• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim PC Performance discussion

KKRT00

Member
Its end of this page, so i spam with my AA comparison :) [i used Skyrim FXAA]

1280x1024 noAA
ibeFrU5qgh6viK.png


1280x1024 8x MSAA
iy5Sr0QeBsIpC.png


1280x1024 FXAA
ibbnYPMHqWvw1A.png


1280x1024 SMAA
ifEdV8NoYOxQn.png


1280x1024 4x MSAA + FXAA
iwL6DIWMoA5lM.png


1280x1024 8x MSAA + FXAA
ihFtoRoHnu5on.png



=======================
[1.5x1.5 OGSSAA]

1920x1536@1280x1024 FXAA
ihrvJmGsKJUFF.png


1920x1536@1280x1024 SMAA
ibiCumhWILcivD.png


1920x1536@1280x1024 4xMSAA [i'm playing on this settings ;p]
iLRYESqqQmcs.png


1920x1536@1280x1024 2xMSAA + FXAA
ioosUV3WRkIDn.png




===============
Ps. SMAA is quite heavy, more heavy than MSAA in OGSSAA in fact. And it brake subpixel infomation a little when combined with 4xMSAA in OGSSAA in motion, but its normal for postAA.

How can i change quality of SMAA? I know that i need to change preset, but where? In header there are only "#IF" defines and defining somewhere there dont do anything for me.
 
Anybody with a GTX 570 with 1280MB VRAM running out of VRAM with high-res textures etc? I am, Afterburner says I'm at 1262 MB of VRAM usage and when I turn too quickly it drops to 40 FPS, then back up to 60. :\

Tried dropping MSAA from 8x to 4x... didn't help. Maybe I just need to uninstall some of the high res textures.

God damn I can't wait for a 7950 with 3 GB of VRAM. <3
 

Dennis

Banned
The most noticeable thing is how FXAA blurs the fuck out of everything.

I feel that FXAA is only good for those who play at very low resolutions and have to get some AA even at the cost of that vaseline.

Higher resolutions, you would have to be nuts to use FXAA.
 

KKRT00

Member
The most noticeable thing is how FXAA blurs the fuck out of everything.

I feel that FXAA is only good for those who play at very low resolutions and have to get some AA even at the cost of that vaseline.

Higher resolutions, you would have to be nuts to use FXAA.

Yep, default Skyrim FXAA is really blurry, but combined with sharpening injector its quite neat, for its performance.
 

Special J

Banned
msaa sucks ass for the performance hit, the fact that it doesnt even work on any of the foilage makes it somewhat worthless.


@KKRT00

in smaa.fx

below this line add.
#define SMAA_HLSL_3 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_LOW 1

or...
#define SMAA_PRESET_MEDIUM 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_HIGH 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA 1
 

NBtoaster

Member
For AA I just use in game 8xAA enhanced with transparency supersampling, gives good foliage and generally great image quality, without much performance impact. No glitches like with transparency multisapling either:

tt6zjc1.jpg


njn2kkz6.jpg


I turned off depth of field too because I think it just muddies the landscape.
 

Enco

Member
The most noticeable thing is how FXAA blurs the fuck out of everything.

I feel that FXAA is only good for those who play at very low resolutions and have to get some AA even at the cost of that vaseline.

Higher resolutions, you would have to be nuts to use FXAA.
Sorry to bother you but do you know which palette you use for the shaders pack?

Also, how does MSAA compare to the built in AA? Is it faster? Better quality?
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
Reading the few feedback posts earlier, I can definitely use some extra help. In earnest, what I did earlier only took me about 25 minutes so it's something of a "pilot" like situation and definitely a concept that is shifting. Nothing finalized. From here, I can start doing something every Friday or Saturday to wrap things up or just do it on the end of the week day (Sunday).

I seen you post earlier Enco, if you want to come on board I would welcome that. We can talk about things and as long as we both keep up decently with the scene and cross reference mods to make sure they work, we can come to some top 5 and if there's more notable ones, add an honorable mention to the end of it.

And Kyaw, I agree but only got back to my PC until now. Next time I will do a quote like thing so it scales them down and you know you can shift click them to enlarge them? Something I found out on accident but it's pretty cool.
 
Hot damn, my game keeps crashing to desktop.

I've got a lot of mods in there, but I can't seem to figure out what's causing it, and problem is, it's like sometimes it will last for 30 minutes, and other times it will crash to desktop as soon as I hit 'continue'.

I jump back into the game and keep going and just keep trying to play as much as I can before it crashes again, but it's especially bad when I'm outside in the world of Skyrim. I'm having to save every 2 minutes, crash, open, reload, move, save, crash, reload - totally ruining the experience for me and I'm absolutely obsessed with this game right now.

Up until this moment I've been loading my mods just by dumping them into the Data/textures directory, and I'm pretty certain it couldn't be the textures causing the crash? Unless Skyrim4GB is overloaded? I know that I need to restore the game to default and start with my mods again with a Mod Manager, but I tried to remove the Horse 1.5x, Rich Merchants and a Blacksmith Upgrade (build missing weapons, and forge lockpicks etc) and it said my save files were corrupt and I almost cried, re-enabled and it worked again ok, so I'm afraid if I take everything out my saves won't work any more?

What do I do to remove the mods and keep my save files safe? I've made a copy of my current save files to ensure that they're backed up in-case I destroy them :/

Any other suggestions?

If I try and fix the game cache does that use the internet much? I'm capped until tomorrow at the moment and I have the whole day free today and I'd really like to play all day.

Also (this spoiler has something to do with the Companions) - do ppl suggest
becoming a warewolf?
Like is there a purpose for it, or can you just choose to avoid it all together?

This is the first Elder Scrolls game that has been 'right' for me, Oblivion I stopped after 15 hours, and Morrowind I lasted about 35, but I knew I wasn't going to like it form the start, but Skyrim I never want to end and that's good because it's SO big.

Cheers guys.

I know this is a hard one, but quoting just to make sure it doesn't get lost at the bottom of the last page.
 

Special J

Banned
ya i shoulda mentioned unless you tweak transparency multisampling, cant afford the gpu cost :<

@ColonialRaptor try increasing ugrid to 7 or 9
 

Dennis

Banned
Sorry to bother you but do you know which palette you use for the shaders pack?

Also, how does MSAA compare to the built in AA? Is it faster? Better quality?

I tried them all but if I recall correctly, I am currently using Cinematic as well as Sharpening (Default) from the Effects folder.
 

neoism

Member
The most noticeable thing is how FXAA blurs the fuck out of everything.

I feel that FXAA is only good for those who play at very low resolutions and have to get some AA even at the cost of that Vaseline.

Higher resolutions, you would have to be nuts to use FXAA.

yeah I use it at 720p.... but I was wondering. I have AA on 8x though my card. Is that good...ati 5870. It looks good, but not too bad with the Vaseline. lol I get a weird glitch affect on the edges with AA on though the game.
 

KKRT00

Member
@KKRT00

in smaa.fx

below this line add.
#define SMAA_HLSL_3 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_LOW 1

or...
#define SMAA_PRESET_MEDIUM 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_HIGH 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA 1
Thanks, its was next to my list to test [fx file] ;]
I'll tomorrow to do some more comparison between those settings.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I know this is a hard one, but quoting just to make sure it doesn't get lost at the bottom of the last page.

It's happened to me but VERY seldomly but did you try to backup and delete all but a few saves? Restore an older 1.1.21 exe and make it LAA? Recover the interface.bsa from the OP and replace the newer one? IF you are on mouse, unselect game pad in the menus. Start with a new ini for kicks then work some settings back in slowly. I know it's work but I'm giving the best knowledge and seeing if we can cross some things off before doing other things.
 
The most noticeable thing is how FXAA blurs the fuck out of everything.

I feel that FXAA is only good for those who play at very low resolutions and have to get some AA even at the cost of that vaseline.

Higher resolutions, you would have to be nuts to use FXAA.
What did you use to play DX: HR? I'm playing it with FXAA High and it looks okay. I notice more mild jaggies than any blurring, but it looks bad in Skyrim.
 

Enco

Member
I'm happy to help liquid. The next two weeks I won't have much time but after I'm set.

Thanks Dennis. I'll give it another shot later. I can't seem to get the right blur/bloom effect on your grass. Haven't had much time testing it though.
 
About to attempt to install Serious HD Retexture Landscape using the Mod Organizer. I read the OP, btw :p Anything else I should know? (performance hits, errors, etc.) Also, how do I return to vanilla if I choose to do so?
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
About to attempt to install Serious HD Retexture Landscape using the Mod Organizer. I read the OP, btw :p Anything else I should know? (performance hits, errors, etc.) Also, how do I return to vanilla if I choose to do so?

It shouldn't be unless you have tons of mods that are already eating up ram. If you have 2GB you should be fine.
 

K.Jack

Knowledge is power, guard it well
I need help with reverting my save back to default uGrids, following the console command instructions in the OP.

When I enter 'setini ugridstoload:general 5', I get:

Missing parameter String.

Compiled script not saved!

What am I doing wrong?
 
I need help with reverting my save back to default uGrids, following the console command instructions in the OP.

When I enter 'setini ugridstoload:general 5', I get:

Missing parameter String.

Compiled script not saved!

What am I doing wrong?

setini 'ugridstoload:general' 5
 
I know this is a hard one, but quoting just to make sure it doesn't get lost at the bottom of the last page.

When it said your saves were corrupt, did it still let you load them?

I got a similar message when I removed the Faster Horses mod, but I loaded it anyway and it worked fine. That's a pretty low-impact mod, though, so your situation might be different.
 
msaa sucks ass for the performance hit, the fact that it doesnt even work on any of the foilage makes it somewhat worthless.


@KKRT00

in smaa.fx

below this line add.
#define SMAA_HLSL_3 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_LOW 1

or...
#define SMAA_PRESET_MEDIUM 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_HIGH 1
#define SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA 1

You realize changing the presets in SMAA does nothing? It's locked to High until they update it.
 
I dont see this in the OP and i think it is one of the most important settings for getting Skyrim as smooth as possible...

Find out what your average FPS is and use bandicam to cap it to that, I can pull up up to 70 fps in most situations but still the game stutters like crazy going down to 50, 60, 45 fps...

I froze the FPS to 45 with Bandicam and the movement and camera are super smooth, you can try its effects on the fly by pressing the hotkey in bandicam, when off even in places where i get excellent FPS the game still stutters, just move the camera around and you will notice.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I dont see this in the OP and i think it is one of the most important settings for getting Skyrim as smooth as possible...

Find out what your average FPS is and use bandicam to cap it to that, I can pull up up to 70 fps in most situations but still the game stutters like crazy going down to 50, 60, 45 fps...

I froze the FPS to 45 with Bandicam and the movement and camera are super smooth, you can try its effects on the fly by pressing the hotkey in bandicam, when off even in places where i get excellent FPS the game still stutters, just move the camera around and you will notice.

I've done similar benches but have learned to live with my 60 with dips from time to time.
 

Special J

Banned
You realize changing the presets in SMAA does nothing? It's locked to High until they update it.

uh yea it does make a difference. header file has this set of define logic. i've already posted the difference in performance between them and there are visual differences.

#if SMAA_PRESET_LOW == 1
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.15
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 4
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 0
#define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 100
#elif SMAA_PRESET_MEDIUM == 1
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.1
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 8
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 0
#define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 100
#elif SMAA_PRESET_HIGH == 1
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.1
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 16
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 8
#define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 25
#elif SMAA_PRESET_ULTRA == 1
#define SMAA_THRESHOLD 0.05
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS 32
#define SMAA_MAX_SEARCH_STEPS_DIAG 16
#define SMAA_CORNER_ROUNDING 25
#endif
 

neoism

Member
so guys I was reading the Ps3 thread about the skyrim saves.... does PC have any problems with this... also how big is some of your latest file save... mine is 10,545 only got 75 hours... :/
 

Erethian

Member
so guys I was reading the Ps3 thread about the skyrim saves.... does PC have any problems with this... also how big is some of your latest file save... mine is 10,545 only got 75 hours... :/

It's not an issue, because of the vast memory difference between even a reasonable PC and the PS3.
 

Grassy

Member
For. Fuck. Sake.

Had to get Steam out of Offline mode to get in touch with a mate, the shitty forced updated starts and screws up my game. Then I need to get the 4GB thing, nexus site keeps giving me a "connection timed out" when trying to download.

Valve needs to fuck off and let us PERMANENTLY turn off auto-updating.

The only way I managed to stop Steam auto-downloading was by going to Skyrim>Properties then unchecking the box for "Enable Steam Community In-Game". No more auto-updating now.

If you need any of the original files, TESV.exe/Skyrim - Interface.bsa and Update.esm are all in this zip file so you can revert back to 1.1 - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=8K1K0WTW
 

Grinchy

Banned
^I don't know that it's a glitch or a problem. I was just under the impression that this game has incredibly shitty shadows.
 

squared

Member
I realize I need to use Transparency Supersampling too, I'm using Vurts Flora Overhaul and the games 8xAA setting, and the foliage look pretty crappy when viewed especially with the sky as backdrop..

I have a Imgur album with some shots, i'd be happy if anyone wanted to take a look :)
http://imgur.com/a/psJe2
 

Enco

Member
About to attempt to install Serious HD Retexture Landscape using the Mod Organizer. I read the OP, btw :p Anything else I should know? (performance hits, errors, etc.) Also, how do I return to vanilla if I choose to do so?
Just untick the mod in MO or right click on it and click remove mod.

Or delete the mods folder in the MO directory manually.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I realize I need to use Transparency Supersampling too, I'm using Vurts Flora Overhaul and the games 8xAA setting, and the foliage look pretty crappy when viewed especially with the sky as backdrop..

I have a Imgur album with some shots, i'd be happy if anyone wanted to take a look :)
http://imgur.com/a/psJe2

Did you turn on transparency multi-sampling in the ini? That alone will help with rough looking leaves. I do wish I could have more AA options. Rivatuner is something I have been looking at but only by name. I don't know if it offers more options for tuning as RadeonPro.
 

NBtoaster

Member
Did you turn on transparency multi-sampling in the ini? That alone will help with rough looking leaves. I do wish I could have more AA options. Rivatuner is something I have been looking at but only by name. I don't know if it offers more options for tuning as RadeonPro.

I don't think that option in the ini does anything.
 

kikori

Neo Member
For those of you using the Skyrim4GB LAA method from the Nexus, it looks like this suffers from a small problem that I had also noticed with the author's earlier FONV LAA mod: once you're finished playing the game, the mod's skyrim4gb.exe process does not terminate on its own. Last night I noticed that I had 66 instances of it running on my system thanks to me restarting the game a bunch of times to mess with various graphics settings. It's already been pointed out in the mod's comments, but the FONV one never got fixed, so I'm not holding my breath.

To work around it, I wrote a short AutoHotkey script that starts the game and then just forcibly closes the skyrim4gb.exe process once Skyrim itself exits. I'd be happy to share if anyone's interested.
 

Jubbly

Member
For those of you using the Skyrim4GB LAA method from the Nexus, it looks like this suffers from a small problem that I had also noticed with the author's earlier FONV LAA mod: once you're finished playing the game, the mod's skyrim4gb.exe process does not terminate on its own. Last night I noticed that I had 66 instances of it running on my system thanks to me restarting the game a bunch of times to mess with various graphics settings. It's already been pointed out in the mod's comments, but the FONV one never got fixed, so I'm not holding my breath.

To work around it, I wrote a short AutoHotkey script that just forcibly closes the process once Skyrim itself exits. I'd be happy to share if anyone's interested.

Not had that problem once.
 

ss_lemonade

Member
Is there a mod or ini fix that makes the shadows update in realtime? Seems like they update only after every few seconds and it looks plain weird.
 

LiquidMetal14

hide your water-based mammals
I don't think that option in the ini does anything.

It did for me.

Is there a mod or ini fix that makes the shadows update in realtime? Seems like they update only after every few seconds and it looks plain weird.

From the OP

Note on timescale's
If the timescale breaks a quest, change it back to the default (30) until done.
~set timescale to XX (Replace XX with number, use 1 for 24hour cycle). Changes the speed of day/night cycle.
~show timescale- View the current timescale.

Setting it to 1 will make the shadows not do that anymore or at least make it far less noticeable.
 

nataku

Member
I wish I could figure out what is causing my game to crash. It seems like loading any mods at all will randomly cause me to CTD, even with the Skyrim 4GB mod. Without any mods loaded except Skyrim 4GB I can play for hours without an issue.

EDIT: Also, the Realistic Water Texture mod says I need to check "Load Loose Files" in the launcher, but it never sticks. As soon as I hit OK and re-open the data section in the launcher load loose files is un-ticked again. Is there no way to permanently set it as ticked?
 

bananaman1234

Unconfirmed Member
Is there a mod or ini fix that makes the shadows update in realtime? Seems like they update only after every few seconds and it looks plain weird.

fSunUpdateThreshold=0.125 in skyrim.ini under display makes it update at a faster rate. You don't want it updating in real time as you will get shadow shimmering constantly.
 
Top Bottom