Recommended Hardware for modding?

[AmysDragon]

I am trying to get an idea for what hardware would be recommended for playing Skyrim on PC and using a LOT of mods. My hardware currently is:

 

GTX780 GPU with 4 GB VRAM

32 GB of DDR3 1800 MHz

Gigabyte Motherboard

AMD FX 7970 Black Edition CPU w/ H100i

in a Corsair Obsidian Series 900D Case

CoolerMaster V1000 PSU

 

but I was wondering if I were to:

 

Asus Rampage IV Black Edition Motherboard

32GB of DDR3 2400MHz

An Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition CPU 6 Core Liquid Cooled 4th Gen Haswell

2-Way SLI GTX Titan Black Edition 6GB VRAM per card

Rosewill (I think) Hercules 1600 watt PSU

 

with the above listed hardware would I have a better time running mods than the first listing that I am currently running? Money really isn't an object so I am looking to build a system that has 000 problems running a heavy heavy load of mods.

 

Note: This machine would ONLY have an OS and Skyrim installed and NOTHING else as I would not be putting the machine online other than to do updates enough to get Skyrim running.

And, yes, I am a female that works as an IT Technician and knows how to build a kick-ass machine. ;)

 

Opinions Please! Looking to build a machine worthy of the best of Skyrim!

 

[lordmonkus]

Either of those systems should be able handle almost anything you throw at it. The number of mods aren't the problem when it comes to a smooth frame rate. Texture pack and resolution along with an intensive ENB will be the biggest hits so go with whichever system which will handle large amounts of 4k textures and ENB graphical effects.

[AmysDragon]

Ok so I have heard of ENB, but I am not exactly sure of what that is, and I do not kno9w how to install it. Please elaborate on this particular subject if you will. :) Thank you. :)

[Valkasha]

Go to the realvision ENB modpage it has a full install procedure (follow it to the letter). http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/30936/?

 

ENB is basically a graphical enhancer, it improves lighting, adds better ambient occlusion and other great visual effects as well as an ingame menu to fine tune it.

Edited August 19, 2014 by Valkasha

[lordmonkus]

ENB is a .dll plugin that adds / enhances graphics with features such as ambient occlusion and lots of other post processing effects. ENB isn't a mod like standard Skyrim mods at all, here is the website for it to read up on it link, also do a mod search for ENB here on Nexus and you can see all the different presets available for it. Another thing to check out to learn about ENB is Gophers series on youtube link here. Some ENB setups can be very light weight on the system and some others with all the features turned on can be extremely demanding on the system.

Edited August 19, 2014 by lordmonkus

[AmysDragon]

And it increases the performance of modding significantly? I will check out the link, thanks. :)

 

Amy

[lordmonkus]

It can enhance the look of the game dramatically but it also is probably the single biggest performance hit to the system with a heavy config.

 

Edited for wording.

Edited August 19, 2014 by lordmonkus

[AmysDragon]

Ah wait I see. I have no ENB installed currently on Skyrim at least not officially. I say that because I have added some 2K texture Mods to the game. But no ENB mods at this time. Still, I have to imagine that in any case better built computer system = more efficiently running mods.

[Valkasha]

For me an ENB preset is a must have in Skyrim, I'd rather have an ENB than texture mods tbh. IF I had to choose that is ;)

Edited August 19, 2014 by Valkasha

[lordmonkus]

I run with decent textures along side a stripped down ENB just for good shadows and a nice looking SweetFX. But yeah a great looking ENB adds a lot to the game. Unfortunately my pc isnt strong enough for a good ENB.

Edited August 19, 2014 by lordmonkus