(Part 2) Best products from r/skyrimmods

I'd advise looking into an alternative to the 660p SSDs. I was originally going to go with one for my build but they have shorter lifespans than a traditional NVMe drive. It's also not much faster than a SATA SSD, though it is easier to store than a SATA in a mITX case. It will probably last you long enough, but I'm a paranoid type and if you are too you should know that.

Also, I would suggest a different case! I also built a mITX modding beast and considered the Core 500, but decided not to out of thermal fears. If I may suggest the case I went with, I got the Silverstone SG13. Don't worry about the different versions on amazon, they're all identical as far as I can tell. But with this case I've gotten a killer machine with great thermals! I super recommenced it. Fitting an air cooler is real hard though. I gave up and went with liquid, but I think that the mesh front will ultimately be worth it.

Also seconding the Ryzen 3 idea. If I was building mine now, I'd have gone with Ryzen hands down.

Good luck with your build!

With that CPU I'd recommend a 760, something like this would be nice. You could also go with a 270x which being less powerful would allow for the 4gb option. You could go with this and get the 4gb option keeping in mind that it will be less powerful than the 760. I'm running a 3gb 280x and its just tiny bit more powerful than a 760, so if you can do without giving everything 2k textures then I'd suggest the 760.

this guy
https://www.amazon.com/Dell-Gaming-S2716DG-LED-Lit-Monitor/dp/B0149QBOF0

Personally I think g sync is the cherry on top of a nice system, it shouldn't be something you sacrifice other parts for. I got this on sale for 500 bucks when I was looking for a monitor and I love it. I like that I never EVER have to worry about v sync or screen tearing. I like that even when my games dip to 40fps they're still smooth flowing. It's a very nice feature to be sure.

But if you're deciding between a big gpu upgrade or getting g sync, I'd say go for the gpu.

>He told me mods were useless and they were not intended to be in the game so they are "anti-Skyrim"

Does that include mods like "Cutting Room Floor"? Because, by that standard, Skyrim itself would surely be "anti-Skyrim" due to the number of things modders have inserted back into the game when they were left unimplemented. And what's the "pure" version? The base game, or the version with some - or all - of the DLC?

Edit: Sean Tracy started out as a modder and continues to champion the development of mods. If your brother ends up working with CryEngine then there's a good chance that he'll do so by doing what Tracy tells him to do, so tuck that reference away and whip it out if/when it becomes hilarious.

If you ever feel like getting a good mic, a lot of people us the Blue Yeti (Amazon). It's pretty affordable. Thanks for the support!

Well, I'm also a writer, so I'm definitely a keyboard enthusiast, but I wanted one that would be equally good for writing and gaming. I think I veered more towards writing.

I have a Topre Type Heaven. I also use Dvorak, which works phenomenally well with Skyrim.

With some mystical unknown special magic, within the game, hotkeys still use QWERTY, but when I need to type my name or write in the Take Notes journal or rename things with Jaxonz Renamer, it automatically switches back to Dvorak!

There's a problem I feel that many character mods for this game have.

Skin and complexions are perfect, there is no dirt or weathering, the pupil/iris in eyes are too high in detail (not necessarily resolution), among a few other issues. The mods that affect the face can cause tension with the hair/clothing if these aren't up to scratch, then you have the problem with eyebrows in that they can look like they're drawn on (as yours do here, no offense).

Unfortunately I haven't been downloading mods in a long time (still waiting since Legendary), but try to avoid smooth skins entirely, for a start. No skin is absolutely, 100% smooth and without edges. This makes it seem like the face has quite a low poly-count, even if it doesn't. And contrasts heavily with the world of Skyrim, and all other NPCs.

Just don't layer on the mods too thick when it comes to characters. Less is more in this case. You'll end up crossing into uncanny valley territory when you add too much detail. "SUPER HD 8K EYELIDS AND EYEBROWS" aren't exactly necessary and only add to the dissonance you're experiencing.

I'm sorry if I haven't explained myself too well, it's quite late and its been a long day. Hopefully other people can help with suggestions for what to download!

One last thing to remember before I head to bed: this is a 7 year old game. Beyond making each texture look as good as possible, the game is old. Animation quality, and many features you can't really influence will still seem relatively dated. I understand there are mods for these, and I understand there are mods for animation, but to paraphrase Steve Swink the mechanics and feel of the game are 7 years old. You can't change that with mods.

TL:DR: You're likely using too many mods, they contrast with each other and create the unappealing character you see. A human face is never going to look like the above example. Less is more with character mods - choose carefully, all faces have signs of weathering or ageing.

It would be an... interesting team, since as I understand it reverse engineering x86 is mostly for people creating malware. And the security experts thwarting them, I suppose. Book on Amazon: Practical Reverse Engineering.

If someone was a programmer looking to expand their skillset into IT security, though...

SSD's are known to slow down with decreased performance as they fill up, ive heard estimates that one should keep around 20% free space for optimal speed. So I guess you can choose between everything being a bit slower or having a faster os and slower skyrim. I would personally think you will be fine if you dont go too overboard with it.
With the price of ssd's at the moment you could even try and pick up a 128gb one for skyrim pretty cheap
http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-7TE250BW/dp/B00E3W1726/ref=lp_1292116011_1_1?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1412574241&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.com/CYBERPOWERPC-Xtreme-GXiVR8020A-Gaming-Desktop/dp/B01HNBLHAA
$720; when I bought it in November, it was cheaper as a prebuild than to buy everything separately (could still be the case)

The AMD RX 480 is good enough as an entry VR card. Should be good for SSE for now. (edit: it can max out pretty much every new game: SSE, Witcher3, GTA5, etc...)


This is one of the video reviews that made me buy it (he also does gameplay vids)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpDYR0Hf_S0

Go for it. I will probably look up your mobo, suggest the one I got instead ;-) and link you to some articles on the basics.

This was only my second foray into overclocking so above all else, don't do anything you're not comfortable with. It's a peppy processor stock but the 8700K is an enthusiast model (unlocked) so if you're never going to overclock, you could save yourself at least $30 (which is small in the setup you're prescribing).

In a similar vein, "The Design Of Everyday Things" is a great read. And iirc uses quite a few examples like the one you gave.

A fourth generation i5 would be a huge performance boost, even more so if you have a Z97/Z97 motherboard to go with it that will allow overclocking.

Don't replace a R9 290X, it is a great card. You can upgrade the cooling instead, which will dramatically lower the noise and even give you a bit more overclocking headroom.

https://www.amazon.com/NZXT-Kraken-RL-KRG10-B1-Bracket-Black/dp/B00ITTFO8M

https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Hydro-Quiet-Liquid-Cooler/dp/B009VV56TY

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NT-H1-Thermal-Compound-Retail/dp/B002CQU14A

Worst case scenario you decide to sell the card anyway and have a really good cooling setup to put on your new one.

I'll give it a try. I was able to play for about two hours with no crash which is good but also driving me crazy because I can't pinpoint a single cause. I was hoping it was some sort of animation issue, maybe the birds mod, or something that I could trace.

Ram: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B006YG9E7O?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00

I'm doubtful it is the card because I tried playing hi-res textures disabled and with all post-processing disabled and my SPM read the same and I crashed similarly.

Card: XFX Radeon R9 290 R9-290A-EDFD 4GB 512-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Double Dissipation Edition Video Card

Wireless KBM is probably what I would end up doing.

But really I was considering getting one of these for my controller, if it worked for Skyrim hotkeys. I haven't had a chance to read up on it yet.

Have never tried playing Skyrim via controller or on big screen, because I need muh hotkeys, and Dragons Dogma is unplayable via KBM, imo (the UI nav is ridiculous, to say the least), so was looking for a solution to play both from my couch with a controller, for funsies.

Also, was finally checking out the Lock On mod the other day. Looks like it'd be great for couch warrior, joystick combat.

https://www.amazon.com/Crucial-MX300-525GB-NAND-Internal/dp/B01IAGSD68 the best purchase you will make in your gaming experience. 500gb should be enough for all of your games and will greatly increase load times. You will not have enough space for NMM + mods + skyrim on that SSD and trust me, running an SSD at more than 80 percent capacity is a horrible idea (especially if its your OS drive.)

Maybe the community could band together and buy her a decent mic, for starters.