Good enough GPU for enb's & 4K etc?

[Cowgoesmoo3]

Not a hugely knowledgeable guy when it comes to computer parts and I'd like to know if this GPU is going to work for some Skyrim modding.

 

This is what I have, and so what could this do? Not as good as some 1080ti, but if it can run Skyrim on high or very high and let me put on some ENB's and enough high quality mods, that's good enough.

 

Thanks.

[Novem99]

High: Yes.

Ultra: Probably.

2k texture mods: Yes (but not too much).

4k texture mods: Better not.

ENBs: No way.

[Deleted3082751User]

that gpu linked, severely lacks in the vram department, this means that any mod that is resource intensive on vram, will have issues,

 

2k + 4k textures will be vram heavy, for 4k you want at least 4 gigabyte vram

 

for enb, you could, but you will have to disable the most intensive effects, thus rendering then enb redundant.

 

Such as: Ambient Occlusion, SSAO (if applicable), and potentionally DOF

 

Remember not every Enb is resource intensive, their will be some you might be able to run, but it would have to be badly nerfed that it would be pointless.

 

for nowadays the absolute bare minimum for getting 4k + enb, would be a Radeon 7970 or Gtx 580 (this literally only applies to 4k textures, not 4k resolution, for 4k resolution you will need the most powerful gpu currently available)

 

i can vouch on the 7970 because i used to have that card, and could indeed run skyrim with many 2k + 4k Textures and Enb, but of course it was not ideal. but it was doable. (4k overhauls would be out of the question however, you could have some 4k texture mods, ie weapons and armour, but for landscapes and overhauls you could do 2k)

 

For reference the radeon 7970 has 3gb vram, and was overclocked.

 

Continued

 

 

Note: for the entire game being in 4k textures, this could easily make the vram hit 5 gig usage.

 

Note: Enb are the most demanding on hardware, especially with effects like Ambient Occlusion, which is 1 of the most demanding effects, this effect alone will increase temperatures of the gpu, as well as cause the biggest impact on framerate, for that card, this effect would be out of the question.

 

Note: For 2017, my recommended specs for 4k textures and graphical enhancements would be below:

 

Low End: Gtx 1050ti or Amd equivalent (this gpu has 4 gig vram, granting enough Vram for a few Ultra HD Textures or 2k overhauls, and could run a non demanding ENB)

 

Mid Range: Gtx 1060ti or Amd equivalent (this gpu has 6 gig vram, granting enough Vram for Ultra HD Textures and could run an ENB)

 

High End: Gtx 1070 or amd Equivalent (This Gpu has 8 Gig of Vram, it can easily run an entire game being in 4k textures, and can run the most demanding of ENB)

 

Ultimate: Gtx 1080ti or amd Equivalent (This Gpu has 11 Gig of Vram, it can easily run an entire game being in 4k textures, and can run the most demanding of ENB without Sweating, this card (and its big brother equivalent) are the only cards capable of running the game in 4k resolution at 60fps, as of writing)

 

System Memory: 16 Gig (8 gig is simply not enough nowadays)

 

Low End Processor: i5 2500k (the king of processors back in its day, this processor if you can get it would be ideal for a low end to mid range system.

 

Mid Range Processor: i7 4790k (a decent processor ideal for mid range systems)

 

High End Processor: i7 6700k or i7 7700k (either of these processors are ideal to be paired with a gtx 1070 or higher, these processors are very powerful, and i highly recommend them)

 

Note: Pairing a low end processor with a high end graphics card, can result in bottlenecking (a.k.a throttling) this can result in less then expected performance, in some cases much lower performance. the processor and graphics card communicates with each other, if the graphics card is sending information to the processor much faster then it can handle, this will result in poor performance. so as such i recommended picking a graphics card based on the what processor you have or will have. for perfect unison

 

Note: i always recommend picking the most powerful processor at the time of buying, because a processor will far outlive the graphics card (not only that, but the processor has far more jobs then the graphics card, especially outside of gaming). so when buying a computer, the most important component (aside from the power supply which is the most important) would be the processor as this will be the longest lasting component, (aside from the monitor).

 

Note: the processor is the brain of the computer. we all know how important the brain is, it is compulsory for the brain to be top notch, for everything else to function perfectly.

 

Note: all of this information above, does not include the x99 platform or similar, the reason, is because these platforms are designed for advanced computer tasks (professional tasks that require extremely powerful hardware, such as Advanced 3d designing, deep learning, game designing, and other tasks that require extremely powerful hardware), and is completely not necessary for gaming. all information above is strictly aimed at consumer hardware.

 

Note: i also did not include the coffee lake series of processors, simply because all hardware i mention here, will completely furfill your desire for high end gaming. and as such you wont need anything more powerful then the hardware i mentioned above.

 

 

Note: Click on Show to View Content

Edited November 11, 2017 by Guest

[Cowgoesmoo3]

Thx guys, so I understand I prob won't want it.

 

How well can the gtx-900 series do? Maybe comparable to the 1050ti's you suggested...?

 

I'm trying to see if I can opt for less $ on gpu. But only because I don't know if this is something I can actually cut on

Edited November 12, 2017 by Cowgoesmoo3

[Deleted3082751User]

the 900 series can be a solid choice depending on which 1, here is a comparison to what the previous gen gpu would be close to:

 

Gtx Titan X (Maxwell) = Gtx 1070

 

Gtx 980ti = Gtx 1070

 

Gtx 980 = Gtx 1060

 

Gtx 970 = Gtx 1050

 

 

Note: the Gtx 1070 has matched or beaten the previous gen titan x in pretty much every game.

 

Note: the highest end (ti) series of cards usually meet or exceed the same gen titan series of cards in games. so this is why both the previous gen titan x and gtx 980ti both are on the levels of the gtx 1070. but of course the 1070 is still better, for many reasons.

 

Note: since we are talking 4k however, a lot of vram is very important, every single pascal series of cards have a decent amount of memory, which is 1 of the reasons i would recommend them over the previous gen cards, as the 980ti only has 6gb vram, and thats the highest end card, aside from the titan x, but the titan x would cost you more then the 1070, and the 1070 blows it away based on specs.

 

You really want atleast the 1070 or gtx 980ti for 4k gaming. it is very easy to hit > 5 gig Vram

 

however for 2k gaming, a gtx 1050 or gtx 970 would be sufficient, my friend has the 970 and he says it is a solid card. anything less then these cards, and you will start looking into cards with only 2 -3 gig vram, which is nothing for todays standards (will not be enough for 2k let alone 4k). and you will be sacrificing visuals for performance.

 

i currently play Fallout 4 fully in 4k textures, (basically everything thing is in 4k, and my Vram is always in the 5 Gigabyte usage range, and this is in open areas, in areas populated by textures, my vram can easily hit the limit of 8 gig, this is fallout 4 however and as such is more demanding then skyrim, but still you should expect very high vram usage, if you are excessively using 4k textures)

 

Note: you still have the option of Amd Cards to consider, these cards tend to have a lot of memory and cost cheaper then nvidia cards. however in my experience, amd cards tend to run hotter, louder and does not have the same type of performance as nvidia cards, but my last card as said was the 7970 from amd, i have not researched any of their cards since then. so who knows they may be on the levels of nvidia now. so i would check them out, if the 1070 or 980ti is out of the question

 

Note: graphics cards are made to last, this is why, many pc enthusiasts will always recommend the most powerful gpu at the time, because high end gpu can last at least 3 -5 years, and will grant high end gaming for these years, never skimp on the gpu, this is the very component that people will spend the most money on, and for good reason. while i say that about the processor, for gaming the graphics card is the most important, where as with a processor it is more important for other tasks (however the processor is used a fair bit in gaming as well).

 

skimping on the GPU will severely limit its life span in the sense of high end gaming (4k, HDR and Virtual Reality as examples of high end gaming) not only that but their is more then just performance tweaks when it comes to newer gen cards, they have new technologies, better temperatures etc etc.

 

for reference i currently have the Gtx 1070 (Msi Gaming Edition), and adore it, i see no reason to upgrade it for a good few years. it smashes every game i throw at it, and i am pushing the games to the limit, via complete ultra hd gaming. (this is not the resolution however, its textures and meshes that are in 4k) everything looks so damn good, and the performance its very nice. (i am only on a 1080p monitor so thats why i do not run 4k resolution, although i am sure this card could handle 4k.)

 

i am getting 115 fps on fallout 4, ultra settings, with complete 4k texture overhauls (and a demanding ENB with all Effects enabled, except DOF because hate it, although DOf would not even tickle my fps). to give you example of what this beastly gpu is capable of.

Edited November 12, 2017 by Guest

[LadySyvanna]

A 970 would be a good choice. I use two because I play other more intense games. I tried disabling one of mine to see what you could get. And here is the best setup I could come up with:

-Ultra settings

-2K texture mods for just about everything

-A few 4k textures (I use it for female bodies and a few other things only)

-Enhanced lights and effects

-SMIM

-ENB- leaning on the more demanding side, strong DOF, SSAO, ambient occulsion, etc.

-Skyrim Flora Overhaul and JK's Skyrim (which add a lot of extra objects to the game)

 

I have a lot of other mods on as well but these are the most demanding core ones.

 

With this I can maintain 60fps in most areas, but a few areas such as large cities and really big forests drop it down to about 55

[Cowgoesmoo3]

Thanks a ton guys

[Deleted3082751User]

you're welcome :)