Overview
In this guide, I’ll go through all of the tweaks I’ve made to skyrim’s ini files. The goal is to improve immersion, graphics, and overall performance to make the land of skyrim more impressive than ever before.
Introduction
It’s worth noting that these tweaks are edited for my personal use on a high end system (specs below) targeting 60fps at 3840x2160p; however, many tweaks will not affect performance at all. Any of the lines in your ini that I don’t reference can be left alone unless you desire to change them. Also, if I reference a command that you do not have, simply write it in under the correct heading. I’ll briefly describe the effect on both performance and graphical quality for each command. Most of the information in this guide was found through the skyrim step project and gamerpoets youtube channel. All credit goes to them for the discovery of these changes. I’m simply compiling their info and giving some additional info and recommendations, particularly for higher-end systems. With ES6 so far away, now is the time for that final playthrough, and this guide will hopefully go a long way in helping you enjoy it more than the last time.
Specs:
CPU – i5-6600k @ 4.5ghz
GPU – Asus dual gtx 1070 oc
Ram – Kingston hyperxfury 16gb
Storage – 1TB HDD
Motherboard – MSI SLI Plus z170
Skyrim ini
The skyrim ini can be found by looking under – ThisPC>Local disc> users> (your name)> documents> my games > skyrim SE – The skyrim prefs ini can be found under the same directory.
[General]
bBorderRegionsEnabled=0 (this turns off skyrim’s borders and is required to use mods which expand skyrim’s playable territory)
uGridsToLoad=5 (this is potentially the most controversial setting in the ini file. uGridstoLoad loads additional grids surrounding the player, which can improve draw distance. The default value is 5, and I recommend leaving it there. The performance impact can vary depending on the system, but I suffered random frame drops with low gpu usage after changing this to 7. I strongly recommend against setting to 9 or higher as some have tried. Most users report games crashing, flying creatures, and other issues.)
uExterior Cell Buffer=36 (simply your uGrids to Load value plus 1, squared. (5+1)^2 =36 0r (7+1)^2=64
fFlickeringLightDistance=8192 (helps remove lighting pop-in)
sIntroSequence= (leaving this command blank removes the intro sequence from the game)
[Display]
bLockFramerate=0 (if your game is capping at exactly 58 or 59 frames per second, rather than 60, writing in this command and setting it to 0 will allow it to reach the full 60)
fNearDistance=18.0000 (this combats z-fighting prevalent among skyrim’s mountains. It does induce clipping, but it is well worth it)
fSunShadowUpdateTime=2.00
fSunUpdateThreshold=0.05000 (both of these settings affect how shadows move in relation to the sun. I tweaked these values for way too long, but finally got them moving in a realistic manner. Further adjust either if you don’t like the end result)
fDecalLifetime=256.000 (this increases the amount of time that decals, most notably blood, stay on screen)
[Grass]
iGrassCellRadius=2 ((ugridstoload – 1) / 2 If your ugrids is set to the default 5, use two, and if set to 7, use 3. Grass patches will take up more space with a higher setting.)
iMaxGrassTypesPerTexure=7 (Increases grass divesity, NOTE: The spelling of texure is incorrect on purpose. This was a mistake by bethesda. Mild performance impact.
iMinGrassSize=50 (Affects grass density. Higher values lower the density of grass. As you increase this value, you will actually gain performance.
[Combat]
f1PArrowTiltUpAngle=0.7
f1PBoltTiltUpAngle=0.7 (these two setting make the arrow shoot directly at the aiming reticule. NOTE: The value of 0.3 is recommended by the author of the mod “Simply faster arrow and bolts. If you choose not to use this mod, set these values to 0.7, not 0.3.
[Actor]
fVisibleNavMeshMoveDist=12288.0000 (stops projectiles from disappearing before reaching their target)
[BackgroundLoad]
bSelectivePurgeUnusedOnFastTravel=1 (this can help with vram usage after fast traveling)
[Interface]
fBookOpenTime=200.0 (makes books open considerably faster than the vanilla value)
[Water]
bReflectLODLand=1
bReflectLODObjects=1
bReflectLODTrees=1 (these settings determine whether or not the game will render water reflections for land, trees, and other objects. Does affect performance, but rarely more than a couple of frames. I recommend leaving these enabled.)
SkyrimPrefs ini
[Display]
VsyncPresentInterval=0 (this disables skyrim’s in-game v-sync. This does not remove, but helps greatly with random frame drops. Skyrim glitches above 60fps for most players, so set vsync on in your gpu’s control panel, or use a framerate limiter such as rivatuner (downloaded with msi afterburner)
fShadowDistance=9000.00 (this specifies the distance that shadows are rendered from the player. in most games, shadow resolution and distance are completely unrelated, but in skyrim, the greater the shadow distance, the worse shadows appear in terms of quality, and vice versa. The trick is finding the lowest possible setting that still eliminates shadow pop-in. For me this is 10,000, but this may vary for different users. I used 8000 for a long time and saw some shadow pop-in, but it was rare.
iShadowMapResolution=2048 (this setting controls the resolution of all shadows. higher settings will make the edges of shadows more defined, sharp, and realistic at the cost of both fps and vram. Applicable values are 512, 1024, 2048, 4096, and 8192. I tested the top 3 values in an area to the east of ivarstead with these results: 8192 – 40 fps, 4096 – 53 fps, 2048 – 58 fps. I was using just over 6gbs of my available 8gbs of vram on the 8192 test, so it was simply testing the core usage rather than memory, but it’s worth mentioning that users with less memory would most likely suffer more significant frame drops.
bUseTAA=0 (simply toggles the use of TAA. Since I’m running the game in 4k, only fxaa is necessary. I did not test this setting, but generally TAA is considerably more demanding than fxaa.
bSAOEnable=1 (enables screen space ambient occulusion. I see very little difference in terms of fps and visual quality which is odd. I may research this more in the future)
bIndEnable=0 (not sure what this does, but I suspect it to affect lighting. Tanks fps. Keep disabled, regardless of your system.
bScreenSpaceReflectionEnabled=0 (this setting controls the use of screen space reflections. Very difficult to test, but if it’s implemented similar to other titles, it will have no impact when reflections aren’t present on screen (duh) and a sizable impact when they are present. I recommend disabling this setting if frame rate is a concern.
bUse64bitsHDRRenderTarget=1 (eliminates color banding in brightly-lit scenes by using 64-bit, rather than 32 bit. It can affect performance, but usually only does so when looking at the sky which is very easy for your gpu to render. Highly recommend enabling this setting regardless, but if you choose to download mods that edit the sky, this is a must.
iShadowMaskQuarter=4 (according to the step project, this setting must always be 4. If you edit it, the game will revert it back to 4 immediately.)
bVolumetricLightingEnable=0
iVolumetricLightingQuality=0 (these two settings affect godrays. Heavy performance impact.
bEnableImprovedSnow=1 (toggles the snow shader. no performance impact on my system. keep at 0 if using snow texture mods unless the mod author specifies against it.)
fLightLODStartFade=7000.0000 (sets the distance at which light will begin to fade. no impact on performance)
bFXAAEnabled=1 (enables fxaa which helps remove jagged edges from textures with a minimal performance impact)
fMeshLODLevel2FadeTreeDistance=10000000.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeTreeDistance=10000000.0000
fMeshLODLevel2FadeDist=10000000.0000
fMeshLODLevel1FadeDist=10000000.0000 (these four settings set the distances at which LOD meshes fade. Because far distances have very little detail, I believe this wouldn’t hit framerate too hard unless your were short on vram/ram or had a very old card.
bTreesReceiveShadows=0 (toggles whether or not shadows are rendered on trees, not by them, but on them. This can impact performance greatly, particularly around falkreath and other areas with dense forests. I can tell a difference as trees appear to be thicker and more realistic with this setting enabled, but that benefit does not outweigh the performance hit.
bUsePrecipitationOcclusion=1 (this setting is vital as it keeps rain and snow from going through roof edges and tents. No fps hit. Definitely enable it.)
bDrawLandShadows=0 (toggles the ability of land objects such as rocks and mountains to cast shadows. It can be disabled for a slight performance gain. I leave this disabled as I rarely noticed these shadows when enabled. It’s disabled by default.
iMaxSkinDecalsPerFrame=150
iMaxDecalsPerFrame=400 (these settings affect the number of decals, most noticeably, blood. I have them turned up quite a bit. Very minor performance impact.
iReflectionResolutionDivider=4 (this setting impacts the resolution of reflections. NOTE: my personal setting of 4 is only recommended for those playing above 1080p. If playing at 1080p or lower, leave at the default setting of 2.)
iBlurDeferredShadowMask=0 (this setting impacts the blur applied to shadows. Lower values make sharper shadows. Higher values make softer shadows. Negative values produces the maximum blur level. Setting it to zero disables the blur altogether. If your shadow resolution setting is 512 or 1024, I recommend enabling this to the vanilla setting of three to help combat the aliasing on low resolution shadows. Otherwise, keep it disabled to show off the sharpness of the game’s shadows.
iMaxAnisotropy=0 (the step project recommends to disable this command by setting it to zero. Then, force 16x anisotropic filtering through your video card’s control panel. Unless you’re using an ancient, like draugr level card, use 16x.
[Imagespace]
bDoDepthOfField=1 (minor performance impact. leave on or water will become crystal clear when diving.
bLensFlare=0 (lens flare is terrible)
[General]
uLargeRefLODGridSize=11 (Raising this setting makes distant textures such as mountains much clearer. Severe performance impact for most users and myself with greatly improved textures for large objects in the distance. Default setting is 11.
[MAIN]
fSkyCellRefFadeDistance=500000.0000 (sets the distance that clouds, fog, and mist can be seen. Default is 5000. Minor performance impact. Highly recommend this value.
[Particles]
iMaxDesired=1200 (Controls the quality (density) of particle effects, such as fire, fog, mist, and magic spells. Default value is 750. No performance impact on my system surprisingly. You can put in any integer value for this setting, however, I found values above 1500 to be overwhelming. For example, in snowy regions surrounding dawnstar, snow wind gusts would become very blurry. Also, in caves, the mist seen above water begin to look too thick and prominent, even for a fantasy world. The sweetspot is between 1200-1600. That range really depends on personal preference.
[AudioMenu]
fAudioMasterVolume=1.0000 (this setting controls the game’s master volume. according to gamerpoets, this can be turned up to 2.0000 before audio distortion occurs, however, after increasing this value to 2.0000, the voices became far too quiet. I don’t think the voices scale evenly with the other settings. Consequently, I highly recommend keeping this setting at 1.0000. Moving forward, the fVal settings below can be adjusted, but the uID settings CANNOT BE CHANGED.
fVal7=1.0000 (ambient)
uID7=522251
fVal6=0.6000 (magic)
uID6=106685
fVal5=0.7000 (menus)
uID5=410705
fVal4=1.0000 (ambiance)
uID4=218105869
fVal3=1.0000 (music)
uID3=466532
fVal2=1.7000 (voice)
uID2=554685
fVal1=0.6000 (footsteps)
uID1=1007612
fVal0=0.4000 (effects)
uID0=94881
[TerrainManager]
fTreeLoadDistance=75000.0000
fBlockMaximumDistance=500000.0000
fBlockLevel1Distance=140000.0000
fBlockLevel0Distance=75000.0000
fSplitDistanceMult=4.0000
[Grass]
fGrassStartFadeDistance=40000.0000
fGrassMaxStartFadeDistance=40000.0000
fGrassMinStartFadeDistance=0.0000
[LOD]
fLODFadeOutMultSkyCell=1.0000
fLODFadeOutMultObjects=50.0000
fLODFadeOutMultItems=50.0000
fLODFadeOutMultActors=50.0000