What would I need to upgrade to get more performance out of Skyrim?

[InDarkestNight]

Found a motherboard I like. The i7 apparently can come 'bundled' with motherboards that don't have the right port! Wtf? Not that I was going to chose those cheap boards. I found one with the right lga port that also comes with 4 ram ports like my current motherboard has (not that I really need it given that I only have 2 ram mods right now, though one is super small and really needs to be upgraded, but that's for another day). Here's the board I chose:

MSI PRO B760M-P DDR4 ProSeries Motherboard (Supports 12th/13th Gen Intel Processors, LGA 1700, DDR4, PCIe 4.0, M.2, Gbps LAN, USB 3.2 Gen2, mATX)

The main thing I'm worrying about right now is the installation. Can I re-use my old power supply? What about my ssd? Does the version of pcie slot matter? I'm also wary of doing this. I looked up a guide and it claimed you have to be careful about static because it could fry the thing. I have a hard time imagining how I could do this given that. The only space I have to do this is in a room covered in carpet! What, do I need to wear rubber gloves while doing this? Also, do I have to worry about my computer holding a charge and shocking me? I plan to leave this computer off all day on the day the parts arrive just to be safe. I do still have my laptop to use, which I was planning on using to do my video editing anyway. I didn't expect to get setup so fast; I thought I would have more time to run tests and dry runs before I had the ability to start recording myself. This is all going a bit too fast. I probably need to get these parts asap though given they're on sale. Hopefully I've made the right choices. Everything says that everything should be compatible with my current stuff as best as I can tell, and everything is an upgrade (the speed of those ram slots on the new motherboard is nearly twice that on this one). Hopefully nothing goes wrong.

As far as other hardware, might I need to swap my graphics card too? From my research nvidias don't work well on non-windows machines. The box for mine even says it requires windows 10! Would swapping to a different brand be better for linux? All graphics cards I can find on amazon annoyingly are all nvidia. I can't actually name any other brands, because this the only brand I've ever used!

Hopefully nothing goes wrong. I have to worry about chosing the right parts, worry about not eletrocuting myself, worry about not zapping and frying my new hardware, worry that I can get everything working, worry about it actually improving things, and then I have to worry about this youtube idea. I have far too much stuff on my plate. One thing at a freaking time. Besides, it'll probably take a week or two for the parts to come anyway. Just hope the stupid mailman doesn't just leave the box on my porch in the f*#@ing rain.

[RomanR]

Intel is often looking better in benchmarks, but the price for today's Intel CPU is more power consumption and heat. Still, regardless what you choose, it be will more way better than your old. But if your power source is really only 250W, you will need stronger PSU. As your CPU will have more cores and your card will be properly used without bottleneck, power consumption will rise too. For example my computer at full load of CPU and graphics card takes about 330W (Ryzen 2700 at 3.4GHz for all cores loaded and GTX 960), so I bought 650W PSU (maybe I'm overcautious with this, but it was only a liitle more priced than 450 or 550W ones so why not). So for worst case scenario (150W CPU, 250W 1080Ti  at full load, 100W for the rest of components) 650W should cover it with small reserve and degradation over the years and still not to be pricey.

Believe me, even with Ryzen you will see a difference (5700G 8 cores vs i5-6400 4 cores, 5700G at 3.8 through 4.6Ghz stock/boost vs i5-6400 at 2.7 through 3.3GHz stock/boost). Don't overdo it, don't fall to illusion that you must have the best of the best. Even most high-tech componets will become obsolete in time.

 

[HeyYou]

The cart freaking out is usually caused by high framerate. Cap framerate at 59 via whatever method you have available, and see what happens.

[InDarkestNight]

That was my first guess, but steam told me that the fps wasn't going above 61. Also, I wasn't having this problem before I started installing mods (for the first time in probably months). Why would installing a bunch of textures up my framerate? If anything, it should do the opposite!

So I decided to run some tests. I made a blank profile with no mods and ran the game. I did this mainly to see if skse was the culprit. It was not; the issue went away. I then went back to my modded profile and disabled all my textures (or more accurately, all active mods that didn't have an esp). The issue persisted, which I was thankful for since it meant I didn't have to throw out my graphics set up. I then started the thing where you disable half your esps, seeing if the problem goes away or not, then playing with half of the esps from the set that had the problem. Having a load order of only 40 esps (almost all of which were graphics related), this obviously didn't take long. I narrowed down that Imemrsive Armors was causing the problem. Simply removing that one mod and keeping everything else makes the problem go away.

I was baffled by this since I had NEVER had that happen before. Checking around, I found that the mod page mentioned this happening if you had a weaker CPU (though the MO supposedly patched the mod to minimize this). Of course, I was running immersive armors on this same comp but with windows 10 and an sshd for years without issue. Why would immersive armors suddenly be giving me problems? Either way, I found the problem. It means I have to make do without immersive armors, though I could sorta solve that by installing one of the individual mods it compiles (none of the vanilla armors makes much sense for my character concept, I was planning on going with the snow bear armor).

That said, how can I find out what type of power supply I have? I can't find any mention of it on best buy's site, and my computer isn't telling me (its not even telling what type of ram slots I have, only how much ram I have in gib). Annoyingly, the parts I've been looking up don't mention how much power they use. How can I determine what I need? Also, if I seriously need to replace the power supply, I probably shouldn't be doing this. I am NOT willing to risk a fatal shock just so I can beautify my game as much as I can for youtube (or finally run an enb). If I do need to do, honestly I would be tempted to take it staples and pay THEM to piece it together for me.

That said, what type of processor would I need for my graphics card? What minimum specs would I need to fully utilize it? Its box says nothing about processing power. It mentions I need a pcie slot, 350 mb of memory space, windows 10 (seriously), 4gb of ram, internet connection (wrf?) and 300w of power. Guess I have the power for that at least. Also guess I do meet the minimum requirements for it, given that I clearly have a display.

On a side note, I could technically get more performance out of my computer right now. On ubuntu 22, you have the ability to adjust your power for performance, like a laptop funny enough. I've been leaving it at its default 'balanced' setting. I could turn it up one notch, but I haven't done that because I don't know what it does. Also don't like how it shows its symbol in red when I do that (it shows in green if I set it to 'performance' mode). I have no clue what difference that would even make; my display doesn't change if I adjust it (unlike my windows laptop, the screen brightness changes with the setting).

Edited January 25, 2024 by InDarkestNight

[InDarkestNight]

Decided to look up processors I could install into the current motherboard. If the thing can run this graphics card, surely it could run a processor that could fully utilize it? Of course, it would have to be an intel, but I'm just looking to make a retrogaming rig here for Skyrim LE.

I can find a better processor, though not by much as I expected. I can find i7s with about twice the processing power. They seem to use the same wattage, and they all have 4 cores (guess that's a technical limitation of the slot?). Decided to also compare it to the budget rhyzen I was looking at, even though its nearly twice the price. Its close to being similar to that. Looking over all the processors for my slot, this seems to be about the best I can hope for.

If I do decided to switch to a rhyzen brand, I would have to replace the motherboard and maybe the power supply. My mother claims that at that point, I may as well get a new machine. Honestly, I almost may as well. The only things I would be saving from this are its ram, graphics card, and ssd. Why not just go find a new computer? What then would I do with this thing? I'm not willing to just let it rot. I've never been a version chaser; I keep using computers until they just stop working. This thing clearly still runs. Keep in mind, I kept that windows 7 pc for a full decade. This thing isn't that old yet, and I just put a fresh ssd in it. Maybe its architecture is dated, but as long as it runs I don't really care. If I'm going to stick with this thing, I probably need to gimp it as much as I can.

So, an i7 it is. Its not going to be a modern machine, obviously, but it would be an improvment. Of course, $180 may not be worth it, so maybe I do need to just stick with what I have here. Unless maybe it lets me get more out of this graphics card. If it doesn't, then I'm stuck with this thing for the foreseeable future. At least my ram slots can still accept modern ram.

[InDarkestNight]

So, to summarize, I got what i wanted out of this. I know now that to upgrade my computer, it would be best for me to upgrade the processor. That would also help out the graphics card.  I would probably need to replace the motherboard too, which would help out the RAM. I may need to upgrade the power supply if I do this. Any significant upgrade would be quite an undertaking. I'm almost better off just replacing the whole machine with all I'd have to replace. Thanks for the help, especially since its rare I get an answer on here.

[RomanR]

Well, it's a shame that I couldn't convince to upgrade whole core (CPU, motherboard and PSU). So my last advice in this will be to look for i7-6700/K (non K version has 3.4 Ghz with boost to 4.0 GHz and TDP 65W, while K version has 4.0GHz stock with boost to 4.2 GHz with TDP 91W). Also you can look for i7-7700/K, but I noticed that support of this CPU come often through BIOS update, so check version of your BIOS and consult manufacturer's page first. These two were most powerfull for H170 chipset, and with non K versions all you propably need is to buy new thermal paste along with CPU. 

[InDarkestNight]

That requries an lga 1700 port. I have an lga 1151. The best I can plug into this thing is an i7 6700. Its going for less than $80 on amazon right now, but its only 12% better than what I have now.

Either way, if I were to upgrade this thing, then yes I would need a new motherboard either way. Maybe I'll look into the rhyzens again. Also, I've since found out that its not really possible to run an enb on linux, so not being able to run one is moot. So I'm stuck with lightning, weather, texture overhauls, and the imaginator. Sadly, I've never had much luck with the imaginator (outside of this 'bleak' preset I found, but clearly that's not going to work too well for youtube videos unless I decide to upload a horror playthrough).

Also, why don't they give power consumption on websites? How can I know if I need a new power supply or not if I can't find the info until I get the freaking boxes? That said, would replacing the power supply actually be dangerous? Right now there's a sale for a rhyzen 5 and the motherboard I was looking at!

Also, why would I need thermal paste for? I've only heard of that for overclocking, which I'm not interested in fussing with. Why wear out my parts faster for temporary better performance? Besides, looking up guides that makes replacing the motherboard far, far more difficult.

Either way, what's the point in upgrading if I can't run an enb anyway? I'm stuck with 2k textures due to LE's limitations, I have more ram than LE can use, so what more could I do? This is as good as I can get LE to look. If I want better, I'll have to play s#*! edition, which I am NOT willing to do unless the day finally comes that bethesda removes the bullshit disgusting revolting AE update. I am NEVER playing with that s#*! in my game. s#*! edition is dead to me. It may as well not even exist. Besides, I was thinking I could carve a niche for myself on youtube helping out people with weaker systems or having to run the game on linux. Everyone else is gimping their games beyond what most people can even run. If I want a fruity game, I can use vivid weathers. if i want bleak, I can use the imaginator. What else could I want?

[RomanR]

According to specs on Intel's page both i7-6700 and i7-7700 still use LGA1151, if you're not refering something else. And no, thermal paste is a standard part between CPU and cooler, not only for overclocking.  As you remove a cooler (with caution), the thin layer of thermal paste between cooler and CPU will be torn, so you need clean the remains off the cooler and CPU too, as after this years the paste will be almost dried up. You can clean it using for example clean alcohol (I hope a write it right in English), but don't touch the paste directly, use some cloth or finger wrapped in something. After inserting new CPU into a socket, apply small blob of new paste on the metal centre and use your finger to spread it to whole CPU's heat spreader, covering it in a thin layer.  However, this part can be skipped if your new CPU comes with a cooler and you want install this new cooler too, as thermal paste is often applied on it already. After this mount a cooler, tighten it and it's done.

And why they don't show max power consumption? It's mostly due marketing. If they would admit (Intel) that "our CPU can take up over 200W, both in power consumption and TDP, while at boost (and that boost is often for 1 or 2 seconds only before thermal throttling)", no one would by it. Similar for graphics cards today. Hi-end RTX 3080Ti has 350W TDP (that is a dissipating heat), so it can take up about 400-450W for real? Yes, with such components your PC will handle gaming at 4k resolution with ease, but without liquid cooling you get power-hungry, hot and noisy monster. Problem is that for a good gaming today above Full HD you often need such components now with new games. AMD admitted once for FX 9590 220W TDP and this CPU was mocked to hell (for this and also for so-so architecture, like other FX CPUs). 

And that's why I'm not inclined to upgrade myself, at least just for gaming. My PC can handle most things I need (except new games of course} and is almost silent even at full load, older platforms emulation (Amiga, most popular consoles and computers) is almost perfect after decades of development and running at full speed, I can do office work, small programming (if scripting for Oblivion counts), communicate with the world... 

[HeyYou]

You don't need a lot of thermal paste, an amount about the size of a grain of rice is enough, and I just mount the heatsink on top of it, and let that spread it out. Does an amazingly thorough job. (having done this a few hundred times, yes, it works great.)