Please Recommend Which step I should use

[waltonsghost]

I am going to post my computer specs, and hopefully someone here will be nice enough to give me their advice on which STEP I should go after; (baseline, performance, ultra).

 

I have a Lenovo y580: Nvidia GTX 660m, 8gb RAM, Intel Core i7-3630QM CPU @ 2.4 ghz, Windows 8 64-bit

 

I think thats all I really need right?

 

Any advice would be great... I am beginning to read through the tutorials, starting with the installation guide, but this info I am asking for will help me cut down on some time needed to configure things. I figure many of you probably have a good gauge of what a fully decked out STEP Skyrim demands..

 

Thanks in Advance! ~WG

[waltonsghost]

I am at this page currently https://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:Skyrim_Installation#tab=HRDLC

 

Would like to know which to use...

[torminater]

The 660M is quite powerful... Though I cannot say, whether your laptop has good cooling.

Try Ultra, but if it's too much for your temps, go down to baseline.

[rootsrat]

Agreed. Much depends on your cooling - but you should start with Ultra and then reduce gradually until you reach stable and smooth run.

[Aiyen]

Just to add to the chorus.

Since it is a laptop then it is not so much a matter of "Can I run this" ... you most likely can since that laptop is quite powerful.

It is more a matter of "How long you can run it" due to the very limited cooling abilities of laptops.

 

But as Rootsrat says, then start high and then lower settings depending on how crazy your fans start spinning.

[rootsrat]

Just to add to the chorus.

Since it is a laptop then it is not so much a matter of "Can I run this" ... you most likely can since that laptop is quite powerful.

It is more a matter of "How long you can run it" due to the very limited cooling abilities of laptops.

 

But as Rootsrat says, then start high and then lower settings depending on how crazy your fans start spinning.

 

Or get yourself a decent desktop ;) I've always said that "gaming laptop" is an oxymoron :P

[torminater]

I get really high temps on my laptop (90-97°C) if running Skyrim, so I try not to overdo it...

[MontyMM]

 

 

I get really high temps on my laptop (90-97°C) if running Skyrim so I try not to overdo it...

Yikes.  You could put a kettle on the keyboard and make a nice cup of tea. :P

[Aiyen]

I find that temperature impressive, since most CPU´s/GPU´s have auto shutdown near the 90C if I am not mistaken.

 

Also talk about lap burns when having that monster on top of you!

[waltonsghost]

I dont let my laptop go above 75 degrees C... and my laptop cooler pulls air away from its vents... Its actually got a really big heat sink on the side...and I NEVER play intensive game without the cooler under it... let alone on my lap... 

 

I do put it on my lap with reduced settings for word processing and web surfing...but thats it haha

 

Its a good laptop... 

[Luinithil]

My laptop (same model as torminator's) runs at about the same temps-- idling at around 60 degrees Celcius. And that's with a cooling pad at full blast right under it at all times. Running in an airconditioned room helps though, and is probably a necessity for me considering ambient temps in my room are usually around 29 to 30 degrees Celcius in the day.

[EssArrBee]

I think my laptop is designed really weird because the GPU never gets to 80 C, but the CPU will get up near 100 C if I really push it. Maybe the fan is just misplaced or something, but it sucks because Skyrim is so CPU intensive.

[Besidilo]

I wouldn't exactly call the GTX 660M powerful. It has less power than a GTX 650, which is a rather weak card, all things considered. I suppose it's not so bad for a mobile GPU.

 

In any case, if you can find someone with a GTX 650, the performance should be fairly comparable.

 

https://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/graphics/2012/10/04/evga-geforce-gtx-650-1gb-review/5