Hi guys

I bought this game when it was released but was disappointed with the performance on my old rig. I've recently upgraded it somewhat (but it's still on old platform) and although I can now run the vanilla game on Ultra settings at 60fps I just can't get the HD textures to work. It always CTD on start of any game with the official HD textures installed.

My specs are:

Vista 32 bit OS (yeah I know...)

Q9550 oced @ 3.80 GHz

Radeon HD 7550 2GB

4GB RAM (max for 32 bit OS)

There are zero mods installed. This is a vanilla install of the original game, all three DLCs and the HD texture pack. Nothing more. I got through the opening sequence to where you exit the cave with all HD packs ticked OFF. That's where I am now where you split up from the other prisoner. If HD texture pack 01 is then ticked in the data files it instantly crashes after the menu loading screen. Nothing I do seems to get this pack to work. Am I stuck with lower level textures? And what about mods? What would the limit be of texture mods? Just don't bother with them?

I'm a bit disappointed if so because the game is running at Ultra (with AA off) at 60fps with no issues otherwise. With AA on 8x is does drop to around 20 fps. Other settings don't impact like AA does. Just wanna get some HD textures working.

Have you tried running the game set to High, rather than ultra ?

Have you changed any settings, such as ugrids, in the .ini files ?

Are you running any of the Unofficial patches (including the Unofficial High Resolution Patch) ?

The 32-bit OS will severely limit your playtime with the texture packs. May not be the issue here, but it is something to be aware of.

For the HD tex pack:

System Requirements
Recommended:

Processor: Quad-core Intel or AMD CPU
Memory: 4GB System RAM
Video Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible NVIDIA or AMD ATI video card with 1GB of RAM (Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 or higher - ATI Radeon 4890 or higher)


Sorry to say but the 7550 is way less powerful than a 4890.

7550 (128 bit - Bandwidth 76.8 GB) / 4890 (256 Bit - Bandwidth 125 GB)

The only think you can try is this:

Open your CCC -> Graphics Settings -> 3D -> Mipmap Detail Level -> High Quality

Crank your resolution down and forget ultra settings with this card if you wanna play with HD tex packs without crashing (if possible...)

Thanks for the replies guys... and to Mark41... omg sorry but that was a typo in my OP. I actually have a 7850.... not 7550. My bad there sorry.

I have now just tried the Unofficial HD patch with Nexus. Apart from the other stuff in there (esms for Skyrim, Update, 3x DLC, Texture packs 01-03) the texture patch is the only other mod in there at the bottom.

I've not changed anything in any .txt files like Ugrids etc. It's all vanill apart from those few things now in Nexus.

What's the total memory usage when it crashes? Not just system RAM, but VRAM as well.

OK here is where I'm at now... I unticked all three of the Bethedsa HD texture packs and the Unofficial HD texture patch. Then I activated the Skyrim HD 2K landscape textures. This is the Full version too, not the Lite version. And it works! Well so far anyway... it actually loads my saved game at Ultra with the textures set at "High" with this mod installed. I feel like I'm getting somewhere now... bit by bit.

Sorry for new player question, but how would I check that?

With SPM. (Skyrim Performance Monitor)

The Skyrim Performance Monitor is a utility used for tracking Skyrims Memory, VRAM, CPU, GPU, Threads system resource usage, and also FPS

as they relate to INI settings and installed mods. (SPM will give you a nice info graphic after you turn off Skyrim.)

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/6491/?

and read the instructions please...(Requirements, Installation, Directions, Uninstall ) !!!!!

The important information is the RAM and VRAM amounts. Don't worry about any of the other data in there.

OK I've downloaded the SPM and will report back tomorrow. Time for bed now and I have work tomorrow.

I've been running around with the Lite version of the 2K Skyrim HD Landscape mod along with Static Mesh Improvements. The Full version did crash on me once since my last post about it. I will use the SMM to see how things are going. I want a lovely looking game but with not too many mods installed.I have the perfomance now to get 60fps so the crashes are a frustration now. I'm following this install path as the video looks simply awesome!!!

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/30936//?

Make sure to test with the official texture packs and report the memory usage there, as well.

Yes, indeed just BEAUTIFUL...

OK I've installed the SPM but it displays VRAM as zero at all times. I don't understand it... it's definitely a 7850 2GB card. The other stuff is displaying OK in the top right corner.