Source
r/skyrimmods•
TrooperTurtle

Building new PC - RX 580 8GB or GTX 1660 Ti 6GB?

PC SSE - Discussion

I hope this sort of post is allowed, I really need help from people who know a lot more than me on how mods work.

According to the benchmarks, GTX 1660 Ti is generally better and should work well down the line compared to RX 580, but my concern is regarding Skyrim SSE and mods. I'm not sure which one fares better with mods.

Need to decide a GPU that will go with the following setup:

  • R5 3600
  • 16GB RAM (8GBx2) DDR4-3200Mhz
  • 1080p 144Hz

I won't be installing everything 4k except just a couple of them, and I'm not into realistic graphic mods anyway, just want to make this old game look modern at stable frame rates.

If it matters, other games that I will play are TES III and IV with mods, Yakuza 0, Witcher series and emulated games on CEMU.

Really want to get some clarity on this matter, any suggestions are appreciated!

Edit: After getting an input from all these helpful people of the community, I've decided to go with 1660 Ti since it fits my needs and build, and also because it shouldn't affect my modding and gameplay.

Posted Aug 24, 2019, 10:04 AM UTC · edited

1845
Leo_desu•

If you can afford it go to the 1660 Ti, is like 20% more powerfull, consume less and also Nvidia cards got best performance with postprocesing things like ENB than AMD cards.

Also with that PC consider modding LE wich is better in everything about modding than SE (more stable, more mods, best ENB graphics)

5
Myxiny•

I'd agree with you on the best ENB graphics, but SE under most circumstances is more stable than LE, even with LE's patches. LE has greater script lag, can crash with navmesh conflicts, and can only access up to 4gig of ram. And most LE mods are portable to SE with the right tools fairly easily (texture mods dont even need to be ported, they work right out the box).

5
Leo_desu•

>SE under most circumstances is more stable than LE, even with LE's patches

Skyrim CTDs is due to memory issues (both LE and SE). So is true that in vanilla SE is more stable but we are talking about modding, in LE we got Crash Fixes mod that resolve every memory issue you just need to tweak it according to your mod setup, but also you need a decent rig to move a heavy modded LE.

> LE has greater script lag, can crash with navmesh conflicts, and can only access up to 4gig of ram

SE script engine, Papyrus, is literally the same as LE, that was de biggest disappointment when SE came out. The 4gb limit was fixed with a windows update years ago, did you know there are people with 1400+ mods in LE?

> most LE mods are portable to SE with the right tools fairly easily

yes they are, but I'm not talking about 50, 100, or even 200 mods, I'm talking about 90k vs 30k mods, try to port them. In fact I can't replicate my LE setup(700 mods) in SE just because a lot of them dont exist in SE.

Give LE a try :)

2
Myxiny•

It's well known that SE can handle more scripted mods due to it's 64 bit nature despite the scripting engine being the same . I've yet to come across script lag in my 650+ modded skyrim but happens quite a few times in my 400 mod LE setup (using less scripted mods).

And not all CTD are memory related. Bad meshes,
scripts, and mod conflicts also can cause CTD. And these things usually have an easier time causing CTD on LE than SE. You might have a different situation than me, but from my and others experience SE seems more stable.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

There's not much of a price difference between 580 and 1660 Ti, that's why I've been thinking of either one of the two. Since I was not sure about technicalities of modding and the hardware, I wanted to make sure what I'm trying to go at with this build.

Also with that PC consider modding LE wich is better in everything about modding than SE

I thought SE got better with updates, I guess not. I've only played SE without mods since my current system can't handle it anymore. But it doesn't matter, I still have LE so I'll just use that instead.

Thanks a lot for confirming my doubts!

1
Ember2528Riften•

LE is not better than SE. Right now it's kind of a mixed bag but SE with SSE Engine fixes does perform better on modern system than LE with it's set of fixes. One other thing to consider is that we are starting to see a number of pretty great mods being released exclusively on SE and big upcoming mods like Beyond Skyrim and Legacy V5 are also going to be SE exclusive.

To add onto that ESL plugins make things a lot simpler in huge load orders reducing the need for merging mods together.

2
TrooperTurtleOP•

Really looking forward to Beyond Skyrim, whenever it comes out.

I think it won't be a problem since I own both the games, I'll just try to mod SSE first and if it works without any problems, I'll stick to it and if not I'll just try the same mods on LE.

Thanks for the heads up!

2
Slabwrankle•

580 will be better if you're going heavy with reshade or enb's with custom shaders. 1660 will be better with the other games you listed and maybe for general other stuff in skyrim.

4
TrooperTurtleOP•

Not really planning to do heavy or long list of graphic mods. Want to keep a proper balance between graphics and smooth gameplay.

I guess 1660 Ti will be a better overall choice then.

Thanks for clarifying it!

1
Sir_LithFalkreath•

How will it be better, when the 1660ti is both faster (580 is 1060 6GB level), and better performing with ENBs?

1
Slabwrankle•

1660 ti is almost always just better, but there are outliers. The RX is slightly better at very large shaders, so yes most Enb's the 1660 ti will be faster, but there are ones that go nuts with custom shaders where the 580 would pull ahead. Not that the 580 would be miles ahead, that's only inexplicably the case with gta v.

1
Polly_Peptide•

I don't know a lot about the 1660 Ti, but did I just recently finish a massively long and heavily modded Lexy playthrough while using a fairly high-end ENB, hi-res textures, ultra trees, etc, with my RX 590, which isn't that much better than a 580 TBH. Never had any issues or hiccups and my framerates typically hovered around 40fps outdoors and always far above 60 indoors. Can't say I am at all disappointed.

Honestly though, if you're not using an ENB or any other GPU-hogging addons, there's absolutely no reason you won't get consistently high, stable framerates with either card. When I turned my ENB off, I almost never went below 60fps, even outdoors in places like Falkreath with lots of ultra-quality DynDOLOD trees on the screen.

3
TrooperTurtleOP•

RX 590, which isn't that much better than a 580

Yeah, you can OC 580 to get that 590 performance if need be.

I do intend to use ENB but nothing too intensive, just enough to amplify the overworld textures a little so it's more immersive when I'm exploring out there.

Thank you for the input!

3
Saimzain123•

If you're talkin maxing out texture detail then I say go for the 580 for sure, the 8gb will be more that sufficient.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

Nope not really going to max it all out, I'm more into running different scripts for immersion, graphics are just a small part of it.

I'll still think it thoroughly before I decide.

1
ManyStrongWordsRaven Rock•

Navi's Budget GPUs are close to releasing. I'd personally wait and see how they are.

3
TrooperTurtleOP•

Yeah I read about that, hopefully it will be soon within a few weeks of time while I'm still waiting for a PC case to get back in stock.

1
exus•

I'm loving my 1660TI and I'm at 1440p 144hz. It makes Skyrim happy (I did a heavily modded Lexy's guide and got 45+ outdoors, and that's the engines fault it was so low, not the video cards) and all my other games love it too. The RTX series is way to high of an investment so I've been enjoying many other recent games quite happy as well.

2
TrooperTurtleOP•

Just what I was looking for, a 1660 Ti owner feedback. My screen res is 1080p 144Hz so I doubt it'll be that taxing.

RTX series is way to high of an investment

I agree, trying to do a budget build here that will last me a while. Besides, I'm not into "try every single new game".

Thank you for the input!

1
exus•

I've given up on Lexy's guide because it's just way too demanding at 1440p for anything but a super rig. And I'm indifferent to at least 1/3rd of it.

Once LotD V5 releases I'm looking forward to putting together a good 60FPS modlist.

I really enjoy having the 6gb memory for textures, especially coming from the 970 with its 3.5gb + 0.5gb slow memory. That card struggled a bit and I'm kind of glad it died on me and forced an upgrade.

Besides, I'm not into "try every single new game".

I definitely am, even though I rarely finish any. At 1440p I can get anything modern running 60+fps and can drop a few settings or play something a few years older to get closer to 100+.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

The only guide I've followed is the STEP one which was quite some time ago on LE. After that I just did my own thing to my taste and that supported my old potato.

Really looking forward to check out the new STEP guide and other guides too to see what the current popular mods are.

At 1440p I can get anything modern running 60+fps and can drop a few settings

That really sounds promising, thanks a lot!

1
Chef_MIKErowave•

1660 TIi, it's simply more powerful then the RX, as you said in your post

But anyways, I'm just gonna input my 2 cents, but, graphic mods (such as textures) shouldn't slow down your game that much, besides loading times and increasing GPU vram usage (which doesn't mean GPU load, so it shouldn't impact FPS much) the things that WILL impact your FPS would be things such as ENB, grass mods (that increase density) and things that increase the details in objects (such as static mesh improvement mod, HOWEVER, the impact for mods such as static mesh is not too large, but it does increase GPU load).

It all depends on what kind of mods you get, as you've said you won't be installing too many graphical mods, which should mean you'll be able to do a smooth 60, aslong as you know how to balance things out (like, graphical settings) and not go wild.

2
TrooperTurtleOP•

Load times shouldn't be too much of an issue as I'll install Skyrim and mods on an SSD. I just wasn't sure if I should go with 8GB or 6GB vram card since I didn't know how these things go with mods and stuff.

I usually steer away from heavy textures for small items and just stick to base enhancements like SMIM and maybe another layer of quality textures on top of it.

Regardless, I will try to find a balance to keep my gameplay smooth since that's what I'm aiming for.

Thank you for the heads up!

1
MrRoot3r•

Just want to say if you are going to get a 1660ti look for used 1070ti's I(got lucky) picked one up for 270 locally but they are a way better option for the price since you aren't getting etc or anything it's a pretty good option especially since people are upgrading rn. Craigslist is great just keep a search open and check it daily. If nothing you can still get the 1660. Gl op

2
TrooperTurtleOP•

I always hear stories of used mining cards, that's why I'm kind of hesitant on used GPU.

Also, I've already set my budget for the build, so I kind of want to stick to it now.

Thanks a lot though!

2
MrRoot3r•

Yeah I think he mentioned it was used for mining, it's only a year old and it still under warranty. Have fun with the new PC.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

Crypto boom did quite a number on them GPUs, I think. If it's still under warranty then that's great, you should be good for a while with such a decent card.

And thank you!

2
MrRoot3r•

You will definitely be fine with a 1660 which is basically a 1070 no ti I only have an i5 2500k @4.5ghz so CPU wise you are probably better off as far as stuff like hdt smp and whatnot. But I was comfortably running 170+ mods a bunch of "script heavy" and Rudy enb at a relatively stable frame rate, 50-60 drops mostly in towns with immersive citizens (all the extra physics) with people walking around all over.

Though I was playing at 1440p so I would say you can definitely have a solid 60 especially if you go easy on the tender distance. dyndolod was a real fps killer for me but with an enb the depth of field made that waaaaaay less important so keep that in mind when building ur lists.

Edit: all other settings ultra beside motion blur

2
TheFabulousSquirrel•

Well Skyrim (SSE or not) is very cpu intensive by game standards.

Between the two cards, I think the 1660 is probably going to give you a little bit more. I'm currently using a 580 (8GB version) and the performance is rather good, but I get cpu limited in most cases. The main difference I think is when using ENBs.

So basically even though the 1660 has less VRAM, I don't think this will be a problem and the faster card in general is going to net you more fps than a 580. Probably.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

I see, then I suppose I don't have to be too confused when I'm not planning to push the graphic mods too much.

Just going to keep it minimum, so I can enjoy the gameplay.

Thanks a lot!

1
Murthamis•

I'm running about 180 mods with quite a bit of high res things on GTX 1060-6 GB version, with ENB and I have 50-60 fps outdoors and 60 fps indoors always and 1660 Ti is more powerful, so it'd probably run my setup 60 fps even outdoors.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

That sounds quite promising!

My modlist will consist of about 200 mods, graphic mods are quite few. So I think it won't be a stress with 6GB of vram.

Other people have commented that 1660 Ti should be generally better, I think I will go for it.

Thank you very much!

1
Murthamis•

Most heavy fps drops (~48-52) I notice in heavily grassed areas, 'cause I run one fps heavy grass mod, but for me it's really worth, without it I think stable 60 would be even outdoors, so it's good choice :)

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

Honestly, I wouldn't even mind if it dropped to 40 FPS as long as it is running properly. I just dislike stutters and lag is all, as everyone does.

1
Miau_X•

I am what can be considered a AMD fanboy, but if Skyrim is your top priority, go with the 1660 Ti.

ENB its pretty much built around Nvidia hardware so thats one of the main reasons why.

That beign said i used to play lots of considerably modded Skyrim with an old 7950 so the rx580 its faster by light years.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

Skyrim is my main game but I also want to keep it generalized for other stuff. There's not much of price difference between RX 580 and 1660 Ti here, so I think I'll go with the latter as it should sever well in the future.

Thanks for the clarification!

1
Ichtequi•

Neither. Get a used Vega 56. It'll be cheaper than the 1660ti and faster.

1
TrooperTurtleOP•

Much faster indeed, but not a suitable GPU for the mATX build I'm doing.

I did consult other people as well but the conclusion was that I either do a mid tower build or just use a GPU that will keep it quiet and cool inside a mini tower.

1
Silentdragonzz•

Cant go wrong with gtx. But why not bump it uo to 1680?

-2
CrackbornRiften•

Do not listen to anything this guy ever says about GPUs.

3
Silentdragonzz•

Elaborate?

0
exus•

Well to start you just suggested a graphics card that doesn't exist.

6