Hi,

I have a pretty reasonable PC (i5-2500, 4GB RAM, HD 6850 1GB) and I can play Skyrim at 1680x1050 (native) pretty well... or at least, I could. I've been editing the prefs and stuff to get the best graphics I can while still keeping a stable frame rate and I thought I had it. My settings were something along the lines of:

• 4x AA, 16 Sample AF
  
• High Textures, Medium Blur, High Shadow detail (with 3072 res shadows, 2000 distance and 3 shadow blur)
  
• FXAA On
  
• Reflect All
  
• V-Sync On
  
• RCRN
  
• And the HD Texture Pack (no other mods)

This was all running fine for maybe an hour. Then I started getting kind of juddery movement. It's hard to describe but if I pan the zoom around, it feels jerky. Might not sound bad, but believe me it's annoying. I wouldn't say it's unplayable, but it's does frustrate me a lot...

So, I loaded up FRAPS and checked my frames. Locked in to 60 with V-Sync, I was getting in the range 58-62 frames per second for 90% of the time, dipping down to 50-ish in some places (which went back up to 60 if I disabled RCRN with the Pause key).

How on earth could it be jittery and not smooth when it's running at 60 FPS, I wondered? I uninstalled RCRN entirely, but no joy. Thought I'd come here in case any of you kind peoples could give me any ideas. Thanks

Why are you using FXAA if you are using 4x AA? As far as i know FXAA is a cheaper alternative to normal AA(MSAA) & there is no reason to use both.

A far as the stuttering is concerned, I use MSI Afterburner Beta 10 which has a frame limiter built in, I set it to 58 fps & it plays very smooth without any stuttering, I can now play Mage without giving myself a seizure.
Stutter in skyrim is a game engine flaw & is directly linked to vsync & the 60 fps limit , Or something like that.

Stay under 60 fps, That's the key.

So do you disable V-Sync in Skyrim and then limit the FPS? Or leave V-Sync enabled?

leave vsync on and any .ini settings as they are in a default config file, then use a fps limiter to set your fps to 59fps.
http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=2581 works for single ati cards, it probably works for Nvidia single cards also. It didnt limit with my old 6950 crosssfire setup though, i had to use DXtory to get fps limiting in crossfire functioning.
and its 59fps you want it limited to

I leave vsync enabled & just set the framelimiter to 58 fps, There are a few ways of doing this & MSI afterburner is one of them, The poster above me suggested another alternative & both do the job.

I tried this but got terrible stuttering and slight screen tearing desipte v-sync.

Also, I have reduced shadows to 2048 (from 3072) and disabled the HD pack; neither made any sort of difference.

I still get solid 57-62 FPS, but movement feels jerky, especially when running and turning.

The latest skyboost alpha (r5) aleviates some of this sort of juddering for me, and my framerates have increased again. Have you tried that?http://alexander.sannybuilder.com/?category=other&altname=skyrim_boost

Thanks for the link, I'll give it a go later when I'm home, and report back. The one thing though; the screenshots on the nexus show FPS increases (eg. 25 fps to 50 fps) but my FPS is really stable as it is.

Still though, can't hurt to try!

It's not completely cleared up the stuttering; mine seems to build up over about twenty minutes, then i have to restart to get rid of it.. but any increase in fps is usually worth a try. Hope it helps.

Is Bethesda working on fixing this issue in an upcoming patch? Because I can't seem to eliminate this stuttering issue and it's giving me headaches after prolonged play. All I can see is a bunch of people including myself experiencing this issue, but nothing with Bethesda acknowledging awareness of the issue and promising to fix it. Any chance we can get an acknowledgement. I really want to play skyrim, but can't handle the headaches this stuttering while dungeon crawling is causing. It doesn't happen in my game when I'm out in the world or in dungeons that have huge rooms. But anytime I'm in an enclosed small area I get terrible stuttering. I'd like some assurance that this is on the list of things to be fixed in a patch.

There is a reason to use both in some cases as MSAA doesn't work very well in post process, FXAA does and gets rid of aliasing in such parts, like around candle lights and such. Some games cannot use MSAA DX9 so FXAA is the answer

You might be experiencing the same micro-stutter as I do. Try playing in windowed mode and see what happens. If it goes away, download and use http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/downloads/file.php?id=4.

Using that mod seems to alleviated the problem slightly, when outdoors. It went from being "a bit noticable but annoying" to "barely noticable". It did seem to build back up though. Also, due to the fact my FPS is 60 anyway, it was hard to tell whether it was working (perhaps it wasn't and I just got lucky at first). Is there a way to tell whether it is running, similar to the way you can check SKSE with the console?

I certainly hope so! I was rather late to the Skyrim party (I only got it last week due to computer problems) and I hadn't noticed this - but you're right, the stuttering is MUCH worse in very small spaces, which seems rather counter-intuitive. I get a little bit in the wilderness, it's perhaps a tiny bit more noticable in a city, but then in a small tunnel such as Haemar's Shame, it's a bit ridiculous.

I'll try that when I get back, thanks for the tip!

This doesn't sound too promising

does this happen first person only? indoors more than outdoors?

[sorry, accidental double post]

Enclosed indoor spaces are worst affected. Everywhere else is better. It feels kinda like micro-stuttering; but I'm only running a single card. Movements aren't 'fluid', and it's jerky when I look around. I've not yet tried 3rd person, I'll give it a go when I get back, along with testing windowed mode as suggested by Shasow.

Ya i have the same CPU stronger GPU and I get it indoors here and there. Skyboost or TESval I hear helps a bit with this but I can't say for sure.

may be down to that mod having buffering options included, try disabling them in its config file, or

try dxtory with it locked at 59fps (turn everything off other than frame limiting)

or ENB series patch, it doesnt work with crossfire or SLI though



dxtory may fix it, did for me

Well dxtory seems like it might be working. Didn't have time for an extended play tonight but it did seem better than before - barely noticable stutter now even in Haemar's Shame. And FRAPS verified, it definitely does limit the FPS. I'll report back tomorrow, if I have time for a longer session.

Annoying that it's not freeware though, doesn't let you start the trial for 10 seconds after you open the program, and then takes you to the buying website on exiting. The full version seems to be 3600 Yen (?) which is around ￡30. Any ideas for other FPS limiting software to try? For example, might afterburner work despite the fact that my card is Sapphire, not MSI; and is that freeware?

If it's happening outdoors, I haven't really noticed except for a few random occasions. It's mostly indoors in small enclosed spaces. I can go into 3rd person to reduce it considerably, but it's not always effective. Such as in the quest to kill the werewolf killers (can't remember their name) just after you perform the rite to become a werewolf. Even in 3rd person is quite noticeable. But it's really bad in 1st person. I've been noticing this on both my Dual GPU HD5970 and on my room mates Single GPU HD5850. I've also been told by a friend that he's having the same issue and he's running a Single GPU Nvidia card (although I don't remember his cards model number). I have tested this in both Vanilla, Vanilla with Official HD Textures, and in Fully Modded play modes. Normally I could just Alt-Tab out and go back in game after everytime I load a new dungeon level and it usually resolves it temporarily for that level. But it's by no means a 100% fix. Also I've noticed that when I run fully modded version with the "Realistic Water and Terrain" mod, which recommends forcing 16x anisotropic filtering in the drivers for better fidelity instead of using the games 16x AF, the Alt-Tab and going back in method no longer fixes the stuttering. But if I switch back to using the in game AF instead of through the drivers, I can use the Alt-Tab method again. But again this method is only a temporary fix and far from 100% reliable. Still hoping for an acknowledgement. Hope this description helps them narrow down the cause so it can be fixed.

Thank you very much.
DXtory works good for me. I have 6970 crossfire.

Choppy before.
Buttery smooth now.

EDIT:
After playing for a bit I noticed that when DXtory is on there are some lines that move vertically down my screen while looking at darker areas (ie night sky). Its annoying. Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas on how to get rid of it? I've been messing around with DXtory settings to see if I can find a solution. i'll post if I do.

Running crossfire 5850s here and have had this issue forever. I set "Vsync always on" via CCC, seems to have helped a little bit. I still get it bad at certain times but it's often very fluid. It seems like its always the least demanding areas that have the worst affect.

I have not tried the DXtory fix nor 59hz limit (CCC won't let me set it below 60). I also heard that changing the frame buffer can fix it but you need ATI Tray Tools or some other software.

Might want to use FRAPS or something to get a video out. Everyone's definition of "stutter" is a little different. e.g. load hitching, micro-stutter, overheating, etc. Some call load hitching stutter, some call poor FPS stutter... some call lag stutter ... some call stutter, lag.

If you're really uptight like me, you'll even notice jitters if your mouse DPI is too high.