hi kalicola; i think it is more a problem of too much grass and also shadows on grass; also i have the additional light sources (lanterns) in mind; i do not think that the small things and the trees are the problem; the same problem was evident in oblivion; grass was a perfomance killer; maybe it helps if you do not use the grass mods; i am using a k2500 with a gtx570; my next mods will be covering the valley to lake inialta, and also the lake itself; but youre right at first place, too many objects could be a problem for many systems; might be also the reason why bethesda was designing skyrim like it was shipped, rather emtpy... thank you for your comment. cheers.