via drivers too.
6. Tried 3 different drivers - new BETA seems to have worse performance, I stick to last whql. (I'm using driver sweeper to clean old drivers).
7. Tried to force GPU to render 1-2 frames ahead. Well it solves problem partially. Lag is lowered, but game is running @ 40fps max (game is less smooth) instead constant 60 with drops to 50-55 (when my mouse/controller is lagging.
8. Tried to reinstall Steam/Game

Lowering graphical settings is not a solution. Sorry. I've bought PC which is capable to handle this game on ultra with 40-60+ fps so it should be smooth (at least other games are when I'm getting this amount of fps).

I've switched to my old Ati HD4870 - problems seems to not occur. When I'm getting lower than 60fps there is no lag at all.
I can't set setting to high/ultra on this card, so I'm asking for help.
Please, does anyone have similar problem ? Is it some game's glitch that only happens to my pc configuration ? Any ideas what I can do ?
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The "jitter" or stutter, (non smooth movement) is a trademark of these games/engine.

There is problems with latency in the code, specifically latency spikes on things that aren't changing from scene to scene. So you end up with momentary frametime spikes, which interrupts the feeling of smooth movement.

Very noticable in a game like this with lots of straight line movement and large open scenes (so slow steady movement/panning, that is very visible if choppy).

If every 5th frame is taking 10-15 more ms to render, that is definitely gonna give the appearance of non smooth movement (jerky, hitching, etc).

I think there were mods/patches for the previous games to try and allieviate this (hacks to improve memory management, data structures, etc) although I don't remember too much. I just try not to pay too much attention to it .
 
bigdogchris said:
4.4ghz 2500k, so not sure but doubtful.

I found this post in the Nvidia boards. It's the same problem I'm noticing. When around 40-55 FPS the game is stuttery. It's not smooth at all. It's really noticeable when you move side to side. It maintains 40-55 FPS but the image seems to quickly jump frame to frame rather than smoothly transition. It's hard to explain.
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gUYS, this is easily fixed by forcing vsync and using a fps limiter to around 45-60 fps, I like 45 the best. It cures the stutter.

The best way to do this is use a fxaa injector mod such as iccc which includes ENB series stuff that gives you a fps coutner and limiter plus the beneifits of the fxaa injector.
 
I notice that cities and a few towns in general always cause the game to drop down in the 40s at times. In a couple spots it's down to the mid 30s.

I can be constant 60 fps anywhere else in the world, but it's those damn cities.

Any suggestions as to drivers? I saw a few posts above that the most recent whql runs better than beta. Confirm/deny? I'm not using AO or sli so assuming there were no performance increases in the betas it makes sense. Also makes me wonder if there will be performance increases down the road?

I've given up on playing the game seriously until people have had time with the creation kit and hopefully get the game performing better too...just fiddling around installing texture mods.
 
Wazooty said:
I notice that cities and a few towns in general always cause the game to drop down in the 40s at times. In a couple spots it's down to the mid 30s.

I can be constant 60 fps anywhere else in the world, but it's those damn cities.

Any suggestions as to drivers? I saw a few posts above that the most recent whql runs better than beta. Confirm/deny? I'm not using AO or sli so assuming there were no performance increases in the betas it makes sense. Also makes me wonder if there will be performance increases down the road?

I've given up on playing the game seriously until people have had time with the creation kit and hopefully get the game performing better too...just fiddling around installing texture mods.
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Me too. I would wager that there will definitely be performance tweaks and fixes once the tools are released. Modders always come along and fix Bethesda's problems. We'll get properly rendered AO, properly implemented HDR, proper threading, fixed shadows, and most importantly, a properly designed user interface.

I just can't stand how long it takes to do anything with this atrocious UI... Did they not notice that when a Deathlord shouts and you drop your weapon, you have to: Open Inventory > Find item > Favorite Item > Close inventory > Open Quick Menu > Bind item > Equip Item. It's ludicrous.
 
aggies11 said:
The "jitter" or stutter, (non smooth movement) is a trademark of these games/engine.

There is problems with latency in the code, specifically latency spikes on things that aren't changing from scene to scene. So you end up with momentary frametime spikes, which interrupts the feeling of smooth movement.

Very noticable in a game like this with lots of straight line movement and large open scenes (so slow steady movement/panning, that is very visible if choppy).

If every 5th frame is taking 10-15 more ms to render, that is definitely gonna give the appearance of non smooth movement (jerky, hitching, etc).
Click to expand...
Yeah that's basically what it is, I notice when panning slowly across any scene being rendered under 50ish fps
 
oozish said:
gUYS, this is easily fixed by forcing vsync and using a fps limiter to around 45-60 fps, I like 45 the best. It cures the stutter.

The best way to do this is use a fxaa injector mod such as iccc which includes ENB series stuff that gives you a fps coutner and limiter plus the beneifits of the fxaa injector.
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I would be willing to try that but I want no FXAA injector or tone mapping changes. Going to try this mod first http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=34 and set it to say 40 FPS. Should be good enough.

Nice comparison of 25 FPS to 50 FPS. 50 FPS is definitely smoother (for those who say humans don't notice over 30 FPS) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/athlon-ii-x3-440-gaming-performance,2619-2.html
 
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aggies11 said:
The "jitter" or stutter, (non smooth movement) is a trademark of these games/engine.

There is problems with latency in the code, specifically latency spikes on things that aren't changing from scene to scene. So you end up with momentary frametime spikes, which interrupts the feeling of smooth movement.

Very noticable in a game like this with lots of straight line movement and large open scenes (so slow steady movement/panning, that is very visible if choppy).

If every 5th frame is taking 10-15 more ms to render, that is definitely gonna give the appearance of non smooth movement (jerky, hitching, etc).

I think there were mods/patches for the previous games to try and allieviate this (hacks to improve memory management, data structures, etc) although I don't remember too much. I just try not to pay too much attention to it .
Click to expand...

Streamline was the Oblivion Script Extender mod that replaced code in how frames are rendered, among other things. That is the only thing that will completely remove stutter and microstutter from the gamebryo engine. The funny thing is that jaga rarely talked about fixing the microstutter, with the number of performance features he added, he never listed it as a feature. Fallout 3 also has a bad microstutter, but Streamline was never ported over. I think I used a controller for a while to get around the microstutter, before getting sick of it and going back to making mods for oblivion.
 
Well the FPS limiter worked but only if the FPS cap was set to lower than the FPS where it is stuttering. So for me, setting it to cap at 30 FPS I saw no stutter (that was normally happening around 45-55 FPS). The frames were smooth. I just don't like 30 FPS though when I'm used to 60 in most area's.

One way to really test this is to let the game idle. When it pans around your character in an area where your FPS dips, you can easily see the stutter when the frames drop.
 
For those having framerate problems, you might want to run a GPU monitoring program in the background to check a few things. On my system, I found that the low framerate I was getting was due to the GPU being under-utilized (which is pretty much a Bethesda trademark).

It doesn't matter which of my systems I use, GPU usage always tanks in city/populated areas, especially when you look at the center of the town, with the largest concentration of people. I'm lucky if I see the GPUs hit 18% when looking at the city center of Riften, but I always get high 50-60% usage when staring at a wall or in a cave.

I'm just accepting that a lowered framerate is normal now, since changing any sort of settings has little impact. Maybe at some point someone at Bethesda or nVidia will figure out how to fix it.
 
I was reading up on TESVAL. It doesn't surprise me that a lot of developers like Bethesda still don't use the retail optimization flags when they compile the game.. You know all that hard work improving the performance of CPU instructions for about a decade. This script extender plugin injects a few of these code optimizations where the game needs it the most. It improves CPU performance in some of the worst locations, with up to a 40% increase in fps.
TESV Acceleration Layer

There is another project based on TESV Acceleration Layer, called SkyBoost, which has been converted from ASM to C++ to work with Windows 8. And it includes a few more code optimizations, however, it is still in early stages and may have bugs. TESVAL is a completely stable release, but SkyBoost will have more active development going forward. Both mods will only work on the intended version of the game, and require updating every time TESV.exe changes to address the new patch locations.
SkyBoost
 
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When walking up to castles, etc, moss on the stone/stairs pops in very late. Any INI tweak for that?

Also, parked my character in a lower FPS area (was getting around 39FPS). I enabled the script extender and gained a few FPS, and it also helped to almost completely eliminate the stutter I was getting.
 
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Hi. i edited my ini file with these values:

iShadowMapResolution=8192

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=32

fGrassStartFadeDistance=14000.0000

And outdooors it runs fine but when im indoors i take a dramatic framerat hit. i get like 5fps indoors. How comes?

i have a overclocked i7 920 do at 3.8 and my 480gtx clocked at 875mhz.
 
jonneymendoza said:
Hi. i edited my ini file with these values:

iShadowMapResolution=8192

iBlurDeferredShadowMask=32

fGrassStartFadeDistance=14000.0000

And outdooors it runs fine but when im indoors i take a dramatic framerat hit. i get like 5fps indoors. How comes?

i have a overclocked i7 920 do at 3.8 and my 480gtx clocked at 875mhz.
Click to expand...

Drop the shadows to 4096 - 8192 kills indoor frame rates.
 
bigdogchris said:
When walking up to castles, etc, moss on the stone/stairs pops in very late. Any INI tweak for that?

Also, parked my character in a lower FPS area (was getting around 39FPS). I enabled the script extender and gained a few FPS, and it also helped to almost completely eliminate the stutter I was getting.
Click to expand...

I did the same..skse + acceleration layer pretty much keeps my Skyrim above 60fps consistently now, running on the rig in my signature.

Pretty impressed what these guys were able to do!.
 
agentdomo said:
Anyone try enbseries?
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Tried many enb configurations...not a huge fan always too bright or too sharpened from my experience, much prefer Donotargue.com DNA ultra extreme settings ini file. I use this with preset 2 of post process FXAA injector mod.
 
Just gave Skyboost a go. It works even better than Acceleration Layer.
(in Makarth standing at the smelter looking up..used to get to high 30's..now getting 45+ with Skyboost, that one spot is only spot I'm getting lag *below 60fps*, no lag in any other part of Makarth, any other town or parts of the map I've seen so far.)

cheers for that.
 
The new beta 1.4 patch provides considerably more performance than even r4 does. I got 45 fps at the top of dragonsreach stairs with r4, now I get 60.

I'm running ugrids at 7 and the only times my fps ever goes below 58 is when the game is loading a different section of your immediate surroundings, like when you turn around. And keep in mind the 58 is in some of the more demanding areas of the game, it's 60 98% of the time.

This is with all sorts of texture mods

I bet an SSD would help alleviate the loading fps drops...maybe a ramdisk.

Edit: even setting ugrids to 9 managed to keep the game between 50-60, dropping only when turning and the game was rendering new stuff for me to see. Though the drops were much more common and much more severe. Again, I want to try a ramdisk.
 
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I'm running 1.3 patch, but for some reason I still need to use the old skyrim4gb.exe for game not to crash during load. It's tweaked heavily with uGrids 7, HD textures, realistic water (ultra). Performance dropped heavily with average of 35fps (with drops to low 20s) outside, ~45fps inside with 99% GPU usage. Skyboost didn't seem to help any.

Game is playable and I'm too lazy to find the performance hog for this one, but I suspect it's http://www.skyrimnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=711 (RWT) or trees/grass tweaks as performance dips heavily near large water pools or when surrounded by foliage.
 
Wazooty said:
The new beta 1.4 patch provides considerably more performance than even r4 does. I got 45 fps at the top of dragonsreach stairs with r4, now I get 60.

I'm running ugrids at 7 and the only times my fps ever goes below 58 is when the game is loading a different section of your immediate surroundings, like when you turn around. And keep in mind the 58 is in some of the more demanding areas of the game, it's 60 98% of the time.

This is with all sorts of texture mods

I bet an SSD would help alleviate the loading fps drops...maybe a ramdisk.

Edit: even setting ugrids to 9 managed to keep the game between 50-60, dropping only when turning and the game was rendering new stuff for me to see. Though the drops were much more common and much more severe. Again, I want to try a ramdisk.
Click to expand...

In my experience, using a RAMDisk is negligible over using a decent SSD. I tried using a RAMDisk for a game that had a lot of HD streaming, and it was actually worse with the RAMDisk over SSD (way more stuttering). I think there is a lot of overhead involved with RAMDisk and that's why it's not as good.
 
Yes the BETA patch helps a lot in cities, particularly if you're using the ultra preset. Ultra shadows hit the CPU well.

If you aren't satisfied with your FPS in cities even after applying the patch use the ultra preset but manually reduce your shadows to the high setting.

Dropping their distance is another way to net more FPS too. You could leave them on ultra but reduce the distance to 6000 instead of 8000.
 
Anybody had this issue of shadows with stripes when outdoors? look at these images as I walk closer to a rock wall for instance...there is a definitive line where the shadows/shading turn from stripy to normal. I have Shadow striping fix mod installed

http://i.imgur.com/Yi4tk.jpg
(look at the rock on the right of screen and snow ahead - Far away).
http://i.imgur.com/D20go.jpg
(now look at the snow ahead...the definitive line where shading is ok when I walk closer).

http://i.imgur.com/Hmyv2.jpg
(again rock straight ahead - Far away)
http://i.imgur.com/EZhYS.jpg
(same rock - A little bit closer)

SLI 580 with latest beta drivers, 2560x1440, 2xMSAA, FXAA + realistic lighting mod, HD texture pack. Tried turning AO off.. didn't fix it at all.

Any help would be appreciated...bit of a newbie when it comes to PC gaming
 
I know this is old but mhmmm!
Game was already running with several graphics enhancing mods but the INI. tweaks worked veeeerrrryy wellll.
Im loving it.
 
Gaaaah, I've been playing skyrim for the past week using uGridsToLoad=7. I decided to try switching back to uGridsToLoad=5, so first I zipped up my skyrim folder (just in case something goes wrong) and followed the steps that the guides suggest. However, something seems to have been buggered up and my saves were still crashing. So, I deleted my skyrim folder and restored the zip file that I made when everything was still working with uGridsToLoad=7.... but I'm still crashing when I load my saves!!!

Does anyone have any idea what I may be missing here? Shouldn't have restoring a backup of when everything worked.... work? Why does it still crash? uGridsToLoad=7 is in my ini file, and it should be part of the saves, but it still crashes.

Older saves are still working, but I'll be very sad to have lost my entire week of gameplay. :(
 
To fix a save modified with grids to anything but five do the following: (Taken from the below website)\

http://www./optimize/guides/five-fa...uaranteed-to-make-your-game-look-even-better/


"Now, let’s go through the steps to revert back to uGridsToLoad=5 should the tweak prove too demanding for your system, or if Skyrim becomes unstable:

Backup SkyrimPrefs.ini, Skyrim.ini and your Skyrim ‘Saves’ folder.
Right click on Skyrim.ini in My Documents\My Games\Skyrim and uncheck ‘Read Only’ in the file’s properties.
Load your last save game.
Press tilde on your keyboard, most commonly placed directly to the left of ‘1.’ If it is elsewhere, the keyboard symbol should be ` or ~.
In the now-visible in-game console type setini “ugridstoload:general” 5
Hit Return on your keyboard.
Type saveini
Hit Return on your keyboard.
Type refreshini
Hit Return on your keyboard.
Close the console using tilde.
Create a new save game.
Exit Skyrim.
Delete Skyrim.ini in My Documents\My Games\Skyrim.
Reload the Skyrim configuration tool.
Close the tool.
Re-tweak Skyrim.ini if necessary (and SkyrimPrefs.ini if it has since been modified).
Reload Skyrim and your most recent save.
Enjoy the game.

The process sounds time consuming when detailed as above, but in practice it takes only a few minutes to revert uGridsToLoad to 5, so we definitely encourage you to give uGridsToLoad=7 a whirl as it really does improve the overall quality of the game’s graphics by a significant degree. Note that if you only test the performance impact, and never save the game, you only need to undo the Skyrim.ini changes to revert back to uGridsToLoad=5."
 
I think I just solved my problem. I had to delete the skyrim.ini file that was in my Steam\steamapps\common\skyrim\Data folder. For some reason it was also causing my menu screen to have a reddish tint. After removing that, my reddish tint is gone, and my old saves with ugridstoload 7 work again! Still not sure how to revert it back to ugrids 5 though.
 
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