Textures mods : what to chose ?

[Keegan1622]

Hello fellas, I have a question about what textures mods to chose.

 

First, here is my config : (not sure this is actually useful)

- Intel Core i7-6700HQ CPU @ 2.60Hz

- 6 Go RAM

- Nvidia Gefore GTX 950M

 

I would like to install some textures mods but I'm not sure which ones to chose and in what order download/install it (I have LOOT for load order). I already have SMIM, I'm more concerned about the global textures.

 

I am hesitating between these :

- Skyland

- SSE Texture pack - Osmodius

- Skyrim 2017 textures

- Skyrim Flora Overhaul

- Real Mountains

 

I think some of them are compatible, some aren't, but I'd like to know what combination gives the best results without crashing my computer.

 

Thank you for you answers !

[KaHn13]

Texture overhauls are a matter of taste, you can look at the photos on the mod's page on nexus, look at examples on you tube, or you can download them all, install one, start a test game and check out the textures. Choose the one you like best. I noticed you didn't list Noble Skyrim, it's Skyrim SE port is on it's old Skyrim page. I use Noble with some stuff from other texture overhauls. Definitely use SMIM.

 

On an nvidia 950m, I would not use SFO it could be too vram heavy (of course you can try it), I'd suggest using Simply Bigger Trees and Grass on Streroids. There are some good graphic overhaul combinations listed on the S.E.P.T.I.M page for varying strengths of GPU power.

[Keegan1622]

Texture overhauls are a matter of taste, you can look at the photos on the mod's page on nexus, look at examples on you tube, or you can download them all, install one, start a test game and check out the textures. Choose the one you like best. I noticed you didn't list Noble Skyrim, it's Skyrim SE port is on it's old Skyrim page. I use Noble with some stuff from other texture overhauls. Definitely use SMIM.

 

On an nvidia 950m, I would not use SFO it could be too vram heavy (of course you can try it), I'd suggest using Simply Bigger Trees and Grass on Streroids. There are some good graphic overhaul combinations listed on the S.E.P.T.I.M page for varying strengths of GPU power.

 

Thank you ! I didn't realize how the SEPTIM page was complete and detailed ! It's amazing. But, according to my config, would you consider it medium or weak ?

I didn't consider Noble Skyrim because I didn't see it for SSE. Is it really different from Skyland or Osmodius ?

[Moksha8088]

The Noble Skyrim HD texture pack. For some unfathomable reason, the author has put both the Classic and the SE version both on the Classic Skyrim page. Just need to look at the screenshots for the various texture pack to know that one is numero uno.

[Keegan1622]

The Noble Skyrim HD texture pack. For some unfathomable reason, the author has put both the Classic and the SE version both on the Classic Skyrim page. Just need to look at the screenshots for the various texture pack to know that one is numero uno.

 

Ah okay, it explains why I couldn't see it. But if it's the best texture pack, isn't my laptop too light to handle it ?

And why does the SEPTIM guide recommend both Noble Skyrim and Skyland ? Don't they do the same thing ?

[KaHn13]

Keegan 1622 said: Thank you ! I didn't realize how the SEPTIM page was complete and detailed ! It's amazing. But, according to my config, would you consider it medium or weak ?

 

I will not say that your system is medium or weak as I don't know enough about it and laptops in general, I'm a desktop person. But I will say this. You will probably be happy if you use 2k textures for landscape and character/npc's but use 1k or less for everything else. It's going overboard on the small stuff that usually slows folks down. Start with SBT and Grass on Steroids like I recommended. If your system does well and you think it can handle it, move up one notch.

 

I have an i5 4690k, a gtx 970 4gb, and 16mb of ram with Windows 10 x64 (which sucks for Skyrim) Windows 7 x64 is better. I would consider my system a low high or a high medium setup. I use 4k for my character and some npc's. 2k for my main graphics overhaul and most textures and 1k or less for everything else. I also use Vivid Weathers + ReEngaged Reshade + ENB I can play the game mostly at 58-60 fps with occasional temporary drops to mid 40's fps in well documented problem areas with extreme heavy rain. I used S.E.P.T.I.M. as a base and then installed other things I wanted on top of it.

 

If you are going to mod Skyrim successfully, you cannot just throw a bunch of mods together and play. You need to know your system, Skyrim, and most importantly, what the mod you are installing does and how it will work with other mods you have installed. Sometimes you just have to test it for yourself.

 

S.E.P.T.I.M. doesn't use both Noble Skyrim and Skyland. It uses Noble and parts of Skyland for certain textures. Read the Skyland entry carefully.

[Keegan1622]

I will not say that your system is medium or weak as I don't know enough about it and laptops in general, I'm a desktop person. But I will say this. You will probably be happy if you use 2k textures for landscape and character/npc's but use 1k or less for everything else. It's going overboard on the small stuff that usually slows folks down. Start with SBT and Grass on Steroids like I recommended. If your system does well and you think it can handle it, move up one notch.

 

If you are going to mod Skyrim successfully, you cannot just throw a bunch of mods together and play. You need to know your system, Skyrim, and most importantly, what the mod you are installing does and how it will work with other mods you have installed. Sometimes you just have to test it for yourself.

 

S.E.P.T.I.M. doesn't use both Noble Skyrim and Skyland. It uses Noble and parts of Skyland for certain textures. Read the Skyland entry carefully.

 

I guess I can install low resolution of SMIM and details like that, I agree that landscapes and mostly NPC graphics are the most immersive to me.

I'm trying hard to understand how mods work and how they must be loaded, but S.E.P.T.I.M. is a great help. I think I'll have to start all over again for it to be optimal.

I don't know how Noble Skyrim works, but someone said it's the best. I'm a bit scared, because Skyland alone made me lag a bit and Osmodius textures were absolutely gorgeous but my computer couldn't handle it (I had terrible lags and freezes). I hope Noble Skyrim won't demand to much to my laptop. I think I will use only one texture replacers, it's easier to install and for my PC.

Having new textures and weather is already a big thing for me after playing the old Skyrim on Xbox 360 for 5 years. I just want to optimize it so I can't get the best quality without lowering my performance (for now I'm already happy that my loading times for fast travel don't exceed 30 seconds).

[KaHn13]

 

I will not say that your system is medium or weak as I don't know enough about it and laptops in general, I'm a desktop person. But I will say this. You will probably be happy if you use 2k textures for landscape and character/npc's but use 1k or less for everything else. It's going overboard on the small stuff that usually slows folks down. Start with SBT and Grass on Steroids like I recommended. If your system does well and you think it can handle it, move up one notch.

 

If you are going to mod Skyrim successfully, you cannot just throw a bunch of mods together and play. You need to know your system, Skyrim, and most importantly, what the mod you are installing does and how it will work with other mods you have installed. Sometimes you just have to test it for yourself.

 

S.E.P.T.I.M. doesn't use both Noble Skyrim and Skyland. It uses Noble and parts of Skyland for certain textures. Read the Skyland entry carefully.

 

I guess I can install low resolution of SMIM and details like that, I agree that landscapes and mostly NPC graphics are the most immersive to me.

I'm trying hard to understand how mods work and how they must be loaded, but S.E.P.T.I.M. is a great help. I think I'll have to start all over again for it to be optimal.

I don't know how Noble Skyrim works, but someone said it's the best. I'm a bit scared, because Skyland alone made me lag a bit and Osmodius textures were absolutely gorgeous but my computer couldn't handle it (I had terrible lags and freezes). I hope Noble Skyrim won't demand to much to my laptop. I think I will use only one texture replacers, it's easier to install and for my PC.

Having new textures and weather is already a big thing for me after playing the old Skyrim on Xbox 360 for 5 years. I just want to optimize it so I can't get the best quality without lowering my performance (for now I'm already happy that my loading times for fast travel don't exceed 30 seconds).

 

I wish you good luck. If Noble is too much for you also, then use smim only but try it at it's normal resolution first if you use it alone. I've been playing Skyrim since it came out. Everything I know about the game has come from reading on forums, the Nexus, the S.T.E.P. site, and Gopher's and Gamer Poet's videos. I also used to follow Dirty Weasel but he recently stopped making videos. It took me several years to get where I am now concerning modding Skyrim. I pretty much exclusively play only Skyrim and I get lost in it's world and have many many characters.

 

I've broken the game a few times in my modding efforts and have had to start over quite a few times. Modding Skyrim is rewarding and adds to it's already great replay value. The only other thing I could add is: If playing a modded Skyrim, once you start a new game, put the Nexus and new mods away until you are done with your current playthrough.

[Transient3292]

 

I will not say that your system is medium or weak as I don't know enough about it and laptops in general, I'm a desktop person. But I will say this. You will probably be happy if you use 2k textures for landscape and character/npc's but use 1k or less for everything else.   It's going overboard on the small stuff that usually slows folks down. Start with SBT and Grass on Steroids like I recommended. If your system does well and you think it can handle it, move up one notch.

Â

If you are going to mod Skyrim successfully, you cannot just throw a bunch of mods together and play. You need to know your system, Skyrim, and most importantly, what the mod you are installing does and how it will work with other mods you have installed. Sometimes you just have to test it for yourself.

Â

S.E.P.T.I.M. doesn't use both Noble Skyrim and Skyland. It uses Noble and parts of Skyland for certain textures. Read the Skyland entry carefully.

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I guess I can install low resolution of SMIM and details like that, I agree that landscapes and mostly NPC graphics are the most immersive to me.

I'm trying hard to understand how mods work and how they must be loaded, but S.E.P.T.I.M. is a great help. I think I'll have to start all over again for it to be optimal.

I don't know how Noble Skyrim works, but someone said it's the best. I'm a bit scared, because Skyland alone made me lag a bit and Osmodius textures were absolutely gorgeous but my computer couldn't handle it (I had terrible lags and freezes). I hope Noble Skyrim won't demand to much to my laptop. I think I will use only one texture replacers, it's easier to install and for my PC.

Having new textures and weather is already a big thing for me after playing the old Skyrim on Xbox 360 for 5 years. I just want to optimize it so I can't get the best quality without lowering my performance (for now I'm already happy that my loading times for fast travel don't exceed 30 seconds).

I've been in pretty much exactly the same boat, and also trying hard to fully understand the details of modding.

 

I experimented with most of those same texture mods, couldn't notice much difference except for the UV tweaks texture mod (don't remember the exact name) which looked great but dropped performance a bit. I ended up with SMIM, vivid landscapes, Simply bigger trees and Verdant grass.

 

SBT was the only was that definitely dropped my frames to 45 or so, although it could have been the whole combination I suppose. Verdant is supposed to be a little heavier than grass on Steroids as it is a little bit of the 3 grass mods, from what I understand.

 

I also have all of the populated npc mods, most of the town and settlement mods currently available, WICO character overhaul, many armor and weapon, as well as quest mods.

 

I only mention all of this because I have an i3 with basically a 750ti. I've also capped my FPS at 40, which I'm happy to have with all these great mods. So yeah, I think you'll be alright.

[Keegan1622]

Thank you really, that's really nice of all of you.

I am both a PC and a console player and have spent 300+ hours on vanilla Skyrim on my Xbox 360. I've only used mods on games like Civilization where they are easy tu use.

I have a good desktop but since I travel a lot with my job I can play only on my laptop when I'm not on holidays. And when I saw that Bethesda gave me SSE freely I couldn't resist !

I am setting a whole new mod config now, following precisely the S.E.P.T.I.M. guide. Hope my PC will handle it. I took SMIM extra lite, Noble Skyrim Performance, Flora Overhaul 2.6, Grass on Steroids, Skyland 1K and Nordic Snow. The guide says it is for >2Gb VRAM and mine is 3Gb. So I guess it should work. I'll keep you informed :).