Greetings all, I've been contemplating getting Skyrim for the PC after having played it on the 360 since release. I'm curious to know how well my current PC will be able to run it since i've been disappointed before with my systems performance with other games that according to system requirments should of been well and prepared for. I'm planning on replacing hardware later this year anyway in preperation for ESO but for the time being I'd like to have something to invest my free time in when I have it and with the direction consoles have been heading I'm fairly certain I'll be fully PC gamer in the coming generation. Besides there is alot of user created content that I'd like to experience that I cant on 360 thank you all for any constructive input you can provide.

Summary
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.00GHz 48 °C
Wolfdale 45nm Technology
RAM
4.00GB Dual-Channel DDR2 @ 399MHz (6-6-6-18)
Motherboard
alienware alienware (Socket 775) 42 °C
Graphics
SyncMaster (1680x1050@60Hz)
1024MB GeForce GTX 460 SE (EVGA) 32 °C
Hard Drives
233GB Seagate ST325041 0AS SCSI Disk Device (SATA) 30 °C
Optical Drives
HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GSA-H55N ATA Device
Audio
Realtek High Definition Audio

(I used Specy to compile that list so if theres any information that is not listed that is need to determine compatibility let me know and I will look)

You will be able to play the game. On High Settings, maybe some settings on Ultra.

You will probably not be able to use the HighRes Texture pack. Nor will you be able to install many custom highres texture packs. Your videocard (the gtx460) has only 1 GB of videoram. That's more than enough to run the vanilla game (and the official DLCs if you wish). You can add a bunch of addons, but not the heavy texture packs.

I used to play myself on a E8500 with a gtx260. The game ran fine at 1920x1200. 25 fps on the stairs in Whiterun, and a few other heavy spots. But usually it would run 30-40 in cities, 40-50 outside, and 50-60 inside houses and dungeons. I played on Ultra settings, with only MSAA set to 4x, the rest set to max. I had a few addons installed, like W.a.t.e.r, the Flora overhaul, etc. But nothing really heavy.

You have a gtx460 in stead of a gtx260, so your framerates might be a bit higher even. According to my standards, the game will run fine, and look pretty good. Imho, there is no reason not to buy it. Hope this helps.

I appreciate it becaue they just announced there version of the GoTY edition which really piqued my interest alongside all the streaming of skyrim on the PC I end up watching. Closer to the release of ESO i'm probably going to practically end up building a new PC with replacing my Motherboard, CPU, ram and video card the only thing that wont be getting replaced it the power supply which is a 750 watt which everyone keeps saying is a bit overkill unless your running SLI/Crossfire.

@Tsukasa117:

You could upgrade to 8 GB Ram and/or 2GB Videcard. Then you probably need a new power supply (about 550W - depends on the videocard of course). On the back of the powersupply / back of your computer) it should be noted how much effect your supply has. Mine is TX650 = 650W. New fittings/hardware may not work together with old computers, so it's up to you and your size of the wallet. I play Skyrim on Intel i5-2320 3.00GHz, 8GB Ram and 2GB Videocard (old ones 1GB worked as well). This computer I will have for a long time now. I do have options to upgrade more ram and 4GB Videocard, but I have bills to pay and expensive wife ....

Soon it will be releasing games that probably need 8GB ram and at least 2GB videocard so you may save money until the day you need a brand new computer. No one (except some "high end" devs at Beth knows what spec next Fallout game demands).

Cheers,

KK

I don't think your processor is nearly powerful enough to maintain a decent fps at ultra settings, which stems from it being a console port. Skyrim also aggressively removes textures and meshes from your RAM, including your weapons. Your slow DDR2 RAM might not be able to transfer textures fast enough when switching weapons, which will make your game freeze for several seconds. You can definitely make the game playable with a few performance-enhancing mods, but don't expect it to look like all the PC screenshots floating around. Your GPU won't be a bottleneck, so if you're planning on upgrading I'd start with the CPU and RAM. Wait until Haswell if you can.