On a Steam Deck (RDNA2 iGPU) (paired with a balanced Intel Core i5-8600K-class CPU), The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition runs at roughly 60 FPS at 1080p with our optimized settings — up from about 60FPS with everything maxed. Here's the configuration and what each setting costs.
The Steam Deck (RDNA2 iGPU) is a handheld graphics card with 4GB of VRAM, and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition is a relatively light game to run. Paired with the Intel Core i5-8600K, it runs well at 1080p — about 60 FPSwith FrameCoach's optimized settings. That already clears a smooth frame rate on High, so our tuning keeps the visuals as high as possible instead of chasing extra frames.
Across resolutions you can expect around 60 FPS at 1080p and 62 FPS at 1440p, dropping to roughly 46 FPS at 4K. The biggest free win is FSR upscaling — set it to Quality for a large FPS boost at little visual cost.
| Resolution | All-High FPS | Optimized FPS |
|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 60 | 60 |
| 1440p | 36 | 62 |
| 4K | 20 | 46 |
⚡ Fine-tune this for your exact CPU & target FPS →
With FrameCoach's optimized balanced settings, the Steam Deck (RDNA2 iGPU) averages around 60 FPS at 1080p in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition — up from about 60 FPS with everything on High.
At 1440p with optimized settings, the Steam Deck (RDNA2 iGPU) averages roughly 62 FPS in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition — a smooth experience.
Use a balanced preset, keep ray tracing off for maximum FPS, and ease the heaviest options like Volumetric (God) Rays and Shadow Quality down a notch. The full per-setting breakdown is above.
FPS figures are estimates from a generalized model (hardware tier × game load × per-setting weights), not live benchmarks — real performance varies by scene, drivers and game version.