Unlocked Framerate (60+ FPS) Without Broken Physics

You have always been told you must not use unlocked framerate (above 60 fps) because it breaks the physics engine. It was true, but no more. This guide will show you how a few entries in Skyrim ini files could allow you to enjoy wandering in Skyrim, with more than 60 fps.

Introduction

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is a classic and wonderful game, particularly on PC where mods and tweaks can transform the vanilla experience to an even more gorgeous masterpiece, that can be totally customized to your needs and taste.

But even if this remastered version of the game brings some welcome stuff like better stability (thanks to 64-bit upgraded engine) and better visuals (god rays, ...), some bugs and glitches from the original 2011 version have still not been fixed...

In this guide, you will learn how you can at least get rid of one limitation of the game engine, without making some more trouble: the 60 fps locked framerate.

This limitation can be particularly annoying these days, when there are more and more G-Sync and FreeSync monitors available for gamers.

Previously, there were already methods you could use to play with more than 60 fps, but it was not advised to use them, because the Skyrim physics engine (Havok) wasn't designed to handle more than this framerate, and so it behaved more oddly the more the fps above this limit.

The results were catastrophic: when your character entered a new place, all the physics-handled objets were instantly thrown at random places with extreme violence, which could be funny if your hero wasn't hit or even killed by some flying junk.

Fortunately, a recently discovered Havok tweak allows now to have the benefits of a higher and unlocked framerate, without the issues caused by a glitchy physics engine.

So, let's tweak!

Warning!

These tweaks, which are hamless through the entire game, must be disabled before beginning those quests:

• Battle for Whiterun (Stormcloaks)[www.uesp.net]
  
• Battle for Whiterun (Imperial)[www.uesp.net]
  
• Battle for Solitude[www.uesp.net]
  
• Battle for Windhelm[www.uesp.net]

For some reason, these are the only places I know of (please correct me if I'm wrong), that cannot be played with those tweaks enabled without greatly messing physics. If you try it, you will see massive amounts of random flying objects, possibly framerate slowdown, and probably lots of odd character behaviours (including the one you play). My theory is that the cause of this mess is the fact that these quests involves a high number of different characters, and the physics engine cannot handle them well at higher framerate.

The best way to avoid all of this, is to accept one of these quests from the npc who gives it to you, and then, right now after, disable the tweaks given in this guide (make a save before). Complete the mission, return to who you took your orders from, and re-enable the tweaks (again, make a save before).

It's an annoyance, but it is necessary for not having trouble with those quests.

Tweaking

Before going further, please verify you have not forced V-Sync in your graphics card control panel, and all sort of frame limiter (check other programs like RivaTuner Statistics Server or Nvidia Profile Inspector).

To begin, you will need to find and open your SkyrimPrefs.ini file (generally located in your Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition folder) to disable the hidden V-Sync setting (not accessible in game settings), which limits your maximum framerate to your monitor refresh rate.

Find the [Display] category and change this setting from 1 to 0, like this:

[Display]
iVSyncPresentInterval=0

Then, and it's the more important step of this guide, you will need to find and open your Skyrim.ini file (generally located in your Documents\My Games\Skyrim Special Edition folder) to set the physics engine to at least work normally with a higher and unlocked framerate.

Add these lines at the end of the ini, with X=1/your desired maximum framerate.

For exemple, if you have a 144Hz G-Sync monitor, it must be 1/144=0.0069, so set the 0.0069 value for X.

[HAVOK]
fMaxTime=X

There's a final line you must add to your Skyrim.ini, because the 1.3 patch introduced a new hard locked 60 fps framerate.

So add this to the [Display] category:

[Display]
bLockFrameRate=0

Conclusion

I hope this guide will be useful to some people here, as these tweaks are useful to me.

This guide wouldn't exist if I haven't found these tweaks on reddit, so thanks to the guys there:
https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/5aa7w5/confirmed_120fps_fix_for_skyrim/

And please excuse me if my english is not perfect, but it's not my native language (I'm french).

Enjoy your epic adventures in Skyrim, Dragonborn!

Changelog

v1.1.2: Changed Reddit link source (possible fix -> confirmed fix)
v1.1.1: Minor edits (since 1.3 patch is no longer beta)
v1.1.0: Warning added for several quests that are not compatible with these tweaks, minor edits
v1.0.0: First release of this guide 

[Angie]

I'm certain I did everything right but my frames is at 2000+ I'm sure I added the [HAVOK]
fMaxTime=X part to my ini but it's not working.

[SuperCrumpets]

i did this and it worked but now my steam deck cant load the saves since after i did this and i played several hours on my pc that i will have to redo, very annoying.

[QQ]

You forgot to mention the issue going past 60fps also increased the speed of animations and other stuff.

[Skull222]

theres no skyrim.ini i can enter i dont have one

[KingyWingy]

The Battle for Windhelm also did not break.

[KingyWingy]

The battle for white run did not break for me. See here: https://steamcommunity.com/app/489830/discussions/0/1734341526177993104/

[MildlyMenacingMeem]

I guess that I can still turn on V sync in other games if they have a "Turn on V-Sync" option? Even if I have turned off Forced V-Sync?

[User]

Just use BethINI:
http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/4875/?

[PainkilleR]

Another important thing I forgot to mention: If you try to uncap fps in 60 hz mode (non g-sync) and set fMaxTime to say 0.0069 you will still get broken physics, flickering water etc etc.

Source: I did some tests on non g-sync 60 hz monitor. On my g-sync 144hz monitor everything works perfectly fine.

[PainkilleR]

The reason why so many people still see 60 fps lock after following this guide though is because bLockFrameRate=0 must be added to both Skyrim.ini and SkyrimPrefs.ini under [Display] tab.