Audley

I've actually been using SweetFX Suite for now. I am learning how to make my own completely custom ReShade for NV but it might take a while. :\

You're not the only one. I did a huge thing about this a couple of months ago. ENB for Fallout is practically broken with numerous features not working properly. ENBoost doesn't even work without ReduceSystemMemoryUsage set to True. There is literally no point IMO to use ENB if ENBoost doesn't work. I've switched to ReShade personally.

Would a large mod list cause in-game stuttering? To put it simply: yes. New Vegas just doesn't handle a heavily modded setup well. I keep my most list around 80-90 plugins and I wouldn't go past 100 even though the limit is around 130. I would say one of the biggest causes of stuttering for most people is having too heavily modded setups. Especially when it comes to large script-heavy mods and quest mods. Even having all the DLC's puts a strain on weaker computers. While merging mods can lower the plugin limit, if you are merging tons of mods it is still a lot for your computer to handle. I spent hours trying to come up with the best heavily modded setup but I couldn't do it. I have said it before and will say it again - when it comes to modding (at least for New Vegas) less is more. Cut out the mods you don't need. Do you really need both NVR3 AND FCO? Probably not. Limit the mods you have to around 80 - 90 plugins and you will have a much better gaming experience. Less crashing and better frame rates. Edit: Grammar/Spelling Typos

NVR3 and FCO 2.0 are not compatible aside from the most loose of definitions. If you use the two together regardless of how many edits you delete you will have issues. This is the nature of using two large mods of the same type. They claim that they are compatible but because they were never intended to be used together and no patch was made, they just aren't. Now this may change with FCO 3.0 however I doubt it.

Not only did NVBIII launch, but FCO 3.0 is also on the way! I am super excited.

I am not sure if you can get the Cowboy Repeater w/o Peep Sight mod working properly. It modifies the meshes to the cowboy repeater and so does several other mods. So you may not get the textures working properly if you use it with WMX/WRP. I couldn't get it working properly so if you do let me know. I am 99% sure that the leather backpack mod is already integrated with Project Nevada and thus would be a conflict/waste of a .esp slot. Manual Reload is older so it's kinda wonky so beware on that one. It also takes up two .esp slots. Not sure if it's worth it. Bottle That Water never worked properly for me for whatever reason so beware on that one as well. I have done a lot of testing with Realistic Weapon Damages and found that the least amount of mods messing with damage the better. Overriding PN with RWD makes things... difficult. As you have now turned the game into a complete cluster of some enemies dying in 1-2 shots while others being complete bullet sponges. And because RWD doesn't use scripts it isn't really compatible with mods that add new creatures such as AWOP or Monster Mod. It also doesn't completely cover the DLC so if you use it make sure to get the unofficial DLC patch. In my opinion RWD is not really worth it and it only makes things more unbalanced UNLESS you are using it all by itself. But with PN all it does is complicate things. Just go look at Gopher's lets play on Youtube. It's a complete mess in terms of mod balance. His character can kill deathclaws with 1-2 shots and he doesn't die very often. Once you reach a good level with RWD the challenge of the game goes away.

Set Fixtransparencybugs back to =false and then double check to make sure that hardware AA (iMultiSample=0) is turned OFF. Then make sure that the Steam overlay for New Vegas is turned off as well. The Steam overlay is not compatible with ENB.

Alright I redid my list this time only focusing on the things I really need to upgrade and managed to knock the price down to around $650. I am still now sure if I want to get Windows 10 now or stick with 8.1 however. I am sure you guys can shine some light on that subject. Here is the new parts list.

Well what happened was I kept upping the amount trying to see how far I could get. However, once I had reached the $1500 limit I had quickly realized that unless I wanted to spend $2000+ then I wouldn't see significant improvement over my current build. I guess there really isn't a middle ground between the budget and enthusiast platforms at least on the CPU side of things. I thought about it last night and thought perhaps the wisest thing to do may be to upgrade some parts now and see where that takes me later. Let me finish what I was working on last night and then see what you guys think about that.

I am surprised that CASM even works for you in any way shape or form. I uninstalled it quickly after I got it because everytime it saved my FPS would drop by about 20 frames. It also caused other mods to freeze in their menus and caused game crashing if CASM tried to save while trying to do anything else. The mod is pretty much broken for me with the majority of features in the MCM menu returning to their default settings after me changing them. Some of the features (like saving before combat) don't even work at all. The mod was a good idea but poorly implemented IMO. :\ I don't suggest using it at least for New Vegas.

The monitor in my list isn't an upgrade - it is to add on the monitor I already have as it's the exact same model. ;) The RAM is 2x8GB and it is a really good looking set. I did not pick Corsair or G.Skill because I don't like the look of their ram modules. I love the look of Kingston RAM for whatever reason. Thanks for the tips on the promo codes DY. :)

I managed to come up with a usable parts list to start off with. You can view it here.

I actually am being very careful in determining my next PSU. I want to go with either Silverstone or Seasonic. I have a Rosewill Hive but I don't like it very much. The cables are too short for my mid-tower to route behind the back and the screw holes don't match up with the case for whatever reason so it's being held in with only one screw. I think it is definitely one of the most important parts as I know if your PSU goes then your entire computer could go too.

It's a nice idea but once you add up all those things plus everything else it's going to cost $2000+. That is too out-of-budget for me right.

Thanks for the responses guys. All great tips and ideas. An SSD is definitely a must for me at this point. As for now I cannot even decide which CPU manufacturer to go with. I know Intel is the standard but I feel like the i7 is out of budget. And if it is the FX 8350 against the i5 4670k then I think the multiple cores on the AMD side will be more beneficial to me from a media standpoint even though Intel has the higher single-core performance. I will not be going the Skylake/DDR4 route because it's out of budget. DDR3 should be just fine for me still.

Hey guys, I know this is definitely NOT the "tech forums" or whatever and I had originally posted this both over on PC Part Picker and the Linus Tech Tips forums however I had not gotten replies after several days and I had minimal views at best. While everyone around me was getting replies and views within minutes of posting so my post quickly was drowned in the sea of "Can you help me?" posts. Anyhow, as the title suggests I am initiating a project to upgrade my current computer and turn it into a mid-level workstation/gaming PC. I figured because I am much better known here on the STEP forums I would have a good chance of getting a reply. Also because everyone did such a good job with recommendations with Grant's project I thought that people could help me too. My current budget is about $1500 US dollars (I live in the United States) and I figure that is a good budget amount to spend. My current computer is alright but not quite what I need and I am having trouble deciding on what parts to pick out. I am a graphics artist so I need something that can chew through rendering scenes and also can have multiple applications running at once. It also needs to be a pretty good gaming PC. Thanks in advance guys. Cheers, Audley

I am not saying we should disregard the notion of making the modding process easier. However, I do believe that trying to make it as easy as pushing a button and having all the mods you want installed perfectly is a bit unrealistic. There are just too many variables to account for. I agree with Grant that you "cannot take the process out of the modding process". Personally I find modding and installing mods half the fun. I don't think it is unreasonable to ask people to learn a few things and figure some stuff out before starting to install mods. If you want to play a modded game but don't want to take any time to learn how mods work or how to install them then maybe that says you should stick to the vanilla game or console gaming.

It sounds all well and good but the people who want all their mods installed for them automatically are most likely going to not really understand things like load order, bashed patches, xEdit, etc. I figure that most people who know how to mod are going to want to install all of their mods themselves so they know what's going on. NMM breaks frequently when I install a foMOD which is why I don't use it. I cannot even imagine what a mess NMM would make of your Data folder if it crashed after installing mod 25/50 or whatever the case may be. When something finally breaks in their load order or whatever who are most people going to blame? The person that set up the automatic list instead of trying to figure it out themselves. There is a reason I don't want my mods to be managed automatically. Mod manager's are meant to be tools and not meant to do everything for you. That is only asking for trouble in my opinion. :\

Well, we could go into a long argument with this one. My main point was that there are some parts of the game that makes sense more than others. You will have to take your pick. Personally I find that Electro-City is very intrusive. Not only that but there are several parts of the mod that are broken. I prefer SSL and I can make up explanations in my head as to where the power comes from. What I can't do is come up with reasons as to why there is hundreds of speechless technicians around the wasteland and the NCR never speaks of them. It all comes down to personal taste.

Yea that is definitely a LOD issue. :\ I have not messed around very much with the FNVLODGen though so I cannot be of much help here. However, I will say that I am against using DDSopt to "optimize" your textures. Unless you are running a very low powered rig it shouldn't be necessary. In my testing I have found that DDSopt more often than not degrades the quality of textures and ends up causing more issues than it fixes. I personally see no use in using the program unless you have less than 2GB of VRAM. In which case you shouldn't be installing a lot of texture mods anyway. In the photos it looks like for whatever reason your Normal maps are being used as the diffuse or as the LOD. Which explains why they are purple/blue. I've never had this issue before so I am not really sure what to tell you. :\ I am sorry I don't have more information.

I find that Electro-City makes far less sense. Personally I think that Simple Streetlights makes as much sense as it can. If we're asking questions then I want to know how is there running water literally everywhere? :P I found Electro-City to be extremely intrusive as a mod.

Is the Steam Overlay turned on? This causes all the mentioned issues with ENB. The two things are just not compatible. Other than that just double check you have hardware AA turned off. Check those two things and if the issue still persists we can go from there.

Something is overriding the UV maps of the mesh that WRP covers. This means the actual texture is most likely still the WRP one, but the UV maps are not correct so it displays wrong in-game. So what I would look for is a mod or file that is overriding the mesh of the grenade rifle. It's tricky to get everything working properly because WMX overrides WRP's custom UV maps and then the WMX WRP assets are designed to revert the changes to specific weapons that WMX makes to WRP. If you could take a picture of your MO left-hand panel with the area of weapon mods so I could see which mod might possibly be the culprit. Or if you have something misplaced.

I know I am sounding like a broken record at this point, and most people don't agree with me. However, my main point is that if you use FCO and NVR3 together you will have some strange issues popping up here and there. For me personally the issues are too immersion breaking for me. This is why I stick to only using one of the beautification mods. The ideal thing would be if someone made a compatibility patch for the two mods. Though the author of NVR3 will claim that it is 100% compatible with FCO, I have found in hours of playing that this only causes mis-matching faces and bodies. I could write a long argument as to why I think NVR3 should be taken out of the guide. However, it is Ess' guide and I feel as though my concerns have already been stated and that it is his choice in the end and I don't want to cross boundaries. Before I ramble on too much longer: you will have to make the decision yourself as to if you would like to use both with some issues cropping up occasionally or stick to one or even neither to prevent said issues. I know this didn't really answer your question but I hope it helps. Cheers, Audley

I also prefer the look of NVR3 over FCO. However, because there is a lack of a patch for the two mods two work ideally, I choose one over the other. At this point I stopped using NVR3 entirely and just use FCO as I have found it has the least amount of issues. Though it is all up to personal preference.