help please, skyrim freezes

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mimejuice

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Apr 11, 2013
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I've done a lot of googling and forum browsing but nothing seems to help, so I figured it was time to ask.

Alright so I just bought an MSI GT70 0N3 to replace an ancient macbook pro... lol

specs as follows
Windows 8 64bit
Intel Core i7-3630QM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 680M 4GB
16GB RAM
HDD 1 TB + 128 GB SSD

it should run Skyrim just fine, but whenever I start up, it freezes on the Imperial seal, also freezing the in game Steam UI.
The only way to remedy this is to ALT+TAB out and back in, but the problem persists, freezing the game UI and Steam UI every 5-10 mins.
My audio is set at what the fix apparently was, two or so years ago, 48k? I have 7.1 Surround if that matters.Realtek audio drivers are up to date.
My NVIDIA driver is 306.14, and I'm wary of updating because 314.22 gave me considerable drops in frame rate. IDFK why but its been soured to me.
As far as I know I have DirectX 11.
I've deleted the .ini files and fixed the Skyrim cache.
The game is up to date via Steam, with all three current DLC expansions.

I have removed all mods and the issue still persists.

I have a Corsair Vengeance M65 mouse installed. Drivers up to date, if that makes a difference.
Otherwise it's all clean.

I'm not a tech expert or nothing, so that's about all the ideas I've got or found online.

Suggestions? I'm about to tear my hair out.
 
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Have you tried uninstalling and re-installing the entire game?

How are your temperatures?

That's a pretty old Nvidia driver. I realize the frames dropped, but did the game still crash when you had the latest installed?
 
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When it comes to laptop video card drivers, always get the latest ones from your laptop manufacturers model specific page, not from AMD/Nvidia. The video drivers for laptops are usually customized to hit specific power/temp targets, etc.

Anywho, have you tried the unofficial skyrim patch? Its a pretty comprehensive mod that fixes odd bugs. (not saying it will fix this but it is good to have anyways)

One other thing is you might try a modded UI and see if the problem persists (this is personal preference so if you like the stock UI don't bother) SkyUI is good.

If all else fails, I would reinstall. (after backing up saves)
 
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Alright I did a clean re-install, manually deleted the original folder, etc. Updated my driver via the MSI product page.
Still had the freezes at start up, but so far nothing in game. Downloading the patches for the main game and all DLC atm to see if that fixes it.
 
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Quiet you, Windows 8 is better.
 
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Did you install any mods via the steam workshop? It may be auto installing a mod and you don't know it.

Is your audio set to 24 bit, 44100Hz?

Did you try disabling the DLC itself in the launcher?
 
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Just out of general curiosity, where does it freeze up at, the Bethesda logo right when you start the game or loading/starting new game?

If it freezes at the bethesda logo you might.

After a bit of googling of this problem, edogawas audio solution seems to be the general consensus as to why it crashes.
 
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It freezes primarily at the Bethesda logo, the Imperial seal menu, and occasionally during in-game UI. My audio is at that setting, yes, and I have also tried 48k. No mods subscribed to other than the suggested patches. You want me to try disabling the DLCs now? I've got Hearthfire, Dragonborn, and Dawnguard. IDK if this problem has anything to do with those, but you'd think the patches would fix something...


I had no choice in OS, came pre-loaded.
 
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The OS shouldn't be causing any problems. Do you have anything funky running in the background? Also have you ever used any mods that require SKSE? Sometimes those directories can be left behind and they might be calling on a mod that you don't have. Its a long shot but I though I'd throw it out there.

Hmmm, I uh can't really think of any other possibilities. You are on patch 1.9, right?

Does having it in windowed mode make a difference to the crashes?
 
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In windowed mode, it actually crashed my video card. The whole Nvidia blah blah has stopped working and has recovered.
I've also noticed that there are some artifacts or noise or whatever on the screen when these crashes happen, a scattering of mostly red pixels. So is there a problem with my video card?
I've never had SKSE.
I'm pretty sure I'm on the most recent patch because it updates constantly through steam, but just in case, how would I check that with steam?
 
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That might be indicative of a hardware fault but I doubt it is since you don't seem to have an temperature problems. We can test for temp problems though with furmark. leave it running for about 15 minutes and that should give you your max gpu temp. It might also indicate that we need to do a clean install of the drivers. (uninstall drivers, install driver sweeper, reboot, run driver sweeper and clean out the NVIDIA - DISPLAY drivers, reboot, install drivers) This is mostly used for AMD drivers but I've had to do it for NVIDIA aswell. Also Do NOT touch ANYTHING related to - Chipset, you can mess things up touching these with driver sweeper

But before that I totally forgot but you might be able to get some useful info out of eventviewer. To get to eventviewer on windows vista/7/8 just type it in search. Its also in Programs > accessories > system tools.

You recording the times that it happens should make it alot easier to find which log you need. I don't know if it will show up under the system category or applications, so check both.
 
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ok I figured out what what making it freeze at the bethesda logo, apparently I accidentally skipped updating the driver for my intel hd graphics when I did my drivers

so that problem is solved. NOW the problem I have is the game gets absolutely terrible framerate and lags in sound. the load screens are now endless rather than mere seconds.
I am plenty confused by this...my system should be able to easily handle this game
I'm so close to just peeing on this machine LOL AHHHHH
 
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Even if it came preloaded it's still possible to upgrade to Windows 7
 
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In the Skyrim launcher options is it set to the integrated graphics or the 680M?
 
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Ahhh, that laptop has Nvidia Optimus... I should have thought of that possibility. The most practical and probable fix for this is to go into your nvidia drivers and make sure that it is using your 680m instead of the intel chipset. You can if you don't find it under the list of programs already there then you probably need to add it manually.

Another possible solution is you might need to change windows power usage settings in control panel.

Theres also a drop down menu in skyrims launcher that lets you select which GPU to use, dunno if it actually works though.

From what little I remember about optimus I think there was an option when you right clicked an application to run it with either your integrated GPU or your dedicated one. I might be mistaking that with lucid virtu though ...


Edit: The video edo posted is a good representation of what I was talking about.
 
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Ok, following both of those available guides, I'm seeing no change. Doing it via the ini file, it just reconfigures back to the Intel HD when I restart the game. I can't get the Launcher to add to the manage 3d settings on the NVIDIA control panel either?

EDIT: spoke too soon, got it to work
but now...it freezes at the dragon logo again. And when I did get in game there is no fps drop but...my horse is now stuck flying/falling

SECOND EDIT: reloaded, updated the cache, everything is fine now.
So I suppose that fixed it!
thank you all so much for the assistance!
 
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sigh and it would seem Ive spoken too soon.
changing the 3d settings to globally use nvidia crashed my computer and I had to uninstall the drivers to even be able to properly boot up

now ive done a clean install on nvidia drivers and such, changed the 3d settings to be skyrim specific instead of global...

I've got freezes again, graphics noise, weird sound glitches, and this...gem

http://24.media.tumblr.com/382d36d1fdc0b340babe9c5e51b2258c/tumblr_ml9qkmcBDT1rqym01o1_1280.jpg
 
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I suppose the best thing to do would be to determine stability in other programs. I would download Furmark and run that for about 15 minutes. That should give us a good idea of temperatures and general stability. This will stress your gpu so have it plugged in so your battery doesn't go dead in 5 seconds. :)

One other question. Does skyrim crash when you have your laptop plugged in?
 
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Plugged in or on battery, it's all the same. I'll run Furmark and report back..... I really hope this can be fixed or else I just dropped a lot of money on a useless computer for gaming
 
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