If you are experiencing crashes when trying to play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition, you should first check to ensure that your machine meets the game's minimum requirements here and that you are not running any additional programs in the background.
If you meet the game's requirements and are not running any additional programs, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:
Update Your Graphics Card Drivers
To ensure you are getting the best performance out of your graphics card, you can download and install latest drivers (based on manufacturer) here:
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an open world action role-playing video game developed by Bethesda Game Studios and published by Bethesda Softworks.It is the fifth main installment in The Elder Scrolls series, following The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on November 11, 2011.
Change In-Game Settings
You can improve performance by making changes to the game's in-game settings.
First, try resetting the auto-detected video options:
- Skyrim PC Requirements. When it comes to Skyrim system requirements, we should also offer different lists for the two editions. For the legendary edition, the minimum Skyrim requirements are as follows: OS:Windows 7/Vista/XP PC (32 or 64 bit) Processor:Dual Core 2.0GHz or equivalent processor; Memory:2GB System RAM; Hard Disk Space:6GB free HDD.
- PC System Analysis For The Elder Scrolls V Requirements Skyrims system requirements are low by todays gaming hardware standards. To get Skyrim to run unmodded at 60 FPS on high settings and 1080p.
- PC system requirements for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Some additional useful technical info.
- Open Steam and navigate to your Library.
- Select The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition.
- Click Play to open the Skyrim SE Launcher.
- From the launcher, select Options and then click the Reset button in the Detail section.
- Launch Skyrim SE and see if there is an improvement.
If the issues persist, open the Skyrim SE Launcher again and lower the quality of the following options under the Advanced section:
- Godrays
- Shadows
- Decals
- Screen Space Reflections
- SSAO
- Snow Shader
- Lens Flare
You can also try reducing the View Distance, the Distant objectdetail, and Fade settings, and you should try switching to a lower resolution. Finally, changing the Antialiasing settings from TSAA to either FXAA or Off may also help.
Remove Mods
Custom mods can in some cases cause in-game issues. We recommend disabling or removing any installed mods and trying again.Force the System to Recognize Primary GPU
You can force your system to recognize your video card by following the instructions below:
NVIDIA Graphics Cards
- Right-click on your desktop and select NVIDIA Control Panel.
- In the Control Panel, select Manage 3D settings, then click on theProgram Settingstab.
- Next to the 'Select a program to customize' option, click the Add button.
- From the pop-up window, navigate to the folder where the game is installed.
- Select the executable file for Skyrim Special Edition.
- In the 'Select the preferred graphics processor for this program' option, open the drop-down menu and select High-performance NVIDIA processorand confirm.
- To improve performance, go to the 'Specify the settings for this program:' section, click Power management mode, and select Prefer maximum performanceand confirm.
- To further improve performance, you can go to the Manage 3D Settings section, click on the Global Settings tab, and change the settings below:
- Vertical sync to off
- Threaded optimization to off
- Triple buffering to off
The above instructions may change depending on version and unique graphics card. If you require further assistance, you should contact NVIDIA Support here.
AMD Graphics Cards
- Open AMD Radeon Settings.
- Select Preference on the bottom tab.
- Select Radeon Additional Settings.
- In the Radeon Additional Settings window, select Switchable Graphics Application Settings under the Power.
- Select All Applications, locate Skyrim Special Edition, click the 'Graphic Settings' box to the right of the game .exe, and select High performance.
- Click the Apply button at the bottom right.
Note: there is also an option to use both cards together to improve performance. To do this:
- In the Radeon Additional Settings window select AMD Radeon Dual Graphics under Gaming.
- Click the radial button for Enable AMD Radeon Dual Graphics.
- Click the Apply button at the bottom right.
The above instructions may change depending on version and unique graphics card. If you require further assistance, you should contact AMD Support here.
If you are playing on a laptop and the above instructions did not force the game to run off your dedicated GPU, then you may have to configure some of your power saving features.
Power saving features will sometimes override high-performance profiles to save battery life. When the computer attempts to save battery life, it will switch to the integrated card because it does not require as many resources to run. You can resolve this by following the process below:
- Press the Battery icon in the notification area of your taskbar.
- Select More power options... and then expand the Show additional plans section.
- Select High performance and then close the window.
- Plug in your power cable to ensure that your battery does not run low while playing.
Remove Additional Launch Options
Skyrim Pc Requirements Test
Some Steam launch options may cause the game to crash.
To turn off Skyrim SE launch options:
- Open Steam and navigate to your Library.
- Right-click on The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition and select Properties.
- Under the General tab, click Set launch options...
- Delete any options enabled here and click OK.
Verify Integrity of Game Files on Steam
To ensure the game files are installed correctly, you should verify the files in Steam:
- Load Steam.
- From the Library section, right-click on the game and select Properties from the menu.
- Select the Local files tab and click Verify integrity of game files...
- Steam will verify the game's files. This process may take several minutes.
- Once the process is completed, the Check Window will automatically exit.
Please Note: One or more files may fail to verify, in most cases this is normal. These are local configuration files and should not be altered in this process.
Get the Latest Version of DirectX
You should ensure you have the latest version of DirectX by downloading and installing it here.
Disable Xbox DVR in Windows 10
If playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition on Widows 10, the Xbox DVR might have an impact on game performance. To disable the Xbox DVR, follow these instructions:
- Right click the Start button
- Click Settings
- Select Gaming
- Select Game DVR
- Click the switch below Record in the background while I'm playing a game so that it turns Off.
Before buying The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for PC don't forget to compare system requirements, provided by game developers, with your system configuration. Usually, minimum system requirements mean the configuration, that will allow game to start and normally work on the minimum quality settings. If your PC reaches the recommended requirements, you can have a stable gameplay with high quality settings. If you like to play on ultra settings, you must have hardware better, then specified by developers in recommended system requirements.
You can find official The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim system requirements from developers on this page. If you think, there is any mistake on the page, feel free to write to us on the contacts page
Minimum system requirements:
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- CPU: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
- RAM (memory): 2 GB
- Videocard: 512 MB
- HDD: 6 GB
- DirectX 9.0с
Recommended system requirements:
Get the Latest Version of DirectX
You should ensure you have the latest version of DirectX by downloading and installing it here.
Disable Xbox DVR in Windows 10
If playing The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition on Widows 10, the Xbox DVR might have an impact on game performance. To disable the Xbox DVR, follow these instructions:
- Right click the Start button
- Click Settings
- Select Gaming
- Select Game DVR
- Click the switch below Record in the background while I'm playing a game so that it turns Off.
Before buying The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim for PC don't forget to compare system requirements, provided by game developers, with your system configuration. Usually, minimum system requirements mean the configuration, that will allow game to start and normally work on the minimum quality settings. If your PC reaches the recommended requirements, you can have a stable gameplay with high quality settings. If you like to play on ultra settings, you must have hardware better, then specified by developers in recommended system requirements.
You can find official The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim system requirements from developers on this page. If you think, there is any mistake on the page, feel free to write to us on the contacts page
Minimum system requirements:
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- CPU: Dual Core 2.0 GHz
- RAM (memory): 2 GB
- Videocard: 512 MB
- HDD: 6 GB
- DirectX 9.0с
Recommended system requirements:
Skyrim Game For Pc Download
- OS: Windows XP/Vista/7
- CPU: Quad Core
- RAM (memory): 4 GB
- Videocard: 1 GB (GeForce GTX 260/Radeon 4890 or better)
- HDD: 6 GB
- DirectX 9.0с
Game Pc Offline
Aside from comparing your PC configuration with The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim system requirements don't forget to always have updated video drivers. You must always download only the latest versions of stable drivers – try not to use beta versions, because they might have some bug, not yet found and solved by developers.