Endcliffe is the safe option, it's lively, everyone is there or nearby (Ranmoor, then Crookesmoor and Crookes if you have upper year friends), close to Broomhill which has a few shopping an eating options. Most of the accommodation is pretty modern and all of the older accommodation comes with massive rooms and a very strong community vibe.
With Endcliffe there is the risk of getting catered accommodation but as long as you can handle not cooking for yourself I wouldn't say it's too bad, at least when I was in it the food was reasonable and the trick was to get lunch and dinner on the card then breakfast and weekend lunches with cash. It's pretty nice not having to cook and it adds to the community because everyone eats together. The shared bathroom catered housing is lot better value than the normal en-suite rooms too as worst case scenario it's only about £200 more but you get the large majority of your meals covered, and in some cases it's actually cheaper before even considering meals. Because it's older accommodation you get larger rooms too unless you get stuck in Stephenson South Wing.
Ranmoor is the next option, it's still close to everyone or nearby but a little quieter, relatively close to Broomhill, modern accommodation. If you're on the east end of Ranmoor your commute to uni can be about the same as someone from the middle of Endcliffe. The downsides are that it is quieter and in general it is a bit further, in some cases you might want to consider a bike.
City is the third option. It's close to the uni and the city centre but it's not close to the other villages, and it will be an absolute trek for you to get to them as you won't be used to either the distance or the hills. A large proportion of it is in the modern Allen Court and now Sheffield 3, however some of it is in Broad Lane Court which is older and can be quite badly maintained. More internationals live in city so it is a bit quieter, or rather those gatherings will be less accessible by you, however more and more internationals are going into private halls now due to better value so it's less of an issue than it used to be and so City is still quite lively.