Description:

I created these files outta necessity because I had stability and FPS issues. These settings were originally customized for my personal rig and preferences but you can adjust them by your own easily.

Unfortunately I couldn't play Skyrim with an ENB with my Nvidia 770 GTX on max settings without massive FPS drops. For that reason I have looked for stable and performance friendly INIs but unfortunately I only found outdated ones or they were overloaded with unnecessary entries. That was really frustrating, so that I decided to create both INIs from scratch. My intention was to balance them for an overall good performance and at the same time for a good visual quality. Besides I wanted to bring everything in an alphabetical order for a better overview and remove unnecessary default or not working entries to make the INIs slim as possible.

I use a mix of S.T.E.P. recommended and own preferred values for a stable and playable result. With this settings I can run my heavy modded Skyrim without CTDs and by solid frames. Stable, simple and performance friendly, this was exactly what I was looking for.

Maybe you guys are interested and can need them, too.

Enjoy, but don't forget to read the whole description! There I'll explain you what you have to do to prepare everything to your personal preferences.

English isn't my first language but I tried to write proper and understandable but if you still find spelling mistakes, feel free to
contact me for a better description.

If you like the files, I would be glad if you endorse it. :)


Requirement:

• Skyrim would be great
  

Installation:

For people without Mod Organizer - Simply download the file and extract everything into C:\Users\UserName\Documents\My Games\Skyrim

For people with Mod Organizer - Simply download the file and extract everything into \ModOrganizer\profiles\"PROFILE-NAME"

Please BACKUP your originals first!!!


Ok, let's start:

STEP 1: Prepare the INIs

Skyrim.INI:

[Camera]                                           
bDisableAutoVanityMode=0                    <-- set to 1 for disabling the spinning vanity camera. Must be set before starting a new game!

[Camera]                                              <-- delete entire entries if you don't like the changes (Places the camera just above the character head in 3p)
fOverShoulderPosX=0.0
fOverShoulderPosZ=18.0
fOverShoulderCombatAddY=0.0
fOverShoulderCombatPosX=0.0
fOverShoulderCombatPosZ=24.0
fOverShoulderHorseAddY=-72.0
fOverShoulderHorsePosX=35.0
fOverShoulderHorsePosZ=50.0

[Controls]
bBackgroundMouse=1                             <-- set to 0 for multi monitor setups or windowed mode

[Combat]
bForceNPCsUseAmmo=1                         <-- NPCs will use up the ammo in their inventory when using bows and crossbows, or set to 0 for infinite Ammo

[Display]
fDefaultWorldFOV=70.59                         <-- 65 ( standard ) for 16:10, 70.59+ for 16:9 ( higher FOV = higher performance impact )

[General]
bDisableGearedUp=1                               <-- set to 0 for showing favorite items as equipped on your character (it's a bit buggy)
sLanguage=ENGLISH                               <-- change in CAPS to your language, e.g. ENGLISH, GERMAN etc.

[HAVOK]                                                 <-- delete entire category if you're not using HDT
fMaxTime=0.0157                                                            
iNumThreads=4                                       <-- # = CPU Cores, but not more than 4                 


Skyrimprefs.INI

[Display]
iSize H=1080                                           <-- set to your resolution
iSize W=1920                                          <-- set to your resolution
sD3DDevice="NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770"     <-- change to your card

[GamePlay]
iDifficulty=5                                            <-- set to ( 0 = easy, 1 = apprentice, 2 = adept, 3 = expert, 4 = master, 5 = legendary )

[Interface]
bShowCompass=1                                     <-- set to 0 to toggle the compass off


STEP 2: ENB?                                <-- Graphical ENB only! If you use ENB Boost you can use the performance or the not relevant ENB settings! 

Skyrim.INI:

[Display]
bAllowScreenshot=0                                  <-- set to 0 for ENB, otherwise set to 1
iPresentInterval=1                                    <-- set to 1 or ENB's vsync will not work


Skyrimprefs.INI

[Display]
bDrawLandShadows=1                               <-- set to 1 for ENB, otherwise keep or set to 0 for slightly better performance
bFloatPointRenderTarget=1                       <-- set to 1 for ENB, otherwise keep or set to 0 for better performance
bShadowsOnGrass=1                                 <-- set to 1 for ENB, otherwise keep or set to 0 for slightly better performance
bTreesReceiveShadows=1                         <-- set to 1 for ENB, otherwise keep or set to 0 for slightly better performance
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=5                      <-- set to 1 if using ENB shadows
iMaxAnisotropy=0                                     <-- set to 0 for ENB, otherwise set to 16 or your preferred anisotropic settings
iMultiSample=0                                         <-- set to 0 for ENB, otherwise set to your preferred antialising settings


STEP 3: Fine Tuning

Skyrim.INI:

[Grass]
fGrassWindMagnitudeMax=125                   <-- set to 100, 75, 50, 25 for slightly better performance or 0 for static grass and best performance
fGrassWindMagnitudeMin=5                       <-- set to 4, 3, 2, 1 for slightly better performance or 0 for static grass and best performance
iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=3                      <-- set to 7 if you're using SFO
iMinGrassSize=40                                      <-- lower values = denser grass at a greater impact on performance, higher values = decrease grass density at a small performance gain

[Papyrus]                                                   <-- it's not recommend to change this category...
fExtraTaskletBudgetMS=1.2                        <-- for script-heavy setups increase to 1.6 ( or to 2.0 at max ) higher values = FPS Drops
fUpdateBudgetMS=1.2                                <-- for script-heavy setups increase to 1.6 ( or to 2.0 at max ) higher values = FPS Drops
fPostLoadUpdateTimeMS=500                     <-- for script-heavy setups increase to 750, 1000,.. ( or to 2000 at max ) higher values = longer load times


Skyrimprefs.INI

[Display]
fShadowDistance=4096.0000                       <-- set to 4096 - 8192, 2048 for better performance
fTreesMidLODSwitchDist=8192.0000            <-- set to 9999999.0000 for max setting at a greater impact on performance
iShadowMapResolution=2048                       <-- set to 4096 for higher resolution at a greater impact on performance, 1024 for better performance

[Imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1                                     <-- set to 0 for clear underwater or for slightly better performance
                                                                 (some ENBs required bDoDepthOfField enabled to work correct)
[Water]
iWaterReflectHeight=1024                           <-- set to 2048 or 4096 for higher resolution at a greater impact on performance
iWaterReflectWidth=1024                            <-- set to 2048 or 4096 for higher resolution at a greater impact on performance
bUseWaterRefractions=0                             <-- Add this line if you use a SLI setup. ff7legend pointed out a solution to the flickering water bug that occurs when SLI mode is enabled. Default value is 1 that's why I removed the parameter. Thanks ff7legend!

You can also change the other entries in the ini's but currently there is no need for it. Most commonly these are visual changes and they are maxed out.  You'll get no noticeable performance gain if you reduce them. I'll add under Step 3 further lines if I'm done.


Uninstalling:

Simple remove or overwrite the skyrim.ini and skyrimprefs.ini with your old or new ones.


Recommendation for a more stable Skyrim:

Stable ini's are important but they are just one module for a stable Skyrim. Therefore I can highly recommend to use ENB Boost and Crash fixes!

ENB Boost:

1: If you don't have an ENB installed and still need the files go here and download the newest version.
2: ENB users can skip this step and continue with step 4. All others extract the content of the WrapperVersion folder into their Skyrim directory.
3: Open the enblocal.ini and change the following two entries to UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=true and UseDefferedRendering=false
4: Download Vramsizetest from enbdev.com and extract it somewhere
5: Start the DX9 application
6: Subtract 170 (if you use win7) or 350 (if you use win 8 or 10) from that numbers. Add the outcome to VideoMemorySizeMb=
7: Set under ReservedMemorySizeMb= something between the limits 64 - 256 (lower values cause more stuttering, higher values cause more CTDs)
8: Done and save


Crash fixes:

1: Download Crash fixes and follow the install instruction


SKSE Memory Patch (not needed if you use Crash fixes):

1: If you don't have installed SKSE go here and download the newest archive.
2: Extract the content into your Skyrim directory. Mod Organizer user extract only the .dll's and .exe into the Skyrim directory and create under ModOrganizer\mods\ a new folder. Into this folder you extract the scripts folder without the data folder.
3: Create another folder named SKSE and create an ini file in it. Insert this lines and save.

[Memory]
DefaultHeapInitialAllocMB=768
ScrapHeapSizeMB=256

For the lazy ones I uploaded my file too ;) Just extract the SKSE folder into your data folder and done. Mod Organizer user create a new folder under ModOrganizer\mods\ and extract the SKSE folder into it.

4: Open MO and activate the folders like replacer.
5: Done!


Version:

1.0 Initial release
1.1 Added a missing line
      Removed an unnecessary default line
      Adjust fInteriorShadowDistance
1.2 Adjust fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell
      Removed the last default values
1.3 Complete rework of the INI's


Known Issues:

I use Mod Organizer and during the creation of the files I noticed that if I deleted entries and tested them with an existing savegame I had long loading times but after loading and saving all seems normal again. I had even sometimes the problem that changes don't take over during an existing save. Maybe Skyrim don't like critical changes in the ini's during a playthrough. I could continue testing smoothly through deleting the whole save folder or using a new profile.

What does that means? That means if you have changed Skyrim critical and have some issues it is sometimes better to start a completely new game...

p.s. I don't know if there are any problems without MO.


Credits:

Bethesda - for Skyrim
S.T.E.P. - for the tips and whole database of information about the values
ff7legend - for his feedback, hints and for feeding his beast with my files ;)


Permission:

If you have any questions feel free to contact me.


My other mods:

Chero's YazBody - BBP - TBBP - HDT
Chero's Belts - CBBE - BodySlide - UNPB and UNP shaped
Chero's Sculptures 
Chero's Vampire Lord

Chero's YazBody - BBP - TBBP - HDT (Special Edition)