The OFFICIAL Anandtech Forums TeS V: Skyrim Thread

[lkailburn]

I experienced CPU bottlenecking in Oblivion with a Q9650@4GHz. Outside Anvil, standing in the tall grass by Anvil farm was a good location to test this.

I tested both with a GTX 260 and a GTX 570. Both was in the low 30FPS at that spot. This was at 1920x1200. Most places it ran at Vsync 60FPS though. Obviously, Oblivion is an old game and a GTX 260 was really enough to run it. Then I tried both the GTX 260 and GTX 570 in a 2500K@4.5GHz system. In the same spot I got 60FPS. There where several other CPU bottlenecking locations in the game too.

Oh, and turning down the resolution made no difference.

Pretty funny when you think about it.. GTX 260 to GTX 570 made no difference, it was the CPU bottlenecking this old game. Q9650 is not older than this game, it just goes to show how poorly coded it's game engine is. And that a CPU released 5 year later was able to get much better performance in it, due to raw power.

Skyrim uses a more modified graphics engine VS Oblivion, but still I would guess anything like a Q9xxx or AMD Phenom will bottleneck this game too. Not everywhere, but in some locations.

With full ultra and 6GB+ of HD res packs loaded i get mostly 50-60FPS with a few 40FPS spots and a very few 20fps spots. So yeah definitely some CPU bottlenecking going on. I did some simple CPU OC'ing and in the same spot getting 24FPS i was able to bump it up to i think 33 or 34 FPS

-Luke

 

[arkcom]

Anybody use enb and know how to fix this bright / white water and horizon problem?

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I experienced CPU bottlenecking in Oblivion with a Q9650@4GHz. Outside Anvil, standing in the tall grass by Anvil farm was a good location to test this.

I tested both with a GTX 260 and a GTX 570. Both was in the low 30FPS at that spot. This was at 1920x1200. Most places it ran at Vsync 60FPS though. Obviously, Oblivion is an old game and a GTX 260 was really enough to run it. Then I tried both the GTX 260 and GTX 570 in a 2500K@4.5GHz system. In the same spot I got 60FPS. There where several other CPU bottlenecking locations in the game too.

Oh, and turning down the resolution made no difference.

Pretty funny when you think about it.. GTX 260 to GTX 570 made no difference, it was the CPU bottlenecking this old game. Q9650 is not older than this game, it just goes to show how poorly coded it's game engine is. And that a CPU released 5 year later was able to get much better performance in it, due to raw power.

Skyrim uses a more modified graphics engine VS Oblivion, but still I would guess anything like a Q9xxx or AMD Phenom will bottleneck this game too. Not everywhere, but in some locations.

Skyrim offloads some graphics processing to the CPU, hence the reason the CPU can really act as a bottleneck. Shadows are processed CPU-side for sure, so if you're getting really bad bottlenecking, turn your shadows down and see if it helps.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Anybody use enb and know how to fix this bright / white water and horizon problem?

Which ENB config and ENB version are you using? Have you entered the following commands in your SkyrimPrefs.ini:

bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bShadowsOnGrass=1
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

 

[The_Golden_Man]

Skyrim offloads some graphics processing to the CPU, hence the reason the CPU can really act as a bottleneck. Shadows are processed CPU-side for sure, so if you're getting really bad bottlenecking, turn your shadows down and see if it helps.

I've always used shadows on high instead of Ultra High in Skyrim. Even with my 2600K system (In signature) Ultra high shadows will make the game drop below 60FPS a few places. Shadows on high will keep it pegged at 60FPS.

You can soften the shadows via ini tweaks anyway, so they will look much better.

 

[lkailburn]

Is there another setting known to be CPU intensive besides shadows? I just changed my shadows from ultra to medium and saw no FPS change. The spot i'm testing is up in Markarth where you're overlooking the smith hut thing. That whole city runs at around 24fps for me if i'm looking at a major part of the city. The rest of the game is twice that FPS.

-Luke

 

[shortylickens]

Is there another setting known to be CPU intensive besides shadows? I just changed my shadows from ultra to medium and saw no FPS change. The spot i'm testing is up in Markarth where you're overlooking the smith hut thing. That whole city runs at around 24fps for me if i'm looking at a major part of the city. The rest of the game is twice that FPS.

-Luke

Markarth probably has more misc. crap floating around than any other city. I would not be surprised if its the biggest performance hit in the game.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Is there another setting known to be CPU intensive besides shadows? I just changed my shadows from ultra to medium and saw no FPS change. The spot i'm testing is up in Markarth where you're overlooking the smith hut thing. That whole city runs at around 24fps for me if i'm looking at a major part of the city. The rest of the game is twice that FPS.

-Luke

I would imagine that's one of the most CPU intensive places in the game. There's a lot of NPC activity, smoke, fog and water, in addition to the relatively complex geometry of that area, so I would think that would show a big CPU bottleneck. You'll see similar slowdowns on the steps of Dragonsreach overlooking Whiterun and in the market of Riften, and those both have lots of NPCs and water, so I'm guessing that stuff is done CPU-side.

 

[arkcom]

Which ENB config and ENB version are you using? Have you entered the following commands in your SkyrimPrefs.ini:

bTreesReceiveShadows=1
bDrawLandShadows=1
bShadowsOnGrass=1
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1

It was something in enbseries.ini. Don't know what specifically, though.

I'm kinda giving up on enb for now. I can't get over the ugly contrast killing fog/blur/smear that happens mostly in the caves. It doesn't seem to be associated with any specific effect, as I turned off everything one by one, and never noticed an improvement.

 

[Dahak]

Anyone know any good content mods? Im looking to level up my guy atleast to 75 currently 6? something cant remember. wish there was a way to do sorta like a new game + mode

tried leveling by using magic as i had not used a lot of it, but its slow going.

 

[Qbah]

Went to the shop, gave back the 2GB model, ordered the 4GB one and extra 4GB of system RAM It will be ready for pickup on Wednesday :awe: No restocking fee, no extra charge, just the card price difference (+$35) and RAM ($85) :awe:

Maxed textures here I come :awe: :awe:

 

[lkailburn]

Went to the shop, gave back the 2GB model, ordered the 4GB one and extra 4GB of system RAM It will be ready for pickup on Wednesday :awe: No restocking fee, no extra charge, just the card price difference (+$35) and RAM ($85) :awe:

Maxed textures here I come :awe: :awe:

Heck yah! That is awesome!

 

[Atomic Playboy]

Anyone know any good content mods? Im looking to level up my guy atleast to 75 currently 6? something cant remember. wish there was a way to do sorta like a new game + mode

tried leveling by using magic as i had not used a lot of it, but its slow going.

I don't know much in the way of content mods, since I like to play as close to Vanilla as possible, but here's a couple ideas. Note that I haven't actually used any of these except the Uncapper (which I recommend), these are just content mods that have proven popular on Skyrim Nexus:

Skyrim Community Uncapper: Raises level caps from 100 to 300+, allows characters to collect all perks and tweak values for leveling individual skills or abilities.

Alternate Start - Live Another Life: Start a new game without playing through the dragon attack on Helgen, instead opting for a new backstory (such as the survivor of a shipwreck, being an agent for the Vigilants of Stendarr, being left for dead in the wilderness, etc.).

Skyrim Redone: A complete overhaul of skill trees, perks, racial abilities, combat, enemy scaling, standing stones... basically everything. Pretty massive overhaul, fairly popular with people who aren't satisfied with Vanilla Skyrim.

Midas Magic - Spells in Skyrim: Adds a wide variety of new spells to Skyrim.

Deadly Dragons: Makes the dragons much stronger and more difficult to kill.

Total Realism: Adds basic needs for thirst, hunger and sleep.

Frostfall: Adds cold weather survival to Skyrim.

I recommend browsing around Skyrim Nexus and browsing for popular content mods. There's a huge amount of stuff out there, surely something that will appeal to you specifically.

As far as leveling magic is concerned, did you remember to activate the Mage Stone so you'll level your magic skills 20% faster? My current character is doing some dungeon diving at level 60 and I leveled my Destruction up to 100 (from 25) in 8 dungeons or so thanks to all the high level draugr and dragon priests. It really goes remarkably quick if you're facing high-level enemies (and you turn your difficulty up).

 

[Agent11]

Alternative start is pretty buggy atm. Frostfall is great, it needs to be updated to work with climates of tamriel though.

 

[dennilfloss]

That pet (summoned) dragon is so affectionate. Loves to repeatedly nudge its muzzle against my character like a kitty cat. ^_^

 

[Atomic Playboy]

New rumors about upcoming DLC: It will be called Dragonborn and it will return to lands visited in Morrowind.

 

[ArenCordial]

For those of you at work who can't click on the link or check the Bethesda forums, here is what the files in the patch hint at.

The new DLC will be called Dragonborn
-Mages get mounted casting (this will probably happen in a patch prior to the release of the DLC).
-Dragon mounts with mounted combat
-We return to Solstheim (where the Morrowind Expansion Bloodmoon took place - and it makes sense its cold with a Nord and Dark Elf heavy population)
-New Armor Types: Bonemold, Chitin, Nordic, and Stalhrim.
-We may be taking a trip to see the Apocrypha, the realm of Daedric Prince Herma-Mora.
-And last but not least: Spears!

 

[Dahak]

I don't know much in the way of content mods, since I like to play as close to Vanilla as possible, but here's a couple ideas. Note that I haven't actually used any of these except the Uncapper (which I recommend), these are just content mods that have proven popular on Skyrim Nexus:

Skyrim Community Uncapper: Raises level caps from 100 to 300+, allows characters to collect all perks and tweak values for leveling individual skills or abilities.

Alternate Start - Live Another Life: Start a new game without playing through the dragon attack on Helgen, instead opting for a new backstory (such as the survivor of a shipwreck, being an agent for the Vigilants of Stendarr, being left for dead in the wilderness, etc.).

Skyrim Redone: A complete overhaul of skill trees, perks, racial abilities, combat, enemy scaling, standing stones... basically everything. Pretty massive overhaul, fairly popular with people who aren't satisfied with Vanilla Skyrim.

Midas Magic - Spells in Skyrim: Adds a wide variety of new spells to Skyrim.

Deadly Dragons: Makes the dragons much stronger and more difficult to kill.

Total Realism: Adds basic needs for thirst, hunger and sleep.

Frostfall: Adds cold weather survival to Skyrim.

I recommend browsing around Skyrim Nexus and browsing for popular content mods. There's a huge amount of stuff out there, surely something that will appeal to you specifically.

As far as leveling magic is concerned, did you remember to activate the Mage Stone so you'll level your magic skills 20% faster? My current character is doing some dungeon diving at level 60 and I leveled my Destruction up to 100 (from 25) in 8 dungeons or so thanks to all the high level draugr and dragon priests. It really goes remarkably quick if you're facing high-level enemies (and you turn your difficulty up).

I'll have to look into some of those, was thinking about Skyrim Community Uncapper already but did not know about skyrim redone.

yea tried looking at nexus but too many mods

 

[mmntech]

Deadly Dragons: Makes the dragons much stronger and more difficult to kill.

Dragons are pretty weak all things considered. I can slay them like a machine but still get my ass handed to my by higher level bandits.

New rumors about upcoming DLC: It will be called Dragonborn and it will return to lands visited in Morrowind.

I've been debating getting Dawnguard since a lot of mods seem to require it now. But $20 is a tall order with a 63% metacritic score. Skyrim hasn't had a strong DLC pack yet. Hopefully this one is it. Sounds good so far.

 

[Face2Face]

New rumors about upcoming DLC: It will be called Dragonborn and it will return to lands visited in Morrowind.

Looking forward to it!!!

if you guys want to see what may be in future DLC's just watch this video -

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9A6QHLIWg0

 

[Agent11]

revisiting morrowind is the best thing they could do.

 

[shortylickens]

revisiting morrowind is the best thing they could do.

Yup, that was the best game with (in shorty's opinion) the best character building. Tons of skills, plenty of challenge, lots of unique goodies, excellent world and history and culture and flora and fauna.
If they decide to remake any game, or revisit the world, thats the one to do.

 

[ArenCordial]

revisiting morrowind is the best thing they could do.

Its not actually Morrowind or Vvardenfall though so keep that in mind. Its the island from Bloodmoon. We will probably see some dark elf architecture and a Telvanni tower though.

I've been debating getting Dawnguard since a lot of mods seem to require it now. But $20 is a tall order with a 63% metacritic score. Skyrim hasn't had a strong DLC pack yet. Hopefully this one is it. Sounds good so far.

I actually liked Dawnguard. The problem with it however, is not the content but the pricing.

At $20 its way overpriced
At $15 its still overpriced
At $10 I'd say its a fair value for DLCs these days
At $5 its a steal

If I were you I'd grab it on a holiday sale for the next time you feel like running through Skyrim.

 

[The_Golden_Man]

Yeah, Dawnguard is fine, for the right price though. Hearthfire is not worth a penny. And even if it was free I wouldnt care about it. I don't care about building houses and adopt children in a game like this. It needs more story, landmasses, questing and action.

Questing and building character is the "core engine" behind a game like this. That is what makes it interesting. When there are no more good quests left the game is over for me. Those fetch quests that respawn are not worth anything. So only way to keep a game like this going is to add DLC's with more questing and character building.

 

[Atomic Playboy]

I don't get the penny-pinching attitude when it comes to DLC. I bought Skyrim on sale for $40. I'd say I've easily gotten several hundred hours worth of enjoyment out of it; at even at $0.50 an hour, it's provided me with over $100 worth of enjoyment. So even if Dawnguard and Hearthfire are "overpriced," the overall cost of my Skyrim experience is still worth more than I've paid. The only reason I haven't gotten either yet is because of concerns about compatibility. I have no problem giving Bethesda more money for crafting a product that I feel has given me much more than my money's worth over the last year.