What price tag am I looking at for supreme graphics?

[elledgej1020]

So, I'm gonna be getting a new computer. Pretty much, I wanna be able to run RealVision ENB, those pretty 2K textures, SMIM, etc, etc; everything that makes the game as beautiful as it deserves to be. I was looking at the GTX 760, since it's better than what RealVision ENB recommends, but with the other graphics heavy mods, I don't know how well that card would fare. So, my question is, what card would I need to get all those pretty mods, max everything out, and still get good framerates? (30+). Speculation is, of course, welcome, but experience is always preferred. Thanks for the help!

[Nosko666]

So, I'm gonna be getting a new computer. Pretty much, I wanna be able to run RealVision ENB, those pretty 2K textures, SMIM, etc, etc; everything that makes the game as beautiful as it deserves to be. I was looking at the GTX 760, since it's better than what RealVision ENB recommends, but with the other graphics heavy mods, I don't know how well that card would fare. So, my question is, what card would I need to get all those pretty mods, max everything out, and still get good framerates? (30+). Speculation is, of course, welcome, but experience is always preferred. Thanks for the help!

It depends how much money you want to spend?

[postal001]

Just for reference:

 

Using a single r9 290x I get around 30 fps in Riverwood at 1080p using tons of visual enhancement mods and full version of realvision.

Edited June 18, 2014 by postal001

[OozyGorilla]

Price is going to be the determining factor, ultimately.

 

The 760 is a decent card but it isn't going to push a constant 60FPS with all those mods. I use an R9 280 which is pretty similar to the 760. It will run vanilla at a constant 60FPS. With 239 mods (including SMIM and 2k textures) I dip to around 30 FPS in places like Riverwood and Riften. I should point out this is all without any ENBs.

 

If you have the money, I'd recommend going up to the 770, if not a 780. I'm sure you'd be happy with either card.

 

Something else to note is that Skyrim also really benifits from a better CPU. At a certain point, a new graphics card is going to give you less of a benefit than upgrading your processor to something like an Intel 3770k. I don't know what you currently have, but it's something to keep in mind.

 

To answer the question you asked in the tread title, for a rig that will run Skyrim at 60FPS pretty consistatly would cost you anywhere from 1000 to 1500 USD. You could spend a lot more than that, of course, but 1000-1500 is about what you would reasonably want to be spending.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

In your place I would get new z97 mobo with i7 4790k cpu coming out later this month. It has same price tag as 4770k, clocks 4 ghz out of the box and with a bit of luck you can push it to 5ghz on all 4 cores on air with custom cooler. Comparing temperature of both i7 4770k and 4790k OC @ 4.7ghz the latter one will stay 10 C cooler.

[Novem99]

@Blackrose:

A Z97 MB and an i7-4790k is absolutely wasted money since you can get 60fps with 2k mods and ENB with a H97 MB and an i5-4690! Both are much cheaper than the ones you've recommended and the performance plus is in no relation to it's higher price.

 

Also your hardware won't help at all if he hasn't the proper graphics card.

Edited June 20, 2014 by Novem99

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

@Blackrose:

A Z97 MB and an i7-4790k is absolutely wasted money since you can get 60fps with 2k mods and ENB with a H97 MB and an i5-4690! Both are much cheaper than the ones you've recommended and the performance plus is in no relation to it's higher price.

 

Also your hardware won't help at all if he hasn't the proper graphics card.

 

No one said he should get inferior graphic card.

 

4690 and 4690k are clocked only at 3.5ghz. Even if you manage to clock them at same frequency some games like B4 will see slightly increased fps (~5) due to hyper threading. With a new machine I would imagine he would want to record gameplay and edit vids at some point. You are looking at ~15% improvement with HT. In the end i7 is more future proof and will serve well till ddr4 and compatible cpu's get cheaper in 2-3 years. I would go for i5 4690k if he absolutely needs to cut on something, however he was asking for supreme build. 4790k is much cheaper than cpu's from 1.000$ range but still delivers good performance. Also I would never go for non K version. You are looking at ability to clock your cpu on all cores (provided turbo boost specifications are usually only for 1 core mode) for about 20-30$ more.

 

Higher clocks will help with game responsiveness when moded with enb, hdt and gameplay mods.

Edited June 20, 2014 by BlackRoseOfThorns

[gakerty]

I have 2 4 gig 760s in SLI and an I7 4770K 3.9 ghz. Heavily modded, Realvision ENB full, various 2K and 4K textures, and at 1440P I get about 35-45 FPS in heavily wooded/grassy areas, and inside I'm above 50 FPS. I'm also regularly pushing 3-3.5+ gigs of VRAM due to the texture loading. All said, that's not fantastic, but very playable and plenty of eye candy. If I turn off ENB, my FPS soars WAY past 60 and I need vsync to eliminate tearing. I'll take an FPS hit and have maxed out ENB/textures to have the game look the best it can and the way I want it. I would probably need two 780s to get 60+ FPS with my current settings!

 

I used to run at 1080P, with a single 760 with Realvision Full and 2K textures and IIRC I was in the high 30s. I briefly tried 1440P with a single 760 and maxed out settings and my FPS were in the low to high 20s. Pretty poor.

 

Just adding an observation.

[BCbrad]

Desktops are more cost effective than laptops, however do not cheap out on your monitor, you need fast refresh rates. "Supreme" graphics? Don't be surprised to drop $1500. Laptop $2500. Laptops are harder to upgrade, but will hold up to Skyrim for years to come and nicely packaged. Caveat, I am in a region of Canada that does not offer much competition for computer suppliers. I am the type that buys local when I can, so my opinion is likely to be skewed.

[BlackRoseOfThorns]

Desktops are more cost effective than laptops, however do not cheap out on your monitor, you need fast refresh rates. "Supreme" graphics? Don't be surprised to drop $1500. Laptop $2500. Laptops are harder to upgrade, but will hold up to Skyrim for years to come and nicely packaged. Caveat, I am in a region of Canada that does not offer much competition for computer suppliers. I am the type that buys local when I can, so my opinion is likely to be skewed.

 

Agree.

 

For competitive fps shooter I recommend ~1ms 120/140hz TN panel monitor, while for skyrim ~6ms 60hz IPS. The reason behind that is skyrim physics bug called poltergeist. While you have more than 60 frames when opening the doors or moving around, misc items will start falling from shelves and sometimes blasting across the room. In the end you will have to limit your fps with limiter or vsync. Not that it matters when playing single player game slightly below 60fps, especially when you run gorgeous enb cutting your frames by half. Besides that anyone would love to see this game on IPS with deep, photo realistic colors.

 

I would say 1500$ at least when considering new pc + monitor (higher quality build).

Edited June 21, 2014 by BlackRoseOfThorns