[Skyrim] M11x Video/Discussion/Benchmark (All inclusive) Thread

Hey guys,

I am seeing a lot of sporadic threads on Skyrim and in an attempt to centralize things I decided to create this thread to make things easier for people. As far as things go I'll do my best to link other gameplay threads to this one so that people have a large plethora of places where information may have already been said.

Keep all the information coming! Videos, Benchmarks, Crashes, Bugs, etc!

Helpful Threads
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/624583-skyrim-volume-too-low-maybe-fix-here-worked-me.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/620159-skyrim-pc-specs-released.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/623942-steam-not-using-335m-skyrim-d.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/628459-skyrim-optimus-fix.html

Videos:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/623966-video-skyrim-m11xr3.html - By: Froogle


P.S.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [PC] - Gameplay Performance - M11x R3
As is tradition with me, I like to post my gameplay vids of all the new released games (like BF3, etc) so along with this centralized thread - here is my gameplay video for the m11x R3 on High Settings with AA off (getting about 25-40fps throughout the video with fraps)

 

Hi guys,

Cross posted to the "Skyrim runs good" thread.

(and clarification: game is whitelisted... running on GPU... all things move smoothly and look great except when I try to use my mouse to look around- then the awful jumping around starts)

I am having some really serious issues with either mouse lag or FPS in Skyrim on my M11x R2 (i5). Perhaps some of you can help me figure this out. (It might be FPS... I have not run fraps or anything... but the game looks great, I just mainly have trouble when I look around with my mouse.)

Basically, in certain areas, especially with NPCs/ enemies around, my horizontal (and vertical to a lesser extent) looking with my mouse tears around like crazy... I would describe it as "mouse lag"- and it is frustrating the crap out of me.

I have searched online extensively for fixes to this and implemented what I could. I have turned mouse acceleration and VSync off in SkyrimPrefs.ini (both in the Steam folder and in My Docs) and Skyrim.ini

(by Adding iPresentInterval=0 under the [Display] section and setting bMouseAcceleration=0 in the [Controls] section)

I am also running at Medium settings with AA and anti-iso filtering both off.

I am using a wireless Microsoft mouse... I looked for any acceleration or smoothing in the mouse software and just found something that allegedly increases "mouse precision" and turned that off too.

Any ideas? Any other M11x users having this problem? Any other ideas on how to increase the game's performance if this sounds like an FPS issue?

Thanks

 

Dunno about your specific problem, but people reported that theres a bug if your game setting has xbox controller enabled. Turning it off will get you around 10-20 fps.

Also, ThrottleStop helps improve your game smoothness greatly.

 

(Taken from other sites). Skryim is VERY cpu intensive. The cpu core number is important 4+ (I5/I7) but even more important is the cpu mhz. An m14x I7 at techinferno posted 10fps gains going from 2.0 ghz to 2.6 ghz. All 8 threads utilized with core parking disabled. My two cents, use throttlestop or whatever is necessary to kick your cpu up as I as it can go. Shadowing and some effects seem to depend greatly on cpu. good luck

 

Hi guys!
Not sure if this improve performance but I just want to share it.
[Skyrim Better Performance Mod]
Skyrim Better Performance at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community

 

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [PC] - Indoor Gameplay - M11x R3 - YouTube

Here's a video on indoor performance. You can compare with the other one I posted which has purely outdoor.


First Dragon Encounter on M11x R3: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim [PC] - First Dragon Encounter - M11x R3

 

anyone run this on the r1? not sure if i should get this or not

 

This actually caused my game to lag. Badly.

 

Same here... I have one of the fastest 7200 rpm hard drive and 8gb of ram if that makes a difference.

 

yeah Im playing skyrim on the r1, gotta say Im impressed, Im in a mixed of mid/high settings and runs just great, avg of 21-30 FPS outdoors, indoors are excellent framerates (+35 I think)

also Im just @1.6 Ghz (BIOS OC) and GT 335 @stock, switchable graphics

=)

 

It lags because when you replace the file, skyrim will detect the graphic driver again and set it all to high settings which in my case set to 8aa and 8af.
Just in case I've tested this mod but it really didn't increase my performance.
I'm using m11x r1 cpu oc (bios) and using the 197 beta nvidia driver with stock settings.
Video settings: mix of high and medium
Tried on 1080p, the quality was superb but fps drop too often so I switch back to 1360x768.

 

cool looks like ill be gettin it thru steam unless i can get a discount at bestbuy

 

I have no such file to replace, so I just put it there. Before I launch them, I re-set my setting to the old one. It still lags.

 

Just to let you all know I've got mine running at the following (m11x is in my sig):

High Default
No AA
No AF
Distances set to high default
vsync ON

So far I can say I've had no noticable slowdown or any massive problems bar purple trees/armour when I played for long periods of time. To fix that I shut the game down and had a break! So far I'm loving the game with the exception of the damn random shutdowns! They always seem to happen when I fast travel or kill something big.

 

I'm running it on default high, with AA and AF both set to 2x. I switch shadow quality to low but maxed out the actor fade, object fade etc. I even set View Distance to ultra and.... OMG this game is freaking gorgeous looking. All of these settings and I'm getting pretty solid frame rates of 25-45 outdoors and 60+ indoors most of the time. I know that the FPS drops to around 25 only because I have EVGA Precision running and I can see the counter. When I switch that off, I honestly can't really tell when it dips at all.

Skyrim has made me fall in love with my M11x all over again )
I now have a gorgeous 70 square kilometre country packed with adventure tucked into my backpack.

See you guys next summer when I emerge from my new world lol.

 

Cross-posted from Skyrim runs good (with some additional detail)

Update: Well, I'm an idiot. It was the damn mouse. I have no idea why this possibility had not previously occured to me. For some reason, my Microsoft wireless mouse was just stuttering like nuts. Still not sure why.

In any case, I got home last night and ran fraps with my game for the first time, which let me know that on Medium settings I was getting crazy good fps everywhere- but still the horrible, horrible mouse lag persisted. I finally grabbed my cheapo wired desktop mouse- and sure enough, smooth as butter. I presume that turning off the mouse acceleration and vsync has also helps (i have kept those changes), but I cannot stress enough how well this game runs now.

I have an M11x R2 i5- I am running Throttlestop, but nothing OC'ed.

With the fps I was getting on Med settings, I decided to try jacking the settings way up... which... wow.

I have now maxed all the sliders except grass fade (grass? meh.) and am running 4X AA and 16X AF (Vsync still forced off in Sykrimprefs.ini). All other settigns are maxed except radial blur (med), some shadows (med)- and I don't have all the reflections (just land) b/c they aren't super important to me.

Bottom line- my M11x is a total beast with this game. At worst- in hairy situations outdoors, I drop to about 25 fps (i think I saw 19ish once) but averages 35+ with the settings I described. Indoors, anywhere between 45-60 fps avg. Now that I no longer have the lag thing to worry about, I can really appreciate the beauty of this game. Without fraps, I can't even spot the fps drops. It is seamless. I am also not having any of the crash to desktop problems others have described. Not once.

You may want some air circulation around your machine, however. It does get pretty toasty after a few hours.

If you are at all on the fence- concerned that maybe Skyrim won't run on your little buddy- fear not. You'll be totally fine. Your social and professional relationships may not fare as well... and maybe try a wired mouse, apparently.

 

I have an m11x U7300, oc'ed to 1.6ghz. I have the game running on lowest settings and still have a terrible lag if I try to move pretty much at all. And if I try to move my camera it will take about 2 or 3 attempts to be able to move the camera a quarter turn.

Is there anything that can really help out with this problem?

 

I play on R1 , native resolution , details med/high , AF x 4 , AA off , FXAA off . I have got 22-45 fps . Most of the time it is over 30 . Little stutters when loading a new areas - I can live with that . Imo - completly playable on R1 - with pleasure . Cpu 1,6 , Gpu - default .
@up - What kind of driver you are using ?

 

Ok thank you very much. I will try out these settings to try and get it to run a bit smoother. Also got it through steam so I don't know if it needs internet after download and installation but internet here at my college is terrible.

 

consi not sure on which driver I am using

 

I was having enough mouse lag problems it caused me to uninstall the damn game! Had vsync off, low settings on graphics, mouse accell off, etc.

Maybe i should have tried another mouse but even my trackpad was bad...This mouse is an older mx518 but was acting totally normal in the 'escape' screen where I was turning off 360 controls, etc.

Basically in mouse look there was a lot of lagging, couldnt really look up and down well either...ignoring the menus since apparently those you need to just use the keyboard.

 

Everytime im at the main menu it's really laggy and then when im in game it's superbly laggy with very low fps. Anyway i can fix this? I went on system lab requirements and it said i could run it the only problem was my video card but it handle its fine. i was thinking maybe its my processor? anyway i could maybe get an upgrade for my m11x processor or not? please help. any feedback is great.

 

Make sure it is using your dedicated GPU and not the integrated processor?

 

M11xR2
Intel(R)Core(TM)i3 CPU U330@120GHz 1.20 GHz
8.00GB (7.80 Usable)
64-Bit operating system
Intel(R)HD Graphics and NVIDIA Geforce GT 335M

 

how would we make it so it's using my gpu isntead of the integrated processor?
sorry im new to alot of this computer hardware stuff

 

Go to the Nvidia control panel
Under 3D settings go to "program settings"
Add a new program, browse for and select the .exe for Skyrim
Add it to the list, set the GPU as the High performance Nvidia processor

That should tell your M11x to use the dedicated 335M for Skyrim instead of the integrated GPU

 

nevermind its betternow thanks

 

I am also using an M11x R1. I was getting only 30 fps and sporadically down to 20 fps in open areas on Medium settings. Then I tried some tweaks. I recommend everyone checks this page out:

TOP 10 SKYRIM MODS SO FAR - FROM PCGAMER

The 10 best Skyrim mods so far | PC Gamer

I tried mod #4, 3. Large Address Aware patch. WHAT A DIFFERENCE!!

This allows Skyrim to use all 4GB of your memory and not just 2GB. My FPS improved to 50 FPS and a decent 40 FPS when things get busy.

I love my M11x R1! I was considering getting a new laptop just to play this game. I can go another 6-9 months now.

 

OK - i was happy with my High/ultra settings with 4xAA and 8xAF, but now im curious about this!

can anyone else confirm? the comments on the site are a mixed bag....cant tell if its user error.

 

I'm playing on default high with low shadows, cpu oc'd at 166mhz and turbo mode on. The game is averaging 30-35 fps outdoors and I haven't tried indoors yet. It did make a big difference for me

 

how did your FPS change after you implemented this mod? +5? +10? cause i am getting 30+ right now with similar settings and NO mod.

im just am very skeptical of these types of mods, but then again skepticism doesnt get you anywhere....so im open to these =)

 

+10 max, but it's helpful nonetheless.

 

If this is the case, then I'm already regretting getting skyrim on myPS3

 

If u can return, i would....it runs fantastically on the PC.

 

ahh I need 4Gb or ram then

 

It's been a few days already so returning it wouldn't get me a full refund

 

Lol - Dont frown man, you still own it and can play it! on a happy note, Oblivion GOTY edition is 6$ on steam through today i believe (Wednesday).

 

Yeah don't dismay dude. You have the game. Just enjoy it to the max. I'd have bought it for my Xbox 360 if I was actually living at home, but I'm travelling every week with work and living in hotel rooms, so I bought it for the little M11x thinking that it would sort of be ok on it but not as good as on Xbox. However, I've been pleasantly surprised at the performance on the M11x.

Skyrim appears to be a well optimised game... Scales nicely for lower-end PCs and fills my RPG desires while on the go. I just wish the M11x screen was nicer to really do this game justice (what with reflections and very tight sweet spot of an optimal viewing angle).

 

Yep, it's the case. Been running it for two days now with no problems. And remember its not really a patch or mod per se. It simply changes an option that lets the .exe file see the whole 4GB of RAM. I don't know why Skyrim wasn't set to do this out of the box. I got the PS3 version for my son and right now my M11X R1 looks much better than the PS3 version.

 

Side note - i ended up getting FRAPS -

on my m11xr2, i7 with 4gb ram, High/Ultra mix, 4xAA, 16xaf, NO FXAA, shadows low i get:

- in cities - 25-45fps
-Inside anywhere - 50-60FPS
- Fighting dragon - 40fps


Id say its running pretty dang well...game seems to cap itself at 60fps, any idea if that can be changed? also, i have not Tried the CFF >2gb trick yet.

 

The game isn't capped at 60 FPS. You must have vertical sync turned on. You can turn it off by setting it to 0 in the skyrim .ini file. iHave fun!

 

that must be it - i havent forced it off!

thanks man

 

When I try tu run the game in 1024/600 there is a warning that my screen does not support this mode - where could be the problem ?
M11xR1

 

M11x R2 i5 here as well, and after setting iPresentInterval=0 in Skyrim.ini and bMouseAcceleration=0 in SkyrimPrefs.ini, my mouse is still lagging. It's like sailing a boat in maple syrup.

I'm using a usb microsoft laser mouse. I have an old trackball one lying around somewhere, but I'm not sure if it's usb. I'll give that a try tonight. Anyone have any other ideas?

 

I had mouse lag before on my M17x R2! after lowering the anti-alias it disappeared, might be a similar problem on th M11...

 

FYI -I found this on skyrim nexus, its a continually updated tweak guide (encompasses a LOT of what we are talking about):

PES - Project Enhanced Skyrim at Skyrim Nexus - Skyrim Mods and community

called 'project enhance skyrim'

 

I has a solution!

vsync was still on. I had turned it off in the ini file, but my settings on my nvidia card had it forced on anyway.

Open the NVIDIA Control Panel, select 3D Settings, select Steam in the dropdown box, scroll to the bottom and turn off Vertical sync.

 

Don't turn off Vsync, it's been proven to break the game. Causes NPC's timetables to break and the time of day to de-sync. Leave it on.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/628459-skyrim-optimus-fix.html

 

Has anyone tried the patch 1.3 (especially R1 owners )