Skyrim stuttering on nvidia gtx 555 sli

[sess130]

I am noticing significant stuttering (framerate issues) while playing skyrim. More common during battle or when turning faster. I shouldn't have to lower the settings because my comp is nearly god-like. My friend has not had this issue even though we have essentially the same computer. Any help would be appreciated!

Alienware Aurora R4 ALX
Intel i7-3930K 3.2Ghz
8 GB DDR3 2133Mhz
2x Nvidia Gefore Gtx 555 Sli
1 TB HDD

 

[Gman450]

Is your Skyrim game patched to the latest version?
Are both cards running when you're playing the game?

FYI, SLi GTX 555s aren't really that powerful. But it should be enough for Skyrim.

 

[sess130]

Yes, I bought it through Steam and everything is set to update automatically. I checked for new gpu drivers and there are no new ones available for the gtx 555. I used fraps to test out my fps and I'm averaging around 20-30 fps, which skyrockets to 70 when looking at the sky. I'm not positive how to check whether both cards are running and at what output. Are there any programs out there to check?

 

[Joe4em]

Hello sess, got any news on the topic?

I'm getting that system too with two GTX 555 in SLI and now i'm kinda worried.

 

[Gman450]

You can use EVGA Precision to check if both cards are running.

 

[Joe4em]

But the thing is that in my opinion even one single GTX 555 should be able to handle Skyrim well on High, not even saying Ultra, which two should handle Ultra.

Btw sess, are you playing on Ultra? what resolution? info please?

See you.

 

[AntiZig]

he's obviously killing his frame rate with AA, my recommendation do not use skyrim in-game AA at all, turn it off, force it through your GPU. More efficient and typically better results. (Same deal with AF)

 

[sess130]

First of all, I am playing 1920x1080 with all maxed settings, which is what the game autodetects anyway. I did the .ini tweak to remove vsync to fix the mouse glitch previously. I disabled AA in the game and forced it through the GPU and the framerate increased to ~50 while standing and ~71 looking at the sky but I still get lag spikes when drawing my weapon, etc. Also, according to EVGA Precision both cards are running and working just fine.

I am completely confused, because like Joe4em said this computer should be able to power right through skyrim, no trouble. The strange thing is, that all of my other games don't even have a hiccup when playing.

@Joe4em - The computer itself is a beast and worth it, but I might suggest getting a better gpu if you get the opportunity. Alienware offers GTX 580's and my friend got one of those...oddly he doesn't have problems with skyrim.

 

[Gman450]

I would rather build a PC, than buy Alienware. But of course, if you have the money, then go for it.

 

[AntiZig]

1080p with GT555 even if it's two of them is asking alot, considering a single 555 gets about 20 fps on ultra in 1080p.

the fact that your friend doesn't have a problem with the game running it with a 580 is nothing odd in the least.

 

[Joe4em]

Ok so, sess, you kinda fixed it, right?

Also, did you update to the recent drivers nVidia has released? to the 296.xx i think.

My system has already shipped so I can't change the gpu's now, I just hope that they aren't that bad.

What other games do you play that may struggle to the max the 555's? BF3, MW3, LA Noire, GTA, or even StarCraft 2 which is played with low graphs, but i'm just being curious hehe

See you.

 

[bystander]

Of the games you listed, you'll probably only experience difficulties with BF3. Most of those games are CPU bound, and you are purchasing a comp with one of the fastest CPU around. The weak point is the GPU, and that is what BF3 needs.

 

[JollyJay]

Hello sess, got any news on the topic?

I'm getting that system too with two GTX 555 in SLI and now i'm kinda worried.

Instead of SLI 555, you'd be much better off getting just one 560ti, or even a 570 if you have the money.

As will all Dual GPU setups, they are prone to microstutter

 

[Joe4em]

Instead of SLI 555, you'd be much better off getting just one 560ti, or even a 570 if you have the money.

As will all Dual GPU setups, they are prone to microstutter

I know now, but as I said the system has already shipped and I cannot change it now.

I'm still curious on how can a single 560Ti work better than dual GTX 555.

570 was not available on this alienware aurora r4 specs, but 580.

So I thought that SLI gtx 555 was the way to go, the "cheaper" but also the not-to-overkill GPU, I just wanted one that could handle games on 1920x1080 on at least High if not Ultra.

I don't know why I thought that dual 555 could handle it, i just hope when it's here that it's just now that bad, I don't care if I have to turn off AA or AF or lower a few single settings, but I want it to be playable.

 

[AntiZig]

oh if you're just concerned with getting decent fps so you can play I'm sure it will get you there, it certainly won't be ultra settings but you'll be able to settle for something decent. Afaik BF3 on medium still looks far better than a lot of games

 

[bystander]

I know now, but as I said the system has already shipped and I cannot change it now.

I'm still curious on how can a single 560Ti work better than dual GTX 555.

570 was not available on this alienware aurora r4 specs, but 580.

So I thought that SLI gtx 555 was the way to go, the "cheaper" but also the not-to-overkill GPU, I just wanted one that could handle games on 1920x1080 on at least High if not Ultra.

I don't know why I thought that dual 555 could handle it, i just hope when it's here that it's just now that bad, I don't care if I have to turn off AA or AF or lower a few single settings, but I want it to be playable.

It's very hard to find benchmarks/reviews of OEM products, but I did find this:
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+555

You can see that it scores a lot lower than a 560.

 

[Joe4em]

Thanks everyone, yeah I would be happy if I could play BF3 and skyrim pretty well on High, even thought those are games that I play when I get tired of laddering on SC2 or when I feel lazy to do so.

Thanks also for the benchmarks, yeah those are difficult to find for OEM products I've seen others here: http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+555+%28OEM%29/games

But I still think that GTX 555 in SLI... doesn't it like "double" the performance of a single? then it should be able to handle everything. 'Cause "double" gtx 555 is much more than a single 560Ti.

Or maybe I am getting my logic wrong.

Thank you all again.

 

[bystander]

Thanks everyone, yeah I would be happy if I could play BF3 and skyrim pretty well on High, even thought those are games that I play when I get tired of laddering on SC2 or when I feel lazy to do so.

Thanks also for the benchmarks, yeah those are difficult to find for OEM products I've seen others here: http://community.futuremark.com/hardware/gpu/NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+555+%28OEM%29/games

But I still think that GTX 555 in SLI... doesn't it like "double" the performance of a single? then it should be able to handle everything. 'Cause "double" gtx 555 is much more than a single 560Ti.

Or maybe I am getting my logic wrong.

Thank you all again.

That depends on the benchmark. If it's purely a GPU benchmark, you can expect between 60-80% improvement, but if there is some CPU testing going on, they it'll be less, because the graphics card(s) don't improve your CPU scores.

 

[Joe4em]

That depends on the benchmark. If it's purely a GPU benchmark, you can expect between 60-80% improvement, but if there is some CPU testing going on, they it'll be less, because the graphics card(s) don't improve your CPU scores.

I was only talking about GPU's here.

So that 60-80% improvement of a single gtx 555 in SLI. It's still above a single gtx 560Ti, then Skyrim should run well on Ultra settings 1920x1080 monitor? And BF3 on high?

I'm just asking because I am just curious and as I said the main game i'll be playing is going to be SC2.

 

[bystander]

I was only talking about GPU's here.

So that 60-80% improvement of a single gtx 555 in SLI. It's still above a single gtx 560Ti, then Skyrim should run well on Ultra settings 1920x1080 monitor? And BF3 on high?

I'm just asking because I am just curious and as I said the main game i'll be playing is going to be SC2.

Your assuming that test was purely a GPU score, I'm pretty sure it also tests the CPU some. You also have to recognize that sometimes SLI won't scale as well as others.

 

[Gman450]

Your assuming that test was purely a GPU score, I'm pretty sure it also tests the CPU some. You also have to recognize that sometimes SLI won't scale as well as others.

+1
Scaling is quite important too. And since this is an OEM prodct, it's hard to get any sort of benches, or SLi.

 

[HEXiT]

the 555 isnt a bad card. in most cases it should match the old gtx 280 as it has a similar amount of shaders but added dx11 support so yeah 1080p should be doable for 60 fps with max settings... especially with sli...
as others have pointed out what your most likely seeing is micro stutter. the only way to get rid of that is vsnc... turn it on and in areas where you can get 60+ fps will be silky smooth.

the problems arise when you go into citys. especially the bigger 1s... even on the best single card setups your gonna drop to under 60 and have stutter. but it shouldnt last more than a couple of seconds and should jump back up after the area/level has fully loaded.

even if the game is fully patched and tweaked with the nexus community patches http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/ your still gonna have fps issues as the game is badly written in parts. it still uses x86 code when they should have used sse or sse2(the extra hardware routines that most new cpu's have to help improve coding). they did this for compatibility reason but completely disregarded the fact that the cpu's that dont have sse aren't actually supported by the game anyways so wouldn't have had any impact on compatibility...


scaling on the 555 is pretty good giving over an 80% bump on skyrim but then again all the cards in the 5 series over the 530 scale really well so thats no surprise.
a single card will max out the game (no aa) and give 45-60 average (like i said there not bad cards) add in a second and your looking at 90-110+ so turning on vsnc wont be an issue and will actually free up some resources so the cpu can do other things.

 

[Joe4em]

Thanks again for all of this useful information

 

[sess130]

Best answer selected by sess130.

 

[sess130]

I got the game to play sufficiently by turning off the ingame AA and AF, and routing it through my gpu instead. Also, lowering the shaders seem to help a lot too. I'm assuming that most of the issues that I'm having is due to bad coding in the game rather than my computer setup because every other game I play I don't have a single hiccup at all. Once they patch the game to work better on computers, then my issues should be completely fixed. Until then, tweaks seem to make the game playable. Thanks for all the useful information everybody!!