I want enhanced visuals (ENB, HD Textures)

[Dubnoman]

I haven't even bothered with enhancing the visuals of Skyrim yet. I just figured my computer wouldn't be able to run the game well with them. However, I could be wrong on that. I want to discuss what I should do to make the visuals look better.

 

First off, my specs:

 

Radeon HD 5750 1 GB

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition (Quad Core CPU at 3.2 GHz)

4 GB DDR 3 RAM (PC 1600)

Windows 7 Home Edition 64-bit

 

My computer runs Vanilla graphics Skyrim pretty decently, with the framerate being unsteady sometimes, but a lot of times I'm guessing it runs over 30 FPS. My computer could run the game well with HD textures? Also, what are some good ENBs that don't make performance take a significant hit? Also, what are some performance boosters for Skyrim? I'm running the latest variant of Skyrim 1.6.

 

Also, how do you check framerate in Skyrim? Do I need a third party program?

Edited July 20, 2012 by Dubnoman

[woody79]

I started playing Skyrim on a Radeon HD 5750 so know how you feel wanting improved visuals but still be able to play smoothly...

Following the STEP guide game ran smoothly...Very convenient and great learning tool when I first started using Skyrim mods.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/11

(if using mod that has different res options I would always go for low res, example is Vurts Skyrim Flora Overhaul but many other mods in STEP have res options)

 

I wouldn't recommend using ENB if you want smooth/stable gameplay with your rig...

I used RCRN just fine with very similar puter specs as you

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/1875

Another good weather/lighting mod I highly recommend trying is Project Reality (no performance hit)

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/17802

If you want a more saturated/colorful Skyrim URWL is another good mod the check out (no performance hit)

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13531

And last but not least RLwC

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/7654

 

The above lighting/weather mods are the ones I have used, they all good in thier own way, but its personal preference what you want in your Skyrim.

 

There is no built in FPS tracker in Skyrim.

If using SKSE (strongly recommend) then you can use MemInfo by Elys to track FPS which can be found here

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/2006

or any other of the popular programs work like Fraps, Dxtory, etc....

 

Performance improvement mod I used were:

Skyrim Performance PLUS

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/6387

(i use disable Aspen Leaves/Pine Needles files)

 

Most other performance improvements were done through INI tweaking which there are a lot of good guides if you google. A really handy one is an oldy but goody:

http://www.geforce.co.uk/optimise/guides/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-tweak-guide/

Edited July 20, 2012 by woody79

[Dubnoman]

Okay, I'll have to look into these multiple things.

 

I was thinking of getting a Radeon HD 7850 in October or November and upgrading my RAM to 8 GB. With that GPU I could play Skyrim with all sorts of ENBs, right? Would my CPU hold me back (when using ENBs), or would it be just fine? Or would it be just fine with some tweaking?

[guizihocrs]

Okay, I'll have to look into these multiple things.

 

I was thinking of getting a Radeon HD 7850 in October or November and upgrading my RAM to 8 GB. With that GPU I could play Skyrim with all sorts of ENBs, right? Would my CPU hold me back (when using ENBs), or would it be just fine? Or would it be just fine with some tweaking?

 

 

Hardly. It won't run well with ENB + SkyrimHD. It'll peak the low 30's in open areas, specially if you consider your processor really needs an overclock to at least 4 GHz.

To crank it up with ENB and texture packs and keep steady > 40 fps all the time you would need a 7950 at least.

[Dubnoman]

Okay, I'll have to look into these multiple things.

 

I was thinking of getting a Radeon HD 7850 in October or November and upgrading my RAM to 8 GB. With that GPU I could play Skyrim with all sorts of ENBs, right? Would my CPU hold me back (when using ENBs), or would it be just fine? Or would it be just fine with some tweaking?

 

 

Hardly. It won't run well with ENB + SkyrimHD. It'll peak the low 30's in open areas, specially if you consider your processor really needs an overclock to at least 4 GHz.

To crank it up with ENB and texture packs and keep steady > 40 fps all the time you would need a 7950 at least.

 

If I got a Radeon HD 7850, would you recommend I do ENB or Skyrim HD? Would ENB even look good without HD textures? I don't plan on getting a high end card and I don't plan on getting a better processor for quite some time.

 

If you guys don't recommend I do ENB with a Radeon HD 7850 and with my processor, I'm not even going to get a new GPU this year.

 

My current card can't run the game at 30 FPS or higher with either ENB or HD textures, can it?

 

Does anyone have any other pointers for my current system like the poster who first responded in this thread?

[MightyZ0G]

I use RLwC as I wasn't happy with any ENB.

 

give that a go but make sure to read all the warnings and instructions on the main page of the mod before installing

[Dubnoman]

I'm going to try RLwC since people don't advice many other ENBs. Would my system be able to handle HD textures, or should I not bother with that? Is there a good HD texture pack that offers different downloads with some low-end HD textures? I know they can make HD textures with different HD resolutions (that is correct, right?).

[Dubnoman]

I ended up taking a bit of a break from Skyrim, but now I'm ready to pick up my game again. I have decided to try RLwC. I'll work on installing that and tinkering with it sometime soon. As for HD textures, I don't know where to start. Can someone point me in a direction for a good HD texture pack that might be able to run well on my system with RLwC? Like I said, I really don't know where to start on this. I haven't looked into the HD textures thing for Skyrim at all.

[Bloodinfested]

I really like akiro unred ENB but for some reason his file is hidden. ENB is pretty much personal preference just look a few SS see if its something you like perhaps try one out for a few mins in game. If for whatever reason you can run an ENB you can try Imaginator witch you can hand tweak a bunch of settings its pretty user friendly http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/13049

I know nothing about ati but I do run a ton of hd textures and I got my card using 1.7 to 2.3g of video memory you will only be able to run so many hd textures with that memory on your card. One thing you can look at is this mod for clutter it really adds a lot to the game and most of textures are for inside cells so it should be fine for ya.

http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/14227

Might be fine with vurts flora overhaul if you don't get too crazy on other hd textures http://skyrim.nexusmods.com/mods/141

[Spryngo]

Okay, I'll have to look into these multiple things.

 

I was thinking of getting a Radeon HD 7850 in October or November and upgrading my RAM to 8 GB. With that GPU I could play Skyrim with all sorts of ENBs, right? Would my CPU hold me back (when using ENBs), or would it be just fine? Or would it be just fine with some tweaking?

 

 

Hardly. It won't run well with ENB + SkyrimHD. It'll peak the low 30's in open areas, specially if you consider your processor really needs an overclock to at least 4 GHz.

To crank it up with ENB and texture packs and keep steady > 40 fps all the time you would need a 7950 at least.

 

You're kidding. I'm running a laptop with 6990M overclocked to nearly 6870 clocks (which is a way worse card then the 7950) and I'm getting a stable 50-60 FPS outdoors and 60+ indoors with 7 and a half gigs of texture mods, .ini tweaks of igridstoload=7 and grass draw distance doubled, a increase grass density mod, as well as RCRN and the offical HD texture pack AND a FOV of 75. This game is awesome performance wise.

Edited August 16, 2012 by Spryngo