SOLVED FPS drop in skyrim, need 2 oc

[actiondonkey]

Alright so I've finally cleared my schedule for some hardcore Skyrim action and Afterburner has my FLS into the low 20s in some places. I understand Skyrim is very CPU dependent and only utilizes 2 cores, and yes agree the amd processor will bottleneck on games, so an OC seems to be in order. Any OC advice you guys could give on good settings to get at least4.2ghz, as well as maximize the rest of my system, would be appreciated.

Of Relevance:
MSI 990FXA-GD80
1100T BE
Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev. 2
Crossfire PowerColor 6850 (ps do not buy P.C.!)
8gb (4x2gb) Gskill Ripjaws 1600 model f3-12800cl9d
Crucial RealSSD C300 SataIII
Thermaltake Black Widow 850w
2x 23'' AOC Monitors
Antec Lanboy Case: modified to mount MB on left side of case. This setup isn't standard but with this particular case and the way fans mount I've found the change helped my idle and load temps drop 2-3* for CPU, even more for GPU.

This jacked up bios has a few options, some I've played with but no luck more than the Auto o/c genie gives me.

Current settings:
CPU Frequency (grayed out): 200 x 16.5
Current DRAM Frequency (grayed out): 1333MHz
CPU FSB Frequency: 200
CPU Ratio: Auto
Adjusted CPU Frequency (grayed out): 3300MHz
AMD Turbo Core Technology: Auto
Adjusted CPU-NB Frequency (grayed out): 2000MHz
DRAM Frequency: Auto
Adjusted DRAM Frequency: Auto
Adjusted DRAM Frequency (grayed out): 1333MHz
DRAM Timing Mode: Auto
HT Link Speed: Auto
Adjusted HT Link Frequency (grayed out): 2000MHz
PCI-E Frequency (MHz): 100
DRAM Voltage: Auto
NB Voltage: Auto
CPU Voltage: Auto
CPU-NB Voltage: Auto
CPU PLL Voltage: Auto
SB Voltage: Auto
HT Link Voltage: Auto
DDR Vref Voltage: Auto
CPU DDR-PHY Voltage: Auto
NB PCI-E Voltage: Auto
DDR VVT Voltage: Auto
Spread Spectrum: Disabled

An awful lot to take in for someone who hasn't had the opportunity to learn more than very basics of OCing. If anyone cares to suggest some tweaks I'll run comparative benches and see what the best bang is.

 

[magik_missles]

How much have you played around with the multiplier and voltages? I know some of the other guys can surely give you a roadmap for your MoBo and CPU setup.

What is your ingame setup like? Medium? High? And what resolution are you set to?

For what it's worth, I have been adjusting some of my settings as well for Skyrim. I have a 555 BE with all 4 cores unlocked. I went straight for a 3.8 OC and Skyrim kicked my machine in the taint. Locked up after about 30 seconds in Riverwood. I decided to try and lock down the two cores and then OC from there (since multi-threading is non-existent), but really didn't notice a difference in FPS. Seems like my stock 3.2GHz can handle about 3.5GHz with no issues and all 4 cores active without adjusting anything other than multiplier. The only thing this really did for me was allow shadows to remain on High without a noticeable drop in FPS when compared to no OC and shadows on Medium. That is with all else on High @ 1080p and getting no less than 40 FPS in cities and pegged at 60 in dungeons and indoors.

I have a slight OC to my GTX460 on top of the stock OC from the factory. I believe the core is 875 up from 765 and shaders to 1700 from 1530. Can't remember the memory clock OC, but it's slight.

Honestly, I kinda gave up with any more tinkering after that once I decided I had spent enough time NOT playing Skyrim.

 

[Sammich]

I have seen minimal or no difference in the game between 3.6Ghz and 4.5Ghz on an 8150. Take your time on the OC, because it's not worth losing a chip over.

 

[magik_missles]

I have seen minimal or no difference in the game between 3.6Ghz and 4.5Ghz on an 8150. Take your time on the OC, because it's not worth losing a chip over.

Agreed. Turning down the draw distance and shadows is way better than a fried CPU.

 

[actiondonkey]

Really I can only conclude my problem is with the processor, here's why...
I have the quality settings exactly as recommended here, 1920x1080 http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/skyrim-performance-benchmark,3074-7.html

I did not want to begin adjusting multiplier and voltages until I got some input on NB/SB adjustments and proper ratios for multiplier/voltage OC. As sammich and magic suggested, I'd not be too happy with a blow chip and have to wait for newegg to ship out another...

Here's the kicker - both my gpu are being utilized no higher than 68%, yet the two CPU cores this game uses are maxed out. Theory is that more CPU power should allow the GPUs to reach a higher potential, thus rendering more than 22fps. Since I'm running at 3.3GHZ now, a bump to 4.2 would yield ~22% more CPU power, and if the ratio of CPU to GPU utilization holds constant I could get up to 80-85% use from the gpus. Continuing down that path I should get ~28fps which is getting into the ballpark of where it needs to be.

If this theory holds true remains to be seen, as does finding the best way to tweak my MB to allow the system as a whole to function better at 4.2+

 

[Sammich]

If you have AA and AF enabled through your video card control panel disable it there and enable it in game. I know enabling through the CCC panel cut my performance in half.

Also, any reason you're using turbo core?

 

[actiondonkey]

That could very well be the issue, will give it a try this afternoon. Also, I think I'll try to apply some of the information found here http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=691940 to see if it helps me reach the levels I'm looking for. 1190T and 1100T are both Thuban and otherwise similar so hopefully all will go well.

As for using the turbo core, the default setting is auto and I assumed turbo=better. From your question I assume you recommend this should be disabled?

If anyone has recommendations for the settings I outlined initially or even a link to a site that has saved OC profiles it would be great

 

[trents]

Disable turbo core, Cool N Quiet, and C1E. Go into Control panel and make sure Power Options are set to performance instead of power saving. For a systematic and safe approach to overclocking that Thuban core CPU, you might want to take a look at my recommendations to fourm member "trekky" in this same section.

 

[actiondonkey]

Updated as suggested and your conversation with trekky should be a sticky imo. I'm alarmed that my stock idle/load temps seem to be much higher than other air-cooled 1100t owners - 38* at idle and 56* @20min max load with prime95. From looking at other users with identical pairing these temps are higher than average, though not by much. Seems obvious to conclude OC is not safe at the moment and a better cpu cooler is warranted before moving forward. The Corsair Hydro Series H100 Liquid CPU Cooler that Trekky used worked well for him, I may have to grab one from nuegg over black friday weekend if/when they go on sale.

That said I'll come back and let you guys know what I hit after fixing the cooling problem.

 

[actiondonkey]

Thought I'd add this bit since now I'm really scratching my head... I turned on OC Genie and ran prime95 just to see what the temps would reach... and they went down?

OC Genie has the CPU running at 3.7GHz, up from 3.3, yet the idle is down to 29* and the load under prime95 didn't break 52*. The memory moved down to 600Mhz, seems that would have something to do with it.

 

[trents]

The memory moved down to 600Mhz, seems that would have something to do with it.

Yep, less strain on the IMC.

 

[actiondonkey]

Thanks everyone for your help. I was able to hit a constant ~40fps by making the video card changes recommend by sammich and OCing as directed by trents. I was able to hit 3.8GHz w/o adjusting core voltage which negated the heat issue. I'd have to get better cooling to go further.