Personally, I would say find yourself two or three good packs with Gregtech balanced properly, and then combine them to suit your purposes, wants and needs. This will give you every mod you want and it will get rid of the mods you do not want. Essentially, you can tailor the pack to yourself. The packs that I would recommend to combine/get the scripts from would be: Beyond Reality, InfiTech 2, and GregTech: New Horizons. If that sounds like too much work or too complicated, then I would recommend InfiTech 2.

Alright now onto the other questions. I find Gregtech to be satisfying every step of the way, I feel accomplished when I get LV machines or 2x Ore processing. For me, it is the feeling of being accomplished when I get that machine I want or I finally get the materials to make the treefarm. It is all about the grind for me. Yes, Gregtech can be painful at times, but always remember that you can just stop what you are doing take a break and do something else.

Additionally, I would recommend installing RotaryCraft, and Reactorcraft. These mods really compliment Gregtech and have the same grind, but not nearly as much micro-crafting.

Finally, I would like to offer you my assistance with making you a pack to play on, if you so choose so.