Skyrim weird problem

[Ntx710i]

Hi guys,
I am having lots of problems running Skyrim; lots of weird errors popping up, and have racked my brain of trying to solve the problems. Hopefully someone can help me with them.

Firstly my specs:
Intel core i5 650 Clarkdale 3.2ghz @ 4.0ghz
Nvidia GTX 260 x2 [SLI] running at driver 296.10
4GB DDR3 ram
Wd caviar black 640 GB
Running at high preset of skyrim @ 1920x 1080 no AA , AF X4 version 1.5
Playing using game booster v3.3.1

Most of the times I am able to get good and stable fps of around 60fps but occasionally when I play skyrim with the same settings in the same area I can get 15fps. This does not fluctuate during the game,that is for example on starting the game I can get 60fps, but when I quit to desktop and play it on another time, I may get 15-20 fps. the strange thing is, at the Bethesda logo, if I were to get 15-20fps in game, the Bethesda logo would move very slowly, and the sound will stutter as well.

Secondly, skyrim will occasionally freeze up my entire comp and I would have to hard reset it. This can occur regardless of whether I am on a high fps or low fps.

These are the two main problems, but I don't know whether they are related or not. I have run EVGA Precision to check my gpu temps, on load they may get up to 75deg c to 80degs, but no more than that, so I am thinking it could not be the gpu overheating. I am using the noctua nh-d14 CPU cooler, and on load my max CPU temps only reach 55degs or so. Hence I am not convinced it is an overheating problem.

Another strange fact I found was that during the 60fps game, my gpu load is always at 90% or so, while during the 15 to 20fps game, the gpu load varies from 30% to 80%. This is a really weird problem! It seems as if something is limiting my Gpus from reaching their full potential...

I have used memtest86 and found no errors, used chkdsk to ensure that my hard disk is fine, and no errors were found. Thus this problem is really confounding and I hope someone out there can help me with it. Thanks!

 

[bwrlane]

I can't say exactly what the problem is but just to say that I have experienced similar problems in Skyrim, but don't now since upgrading my graphics (from SLI 560 Ti to 680). It's tedious but I found that doing stuff that eats memory like closing background programs, turning off aero etc can help. It also seemed to work better after a recent reboot. Performance has gradually improved over time as the program has been patched. I have to say on multiple levels, Skyrim is among the most appallingly buggy software I've seen.

 

[Ntx710i]

Yes I try to minimize programs that eat up memory by using gamebooster. I also used the vista readyboost as a added virtual 'memory' in the hope that perhaps I do not have enough memory, considering that I am running on vista 32bit and the 4gb is not thoroughly recognized and used.

 

[Ntx710i]

Double post, sorry.

 

[jfizzle4321]

Hi guys,
I am having lots of problems running Skyrim; lots of weird errors popping up, and have racked my brain of trying to solve the problems. Hopefully someone can help me with them.

Firstly my specs:
Intel core i5 650 Clarkdale 3.2ghz @ 4.0ghz
Nvidia GTX 260 x2 [SLI] running at driver 296.10
4GB DDR3 ram
Wd caviar black 640 GB
Running at high preset of skyrim @ 1920x 1080 no AA , AF X4 version 1.5
Playing using game booster v3.3.1

Most of the times I am able to get good and stable fps of around 60fps but occasionally when I play skyrim with the same settings in the same area I can get 15fps. This does not fluctuate during the game,that is for example on starting the game I can get 60fps, but when I quit to desktop and play it on another time, I may get 15-20 fps. the strange thing is, at the Bethesda logo, if I were to get 15-20fps in game, the Bethesda logo would move very slowly, and the sound will stutter as well.

Secondly, skyrim will occasionally freeze up my entire comp and I would have to hard reset it. This can occur regardless of whether I am on a high fps or low fps.

These are the two main problems, but I don't know whether they are related or not. I have run EVGA Precision to check my gpu temps, on load they may get up to 75deg c to 80degs, but no more than that, so I am thinking it could not be the gpu overheating. I am using the noctua nh-d14 CPU cooler, and on load my max CPU temps only reach 55degs or so. Hence I am not convinced it is an overheating problem.

Another strange fact I found was that during the 60fps game, my gpu load is always at 90% or so, while during the 15 to 20fps game, the gpu load varies from 30% to 80%. This is a really weird problem! It seems as if something is limiting my Gpus from reaching their full potential...

I have used memtest86 and found no errors, used chkdsk to ensure that my hard disk is fine, and no errors were found. Thus this problem is really confounding and I hope someone out there can help me with it. Thanks!

Ya I would definitely say ram issue, I'm pretty sure that patch 1.3 allowed for usage of 4 gb of ram with skyrim. A good way to check would be to hook up one of your GPU outputs to your TV and use it as an accessory display and then to monitor performance in task manager while playing the game, I'd bet you're going to see your Ram fluctuate.

 

[Lewis57]

I've got 8GB of RAM, i5 2500k and a GTX 570 and I get the same problem. I can play it on ultra with 60FPS fine, but sometimes I get an FPS drop to around 10 if not lower and sometimes if I wait, it'll come out of the FPS drop, othertimes it will never recover.

My friend with 8GB of the same RAM, i5 2500k and a GTX 560 ti can play it on ultra without ever encountering this problem.

I have no idea what causes it, I've reinstalled Skyrim (trying to fix a different issue) and it still persists. Skyrim is a very buggy game.

 

[Lewis57]

I've got 8GB of RAM, i5 2500k and a GTX 570 and I get the same problem. I can play it on ultra with 60FPS fine, but sometimes I get an FPS drop to around 10 if not lower and sometimes if I wait, it'll come out of the FPS drop, othertimes it will never recover.

My friend with 8GB of the same RAM, i5 2500k and a GTX 560 ti can play it on ultra without ever encountering this problem.

I have no idea what causes it, I've reinstalled Skyrim (trying to fix a different issue) and it still persists. Skyrim is a very buggy game.

 

[Lewis57]

Double post. And I'm not allowed to edit my own post? Thanks toms.

As for the freezing issue, that could be caused by a bad overclock, although I think that'd present a BSoD more than a total lock up. Grab a copy of a Linux distro and run Memtest x86 with only one stick in your machine and then swap out to the other stick.

 

[Ntx710i]

I have reinstalled skyrim, decided to return to my stock clock( which is still able to run skyrim at high with a decent fps) but still, skyrim keeps freezing. I don't know if this is related but occasionally my computer would freeze as well when during normal net surfing / word documents etc. is it related to the memory as well?

 

[kaitheus]

Double post. And I'm not allowed to edit my own post? Thanks toms.

As for the freezing issue, that could be caused by a bad overclock, although I think that'd present a BSoD more than a total lock up. Grab a copy of a Linux distro and run Memtest x86 with only one stick in your machine and then swap out to the other stick.

I agree, this seems like a failed OC/bad settings issue. I had a similar issue when I OCed my 955BE to 4GHz a while back, where I thought it was stable after I ran it through Prime95 for 4 hours and ran flawlessly for 2 weeks till I ran Skyrim and then my PC froze/rebooted . I since toned down my OC to 3.9GHz and has been fine since, How ever this FPS issue eludes me I have never ran into it with my 4890 :/. I also have 8GB of ram, DDR3 1600MHz. To the OP I'd suggest getting another 4GBs an see what that does. You may also want to look up SKSE *google SKSE Skyrim*, which is something I use when playing skyrim, helps with FPS etc, and may actually fix your issue.