after visitng the TOT overhaul page and finding 31 pages of returns for "graphics mods" in the forum search, i'm seeing A LOT of options for graphics/texture replacements for oblivion. i am running an FCOM-modded version of the GOTY version of the game.

my system specs are below.

i'm looking to install a series of overhauls and such that look great but don't run the risk of bogging down framerates too much when i'm outside. (i play the game with all in game settngs maxed at 2560x1600)

currently considering qarl's texture pack 3, but perhaps qarl's redimized is better?

given my system specs, what do folks suggest with regards to almost everything visible, really almost everything visible, or the awesome but demanding-sounding more than everything visible? the MTAEVWD seems like it should work on my specs, but if it's overkill in terms of system demand, i might pass on it. thoughts?

if there are any faves among all the character and object texture overhauls, i'd appreciate hearing about them, too
thanks.

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.100226-1909)

System Manufacturer: NVIDIA
System Model: 122-CK-NF68
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel® Core™2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~3.0GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4094MB RAM
Page File: 4123MB used, 4063MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Card name: ATI Radeon HD 4800 Series
Display Memory: 2808 MB
Dedicated Memory: 1016 MB
Shared Memory: 1791 MB
Current Mode: 2560 x 1600 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Don't you think you should test FCOM for a few hours first...?

Aesthetic Overhauling Guide - http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=guide_aesthetic_mods <-- see other related threads linked at the bottom


Edit: FYI: Aesthetic mods choice is largely subjective, especially when you have the specs to install just about any visual enhancement. Look at screen shots.

thank you

I use a lot of visual enhancers. You can get a good idea of the order in which you can install them from my BAIN package list: http://tesivpositive.animolious.com/index.php?page=my_bain_package_list

That rig will be crippled by MTAEVWD. In fact, there's no reason for anyone to not use RAEVWD.

Also, no, that rig won't run "anything you can throw at it." You're going to have to try various texture replacers, but I suspect that you will want to stay away from the highest res versions of whatever you pick. You should probably count on going with a 1024 res pack. And configure RAEVWD without the city architecture. Read the readme. It's very clear about configuring to save performance.

gothemasticator

A 4800 with 1GB of VRAM can run HiRez texture replacers. The limiting component is the CPU. I do not know about with RAEVWD (as I do not run it) but without it, that rig can run QTP3 or any other major texture pack.

You missed the part about his resolution:



That pretty much cancels out any advantage that card offers as far as graphics are concerned.

Another one to consider is Bomret's. Qarl's are very sharp, high resolution textures. http://www.oblivionmodwiki.com/index.php/RAEVWD is similar, but it's more of a texture collection and doesn't include as much as Qarl's. Bomret's takes the vanilla textures and makes them a bit more detailed, but keeps the file sizes the same as the originals. I suggest you make omods or use BAIN for all of these texture replacers and try them. If you use either of these techniques, you should be able to uninstall them fairly easily if you don't like them. Depending on what other mods you are running, there could be conflicts. I know OBMM will tell you about conflicts and I believe BAIN does too. If there are conflicts, just take note of them and reinstall the conflicting mod if you uninstall any of these.

I have some definite preferences, so it really does come down to personal taste, provided you can run them. I think if your resolution was a little lower, you'd be able to run all three (not at once!). I don't know too much about ATI cards, so I can't comment on the performance, especially at that resolution. It appears that you have enough RAM and VRAM, although your processor is slightly challenged. Oblivion can be pretty touchy about overclocking, so I'd do that keeping in mind that you may have to revert to the default state. Oblivion is also CPU intensive, so that may be the determining factor more than the video.

Have a look at http://devnull.sweetdanger.net/totoworld.html. It's a bit dated, but he has links to all the mods I've mentioned.

thanks!~

Firstly, I wouldn't call a C2Q running at 3GHz "challenged". Secondly, Oblivion wouldn't notice overclocking if it fell over it, which it won't. Not in my experience, with Oblivion (in various configurations) being totally unaware of a 33% OC for, well, years. In a good way, that is.

As for being CPU intensive, it really depends on what you throw at it, in terms of mods, resolution, etc. It can certainly be rather GPU intensive, alternatively, or as well.

Actual advice, hm... Don't bother with MTAEWVD. Seriously. That's what a full install of RAEVWD is for, and even that, you will find cuts your frame rates pretty dramatically in places, especialy if you're using hi-res replacers and all that. I can say this quite confidently, because I'm running a higher-speed CPU and a more powerful GPU, and that's been my impressions of the two. So...

He's got a Core 2 Duo @ 2.4 GHz... Some processors have more OC room than others. I don't recall the 6600 having a lot of room, but I hardly studied the matter. The 920 has tons of room, for example. By room, I mean how much you can actually push the frequency without running into heating issues. Intel was pretty conservative on some of their chips and the OC community discovered some major improvements that could be made. I actually lapped my heatsink to improve thermal conductivity... No I haven't OC'd my cpu, yet...

Anyway, to the OP, I do agree with staying away from MTAEVWD... There is a lite version that's almost playable, but RAEVWD is the better replacement...

The system specs there have it at 3.0GHz, indicating current clock speed, as opposed to stock. Unless I'm misreading that, of course... But yes, it is a C2D, not C2Q - so used to seeing Q6600, is all.


As do most of the Core 2 line, depending on luck to some extent (as with any CPU). Sure, the 920 tend to be a decent overclocker (though there are definitely far superior i5/i7 candidates) - 4GHz shouldn't be too challenging, say. But that's not really the point. An overclocked C2D (or C2Q, though more than 2 cores will make no difference, generally speaking) should fly through Oblivion, unless you are doing something very wrong or very silly to the game.

I always do silly things to my game I'm not as familiar with the newer chips, although I built an i7 last year. At this point we're leaving that one alone. My machine is a Q9650, which somebody managed to get to 4.54 with water cooling! Anyway this is OT. I don't think the OP mentioned anything about OC, but I wasn't sure with the way he quoted the specs. If he's got a stable 3, then he should be good to go with any of the mods we suggested, except MTAEVWD (man that's hard to type). I'm not sure about the resolution he's running with that card - I don't know much about ATI, as I said, but I'm sure he'll test and play with it a bit.

Now you got me itching to OC, dammit...

RAEVWD has nothing to do with textures, it's a VWD mod. It includes some textures that have been optimized for the VWD meshes in order to reduce the demand on your video card, but does not replace any of the default files. They are added in a separate folder that doesn't have any effect on the game other than on the distant objects it adds.

Yes, that resolution is something of a wild card. He's pretty much on his own with that one since not too many people run their displays that high. He might be OK with what he wants to use, he might not be. It's pretty hard to say. I'm not too familiar with ATI cards either so I'm not sure if that card can handle both RAEVWD and QTP3 at that resolution. It will probably be getting a good work out at any rate.

There is very little difference between ATI and Nvidia, when it comes to most things, truth be told.

For Oblivion in particular, however, ATI is stronger, at least in the 4800 era (compared with Nvidia's equivalents). Not to mention, Nvidia seems to require fixes for black screens that really shouldn't be there.

But all said and done, they're remarkably similar, unless you get into what amounts to fringe areas of computing/gaming. And, most relevant of all, the 4800 series is excellent for Oblivion - IME, that is.

2560x1600 though - yikes! Steady on with the enhancements there, or you're in for a world of lag.