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TES V: Skyrim and ENB


lloydmaster122

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Hello, everybody!

 

I am relatively new to modding Skyrim, and modding in general and had a few questions. If this is in the wrong forums section, feel free to move it, by all means.

 

I want to know: What kind of computer qualifies as a computer with enough power to run Skyrim with an ENB mod?

 

I have not seen any threads on any other forums regarding this topic, let alone the nexus forums, and am willing to start a thread regarding this.

  • How much RAM is recommended for the use of ENB?
  • Is one ENB more forgiving than the others when coming down to performance and framerate?
  • And ultimately, what are the minimum requirements on a machine in order to run ENB without a massive drop in the gameplay experience?

I personally have an Alienware M17x R4 Laptop, and the specifics are:

  • Intel Core i7-3630 QM CPU @ 2.40 GHz
  • NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M Graphics Card
  • 6.00 GB RAM
  • 64-bit OS
  • Windows 7 Home Premium

My current TES V: Skyrim load order is attached in the below file; it currently runs at around 50-60 fps (I believe).

 

 

Will I be able to run an ENB smoothly? And if so, which is recommended?

 

I truly would like my question(s) answered, it would help me out a lot, as it would save me many a trial-and-error instances.

 

Thank you very much!

~Lloyd

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Hello, you have idea if the EnbDev has resolved the problem with the GTX 600 series ? i'm setting a mod for skyrim by the real vision mod but.. i not have the 580 why is broke and i now have the GTX Titan and waiting for this fix for play and restart working :)

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Well, you guys both must misunderstand this thread; it was created to ask about requirements for ENB.

Hello, you have idea if the EnbDev has resolved the problem with the GTX 600 series ? i'm setting a mod for skyrim by the real vision mod but.. i not have the 580 why is broke and i now have the GTX Titan and waiting for this fix for play and restart working :smile:

 

I made this thread to better understand ENB, not to help others, I'm afraid.

 

I'm still looking for an answer regarding my original question, whether or not I will be able to run ENB, and to possibly link me to a site/article explaining these requirements. I would rather ask around about this subject before downloading a huge file and wasting a good amount of time downloading.

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Going by your specs you should be fine to use ENB.

 

The performance impact of ENB actually depends on the ENB version itself just as much as the hardware it runs on. The newer the ENB version then the more optimised it is, however it's more of a question of how the ENB files have been modded that affect performance. The two main files in example here are the enbeffect.fx and enbeffectprepass.fx which control screen setup / HDR settings and depth of field respectively. The original ENB had basic HLSL code which was basic but functional and had a relatively low impact on your game, however if you download an ENB preset from Nexus then these files will no doubt contain modified / extra code that although make the game look "better" also makes it run slower due to the extra workload it requires to compute.

 

ENB can easily have specific effects enabled / disabled by either manually adjusting the enbseries.ini file or using the ENB GUI if it's available (only present in ENBs v0.126 onwards). The two most taxing effects are depth of field and SSAO. I personally now use an ENB based on v0.155 that only provides shadow fixes and DOF and I can run it fine on my very ageing GTX 260 (albeit on low resolution).

 

I personally don't like recommending particular ENBs to people as it's purely a matter of taste and personal preference. Besides, the beauty of ENB is that they can vary so much so it's almost impossible to say which is "best". All I can recommend is browsing Nexus for "ENB" and simply look at them and try them out. They're by no means a huge download either, maybe a couple of MB. If unaware though, the original and required ENB files aren't allowed on Nexus so find a mod you want to try on Nexus and it should tell you which ENB version it's based on, then go to the official ENB website (enbdev) and obtain the official version first and copy the Nexus version over it - it takes a matter of seconds to do so it's no real effort at all.

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I have a very similar card, and I have a lot of minor graphic glitches with most ENBs for skyrim (inverted blacks, funny colors, etc) You can try SkyRealism ENB to start with, it's a very good, but VERY FPS friendly ENB!

 

Installing and uninstalling ENBs is super easy though, just keep track of the files installed and just delete them, no clean save or anything of that nature required!

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Going by your specs you should be fine to use ENB.

 

Thanks so much! You really did answer all of my questions, and I thank you for that. I appreciate how you also explained your own personal ENB experience, as I have yet to use one.

 

no clean save or anything of that nature required!

 

I'm also very thankful for this bit of information, as several mods I've looked at and liked require a clean save; so I do not use them.

 

I'm not sure how these forums work, as I am new to the Nexus, but my questions have been answered and this thread can be locked. Unless of course someone else would put their specs up for others to judge with regards to ENB use.

 

Thanks again!

 

Edit:

Ok, scratch that last comment, I have one more question...

 

What mods, if any, would I need to remove if I apply an ENB?

 

I'm kinda sorta looking at Sharpshooter's ENB (http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/15105) as the ENB I like more than the others, and it has its own lighting effects, textures it seems, and water effects. My load order is shown above, and it may have some compatibility issues with the ENB.

 

For example: W.A.T.E.R. may conflict with the water textures in Sharpshooter's ENB, or Climates of Tamriel conflicting with the lighting effects.

Edited by lloydmaster122
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What mods, if any, would I need to remove if I apply an ENB?

I've just tried to download the ENB you linked to have a look at it but Nexus servers are seemingly having an issue with this mod at the minute. I've had a look at my downloaded version that's stored on an external drive (which may well be an old and out of date version) but from what I can tell, there's a couple of things to mention....

 

The Sharpshooters ENB was seemingly written for the mod Realistic Lighting with Customisation mod (there are RLWC files present in my downloaded version) so as you're using Climates of Tamriel then the visual results may be rather hit and miss. It may work ok but that'll be a case of simply trying it out and see what happens. I would doubt that everything will be "spot on" for CoT use though as the ENB wasn't designed for CoT.

 

As for water, Sharpshooters mod contains one water texture file: fxwhitewater01.dds. This file isn't a main water file as such (it just affects a small ripple-like foamy effect near places such as waterfalls) and has only been included with the ENB as the original / standard fxwhitewater01.dds file had the wrong properties built into it so lighting didn't affect it properly. Since then, there have been a number of textures / items in Skyrim that have the wrong properties bound to them which has been fixed and is available on the official ENB website:

 

http://enbseries.enbdev.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=1499

 

Sharpshooters ENB also contains a modified sunglare texture, and I believe CoT has its own one too, so that'll simply be your choice with which one to use. That'll be another hit / miss case on how well it looks.

 

Generally speaking, you won't get conflicts when using ENB unless you use another mod or mods that use a d3d9.dll file. ENBs wrapper version uses this file, but other (different) d3d9.dll files are used in other mods such as Realistic Colours and Real Nights, HiAlgoBoost, and SweetFX. I'd personally recommend using the other ENB type - the Injector version - it doesn't use a d3d9.dll file (it uses a enbseries.dll instead) to avoid any such conflicts. I've also seen various reports that laptop users have to use the Injector ENB version as the wrapper version for some reason makes Skyrim run from the motherboards on-board GPU and not the better one that's also present. If you're adamant to use the wrapper ENB, it has a Proxy Library function which can allow the use of one other d3d9.dll file to be used at the same time (although this will require a little setting up in terms of file renaming and telling ENB which file to use).

 

Lastly, if you wish to stay with CoT then I'd recommend going back to its mod page and there's a list of ENBs that apparently work well if not are actually designed for CoT. Ultimately, finding the right ENB can be a lengthy process of trial and error but there are so many ENB presets out there you should find one that suits your tastes sooner or later.

Edited by LargeStyle
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Hmm... I see your point with the injector version, however I did install one version of Sharpshooter's ENB, the 1.0 version and it seemed to have no conflicts.

The ENB greatly assaulted the framerate, on the other hand.

 

There is a second version of Sharpshooter's ENB, the 2.0 version, which is more up to date. I may go and try this version as opposed to the 1.0 files. The 2.0 style claims to be less taxing on the framerate and performance, however does not look as good; I have no problem with this, as I am really going for a balanced game between performance and graphics quality.

 

All of my mods seem to work fine, and if I must change any I will. I do not need to keep all of my graphic-altering mods, as the ENB makes up for them tenfold.

 

If I were to try this Sharpshooter ENB 2.0, would I see much of a difference from 1.0?

 

Key Points:

  • My current mods mean little compared to successfully installing a great ENB.
  • I am very fond of Sharpshooter's ENB look.
  • I like cinematic and saturated graphics, as Sharpshooter's contains both.

I am very grateful for your feedback, as you seem to actually listen to me, unlike others. Thanks again, LargeStyle!

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The ENB greatly assaulted the framerate, on the other hand.

 

Yeah, this is the only real downside to ENBs. That's why although there are great old versions it's best to keep up to date as possible with latest versions as there are improvements in performances to be had. To me, performance is just as important as visuals, if not more important as I'd rather play the game than just look at it at take screens aplenty.

 

All of my mods seem to work fine, and if I must change any I will. I do not need to keep all of my graphic-altering mods, as the ENB makes up for them tenfold.

My current mods mean little compared to successfully installing a great ENB.

 

Obviously don't overlook the importance of the base lighting mods (or if you're going to use one at all) - ENB needs a good basis to work on otherwise you'll never get a great all-round experience.

 

If I were to try this Sharpshooter ENB 2.0, would I see much of a difference from 1.0?

 

I really couldn't say as I've only very briefly tried one of the versions (don't recall which) so I don't know how they differ.

 

I am very fond of Sharpshooter's ENB look

 

Sounds like you know what you want, and have maybe already found your ENB! Like I said before, the enbeffect.fx and enbeffectprepass.fx files are the two most taxing files - the enbeffect.fx is normally best left alone but I usually avoid old modified versions of the file (i.e. HD6's coded version - no disrespect intended) as although they can provide loads of brilliant control for programmers / editors and ultimately look great, the more code present normally means the worst performance. The enbeffectprepass.fx file is very much interchangable as it only contains DOF code and this can also cripple performance, so some experimentation could be had here too. Don't forget that you can disable individual graphical effects in the enbseries.ini (under the [ENGINE] section - lose SSAO, maybe DOF or even bloom and it'll play much better than before. It's obviously not ideal but sometimes comprimises have to be made.

 

I like cinematic and saturated graphics, as Sharpshooter's contains both.

 

There are loads of these type ENBs around. "K ENB" was the last major ENB set to hit Nexus' hot files section, but you'll also find loads more like this if you look long enough. As for cinematic looks, sometimes this can be achieved with the use of ENB colour correction via a visual palette file (enbpalette.bmp) that are also interchangable. Matso released an awesome ENB which contain a huge amount of palette files so I'd recommend downloading his ENB too.

 

I am very grateful for your feedback, as you seem to actually listen to me, unlike others. Thanks again, LargeStyle!

 

You're welcome (:

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