Picking a GPU for modding Skyrim, 4GB(3.5+0.5) Or 8GB?

[TheeeHippie]

Basically, I building a new gaming PC.

What I'm leaning to would be this build.

4690K

MSI Z97

8GB 1866 RAM

 

Aaaaaaannd all that yada'yada, but to the gist of it. I'm conflicted about the GPU.

 

Either I'm going for the GTX 970 or the AMD 390. Both do similair on benchmarks, 390 runs a bit heavier, but with a bit better performance. Personally, I'm favorable towards the 970, let's call it personal preference. Hooowever, the 970 has that problem, where the last 0.5GB VRAM is a bit slower and "allegedly" stutters. But, that 390 does have a whopping 8GB of VRAM and from what I know, Skyrim can chunk through VRAM.

Now, I want Skyrim, Fallout 4 and other RPG's/Whatevers. To look, as beautifull as they can be, with their ENB's (Which I've been told, run a bit better on Intel hardware rather then AMC), their HD texture packs and whatever on my 1920 Screen.

 

So, what do you guys think?

Edited September 16, 2015 by TheeeHippie

[Novem99]

R390. If you are planning to mod the game heavily with all the good graphics mod you will need every GB VRAM you can get.

[FiftyTifty]

A bit slower? It's about as fast as system RAM, IIRC. That's way slower.

 

I say go for the 390, it's better price:performance, and also supports OpenCL 2.0 (which is being used for the new HDT SMP mod), whereas NVidia's cards only support OpenCL 1.2 (or was it just 1.1?) at best.

 

AMD GPUs can also use RadeonPro, which is a nice boon.

[notmyhome]

Exclusively playing Skyrim on 1080p? Take whichever is cheaper.

 

Also playing games without ENB, or planning to play on higher resolution some day? Definitely 390.

[TheeeHippie]

 

Also playing games without ENB, or planning to play on higher resolution some day? Definitely 390.

With ENB's! But I don't think I'm going for 4K anywhere in the near future, I'll let that tech develop itself out a bit more before I touch that one with a 10 feet pole.

And they're both about the same price, I'm not gonna sway either way over a tenner or two. I just want this one to last me as long as possible.

[FiftyTifty]

 

With ENB's! But I don't think I'm going for 4K anywhere in the near future, I'll let that tech develop itself out a bit more before I touch that one with a 10 feet pole.

And they're both about the same price, I'm not gonna sway either way over a tenner or two. I just want this one to last me as long as possible.

 

 

Then aye, the 390's the way to go. RadeonPro, 8GB of vRAM (muy bueno for console ports), OpenCL 2.0, it's all good.

[AeroModss]

Mate,you don't need any GPU that has higher than 5 GB Vram.I bet that Skyrim will never use anything above 5 BG Vram.Vram ain't only thing that counts,you have to have a good processor (for rendering physics and AI,and also generates information for rendering graphics which are sent to actual GPU) . It would be good if you had SSD,but it isn't that important.So good CPU,GPU and 8 or above GB of RAM is reccomended by me :P ;)

[TrollEpicZ]

In my opinion, the 970 is more than adequite to handle Skyrim and all its ENB's on max settings. However, the 390 is the newer card and supports higher level API features such as OpenCL2.0 and Mantle2.0. It will support the same level of DX12 as the 970, but thats where the 8GB of vram with a 512-bit bus beats out the 970's 3.5gb 128-bit bus.

[notmyhome]

In my opinion, the 970 is more than adequite to handle Skyrim and all its ENB's on max settings.

 

Frankly, as a 970 user, it isn't. K ENB makes it cry, and even with a moderate preset like Phinix, it just so manages to maintain 40-45 fps outdoors.

[TheeeHippie]

 

In my opinion, the 970 is more than adequite to handle Skyrim and all its ENB's on max settings.

 

Frankly, as a 970 user, it isn't. K ENB makes it cry, and even with a moderate preset like Phinix, it just so manages to maintain 40-45 fps outdoors.

 

And where do you think that comes from? The lack of VRAM? I did hear some people say that ENB's "should" run better on Intel, but I haven't seen anything to support it.

 

For the most part, I'm completely convinced that the 390 is the card I'm going to want. I just wish there were more options :P Like the 390 has a much higher power consumption, I'd rather take that money that I'm spending on the power consumption of the 390, and go straight for the GTX 980, but that one is like... 30% more, for a 10% increase in performance.