Having low FPS or significant FPS drops in Skyrim Special Edition? You’re not alone. Many players encountered the same problem, so we’ve put together a complete list of solutions for Skyrim SE FPS boost. Check it out.

Fixes to try:

You may not try them. Just work your way down the list until you find the one that brings the best game performance.

  1. Change the PC power plan
  2. Update your graphics driver
  3. Modify the config file
  4. Roll back your AMD graphics driver
  5. Install mods

Fix 1 – Change the PC power plan

If your computer is running on the Power saver or Balanced power plan as default, Windows will automatically adjust the CPU’s speed and may limit your gaming experience. For better performance, you could switch to the High performance option.

  1. On your keyboard, press the Windows logo key and R at the same time to open the Run command. Then type powercfg.cpl and click OK.
  2. Select High performance.

If you still don’t see improvement in Skyrim FPS, proceed to the second fix below.

Fix 2 – Update your graphics driver

Graphics card driver is essential to a smooth and enhanced gaming experience. If you’re using a faulty or outdated graphics driver, you’re more likely to get Skyrim FPS drops. So to avoid this, you should check for the driver updates regularly.

There are mainly two ways you can update your graphics driver:

Option 1 – Manually: If you know the exact model of your graphics card, you can go straight to the manufacturer’s website: Intel, AMD or NVIDIA. Then search for the most recent driver that’s compatible with your operating system and install it manually.

Option 2 – Automatically (Recommended): If you don’t have the time, patience or computer skills to update your video driver manually, you can do it automatically with Driver Easy. Driver Easy will automatically recognize your system and find the correct drivers for your exact GPU, and your Windows version, and it will download and install them correctly:

  1. Download and install Driver Easy.
  2. Run Driver Easy and click the Scan Now button. Driver Easy will then scan your computer and detect any problem drivers.
  3. Click the Update button next to the flagged graphics driver to automatically download the correct version of that driver, then you can manually install it (you can do this with the FREE version).

    Or click Update All to automatically download and install the correct version of all the drivers that are missing or out of date on your system. (This requires the Pro version which comes with full support and a 30-day money back guarantee. You’ll be prompted to upgrade when you click Update All.)
The Pro version of Driver Easy comes with full technical support.
If you need assistance, please contact Driver Easy’s support team at support@drivereasy.com.

Restart your computer to employ the changes. If the issue persists, try the next fix below.

Fix 3 – Modify the config file

Many players suggested modifying certain values in the game’s configuration file will dramatically boost FPS in Skyrim. Follow the steps to see if that works for you.

  1. Go to This PC > Documents > My Games > Skyrim Special Edition. Then open the Skyrim configuration file with editing software like Notepad.
  2. Locate bLockFramerate and set its value to 0. Then click Ctrl + S to save the file.
  3. Go back to the Skyrim Special Edition folder and open the SkyrimPrefs file.
  4. Find iVsyncPresentInterval, set it to 0 and save the file.

Once completed, launch Skyrim to test. If the FPS is not improved, there are a few more fixes to try.

Fix 4 – Roll back your AMD graphics driver

AMD users reported the latest AMD graphics driver can trigger decreased performance in Skyrim. To see if that’s the cause, you could roll back your graphics driver to the previous version.

DDU is a solid fix for driver installation problems but it might not work for all cases. To get rid of potential risk, you’d better create a restore point beforehand.

Here is the instruction:

  1. Download and install Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU).
  2. Restart your computer in Safe Mode.
  3. Launch DDU and select GPU and your graphics card brand on the main screen.
  4. Click Clean and restart.
  5. Wait for the uninstalling process to complete. Then, reboot your PC to exit the safe mode.
  6. Go to the official support website of AMD or NVIDIA to download the previous version of your graphics card driver.
  7. Open the downloaded file and follow the on-screen instructions to install the driver manually.

Now see if the Skyrim FPS is raised. If not, try different versions until you find the one that renders the most stable Skyrim gameplay. Still no luck? Take a look at the last fix below.

Fix 5 – Install mods

Skyrim mods can not only spice up your gaming experience but also fixes quite a lot of issues with the game and its engine. Simply trythese bug-fixing mods such as Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch or SSE Engine Fixes to see if they boost your FPS.

If you don’t know how to install mods for Skyrim, check out this guide.

So these are all the fixes for Skyrim FPS boost. Hopefully they helped. If you have further questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment below.

14
14 people found this helpful
guest
1 Comment
Most Voted
Newest Oldest
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments