Solved Lagging issues while playing Skyrim

[Alec7]

Hello everyone! This is my first post. I'm definitely not the greatest with computers, but any instruction you give me, i should have no problem following. After searching Google relentlessly trying to find a cure, and doing things on my own...i have no where else to go, so hopefully someone can help. I'll explain the problems that I'm having, then i'll explain what I've already done so far, just in case i screwed something up.

All of my computer specs are listed in my profile, just ask if you need anymore info.


I bought Skyrim a couple days ago. When i first launched it, the game did an auto test to see what my computer could handle, and apparently it decided that it could handle a setting on high. When the game actually started running, the lag was ridiculous, and completely unplayable. My next step was that i turned down the graphics to medium, and lowered the resolution...that did not help either. After updating my drivers, running a defrag software, downloading the program "Game Booster" and running it while I ran the game, and setting Skyrim as a higher priority on the task manager...it would run at medium texture, but it still lagged a bit, more so in first person view than third person. The game will run fine at low texture...but i can't imagine that my computer is that bad! The only area that I think my computer doesn't meet the recommended specifications is the graphics card.

One thing that is very strange to me, is that my brother can run the game at high with supposedly no problems, and he has the exact same computer as me. Not sure why that is, but maybe someone can help me out to get the same results. The only other thing that i can think of that would be important is that i play the game with an xbox 360 controller.

 

[Reject]

Well, the lag is most likely from the video card. My question is what card do you have? Skyrim requirements are a video card that supports dx 9.0c with at least 512mb of ram for minimum system requirements and a GTX 260/Radeon 4890 or higher for the recommended settings.

 

[Alec7]

my graphics card is a ATI Radeon HD 4300 series 512 MB. All of my system specs are on my account profile.

 

[Reject]

Alright, Your video card is just enough to make it run on the lowest settings. You need to upgrade your card to something a little better. The rest of your computer is more then enough to handle the game.

Finally Skyrim PC requirements - PC-Gaming - General

 

[Francis93]

First of all, you need to make sure that your PC meets the hardware and software requirements. If you have minimum specs, then it doesn't guarantee the game to be lag-free.

Secondly, leave your system as it is. DO NOT install third party programs (such as Game Booster) that "tweak" or "optimize" your PC to be able to run games at maximum settings.

I just want to share my experience with these programs. NO, they are not a hundred percent effective and NO, they do not optimize your OS at all. Instead they stop background processes (programs) including system processes, running programs and other critical resources, change settings without your knowledge, therefore, making your PC unstable. These programs offer registry cleaning, junk file cleaning, program cleaning etc. but you don't know what do these programs remove. They only indicate how many things need to be changed. The only program I trust to clean and optimize my PC is CCleaner with CCEnhancer.

Please avoid and don't be fooled by these kind of programs. It's either you continue playing the game with lags and minimum specs or upgrade your specs for the best gaming experience. The fact is, technology changes. As time flies, as hardware technologies advance, games continue to be "spec-hungry". You won't really be able to play the latest games in old specs in maximum or minimum settings, properly or lag-free. It should be: latest games = latest specs.

 

[Wishmaster]

Skyrim is very CPU dependant. Also, it seems shadows are rendered with the CPu (for whatever reason)

Try setting a Medium Setting, and set your Shadow Quality to low.
See if that helps any.

 

[Alec7]

Thanks for all the advice guys...with medium-low graphics settings, and shadows turned down all the way, it runs fine with no lag...it just doesn't look very good lol. I was hoping it would be something other than my graphics card, but i suppose I'm over do for a video card update anyways. Thanks again everyone.