a mod ?

and besides a decent computer what else is needed to create mods?

uh, a decent computer is just fine.

im gonna be buying a new computer and i want to learn how to program so i can mod and stuff

id like to get an 8core computer but unsure if even be worth doing because i barely do anything to even make 10% use out of teh 4 cores on my brother in laws computer

I don't know about "cores" but my computer is fairly crappy by todays standards. 4GB RAM, Pentium dual core CPU, GeForce 8400 GS graphics card. The Creation Kit runs fine for me. The only time it starts to run slow is when I do too much messing around with large worldspaces. It does take a minute or two to load the Skyrim ESM, but that's not so bad. So you really don't need much to make a mod.

It depends on what sort of mods you want to make! Not so much for creating mods (the creation kit can be flaky enough at times on a high-end system) but for testing and playing mods. SImple mods that change settings in the Creation Kit will run on pretty much any PC that meets recommended specs, but when you start making (and using) graphics mods and coding (or more specifically testing/using in-game) lots of heavily scripted mods then a better system comes in handy.

Cores are really just different threads for different processes that your operating system uses - and "Skyrim.exe" is one of these processes...there's been debate as to how many cores Skyrim actually uses, but number of cores isn't really the most important factor for playing a modded game (and by extension creating a modded game).

More important than number of cores -
1) Processor speed - the faster the better. Even an overclocked i7 (I run at 4.5ghz) can struggle at times depending on mods and settings.
2) Graphics card - as a general rule, go for a fast card with plenty of VRam. If you use graphics mods then you'll be surprised how quickly this is swallowed up.

RAM can also be important, but Skyrim is only a 32-bit application and can't use more than 4gb (or maybe 3gb, I forget). It's worth having more than than though to help cope with other processes.

More important still, if you want to make mods - you need plenty of patience to learn and troubleshoot, and even more patience to deal with supporting mods if you release them publicly!

what programs would i need running in order to even strai nan 8 core system (hyper threaded (what ever that means) or physical)

I would try running every Crysis game at max settings simultaneously.

Yeah, I still think you need to get out of the mindset of focusing on number of cores- as I mentioned before, there are far more important factors at play. Having a faster processor and a high-end graphics card will do you far more good than having more cores.

What could be using the cores other than the game and the CK? Windows runs multiple processes which would be spread across the cores, Steam itself would be running, as would your anti-virus - but these won't take up much of the processor usage. Telling your antivirus to ignore the Skyrim subfolders and not constantly scan each file that the game accesses would be beneficial.

VincentD is correct in that if you're running lots of incredibly demanding programs at once then the number of cores is important...but how often will you be playing many games (in windowed mode with all windows open so you can see all games) at once?

My 4-core (8-threaded) system can run with premiere rendering an HD video (with plenty of grading and other resource-intensive tasks to do) - and with photoshop, firefox, CK all open but minimised - and I can still open and play Skyrim without any noticable performance impact.


http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/hyperthreading-technology-explained/

If you want to make mods, then you'll find a willing community here to help you get started - but also be prepared to do your own research - making mods is great fun, but can also be complex - start off with simple mods, and gradually experiment with more features.

What sort of mods do you envisage yourself making?

Here's my generic recommendation for a "gaming PC" (which, yes, will be more than enough to create mods with, and besides, it's nice to actually try them out, right?) ...

* Windows 7 (x64) or maybe Windows 8 (x64) if you prefer (I do not, but it is a matter of taste, for the most part)
* A quad core+ Intel CPU (with a "K" designation if you want to get into serious overclocking) - hyperthreading is entirely optional, as 8 threads is, for most people most of the time, overkill (but if you can afford this feature in addition, and want to, then by all means)
* 8GB RAM (4GB might be enough, but it's cheap enough that 8GB is well worth the difference, in my opinion)
* A graphics card at least as powerful as an HD7870, or GTX 660, and with an absolute minimum of 2GB VRAM (this should be standard at or beyond that level of grpahics power anyway)
* A decent SSD for all or most of your programs (including games), as well as the operating system
* A HDD with a huge capacity, for storage of documents, installation files, videos, music, and whatever else you want to store
* A power supply of excellent quality, with more than enough power for whatever components you have chosen - this is crucial; do not skimp on this one
* A nice sturdy case, with lots of room, logical arrangement, ease of access and installation/uninstallation, good airflow, and hopefully low noise levels too
* An aftermarket cooler for the CPU, particularly if you will be overlocking (if you won't, I suppose the default HSF will do, but it could be noisy, and possibly prone to dying)
* Plus whatever else you might need (e.g., an optical drive of some sort, maybe a sound card with onboard handling of audio data, etc., etc.)

That's the basics, anyway.

no idea i svck at art so id probably end up making reskinned things id love make clothing or hats or over the top magic effects

how much would cost ??

what i was hoping for is 7gigs of ram or more (lagg svcks ) a decent or really good graphics card that wont cost $1000.00 1 Terrabyte HD

pretty much my limit is $1000.00

id probably prefer windows 7 over 8 because this one game i play online doesn't work too well on 8

would a 6core computer be too much ?

also since im probably gonna end up buying a prebuilt what is best brand so can slowly upgrade part later on or easily replace parts if they break (no thank you dell with dell specific parts that cost more then generic thing that wont fit in your builds)

If you really want to stress test your computer's processing power, both CPU and GPU, I'd suggest you try running one of those programs that do distributed computing work, like Folding@Home or SETI@Home that let you compute using the CPU/GPU depending on which client you're using. Folding@Home is my project of choice, actually. Stress testing your processor and graphics cards, whilst helping the progress of medical and biological science at once, one protein at a time!

8GB RAM is good enough on Windows 7. I have 8GB of RAM and a middling decent i7 CPU. I can run Skyrim with Firefox in the background and 200-300+ tabs on my tab bar--so maybe 5-20 tabs actively in memory (admittedly with some lag but it works!). I've even run vanilla Skyrim with insane numbers of tabs in the background; so memory isn't a huge deal. Skyrim doesn't use more than 4GB of RAM; it can't, in fact, since it's only a 32-bit application.

As jackstarr and arafel's listed above, the important parts here for your Skyrim gaming and modding experience is the power of your graphics card and your processor, because Skyrim can be a processor hog. Oh, and cooling. I can't stress the importance of a good cooling system enough. Heat is the enemy of all electronics.

I can't recommend any prebuilt options, because I don't like them(!), and also, I don't know which ones are best (such as they are). And it's very much a localised thing.

As for money though, $1000 should get you most of what I listed, if not all. Probably the stock HSF (for CPU), of course, Actually, I just had a look at the website of a local place here, and they have a prebuilt for just under $1000 (converted, approximately) that has an Ivy Bridge quad core (3.2GHz / 3.6GHz), 8GB RAM, an HD7870 (w/ 2GB VRAM), a decent case and good power supply, and Windows 7 (x64) included. Oh, and a large HDD, but no SSD unfortunately.

But, as I said, it is always a local thing. I have no idea how much tech costs where you are, what your options are, etc.

My old Core i7-920 is still powerful.
Too many cores is not always good if they are not being used...
This is why I run Skyrim with 4 cores (and hyperthreading disabled). /shrug.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':shrug:' />

Hi there,

IMO, the best program to stress test multi-core system is "Prime95". Just do a wikipedia search and find the link from the article. As for multi-core multi-threading...even with ini tweak (e.g., search for "AMD" in nexus and try the 6 and 8 core option, I see some performance gain when using them), I don't expect Skyrim to run on more than 4 processors (even that is debatable) on my i7-3930k.

Building a new computer just for Skyrim and its CK is silly. There are many other cool games available now and in the future to consider. To get the best computer for your $1,000 budget. Go here: http://www.tomshardware.com/. There are current topics discussing the best CPU and GPU for various price points, numerous charts you can look at to see how various components fare against each other, System Builder Marathons (where they build a computer at 3 price points), and forums where you can ask anything you want.

Right.

I still haven't seen Skyrim use more than one, but I haven't bother checking if it uses another while the CK is active, cause you know, when you're in the CK, you're one with the CK lol.

The thing is, suppose Skyrim will fully use 4 cores.
But my i7-920 is hyperthreaded (presenting 8 cores to Windows and Steam).
The only way to ensure all four cores and their 256KB L2 caches are being used is to disable hyperthreading!

Otherwise, 3 or 4 threads could belong to only 2 genuine cores (sharing the two caches) while the other genuine cores could go unused.
I don't want 2 cores idle, with four threads all piled onto only 2 genuine cores...
That's like cheating myself out of performance due to unfortunate system configuration.
Right now (today) nobody really needs 8 cores - not for playing games, anyway. /smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':)' />

IIRC Skyrim isn't optimized for hyper-threading, I think the most it utilizes is 2 threads.

Skyrim isn't optimized for anything on a PC. It's an Xbox port.

To the OP, a lot of what you're asking is dependant upon the size of monitor you have. The larger the monitor, the more powerful your Graphics card needs to be. If you're going to create mods you need to be looking to create a mod that runs on most PC systems - both low and high end - in order to achieve maximum exposure, otherwise your mod will simply be limited to a few gamers who are lucky enough to have high end systems.

The vast majority of new monitors you will find, shopping around, or just with prebuilt systems, are @ 1920x1080 (i.e., "full HD").

Unless you have a particularly good reason (or a very powerful graphics card or two... or more) I'd just stick with that.

It will be worth it in the future. Both the Playstation 4 and the Xbox 720 will be using 8 core processors, so having the same on a PC will probably make any games ported over from consoles run better.