Skyrim

About this mod

Squeezes out the ABSOLUTE MOST FPS and heavily increase the stability for Skyrim LE.

Requirements
Permissions and credits
Changelogs
Donations
Check out the SSE Version

*** I no longer play Skyrim LE, therefore I will consider this guide outdated. Please refer to the Skyrim SE version instead ***

Description


This guide will help you squeeze out the maximum performance on Skyrim LE so you can enjoy a more stable, crash-free game. You might be thinking why the screenshots have almost to no difference in frames. These images are just the BEFORE & AFTER of the console commands, all the other tweaks are applied. I just needed some screenshots for the guide :)

Also, this guide does not go fully in-depth. I understand this as my aim was to cover some parts that some guides do not cover.

Also also also, download the .7z file included in the downloads. It's basically an extension of this guide and is almost always updated for the maximum amount of performance. Each INI is up to date and never seen before.


My PC Specs:

CPU - AMD-A4 APU (2.7GHz) [I don't even have a dedicated CPU and GPU]
RAM - 4GB DDR3
GPU - Radeon HD 6450 (1GB)
MONITOR - Samsung SyncMaster 2233 60hz (Increased refresh rate to 77) (1680x1050)
STORAGE - 1TB, HDD - 7200RPM
OS - Windows 10 Home 64-bit

I have looked at countless tutorials on how to improve my frames. As you can see my specs are not the greatest, in fact, they are very poopy (I will be looking to upgrade my PC soon once I get my first job and earn enough money to buy one :D), but I still run Skyrim LE pretty stable with 200+ mods. Let's start with the guide.

Images

Before we start, take a look at the BEFORE and AFTER images. Again, these images are just before and after console commands, all other tweaks were applied already.

Skyrim Setting:

  • 1280x800
  • Used MEDIUM PRESET with HIGH TEXTURE SETTING
  • 200+ Mods installed

FPS Indoors - 90-120 FPS+
FPS Outdoors - 40-75 FPS+

Rarely any freezing or stuttering, and the gameplay is very smooth, however, the graphics are bad (it is bearable though).

Computer

I have developed software for computer optimization.

WARNING! Use at your own risk. These tweaks can have some bad side effects so make sure to backup your PC! I have included the entire code of the program so you know it will not do anything malicious.

Download


Mods

Here are some mods that can increase performance and help with stability as well as mods that are created by me to help you achieve the most FPS...

Remove Unessasary NPCs

Bug fixes
Crash fixes
Unofficial Skyrim Legendary Edition Patch
Load Game CTD Fix

PerformanceHitRelief_REMASTERED
FPS Performance Optimization Compilation - FPOC
Corrupted NIFs Patches - CNP


Enhanced Blood Textures by dDefinder (Use the NO SCREEN BLOOD)
No More Blue Rock
Absorb tint effect removal
ONE MOUNTAIN - To Rule Them All
Whiterun texture memory usage reduction
Remove Underwater Grass and other stuff too - A Performance Mod
Insignificant Object Remover
Remove Exterior Fog
Skyrim Project Optimization
Bethesda Performance Textures - Animals and Creatures
No More Glowing Edges Mod
Remove Interior Fog V2
Interior and Dungeon Fog Remover
Remove Distracting Things
Bethesda Performance Textures - Armor - Clothes - Weapons
No more Radial Blur - Performance optimization
Unofficial Enhanced Lights and FX ELFX SMIM ENB fps performance patch
OneTweak

My FPS Performance Optimization Compilation was BANNED due to it being against the rules (It was against the rules to upload compilations, regardless of permissions). So here are the mods that I used in the compilation... (Bear in mind that some mods cause incompatibility with other mods. This means you should report any bugs or errors in the comment section so you can be helped out right away).

Smoke and Dust Remover
Interior and Dungeon Fog Remover
Platoon Performance Mods
Darkerrim No Lighting
Skyrip
No More Blinding Fog
Remove the little rocks
Low Res Particles and Flora - LRPF
Subtle Cloak Spell Graphics
Beauty Of Fps Project
Shaders Begone - NoGlow
Icefloes BeGone
No Snowflakes in Sovngarde
Tree Mesh Remover by
Winterhold Delete Snow Patches
Whiterun texture memory usage reduction
Encounter Script CTD Fix
Continue Game No Crash
No CobWebs in Player-Houses
Less of that Please
No Scars
Absorb Tint FX Removal
Remove Exterior Fog
No Swirl Effect
Remove Magic Books
Skyrim Performance For All
Remove Torch Glow
Whiterun Performance Overhaul
Colorful Lights No Shadow
Colorful Lights No Shadow - DLCs

You don't want to install every single mod on here. Just install the ones you need/want.


Mods that can possibly eat up performance are...

  • 4k+ Graphical texture overhaul (Try to use 512 or 1024 textures. If you have a more average PC, you can get away with 2k).
  • Grass and Tree overhaul
  • City overhauls
  • ELFX (Outdoor module takes a hit, use the indoor module only or better yet, use RLO as it is more performance-friendly).
  • NPC AI Overhauls (InconNPCs and Immersive Citizens take a little hit on my system but I cannot live without them)
  • Enemy AI overhauls (RotC and Deadly Combat do not take too much of a performance hit for me).
  • Enemy spawn increasers.
  • OBIS.
  • ENB presets.
  • Heavy scripting mods.
  • Dangerous Mods Masterlist

Mod Settings

These mods usually come with a configuration (INI, etc). Configure them for optimal performance and less crashes.

Crash Fixes - UseOSAllocators=1, CustomMemoryBlock=1, MemoryInfoConsole=1. If you still experience crashing, try AlignHeapAllocate=1 but if not, then leave it 0 because it increases loading times as well as higher memory consumption. To find you CustomMemoryBlockTotalSizeMB=?, you will have to load your save then press ~ key. You should see a bunch of percentages. Decrease this value until the percentages are 85%-90%

Safety Load - EnableOnlyLoading=false. Basically DEFAULT

Enhanced Camera Mod - bFirstPersonShadows=0. Disables SHADOWS

...more mod settings are included in the .7z file located in the DOWNLOADS section.

Software

There are a ton of software to help with Skyrim's stability, here are some...

TES5Edit by ElminsterAU
Optimizer Textures (Ordenador) by AdPipino
LOOT by LOOT
Mod Organizer by Tannin42
Save game script cleaner by Hadoram

TES5Edit - Conflict and cleaning
Optimizer Textures - Helps optimize Skyrim's textures, instructions on the main page and on this guide page (Files)
LOOT - A very simple software, click the sort button and hit apply then you are finished.
Mod Organizer - Use this TOOL to sort and manage your mods. Best one in my opinion.
Save Cleaner - Removes remaining scripts of uninstalled mods. Run often. Click on Clean formlists, Reset havok, FixScriptInstances, Delete all #, Clean other, Del. Broken Activities, Advanced>Remove scripts attached to nonexistent created forms. DO NOT use Remove a scripts having invalid variables, it can remove essential game scripts as well


Gopher has some videos that help with MO setup. Since it comes in parts, it will not be shown on this guide

ENB

Download Skyrim's ENB here. Even though we are not installing an ENB preset, Skyrim ENB comes with a bunch of options to help us with performance and maximum stability.

Once you have downloaded the file, extract the CONTENTS (not the actual folder) of the folder named "WrapperVersion" to where TESV.exe is located. Replace the enblocal.ini with the file provided on this page.

If you want to use an ENB, simply change UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=true to UsePatchSpeedhackWithoutGraphics=false

More options are included in the .7z file located in the DOWNLOADS section of this mod page.

SKSE

SKSE is required by a lot of mods including the famous one, SkyUI. We are going to tweak an INI to help boost the game's performance.

An SKSE.ini is included in the DOWNLOADS section of this mod.

Console Commands

Probably the most simple portion of this guide it the CONSOLE COMMANDS. To type a command in-game, press the ~ key on your keyboard (usually beside the number key, 1)

Some performance commands with their values...

Setfog 0,999999999999999 - Removes exterior fog. On vs. Off

pcb - Free up used memory, often times increase fps after any given amount of time in game. Best used while in interior cells. However, since it purges cached cells, any cells you visited in the recent past will have to be reloaded completely when reentered.

tg - Removes grass (INCOMPATIBLE WITH GRASS OVERHAUL MODS BECAUSE IT REMOVES GRASS)

teofis - Toggle end-of-frame image space. Gets rid of that ugly black filter on Skyrim. Also improves FPS by a hefty amount. Incompatible with mods that edit/enhance bloom, DoF, etc. ALSO, vampire and khajit vision will NOT work with this ENABLED.

SetSceneIsComplex 1 - Animation and sound details are reduced,  combat does not check movement restrictions (actors may sidestep into objects, off ledges, etc), actors which are not in the loaded area WILL NOT UPDATE while this flag is set meaning they will not go through load doors, excess dead bodies in the loaded area are cleaned up more frequently, avoidance is disabled.

SetAllVisible 1 - Actors do not perform LineOfSight checks. From FNV, could possibly help, however will make AI more "dumb"

SetNoAvoidance 1 - Actors do not perform avoid box movement. From FNV, could possibly help, however will make AI more "dumb"

SetAllReachable 1 - Actors do not use pathing. From FNV, could possibly help, however will make AI more "dumb"

ClearInvalidRegistrations - Removes invalid registrations from deleted mods.


Skyrim.INI

Both INIs were passed through a lot of INI configurators such as BethINI, Skyrim Configurator and many more. I would suggest to use these INIs as references instead of actually replacing your own INI files

This is the 1st part of Skyrim INI tweaking. I SUGGEST BACKING UP. We will be using ModOrganizer's INI tweaking. If you find that settings are not working for you, do not edit through the DOCUMENTS folder but instead use the ModOrganizer INI tweaking.


SKYRIMPREFS.INI ARE INCLUDED IN DOWNLOAD FILE

This will...

  • Disable Grass
  • Remove the clouds on the fast travel map making it clear.
  • Remove fog.
  • Remove the Blur on-hit effect.
  • Make water will look less detailed (hardly noticeable).
  • Disable VSync.
  • Changes your game language to ENGLISH.
  • Make your camera faster when switching POVs.

...and more.

SkyrimPrefs.ini

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING HEAVY LAG, PLEASE DOWNLOAD THE SHADOW REMOVER MOD. ALSO IF YOU SEE YOUR INI FILES ARE RESETTING, USE SKSE TO OPEN SKYRIM. DO NOT OPEN THE GAME USING THE SKYRIM LAUNCHER

2nd part of Skyrim INI tweaking. I SUGGEST BACKING UP. We will be using ModOrganizer's INI tweaking. If you find that settings are not working for you, do not edit through the DOCUMENTS folder but instead use the ModOrganizer INI tweaking.


SKYRIMPREFS.INI ARE INCLUDED IN DOWNLOAD FILE

This will...

  • Disable Depth-Of-Field
  • Remove any signs of shadows (Massive FPS boost)
  • Remove grass shaders
  • Disable gamepad
  • Disable mouse acceleration
  • Reduce particles
  • Stop the rendering of skinned trees. Skinned Trees vs. Non-Skinned Trees
  • Remove some decals
  • Disable HDR
  • Make water look a bit worse (not affected when using WATER mods)

...and more

Suggestions

You made it at the end of the guide. Your performance should be skyrocketing right now. After reading this guide is there anything I should add on to it? Just leave it in the comments and I will consider it. Also if you have any questions, be sure to ask me, I love replying to questions and I am always looking to help everyone. Be sure to check for updates. The INI files are updated very frequently. Finally, don't forget to endorse if this mod helped you. THANK YOU :)

~123keelos