Do you really NEED the latest patch? If not, I'd do without for now.
I only installed the patch because I like Awesomemod and Pescado's not making a 1.7/2.2 version anymore. For some reason, my computer with AM works just fine, no new problems, but it didn't buy me anything either (except the ability to use the newest AM). It's NOT faster, better, bugfixed, or more stable.
On the other hand, I patched my wife's computer up to 1.8/2.3 just like mine. She plays with NO hacks or mods except Delphy's breastsliders. Her game became unstable, specific CC hair randomly disappeared, CTD more often, and eventually she couldn't save a game at all because she was getting E12/E13 errors even on the first save after launching the game. As far as we could tell, she gained nothing feature-wise. I ended up rolling back her machine to 1.7/2.2 (thanks to System Restore) and all is well again.
Weird. Maybe AM is just that awesome and she wouldn't have had problems if only she used it.