Skyrim Graphics Overhaul List (Performance Friendly)

Description

A performance-friendly guide for overhauling Skyrim's graphics and making it look like a completely new game.

Introduction

Hello, my name’s Kleembus and this will be my first guide on overhauling The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim’s graphics, turning it into something beautiful while also caring about the performance impact it will have to your game and your computer (which is aimed to be low).

I recently started overhauling Skyrim’s graphics to my liking, while there’s a lot of graphics mod available right now online for the game, I found some of them just “too much” for my computer and my game to handle so I tried different combination of texture mods to see what fits best and gives the best visuals while overhauling the game to make it look like a game that didn’t come out in 2011.

Requirements

This overhaul requires you to have at least 25 – 30 GB storage space available as some of the texture mods are demanding in storage.

Also, make sure to use mod managers like Mod Organizer 2 (Recommended) that will help you in this guide. Mod managers will make your life easier.

Beginning

Note: All the screenshots seen in this guide was taken in their respective mod page. Also, only download 2K (Good Quality) or 1K (Low Quality) textures and read the description to help you with the downloads. Texture mods load order at the end.

1. Skyrim Realistic Overhaul

By: Ancient (Estimated File Size: 7 - 10 GB)

The first graphics mod we’ll install is Skyrim Realistic Overhaul, we’ll use it as a base for our textures because it pretty much covers the whole game in making the graphics more appealing.

Note: Download Part 1 to 3 and the 1.8 Update.

2. Static Mesh Improvement Mod[www.nexusmods.com]

By: Brumbek (Estimated File Size: 1 GB)

This mod is vital in changing the game’s look, most noticeable on ropes and chains. It adds details to the existing textures of the game and make them look more alive like they’re actually a part of the environment.

3. Noble Skyrim Mod HD-2K[www.nexusmods.com]

By: Shutt3r (Estimated File Size: 2.4 GB)

One of my favourite texture mods. One of the changes that this mod adds is the way it makes Windhelm’s land look snowier.

4. Skyland AIO[www.nexusmods.com]

By: Skyking2020 (Estimated File Size: 5.6 GB)

This mod’s texture is what we’ll be seeing in game.

Note: Select all the cities (in the Select Cities to Install – FOMOD) except for Windhelm since we’re using Noble Skyrim’s Windhelm for the change.

5. Underground – A Dungeon Texture Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com]

By: T4gtr34um3r (Estimated File Size: 1.1 GB)

Retextures your dungeons to a better quality which makes your dungeon crawling activities more appealing.

6. Skyrim Flora Overhaul SE[www.nexusmods.com]

By: vurt (Estimated File Size: 181 MB)

Adds more trees and grass to the nature of Skyrim, which is also performance friendly.

7. Realistic Water Two SE[www.nexusmods.com]

By: isoku (Estimated File Size: 88 MB)

Makes the watery part of Skyrim attractive to look at, makes swimming more immersive. ; - )

8. Majestic Mountains[www.nexusmods.com]

By: T4gtr34um3r (Estimated File Size: 230 MB)

I think Skyland AIO already makes the mountains of Skyrim look amazing but we’re gonna change that with Majestic Mountains as the mountainous terrain of Skyrim is one of the things we’re always going to see.

9. Nordic Faces – Immersive Characters Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com]

By: deletepch (Estimated File Size: 1 GB)

The faces of the NPCs of Skyrim ain't that pretty, in fact, they look like they're made out of a potato so we’re going to change that with this mod which basically enhances the faces of all the NPCs which gives them more life.




And that’s it! That’s the list that will make your Skyrim infinitely better than the base game’s look. With just 9 texture mods, you’ll have a brand-new game. Plus, you can install these mods easily.

Note: I avoided Skyrim 2020 Parallax by Pfuscher because I feel like it had a lot of impact in my game’s performance but try it if you want.

Honorable Mentions

These are the honorable mentions, make sure to only download if you know that your PC can handle these mods. You can deactivate them anyway if your PC can't after starting a game, so no worries.

1. High Poly Project[www.nexusmods.com]

By: LucidAPs (Estimated File Size: 375 MB)

Improves a lot of models of the game by adding more polygons similar to what Static Mesh Improvement Mod is doing. You might wanna add this but this can have a huge impact on your performance especially if your computer is low to mid-end.

2. Ruins Clutter Improved[www.nexusmods.com]

By: raiserfx (Estimated File Size: 240 MB)

Further improves your dungeon crawling activities by making the textures and meshes of the objects mostly found in ruins more appealing.

3. Rustic Texture Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com]

By: Gamwich (Estimated File Size: 1 GB)

Gamwich’s RUSTIC series texture overhaul is one of the best texture overhauls for the game. I recommend getting:

• RUSTIC CLOTHING[www.nexusmods.com]
  
  
• RUSTIC RUGNAROK[www.nexusmods.com]
  
  
• RUSTIC CLUTTER[www.nexusmods.com]
  

4. Fluffy Snow[www.nexusmods.com]

By: Metalsaber (Estimated File Size: 50 MB)

Simple texture replacer for snow. This mod makes your snow fluffier than the vanilla ones.

5. Obsidian Weathers and Seasons[www.nexusmods.com]

By: DrJacopo (Estimated File Size: 2 MB)

I personally love this mod, my favourite weather mod. Changes the weather of the game to make it more immersive and realistic.

6. Lux - Lighting Overhaul[www.nexusmods.com]

By: GGUNIT (Estimated File Size: Main File + Resource Pack = 680 MB)

Consistent and complete rework of Skyrim interiors lighting. This mod has more compatibility compared to other mods that changes Skyrim’s lighting.

7. Enhanced Natural Beauty (ENB)[enbdev.com]

By: Boris Vorontsov

ENB affects your game’s performance A LOT. So, only use this if you’re not heavily modding your game or if your computer can handle it. You can follow a guide on installing it here.

If you’re planning on using an ENB, I recommend on using Rudy’s ENB for Obsidian Weather[www.nexusmods.com] which is my personal favourite.

However, if you’re planning on using an ENB but your PC is a potato, you can always use something like The Truth ENB[www.afkmods.com] which is super performance friendly and adds tiny details to your game when on that’s nice to have.

Mod Load Order

My personal graphics mod load order (left panel for Mod Organizer 2) for the mods install here are:

- Skyrim Realistic Overhaul
- Static Mesh Improvement Mod
- Noble Skyrim Mod HD-2K
- NSM – SMIM Patch
- Skyland AIO
- Ruins Clutter Improved (Optional)
- RUSTIC CLUTTER Improved SE (Optional)
- High Poly Project (Optional)
- Underground – A Dungeon Texture Overhaul
- Fluffy Snow (Optional)
- Skyrim Flora Overhaul
- Majestic Mountains
- Nordic Faces – Immersive Characters Overhaul

... my weather and lighting mods.

Note: I have Rudy ENB installed.

Here are some final screenshots of my game (with other mods that's not in the list installed):





And cheese:


This mod load order for textures is based on my personal taste, if you wanna move something because you “liked that mod’s textures” then go for it.

The End

This mod load order for textures is based on my personal taste, if you wanna move something because you “liked that mod’s textures” then go for it.

Aaaaaand, that’s pretty much it. If you followed through the whole guide and is reading this now, thank you. Also, feel free to leave a comment about this guide, if there’s something wrong or you might wanna change for better alternative, it’s welcomed.

Thank you, Kleembus.

[SATANIS]

Need help with install if anyone can. I'm getting square boxes at the menu for the text....

[Senju]

can i use blended roads with those or no need?

[Nemo of Utopia]

@chaks Yes, like any/every mod you add which isn't through their proprietary in-game "official" mod store; and even some of those.

[astrobill1968]

Does anyone have this mod list wrapped up into a meta-mod list for a multi-mod installation packager such as Wabbajack! for folks to use?

Doing all of th se manually seems as if it would be tedious.

[chaks]

Do these disable achievements

[𝅳𝅳𝅳𝅳𝅳𝅳𝅳𝅳]

should look up and utilize wabbajack

[ah, salmonn]

is this going to add texture/shaders to those LOW RES Dragon Claw Keys ??

[Tony V]

Does this use an ENB?

[szymy]

How do i even install mods ? Is there a tool to install all of them or do i do it manually? I even failed at making it 144hz

[RÊYTH]

Wow -- cheese! Dang.