Skyrim Graphics Modding Guide (ENB vs. Community Shaders)

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Tell me, do you still use an ENB, or have you already switched to Community Shaders? Or maybe you go vanilla all the way?

[@gabochard5240]

I've switched today to CS +20% performance and still lookin pretty decent gg

[@thepooz7205]

I only play VR. Community Shaders is now a no brainer choice. Pretty sure it has been years since ENB supported VR, and with everything rendered twice (one image for each eye) the performance aspect is twice as important, especially to avoid vomiting.

[@EchoesofOld]

I was in the process of switching from ENB to CS as you were uploading this. Nothing in this video has changed my mind. XD

[@sambalbelacan9718]

your sweet honeyed words had me convinced, again. would like to try cs ... is there a guide or more detail for it?

[@Igzilee]

ENB because CS doesn't look nearly as good, it's going to be at least a year or two before the level of quality is close to equal.

[@JUSTICEFORPEANUT]

I appreciate you using the same angles and shots for comparison and not just showing whatever. High quality

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Haha, easier for me too to do that! Thanks so much :)

[@TheMonyarm]

If I can get even 20% of the graphical improvements that ENB give with minimal performance loss, I'll switch to community shaders immediately (not having watched the video yet, it seems to me Community Shaders might be just what I need).

[@chefman134]

Honestly the biggest thing CS has going for it is the Light Limit Fix, which is supposedly being ported to ENB at some point. Unless you're on an absolutely ancient PC there's really no reason to use it. I'm glad it's being made since an open source system is better for everyone, but they're going to probably spend the next few years playing catch up with ENB and all the features that's been developed for that over the years since right now it's Reshade providing most of the visual effects, not CS itself.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Facts only, I regret not focusing on Light Limit Fix in this video, but oh well. It's definitely interesting to follow the development of Community Shaders in the future and see it grow.

[@anthonym840]

Reshade gives it mostly on screen shade effects. Community shaders hits the internal visual stuff that reshade cant get. Ur also supposed to use it with Vanilla HDR. The only thing that reshade really does well combined with it is add a color layer to enhance the visuals by default. Other than that messing around with any other features in the preset u are liklely using with CS are pretty much redundant, since all of the avalable features covers ,shadows, light limit, screen space shadows, grass lighting, tree lighting, paralax etc all in which Reshade has no direct control of. CS is also getting cube maps, subsurface shaders, wetness shaders, and global illumination. In a since that alone will make it as useful as ENB to me personally. But i believe the point is preference, since both have their uses and benifits.

[@loadishstone]

I was excited to use ENB when I built my new PC but honestly…it never felt like Skyrim. Klarity with ReShade was like stepping back into an HD memory. It was everything I felt about Skyrim’s aesthetics when I first played it and thought it looked amazing. Now, if I used larger overhauls that removed the original designs and such, I’d feel more content using ENBs but at this point, I don’t see a real reason. Also, there is a realllly something to be said about using a product the community develops together. It’s exciting.

[@Alistoteles]

CS is a breath of new possibilities , i'm to happy for the progress of the community in just one year, I hope to still alive to see how the developement goes. Btw, top tier video as always, there's a lot of channels that are focused on modding reviews but not with the intention of make the audience learn something from them , just relies on showcasing, it's something we appreciate it a lot. But it's a lot of work for just a bard, how did you manage all of this?😗

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

It truly is, can't wait to see how the whole project develops! And thank you so much - I do love creating showcases too but once in a while, something different haha

[@zogkuma]

I'll be honest, and say that at this point I'm not only looking for new mods for my game, but just straight up wanting to hear the calm joy from your voice. It's soothing to listen to while one does their day to day things like work and average life activities. Thank you for doing these awesome videos. 😊

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

💚 that warms my heart! 😭 thank you for telling me this, I'll smile the rest of the day now

[@zogkuma]

​@@BardsCollegeGraduateyou're welcome, friend! I hope that it's a great one. 😁

[@leagreenall5972]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate I'd go one step further and would LOVE to have your Bard's College Graduate presets as a fully voiced follower with the calm joy of your voice

[@connivingkhajiit]

@@leagreenall5972 second

[@hideousruin]

I don't know if you will see this as it is an old video and a reply but I wanted to agree. I also wanted to add you have a wonderful musical quality to your voice I adore. Instant sub.

[@Tomatokillz]

Glad you liked Klarity! Awesome video :) CS gets me excited with its new features each month, it just keeps getting better

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

No, in fact I absolutely LOVED Klarity! :D CS is all-around very interesting and can't wait to see what's next!

[@inkyGhosty]

I use E.V.C. ENB. Has a great balance between realistic, non-muted colors I like and it has the best performance of any ENB I've tried without compromises. Goes great with Lux or ELE and uses Solas Weathers.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Okay, that sounds great, I need to check that one out for sure! Haven't even heard of it before :D

[@zinghunt4364]

This one's top tier actually, it's so well crafted, have used it for a couple months, it's up there with Rudy's, SirArindel's, l00's quality imo. Very underrated.

[@LS-zt8ih]

Do you have a link for it Id love to check it out, thanks. ;D

[@DocTraubo]

Ah, thank you for this excellent comparison video! I use Rudy ENB with tons of ENB lights, particles and complex parallax mods + Obsidian Weathers with Supreme Weathers and Storm Lightnings - I adore spectacular 'bad' weather :) Although I love my Rudy ENB setup, I have to say Picta looks incredible - might try it... Thanks again for providing a constant source of inspirations with your channel!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Ah that setup sounds fantastic - Rudy's is the best! I also looove using ENB lights. And thank you! :D

[@SwedenPieMaster]

Top quality as usual! 🙂 I recently installed community shaders, Azurite Weathers and Dareni's Reshade (with some tweaks to lower the contrast) and was pleasantly surprised by both visuals and performance, I just hope that cs will get enb-style water shaders with future updates. 🏊

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you SwedenPieMaster!! :D That sounds like a good setup, and oh yeah water shaders would be great to have next!

[@elongatedmuskrat3236]

I think enb-like water is already available in the cs discord

[@aymenswisy4969]

I can tell how hard it is to do comparisons, thank you for the hard work and the professionalism 👍

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you for saying that :) comparisons are a lot of work for sure but very rewarding

[@kishaloyb.7937]

I love Rudy ENB. I've been using it for a decade now (in Oldrim and then in Skyrim SE/AE). Recently tried the CS and found them very promising. Maybe 5 years down the line, they'll be great too, but for now, I'm still sticking to Rudy+Obsidian weathers. Great content as always btw. Cheer!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I found Rudy's in SE, in Oldrim it was all about NAT! :D But now I know how great Rudy ENB truly is, just magnificent. Oh and thank you, cheers!! 🍻

[@DimesAndNichols]

This slaps. I've been waiting for a shader preset for older PCs

[@iTunsiscool26]

I use CS over ENB, mainly because I never liked ENBs and the performance hit is huge in some areas. My only gripe with CS is that it's constantly updated, and you can't update only one, you gotta update the entire list, and that's rough. But I had no idea that there were presets for CS that were ENB like, so I'll have to give those a try. Thanks for the video!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I see, that is a good point - updating everything can get a bit tedious :D do try out the Reshade presets, they really boost up the visuals!

[@grandadmiralcorgi28]

Well for me it's now a toss up between Rudy, Klarity, and NAT ENB III.

[@bjaxfl]

To me CS has the feel of Oldrim ENBs, and that I find really nostalgic.

[@mhamad3ntar26]

Two weeks is a long time we missed you 🥲

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hehee well I'm back for now :)

[@mhamad3ntar26]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate good 😊

[@dont.tread187]

I use Visceral ENB, Cathedral weathers, and ELFX because they were the simplest to install and I'm technologically challenged. Nice video as usual ❤‍🔥

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Visceral is a great one! Thank you so much :)

[@shroomie3086]

This video is really well done, love how you go in-depth with both the pros and cons of ENB and CS whilst keeping it simple and easy for new modders to understand. Just want to plug in my input about which you should use but a bit of nostalgia trip beforehand. Back in 2015-2016, Skyrim mods are, in majority, cool but also unstable. You need a considerably strong PC to be able to use certain mods especially graphical mods. ENB was all the rage back then and my potato laptop could handle RealVision with some tweaks I did myself averaging at around 40-50 fps (appreciate you for shouting out RealVision XD, such an ancient ENB now but a gem). But after my long hiatus from Skyrim and modding in general, I've gotten back to it and started to research what are the trendy mods that people are using and supporting. I was introduced to shaders (not just for Skyrim) back in 2022-2023 as I was looking to make my GTA V look good whilst maintaining stability. Can I just say from this video as well, that shaders are AMAZING, revolutionary is what it is. A free, open source program that provides players with an equally good graphics as well as maintaining performance. As an old timer myself, I was really impressed by CS and its current features (even if its still new) and 16 y.o me would be crapping his pants in awe. So my take on which people should use is pretty simple. Use ENB if you have the specs for it and use CS if you don't fully have the specs for it. Now that I have a stable job, saved up money and built my dream PC, I'm eternally grateful to have the luxury to use both ENB and ReShade to achieve maximum quality for my game. Going to be keeping a close eye on CS and await what new features they'll provide. Again, very good video on CS vs ENB. You've gained yourself a subscriber.

[@capoeragames2081]

in many years i never thought i'd see an alternative to ENB that's just as complete, it's mind blowing that we became adults, we grew up playing and modding this game and there's always new stuff releasing, that's why i always come back to skyrim

[@BelgiumKanarie]

The amount of work you put into your videos is really impressive! 10/10 video

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you 😭🙏

[@jamiebruner8463]

1:15 Mirele Bismath!! Love that home. Used it for a playthrough. I love recognizing mods in videos Super helpful video, thank you for this.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Oh yes Mirele Bismath is the best!! :D I can't leave it out from my modlists anymore xD

[@sharkiNgK]

My favorite is still Berserkyr ENB, though Rudy for NAT 3 is also quite amazing. Pair that with the Upscaler for ENB and you can get really good performance even on a 4K screen. I also tried other popular ENB presets and CS, but went back to Berserkyr eventually because it looks best, no additional tweaking required. Great video

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I see, darn, now I wish I had tried and included Berserkyr in this!! I had it linked in my files, but completely forgot about it while making this video. And thank you!

[@chrisanders713]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate There can always be a part 2!

[@presidentofswag9157]

No matter how many ENBS I try, I always find myself coming back to rudy :3

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Rudy ENB is the best!

[@mirsolis4992]

You’re my favorite new skyrim KZbinr. I don’t know why I find skyrim modding videos so relaxing when I don’t play the game 😅 I might actually get it sometime soon though it seems like cozy game for the winter

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Yiissssss THANK YOU! :D It is definitely a perfect cozy game for the winter, so grab it if you can!

[@triggaexe]

Strange 😆. I began to test Community Shaders yesterday with the same Reshade Presets. Nice Video again. I subscribed you long time ago because of our similar taste, the ornate quality and your pleasant voice 👍😌🙏.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hehe great minds think alike don't they? :D

[@triggaexe]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate absolutely! wish you the best 😉

[@Anska5126]

HI Bard!! Another amazing video! What I love about your content is how real it is, you don't focus on the mods others go for like skimpy armour sets or real world weapons etc, you focus on what matters: Keeping Skyrim's charm intact and building on it in successful ways, getting immersion mods, gameplay changes to make the game still balanced but better, Graphics overhauls etc. It's just amazing. This is what makes you the best As a side note: I love how you say "Cuts your frames in half" and you are still reaching 40-50fps whereas back in my day (Grabs Walking stick) We we excited to play games in the full glory of the newly released 30fps (I swear I'm not that old my 25th birthday is in a week and a half please ignore the cracking sounds coming from my wrist and back). But seriously, what kind of job do you have that allows you to afford to run hardware that OP? And are there any positions going because I need a new one Unfortunately my PC is over 10 years old and these past few weeks have started seeing some performance problems and cable issues. It may be time for a dramatic overhaul but the problem is affording it. So I'm afraid ENB is still out of my reach but I will be giving those community shaders a try. I may not be new to modding my games like Skyrim and Stardew but I haven't exactly gone too deep into it either and imo that puts me into the beginner category still. 1 because of work, 2 because of the kids and 3 because I'm trying to save up money to take Hannah somewhere nice like the Tropical Islands off my countries border with some of the most beautiful flower gardens I've ever seen and boat rentals that allow for free fishing and camping sites. SO Community shaders sounds like it's for me and tbh that first one looked amazing. But one of these days (Years) I'll get to try ENB with the rest of you as I design my cakes and continue to evolve my custom hot chocolate recipe Thanks for the video Bard!! Love the work and I can't wait for next weeks video!! I'm gonna run for work now but see you later!!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you again, Anska! My PC is definitely not OP, looking to upgrade it at some point :P, and it's all student loan baby! Now my income is all from KZbin and Patreon, aside from rare design jobs :) (it's not much but it's honest work) I hope Community Shaders will work great for you, I really do! And when it's time, ENB :D Thanks again for watching :) see ya!

[@Anska5126]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate It's rare to find content creators with a gift for creativity and honour with it being their job. I hope we keep you for many more years, into Elder Scrolls 6 and Starfield and beyond

[@sonderbain]

Its nice to see a new enb comparison! I have tried several of these and rudy is also one of my favorites from this selection. I will say however that separately, Pi-cho enb has always been the enb I always come back to for one simple reason, LUT filters. Originally based on silent horizons, picho with its lut filters can give color tones an unmatched cinematic quality. One issue with picho sadly is its probably one of the most taxing enbs out there and to get what you want out of it takes a bit of work. But if you have a pc that can handle it and are ok with putting in some effort pi-cho is just something else and it has spoiled me :D

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Aggghhh now I'm dying to try Pi-cho out!! Sounds super good, and I have just dismissed it earlier without even checking it out properly.

[@chetm4474]

Thanks for this showcase. I wasn't aware of Silent Horizon universal core until I saw your video. Everything is so spot on in this video, right from the ENBs you have picked to the way your presented them one by one, and finally comparing them side by side in the end. Plus showcasing the community shaders before gping for outro was an excellent idea too. Thanks again!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hey, thanks for the great feedback! :) Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@Karatejin]

Hello, there! Good to be here! After that last video, I decided to try Cabbage ENB + NAT ENB 3. I had been using Rudy ENB, PI-CHO ENB and Azurite Weathers for a while... You know, so far I'm enjoying the changes - although I really wanted The Grim & Somber ENB for Skyrim SE / AE. These series by wolfgrimdark I think I had used for 7-8 years or even more untill I jumped to SE /AE. Oh, that creepy thing about the glazed / transparent eyes has been solved. I'm pretty sure it was something related to the installation of ENB! Now i have to deal with Lux via Lux orbis Lux + Northern Roads Northern Road Patches Complex Parallax for Northern Roads 4K (or 2k) At a certain distance the ground seems to be "stretchy" and "plastic". As you move and take a close look, the textures seem to be loaded correctly. My specs Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070 Monitor / TV Samsung UHD 3840 x 2160 Processor: Intel i7 9700Kf Memory: 32 GB RAM Motherboard: ASUS TUF B360m-Plus

[@N7Dovahkiir]

Very interesting, I never heard about Community Shaders. I will give them a try mostly because they are SKSE core plugins + Performance-Friendly for my mid-tier laptop. Nice video

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I'm thinking it'll be perfect for your setup! Let me know how it goes if you decide to try it out. And thanks :)

[@mfvlf9644]

I've personally been all in on community shaders due to the VR support. Complex parallax material & ENB lights were the main drive for me to swap. the huge performance boost was just a very nice bonus.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Definitely, for VR it's amazing!

[@soundgfx7166]

community shaders and reshade presets also work well with EVlaS I really recommend the latter as they make the game look and feel even more atmospheric

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Definitely, it's a must-have!

[@CErra310]

1:52 This is completely out of left field, but thank you for reminding me I finally need to get myself something for the cows and goats. That's a beautiful bovine

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Right?! These fluffy ones are so cute :)

[@justanotheraccounthere2014]

Nice comparison. I use Rudy ENB for Cathedral Weathers (Zangdar's Edit). I like the higher saturation high fantasy look. For now, ENB is still prefered, as it seems to me that CS is very similar to running a video of Skyrim through contrast enhancement in Premiere, though CS is still under active development while the author of ENB left the modding scene after some drama if I remember correctly. However, I must complain that the performance hit of ENB is insane. I struggled hitting 1440p 40fps at Solitude Docks with a pretty heavy load order (1200 plugins, mostly 1k-2k texture mods, grass+3d tree lod, quite a lot of cities and towns overhaul, no dlss/dlaa) on a 12600k+3080ti. And at Whiterun outskirts I will reliably get stutter when turning camera, possibly indicating insufficient VRAM.

[@ssdeaglez]

Absolutely perfect video that we needed. Love it. CS for VR and performance. ENB for flatscreen if you have good specs (or don't mind 30-60 fps). I'm playing heavily modded skyrim VR on RTX 4090, DLAA on (no dlss) and ENB brings my 4090 to its knees (up to 97% load). Averaging 80-85 fps, with occasional drops down to 65-70 in heavy areas, stable 90 in interiors. CS is a complete game changer, stable 90 fps most of the time with rare drops to 75-80 in extremely overloaded areas (like JK's whiterun outskirts + some other mod that adds more stuff there).

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you so much! I wish I had 80fps with ENB hahaha, my old 2080 is crying in agony

[@dwagner6]

I’ve really loved discovering your channel through The Algorithm. My load order has ballooned considerably, but I just ordered a 2 TB drive😅

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Yay the algorithm finally is doing its' work! :D Welcome to the channel!

[@ronw1985]

I know I'm a little late, but it's kind of a pleasant habit for me to write you something nice. As always, a high-quality video with the most important information about ENBs and CS. I also liked the presets you chose - except for "PICTA". The sunrise? at the Shrine of Azura looked really phenomenal, but otherwise it was too gray/foggy for me. My favorite was Silent Horizons 2. I hope you enjoy the coming Christmas season! 🎄 PS: Remember, I'm still waiting for that "Grass video" - maybe as a Christmas special? 😁

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Oh yes, Picta can divide opinions with its fogginess, it was really gorgeous but I understand if it's not everyone's cup of tea. Have a fine Christmas season, yourself! 🎄

[@ronw1985]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate While tea is also delicious, I prefer something stronger over the holidays. Punch, grog or hot mead and then I make myself comfortable in front of the oven and winter can come.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Spiked glögg is my choice, give it a go over the holidays if you have the chance to :)

[@jrj5893]

Thanks for breaking this down! I actually am using vanilla (mostly because I suspect my potato computer wouldn't be able to handle much) but learning all this about the different shaders makes me think that I'll be able to use the CS. I'm not sure which one yet, though Klarity looks pretty good.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Give CS a go, it can be a great upgrade to a vanilla setup! I hope it all works just fine and your potato will be able to handle it :)

[@katemckinnon7323]

I'm a huge fan of Azurite Weathers with Pi-Cho and prefer ELFX/LOS II for my lighting. I'm really excited that ENB has some performance friendly competition with Community Shaders. I'm playing at 4k native and would love to have all of the features of ENB without the huge performance hit. I love taking screenshots! Thanks for making this really fun and informative video!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hey, thanks for watching! :) Maybe you'll switch to CS someday then 😉

[@UltimegaSeven]

Replicating and suprasing ENB will take time for sure, and its not an easy feat either. ENB pretty much tells the GPU to do crazy stuff to all that exists. I will be rooting for Community Shaders and will revel in the day I can achieve 60fps lol .The community is finally learning their lesson on supporting closed source mods too.

[@matteocossi6428]

Beautiful video as always. I am currently playing with NAT ENB 3 and it's amazing. I would also suggest you to try out Verdrenna enb for Picturesque. It's a beautiful enb with very good performance.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you! I haven't heard about that ENB before, I'll definitely check it out.

[@knightmaremedia7795]

The light limit fix alone is worth the switch to CS. No more of the lights popping on as you move . Plus ENB particle lights are compatible. Add in the performance benefit, and it's a win , win in my book.

[@raised8471]

CS seem to open a door to all kinds of advanced lighting (shader) effects. I would argue that CS has already surpassed ENB in terms of features, all CS lack at the moment is some good looking post-processing presets. That being said, I would also argue that any such presets are necessary, since settings could be calibrated to one's taste in the in-game menus. The light limit fix and grass lighting are a blessing since both fix problems which ENB is just uncapable of doing (ENB light is not an alternative to LLF, because it is a screen-space effect). Fire spells at night no longer look drawn, and grass does not look goofy during day/night cycle. Other effects, such as PBR, SSGI/SSRTGI/SSRT, terrain blending (finally no irritating seams between terrain and cliffs!), wetness, screen-space shadows, LoD shadows, water blending, parallax, and HDR could offer a whole new level of experience, especially when coupled with some post-processing effects from ReShade and calibrated properly.

[@phreakfactor]

Great video Bard! Thank you for the show case, I hadnt realized how far reshade has come in the last few years. I am using Skies Above currently, but I am thinking of going back to rudy for NAT3. I loved NAT, but both rudy and NAT hadnt updated in a long while when I was rebuilding the load order. I do like Skies Above and Kreate weather setting, but its not NAT 3 lol.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hey, thanks phreakfactor! NAT is really just too good, that is for sure. But I do need to check out Skies Above as well!

[@conversesarecool]

It is amazing the difference lighting can make!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

oh, for sure!

[@dereksdump]

Just when I'm having a hard time choosing, the queen of Skyrim modding herself posts a guide. Thanks. I think CS still has a ways to go before it can compete with ENB, but it definitely has the potential to become the new norm.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

[@katcirce]

Yay! Have been waiting for this video hehe

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I hope it's good enough! 😳🙏

[@katcirce]

Definitely good enough! With time I hope we will have many reshade presets to choose from, cause CS is by far my favourite over ENB, and I'm really excited to see how far it goes @@BardsCollegeGraduate

[@nice_vid]

Another banger, I love this channel so much. Someone made an offshoot of SH2 for the new azurite 2 called azurite horizons, I've been rocking that since it's release and im loving it.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

[@dovahmike7045]

Mythical ENB, along with Mythical Ages weather and lighting, was the last ENB I used on one of my previous Skyrim playthrough's. I also remember with OG Skyrim when everyone went with RealVision ENB back in the day. My PC at the time struggled big time to run it. Right now my game is more so Vanilla+ in terms of mods, with the only mods changing the lighting being "Enhanced Volumetric Lighting and Shadows", along with "Twilight". Those two complement each other quite well and I like how they look with the Vanilla game. I have thought about giving Community Shaders a try.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I also went with RealVision, and my PC was absolutely dying with it haha xD EVLaS and Twilight are great, do try CS when you can, it might work well for you!

[@beedykh2235]

As a Skyrim VR player, I'm really happy with the development of Community Shaders. As Skyrim VR is already very demanding on its own, it needs as much improvements with as little impact it can get. Thank you for this amazing comparison video.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Next time I play Skyrim VR, I'll also jump in CS! :D The performance will be amazing compared with ENB. Thanks for watching!

[@jowenswi]

Really enjoyed the video. You did a great job comparing the differences. I was surprised by how much I like the images CS produced. I'm going to give it a try for my next mod list! ❤

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you so much! Since releasing the video, CS has gotten a lot more updates and addons, and I'm sure it looks even better now!

[@renzuuki956]

I was struggling with my framerate when I was using ENB, even with no presets I kept lagging (40 fps and below). As I switched to CS my performance became significantly higher (60+ FPS). I'm truly thankful for the CS mod team for making it, it makes my game look good even with a potato laptop.

[@geraldmckee6556]

As someone who until recently did not have a machine capable of running ENB at acceptable framerates, I have been a big fan of CS and it's related mods. I have not however tried CS with a Reshade, mostly because Reshade does have a hit to fps and I found the visuals to be stunning without it. I now have a machine that runs the stock game at 4k 60fps so I will probably explore a bit but probably not with ENB.

[@SCSAsJorts]

Literally one of my favorite YT/Mod creators

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

[@goxy287]

Very good job on the video, I'd say for high refresh rate monitor users and skyrim vr players community shaders is a lifesaver

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thanks! And that's for sure :)

[@platatrinity8857]

I have Silent Horizon 2 UC + Azurite Weather 2 and i love it. But i will have an Eye on Community Shaders too. Thank you for the nice Video😊

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

That sounds like a great setup! And thanks for watching! :D

[@Wft-bu5zc]

That's what I use too. The interiors are amazing (with Lux)! I had to tweak the look of sunrise/sunset though, it seemed a little off (too blue).

[@SandGentleman]

Zamn! I had seen Community Shaders on the Nexus for a long time but I hadn't seen those CS reshade presets! Might get me to switch from my beloved Culminated ENB...

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Yess and they're getting better and better!!

[@leonv1472]

nice comparison. i may check out community shaders now that i've really seen what it can do, especially for performance. currently using eisvogel enb, since it's very vivid in a specific way that i like and was my favorite when i first played modded a couple years back so automatically it was the one i went for when reinstalling.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I see! Eisvogel ENB, I need to check that out as well. And thanks!

[@murasaki908]

As someone who always struggled with the performance loss of ENBs, community shaders is the way to go. Thanks doodlum!!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

CS can be a lifesaver!!

[@wanderingbufoon]

YEET! Another upload. Also I think it is unfair to compare ENBs with Community Shaders as CS is quite new. But it shows that they are the future since they already are a contender to something that has been around for a decade or so.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Yeeeyyy!! 🤠And yes, it's definitely "unfair", but that is the burning question - why would one get CS? And I hope with this video many people decide on getting it as it is really good!

[@wanderingbufoon]

It's definitely going to replace ENB injection soon. Unless they refine the ENB process to make it easier on the technical side but I don't think so. @@BardsCollegeGraduate

[@TitanSubZero15]

Loved the video, thank you so much! Although I like how you mentioned NAT Weathers but didn't compared NATs own ENB 😅

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you for watching!! :D Yeah I feel a little bad XD, but only purposefully chose ENBs released in the past year so rip 😭

[@TitanSubZero15]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate ah gotcha, I understand. Just so you know, NAT ENB was also recently updated this year 😉

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

@@TitanSubZero15 I see! Frick, next time I'll definitely include it then!

[@BigCheeseEvie]

Man those look gorgeous. I personally love how NAT looks. I'm currently debating myself whether I should play lightly modded or go down the modding rabbit hole(I'm new to Skyrim)

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

If you're new to Skyrim, I'd advice you to play the game completely first only with light mods and after that, go crazy 🤠

[@igavinwood]

Nice comparison and explanation as always. The reason I subbed :) I was thinking of using Rudy & NAT ENB III, but I've always disliked how the modders never seem to understand how the human eye works or how the brain processes the info to build a picture. Instead we get dark scenes that are actually too dark, or light scenes that are too light. However seeing your comparison with Silent Horizons I'm starting to think this, or the Community Shaders, may be the best option. After all I want to play the game, not struggle to see the damn picture. Note: If you choose NAT ENB it doesn't work well with Auto Parallax (AP). AP is required by Complex Parallax Materials. So choose between NAT ENB or CS and don't mix their requirements.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hey, thank you igavinwood! :) It does sound like Silent Horizons or a CS preset would suit your needs well!

[@matteokmp]

What about Vanilla Two ENB? It looks like a middle solution (between ENB and Community Shaders). This is a more friendly ENB with low fps cost enabling others ENB based mods that enhance the visuals.

[@islamguefrachi]

I like your videos a lot, it's good to see an alternative to enbseries

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hey, thank you! :D

[@Avery-Ravion-W]

Thank you so much I've been looking for a mod to make Skyrim look so much better great job keep up the good work.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

So glad! Thanks for watching!

[@anthonydauphin9624]

As always your video are amazing! Thank you! For me... I play with ENB but with some of the addon from CS (the one about light). I actually play with Rudy for Nat...altought I use Darenii reshade too. It's the matter of one or two fps drop.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

[@Metal-Spark]

I absolutely love Rudy's ENB for Cathedral Weathers, but it has so many requirements that it's a bit confusing to install - especially if you also use ELFX. Silent Horizons 2 looks amazing, this video is the first time I've seen it, and it looks so much simpler to install. I'm currently rebuilding my mod list from scratch and think I'll be moving over to that.

[@leagreenall5972]

Thanks very much... this was EXACTLY what I needed to once and for all sort out the Graphic Mods. Even though I have a top end system, I have chosen to go with CS and Klarity. I like the idea of it nearly being as good as ENB now and its still in development... I want to to see the evolution and surpassing ENB in real time :D ... but choosing Klarity was all due to your presentation and recommendations :) Now if I can only get DynDOLOD 3 Output working free of errors - I'd be set :) Thanks again.... this forever ends this debate with me.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Yisss I'm so happy!! Klarity is AMAZING so I hope you have a lot of fun with it :) good luck with the Dyndolod!

[@sopmac4014]

Till recently, I was using Skyrim Re-Engaged ENB with Vivid Weathers and lastly with Obsidian, but recently I switched to iiENB - ENB preset for Azurite, Cathedral and Obsidian and I am using it with Azurite Weathers and I have no regrets at all. Skyrim now looks amazingly super different and wonderful. I like my game to be leaning toward fantasy looks--like cause anyway, this game is a fantasy game and that combination that I am using, has a lot of HDR in my game and as a photographer, I like that better than a more realistic look via another ENB. As you, I also do not care at all to loose some FPS but to make my game to look in the way it is looking now. I am taking a lot of screenshots for my PC wallpaper. Performance wise I do not care simply because I do have the AMD 7900 XTX and I am getting in the most demanding areas, around 56 FPS. I have read a lot about Community Shaders and still do not convince me. I will stick to this combination : iiENB with AZURITE weathers for a very long time till perhaps CS improves to the point that will make my combination obsolete. Thank you for your video.

[@VirtualPandaVR]

Amazing comparison! I've been using CS since I'm playing in VR. But I haven't tried adding a reshade yet. Will have to try one now, these looked great!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you so much! Hope it'll look great on VR, too :)

[@StealthyshiroeanHumbleReviews]

This is a great video! Thanks for explaining the differences and showcasing some of them. I think my pick for whenever I go back to Skyrim will be Silent Horizons 2. That looked like the right mix for me.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hey, thank you so much! Silent Horizons 2 is a great pick, very good balance and fancy features.

[@BrandiUntzGamingChannel]

Great job on the showcase! It would've been nice to see some FPS numbers for CS, to help people see the performance difference. Unless I missed it in the video. I love ENB and use Silent Horizons 2. Switched to it from original Silent Horizons.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you Brandi! You're correct, it would've been a good addition for sure. Silent Horizons 2 is just amazing!

[@Tomzo711]

Something I feel that needs to be addressed is what weather & lighting mods are used. Those alone can drastically change the look of Skyrim. Then adding a ENB or CS+Reshade can enhance it further.

[@Wft-bu5zc]

Yea the same ENB with Luminosity + Obsidian is going to look totally different than with Lux + Azurite

[@Tomzo711]

@@Wft-bu5zc exactly. There's a lot of variations based on more than just presets.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

That's for sure!

[@Vaelys.]

Since i don't have FPS problems (almost 60 fps even in cities) in full 2k textures and more than 1k5 mods, i just go for the better look (for my tastes) so i recently try azurite ENB which is really good but i miss the vibrant colors from PICHO so i'll just stick with it for now. But i will follow CS evolution :D And your voice is lovely! Just discover you ^^

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

[@SkylineDG]

Thanks for the amazing video! I really like SH2’s more natural tone and atmosphere.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@Hardcrafter2807]

I've never been able to use ENB or CS and ReShade before I started playing on SE. One of the first ones I tried using was SkyrimSE Re-Engaged ENB, which did look nice, then I switched to OG Silent Horizons, then PI-CHO ENB, and the last one I used was Azurite Horizons ENB, which as the name suggests is an ENB Preset designed around Azurite Weathers based on Silent Horizons 2 - Shader Core using Lux lighting. Whenever I get back into modding Skyrim I certainly may consider switching to CS + ReShade though, especially given the performance differences. With Azurite Horizons I had like 30-40 fps in exteriors and 50-60fps in interiors.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Definitely do give CS a try! I have a feeling that might be a good fit for you.

[@KREDANS]

I've recently switched to Community Shaders with Mythical Weathers and my tweaked Dareni's reshade, and honestly I don't think I'll be going back to ENB. The performance is just so much better with great consistent visuals!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I believe you! That sounds great.

[@asobinasan9516]

Just friendly reminder.. enb v4.99 has been available for public about 3 days ago.. and it has some decent performance (fps) boost.. in my testing at least.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thanks for telling me, I completely missed that update!! I hope I get a small boost too :D

[@ruthlessedgeboy8591]

I skew towards ENBs that are light on pre-requisites like Culminated ENB. That one only requires ENB Helper and whatever weather mod it supports and the result is breathtaking.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

That's fair! I haven't heard of that ENB before actually.

[@xyithan9128]

for a rtx2080, your fps is very good actually considering your mod count and enbs. You optimized it very well

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I am quite happy with it actually! :D Thanks for saying that :)

[@nurudinnuhefendic8951]

Wooh first time watching this channel, do you make music? You're Voice is amazing.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Haha I wish! Thank you so much :D

[@Mysterialic]

Whoa Picta looks heavenly.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

I was so delighted to see how unique it really is! So beautiful!

[@mikedc101]

I wanted to express my gratitude for the content you shared. Thanks to your presentation, I discovered Silent Horizons 2, which I find beautiful. The visuals displayed in the images you provided are truly stunning and have piqued my interest. Thank you for introducing me to something new. Also, can you tell me which ENB presets create that fiery look to the plumes of Red Mountain?

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

You'll need this Rudy mod: www.nexusmods.com/skyrimspecialedition/mods/89103 and absolutely my pleasure, thank you for watching!

[@pietro0games]

Great to see a comparison

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Glad you liked it!

[@basti585]

the first time I played skyrim: 😮 how beautiful! 120fps first time with ENB : 😮how beautiful! 20fps

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Relatable😂

[@fw.sacsha8235]

Why I personally enjoy Community Shaders more, and why I don't really like ENB. 1. Performance-friendly, so you can use handhelds and possibly phones via the windows emulator to play with in the future. 2. Easier install/Ease-of-use. ENB's website is very strange. 3. Less variables that could break, unlike ENB, which is fundamentally old, and not as seamless, because it requires a ton of patches to get working reliably. 4. Native Linux support; can be installed on the Steam Deck via MO2 or Vortex (Don't recommend it though, MO2 is easier to install via rockerbacon's mo2installer, because steamtinkerlaunch is pretty buggy, and bricked 2 skyrim installs so far.) Without any complexities, which is great, because ENB has several unnecessary dependencies because it was made near Skyrim's creation. I hope that Community Shaders surpasses ENB in time, and I think it will with handhelds becoming more prominent.

[@UltraVarietyChannel]

I'm very impressed with CS, and I'm very excited for its future. However, for now I'm still going to stick with ENB. I'm using Rudy with Cathedral, tweaked to my liking. (I've spent a lot of time messing around with the enbseries menu) I actually only lose maybe 5-8fps with ENB. My other mods hit my framerate a lot more. So that isn't really a concern for me. The problem is, while CS looks very good, it still just doesn't look as good as ENB. Lighting on characters lacks depth, has more unnatural brightness on the side that the sunlight isn't hitting, ENB ambient occlusion is more powerful, grass doesn't cast proper shadows with CS, ENB has screen space water reflections, wet surfaces for rain.... blah blah blah. Beyond all that, ENB lets you tweak so many variables that its hard to compete with it. Everything from how dark shadows are at specific times of day, to direct sunlight having an adjustable colour filter for specific times of day, and adjustable variables for pretty much every feature it adds. Its crazy how much I can tweak. It makes sense since the guy has been working on ENBseries as a system for dozens of different games for like 13 years at this point. (I am aware I am very picky lol) The lack of features just won't work for me yet. And since my performance isn't hit that hard, I'll stick with ENB for now. But I'm super glad that there's now a more performance friendly option to make the game look genuinely pretty.

[@АндрейМилошевич]

12:36 I like that the forts and dungeons have REALLY dark lighting, where a torch or beam of light is a reliable helper. It seems like RUBI and Lux modifications? I wanted to say that it may be connected with Realistic Light, but I plan to install ENB for the first time, since I couldn’t install ENB with LE, but I plan to install it on AE :3

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Dark dungeons are so scary, but using a torch is so fun, so it evens out xD in this footage, it's all LUX!

[@АндрейМилошевич]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate Got it, I will download this masterpiece 😎 I prefer protracted contractions. I installed the modifications so that in a dungeon without light it is literally dark, and around you there is a noticeably 20-30 horde of draurgs. That’s reason why I really want hardcore 😅

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

@@АндрейМилошевич Okay that's really scary, good luck out there!!

[@dans5662]

Rudy is gold for me. He just updated cathedral weather's to have ember ash storms as well. So I switched backed to rudy for cathedral weather's. I just completely re did my modlist. I found the biggest performance cost for me was having everything in 4 K textures and ultimately draw calls. I'm doing everything in 2 K now up to 600 some mods 126 regular plugins and running buttery smooth on a 2020 GTX.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

It's a good idea going with 2k textures, very rarely bigger textures are even needed, I've also been downsizing a bit xD

[@titanics.o.s2101]

Cats or dogs, coffee or tea and cs vs enb these are questions that there isnt one right answer but i like enb more i honestly dont know why i have rtx 3060 and 16gb and i can take even 30 fps for such good looking game. Great video!

[@chefman134]

If you haven't already, download the DLSS mod. Should double your framerate.

[@mrelmgreen33]

​@@chefman134I am pretty sure it doesn't work with enb, unless you get the paid one.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thanks!

[@Gersontbrasil1]

I tested the Community Shaders' features that are under development. It will be revolutionary, it's everything I have to say

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Right!

[@chrisanders713]

I have had the hardest time getting the game to look just how I like it to be. Right now the best combo I have found is Cabbage ENB with Azurite weathers and Nyclix reshade. Oh and LUX for interiors.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

What a delicious combination 🤩

[@Wft-bu5zc]

You're not the only one, I'm always tweaking too!

[@thethingfromstars]

I'm using Rudy for weather cathedrals and looks great but idk the resolution look a bit odd sometimes, idk if it's my enb, i'm considering to change to CS. Nice voice btw, it's calm and warm!

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Thank you! CS is a great alternative, and getting better and better - there are even more features available now!

[@Veyrah64]

I've tried to switch to CS multiple times, I even made my own reshade preset that is quite popular on nexus, but I keep coming back to ENB. The contrast with vanilla is just insane. CS is growing quickly though, I often see new things being made, hopefully it will be able to properly compete with ENB in terms of visual fidelity. If I didn't have a beasty GPU though I'd definitely go with CS. CS > Low end ENB preset.

[@pseudo3857]

Exactly the kinda video I was hoping for! I was wondering how they look in comparison but didn't wanna go through all the trouble of testing that many different setups. So thank you for putting all that effort, so we don't have to. :D Dareni's Reshade preset looks really nice. I've been using PiCho ENB so far but will definitely give that one a go next time I'm starting from scratch. More FPS means more wiggle room for additional NPCs and script-heavy mods. Which water mod were you using in your video? Based on the name alone, I'm guessing Water for ENB won't look any good without actually using ENB, will it? Since CS also has complex parallax, I'm actually not so sure. Maybe it even works.

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Yay I love to hear that! So glad you found this video helpful :D Yes I was using Water for ENB and I think it doesn't look as it's supposed to, I need to check it out

[@pseudo3857]

@@BardsCollegeGraduate I did some more digging and it really doesn't look entirely right. Haven't tested alternatives yet but I think it'll come down to either Realistic Water Two + Skyland Watercolor or Simplicity of Sea + Cathedral Water Overhaul. Combined with Natural Waterfalls and Rally's Waterfoam they're probably gonna look decent as well. Still feels like a downgrade for sure, though, coming from Water for ENB. I did, however, see a preview post from doodlum (from back in July), showcasing water shaders with proper parallax, subsurface scattering and fresnel, so there's some hope he'll come up with his own water shader in the forseeable future.

[@_kmatt_]

I'd be curious about a follow up video looking at some of the new features released for CS. How do you think ENB and CS compare now?

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

You're right! It's just a bummer I already made this video when now there are so many new features, and waiting a bit would've been smart. Oh well xD

[@chrisw.7191]

Another fantastic video! I loved seeing the CS and the ENB's presented as well as hearing you explain them all. Well done!! Now previously you said that Rudy ENB with Cathedral Weathers was your go to choice and would probably never leave your load order. ;-) In fact watching your previous videos have me seriously considering Rudy ENB with Cathedral Weathers and Lux 6.0. The screenshots on the Nexus that showcase all those together simply look gorgeous. But is it possible that Klarity has won you over? Have years of great views and only decent FPS taken their toll? Especially if Klarity gives you a beautiful landscape and better FPS? Or is the love of Cathedral Weathers just too much? ;-)

[@BardsCollegeGraduate]

Hehe yes, these ENBs and CS presets were VERY tempting, and Rudy ENB is always my preferred one, right now I'm pretty sure I'll keep going with Cabbage for a while, as it is super pretty. :)

[@Night-Rider101]

Shiny armors thanks to Comm Shaders sold it for me

[@AmyraCarter]

8:04 I'd probably go with Rudy or SH2. ... I've not really used graphical enhancers (yet), but if I were to, I'd probably go with Klarity above all others, at least, with my current PC build being fairly low-end. I mean, it doesn't run THPS1+2 but at 10 FPS at best. Bad example, but yeah. ... Yeah, it's a game that was released the same year as GT5, and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The two aforementioned games even share a song in their OST, go figure. Eh, yeah. Gonna stop that tangent there. ... I recently acquired SE/AE (was playing LE for a while-still prefer LE FTR), and finally figured out which mods were keeping the game from running, but even then, I had to disable a lot of them just to start a new game. Ugh.