[LE] Can a better computer significantly decrease loading times in the CK when running big mods?

[sornan]

Thanks NexusComa2

 

I'm really not very 'tech' able when it comes to putting system parts together, getting into adding a new drive to my system is a bit more than I'm prepared to do. I suppose if an upgraded system is not going to do much to remedy the issue, I will probably just stick with what I have for now.

 

I had recently stumbled on a topic about disabling error messages when loading the CK with mods, that is something I should do that will help move things along and I don't have to be there to keep the loading process going.

 

Hey thanks everyone :)

[xWilburCobbx]

I used my phone to time everything out, and here are the results.

 

System

 

OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

 

System Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.

 

System Model: GL75 9SDK

 

Processor: Intel® Core i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz (12 CPUs), ~2.6GHz

 

Memory: 16384MB RAM

 

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

 

Drive: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 2TB

 

 

Results

 

Run 1

 

Dawnguard.esm

Dragonborn.esm

HearthFires.esm

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

(~2:41)

 

Run 2

 

Dawnguard.esm

Dragonborn.esm

HearthFires.esm

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

TESV - MiddleEarth.esm

TESVMiddelearthII.esp

(~4:16)

 

Cell load

 

(~2:00)

(This one was hard to do speaking CK was having viewport issues. Its took 5sec to load all the object references and get into the cell, and about 2 minutes to load the models in the viewport for the cell & 6 neighboring cells.)

 

Conclusion

 

I would run the same test and compare your results, people in general have a bad sense of time! I thought it only took less than 1 min to load the base game+dlc, but I was way off!

 

If you are right, then I don't see much of a reason to invest in a more a powerful system just for this purpose. Even if its an extra minute or 2, it wouldn't make sense. Only buy a new PC if you plan on doing current gen gaming with it.

Edited August 3, 2020 by smashballsx88

[NexusComa2]

Oh ya you really need to disable them load errors. I was going to say that but figured you already knew that.

As far as adding a SSD drive. You just get a small cheap internal one. You will need a sata cable and you're computer probably has an extra one in it now. It looks like the one going from your mother board to your current hard drive. Then you just plug in your new SSD drive, format it, name it and you're done. A super fast burner drive.

[sornan]

I used my phone to time everything out, and here are the results.

 

System

 

OS: Windows 10 Home 64-bit

 

System Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd.

 

System Model: GL75 9SDK

 

Processor: Intel® Core i7-9750H CPU @ 2.60GHz (12 CPUs), ~2.6GHz

 

Memory: 16384MB RAM

 

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti

 

Drive: Samsung SSD 860 EVO 2TB

 

 

Results

 

Run 1

 

Dawnguard.esm

Dragonborn.esm

HearthFires.esm

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

(~2:41)

 

Run 2

 

Dawnguard.esm

Dragonborn.esm

HearthFires.esm

Skyrim.esm

Update.esm

TESV - MiddleEarth.esm

TESVMiddelearthII.esp

(~4:16)

 

Cell load

 

(~2:00)

(This one was hard to do speaking CK was having viewport issues. Its took 5sec to load all the object references and get into the cell, and about 2 minutes to load the models in the viewport for the cell & 6 neighboring cells.)

 

Conclusion

 

I would run the same test and compare your results, people in general have a bad sense of time! I thought it only took less than 1 min to load the base game+dlc, but I was way off!

 

If you are right, then I don't see much of a reason to invest in a more a powerful system just for this purpose. Even if its an extra minute or 2, it wouldn't make sense. Only buy a new PC if you plan on doing current gen gaming with it.

 

Hey Smash :smile:

 

Wow.. thanks so much for the tests there man.

 

Yea, that is amazing, your timings are nearly identical to mine.

 

I'm definitely (as long as your fine with it) going to add you to the list of credits for the mod (if it gets done someday), and you just saved me 1,200 dollars and a week of switching everything over to a new system.

 

I really can't thank you enough.

 

Cheers m8 :smile:

 

 

Oh ya you really need to disable them load errors. I was going to say that but figured you already knew that.

As far as adding a SSD drive. You just get a small cheap internal one. You will need a sata cable and you're computer probably has an extra one in it now. It looks like the one going from your mother board to your current hard drive. Then you just plug in your new SSD drive, format it, name it and you're done. A super fast burner drive.

 

Thanks :smile:

 

Yea, unfortunately I found out the hard way I can't disable the load errors, because there are some cells in the Middle-Earth mod that bring up 'failed to load' (or something like that) errors that require clicking "ignore", and these particular occasional errors were causing the game to crash when errors where disabled.. So.. 1 for bad 2 for good, at least things are working and my load times are not really that unusual after all.

 

As far as adding an SSD drive, honestly I might look into it in the future, but right now heck with load times being confirmed as pretty normal, I'm content for now.

 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

 

One last thing, something that's been bugging me.

 

I did re-set the name of the .Esp that I am working off of from the Middle_Earth Redone mod so it contains the original name, along with ending in _Fotr (Fellowship of the RIng). All my mod projects have always had my own separate file I worked from, so this has been a bit unusual building directly upon another mod (.esp). All content, including the original file name made by the original mod author, should be kept for proper credit (of course including the same credits from the original mod put in any release as well).

 

TESVMiddelearthII_Fotr.Esp - is the new name, and seems about right.

 

Anyhow, I felt it important to note this, again this has been something new to me, and nonetheless the mistake was mine and has been addressed.

 

Thanks everyone

Edited August 5, 2020 by sornan

[HeyYou]

Laptop likely doesn't have any place to put a second harddrive.....

 

That said, upgrading to a solid state drive makes a MAJOR difference in performance, especially for programs that hit the harddrive heavily. (the CK, and pretty much every beth game springs immediately to mind......) If you just want to upgrade what you have, any decent computer shop should be able to clone your current harddrive, to an SSD. As it is a direct copy, nothing on the system changes, it just runs a LOT faster. I know we do this at work on a regular basis. We don't even stock mechanical harddrives any more.... as SSD's have gotten dirt cheap.

[xWilburCobbx]

We don't even stock mechanical harddrives any more.... as SSD's have gotten dirt cheap.

That's actually kind of crazy. My SSD is rated to last up to 10 years or more, SSDs in general are actually surpassing HDDs in life span. This is with normal use as well.

 

My lap can only house 1 SATA drive at a time, I was only able to install my Samsung because newer PCs have M.2 slots and that's what I ordered it with. So I actually have 3GBs of storage, 1GB of an ultra high speed M.2 SSD, and 2GB of a SATA SSD which is slower, but not noticeably.

 

 

I'm definitely (as long as your fine with it) going to add you to the list of credits for the mod (if it gets done someday), and you just saved me 1,200 dollars and a week of switching everything over to a new system.

No need! If you insist you have my permission, but It was a very simply test. I also got to learn that the CK is limited in how fast it can operate, which is advantageous knowledge to anyone who is sketchy about its overall performance. This program was released in 2012? That's not even counting its existence for developers, could go all the way back as far as Morrowind! It's an ancient piece of software, that has way too many bugs to count. Its a no wonder it runs like truck.

Edited August 7, 2020 by xWilburCobbx

[sornan]

Laptop likely doesn't have any place to put a second harddrive.....

 

That said, upgrading to a solid state drive makes a MAJOR difference in performance, especially for programs that hit the harddrive heavily. (the CK, and pretty much every beth game springs immediately to mind......) If you just want to upgrade what you have, any decent computer shop should be able to clone your current harddrive, to an SSD. As it is a direct copy, nothing on the system changes, it just runs a LOT faster. I know we do this at work on a regular basis. We don't even stock mechanical harddrives any more.... as SSD's have gotten dirt cheap.

 

Thanks for help there. Being that with my current laptop rig I'm getting similar load times to WilburCobb's, and he is even running an SSD, then I probably should stick with what I have unless need arises. I spent a few years modding Arma 3, that ran my system so hot it would crash/shutdown every once in a while, which Skyrim typically does not yet takes three times longer to load .. (go figure lol).

 

 

 

We don't even stock mechanical harddrives any more.... as SSD's have gotten dirt cheap.

That's actually kind of crazy. My SSD is rated to last up to 10 years or more, SSDs in general are actually surpassing HDDs in life span. This is with normal use as well.

 

My lap can only house 1 SATA drive at a time, I was only able to install my Samsung because newer PCs have M.2 slots and that's what I ordered it with. So I actually have 3GBs of storage, 1GB of an ultra high speed M.2 SSD, and 2GB of a SATA SSD which is slower, but not noticeably.

 

 

I'm definitely (as long as your fine with it) going to add you to the list of credits for the mod (if it gets done someday), and you just saved me 1,200 dollars and a week of switching everything over to a new system.

No need! If you insist you have my permission, but It was a very simply test. I also got to learn that the CK is limited in how fast it can operate, which is advantageous knowledge to anyone who is sketchy about its overall performance. This program was released in 2012? That's not even counting its existence for developers, could go all the way back as far as Morrowind! It's an ancient piece of software, that has way too many bugs to count. Its a no wonder it runs like truck.

 

 

I appreciate the time spent helping me out, maybe someday I'll be decent enough with Skyrim to help some people out here on the forums, but I'm not really there yet. I agree, the load times are something to learn to deal with, and it limits "quick tests" to become more like compilations of stuff done to warrant the save and load times, something that for myself will get better as I get more used to the game. Heck I can't even validate having a test quest for doing test bed stuff because it's separate from the main quest I'm working with, and jumping back and forth takes too long due to load times. On the other hand, much alike Oblivion, the game provides the ability to create some great interactive scenes with Npc's involving dialog and various actions, stuff that a combat simulator like the Arma series or Ghost Recon could never replicate, have to appreciate that. The game can really support some great story content, just have to deal with some of the annoying stuff along the way.

Edited August 7, 2020 by sornan