Can my comupter handle modding?

[iwannabespock]

I'm a newbie here and I have just moved my gaming from a PS3 to my aging laptop. It has a 2.30 ghz AMD A10-4600M APU processor with Radeon HD 7660G Graphics, 6 GB ram, and running Windows 8.1. I'm saving up for a new 'gaming' machine but until I can get one is my machine usable for gaming with mods? Is there a way to tell if a mod will run or is it just trial and error every time? I mostly play Skyrim Legendary and it plays okay but it's better if I lower the display resolution a little and set the detail level to medium. I'd like to try Skyrim SE with mods. I also want to move on to newer games as well but I know they will mostly require a more powerful machine.

Edited March 23, 2019 by iwannabespock

[Jannifer]

As someone who played a heavily modded Skyrim on an abacus, I feel uniquely qualified to answer your question. :D

 

Please note that SSE won't run on your rig unless you're running a 64-bit version of Windows. I'll presume that you are, since you're considering playing it.

 

The trick is not in the mods, it's in what kind of mods. You want to stay away from anything that ups the resolution on a large scale, such as mods which add more plants or 4K mods for buildings. You'll also want to avoid anything which adds a lot of new NPCs in the form of patrols or more city guards. Focus on your PC rather than the environment. Hairs, bodies, clothes, skins, tattoos, armors and weapons are all possible. New homes are also doable, especially those by Elianora who often offers a lower resolution for those playing on abacae. Even new companions are possible, since the follower system is already in place, and I have successfully used mods which added new types of animals.

 

Create a character you use just for testing mods. Make them outlandish looking and name them something off the wall. Load in a mod or two and then stress the game a bit. Fast travel, run around Whiterun or Riverwood, fight some things (though maybe not mammoths or giants) and just generally poke at the game. Once you know the mod is working, then you can venture using it on your "real" character. Do not be tempted to mess around with your load order too much on your "real" game, especially if you're using item mods. Every time you shift mods around, you change the item IDs for every mod that they affect. Those changes can lead to sadness and heartbreak.

 

If you aren't already, you absolutely should be using SKSE and the Unofficial Skyrim Patch. Add RaceMenu into the mixture for more interesting player characters. Above all else, follow these two basic rules -- keep multiple saves on any given character and always use a hard save (through the menu) rather than quick save. Quick saves do not pause the running scripts, so can lead to save corruption. Be prepared for crashes, they are going to happen, hence the "save often" advice.

 

"Have fun storming the castle!"

[iwannabespock]

Thank you, Dragon Goddess. This is exactly the kind of help I was hoping to find.

[Relstin]

Your laptop wouldn't happen to be a Lenovo Ideapad Z585, would it? I only ask because my laptop has the same specs except that I have Windows 7 on mine. I can't say much about Skyrim as I was too afraid my laptop (that's bordering on potato status at this point) wouldn't be able to handle it at all. But it can handle modded FO3 and FNV and still be playable.

[goranpaa]

Hi!

 

If you consider to to get a PC?

 

Get one that have an Intel I5 or an AMD Ryzen 2600 processor at least, 16 gb or RAM memory. An SSD harddrive and either a GTX 1060 or a Radeon RX 580 video card with preferably 6 or 8 gb of video memory for a decent future proofing.

 

And with a case that have at least 120 mm fans on board for the sake of cooling and less noise. But the bigger cooling fans the better.

 

Then you will have a totally ok. midrange gaming rig, that won't cost a fortune, that can handle a heavy modded Skyrim with mostly 2K mods in a good way. And modern games on high settings.

 

Btw. If you are considering to build your rig yourself? Also add a 650 W modular power suppply. EVGA and Corsair are good brands.

Never go cheap on the PSU! That will come back and haunt you later on.

A modular PSU, will reduce the cable clutter inside the case and improve the air flow.

Edited March 24, 2019 by goranpaa

[tekmage]

Make sure your laptop is properly cooled, since your quad core cpu will turbo boost 2 cores to 3.1 ghz when you fire up Skyrim. Try running it at 1280x720 resolution, textures high, shadows on low, AA off, AF at 2x. Avoid using 2k/4k texture mods and see if there are any 1k texture packs.