Skyrim: Upgrading my system (Help!) : V

» Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:48 pm

Greetings!

I’ve been a fan of the Elder Scrolls since Daggerfall and have been eagerly anticipating Skyrim. My computer will not run Skyrim, so I need to upgrade my CPU, Video Card, and Ram. I thought I would reward myself for finishing school buy upgrading my system and getting a copy of Skyrim. :banana: My system specs are:

OS: Windows XP 32 bit

Motherboard: Biostar TF720 A+

CPU: AMD Athlon? 64x2 Dual Core Processor 4800+, MMX, 3dnow (2cpus) 2.5 ghz

RAM: 1792mb

Video card: NVIDIA GeForce 8100/nForce 720a (512mb)

I don’t want to spend a fortune, but I would really appreciate some suggestions for upgrading my CPU, Ram, and Video card without buying a new motherboard. :sweat:

P.S. I have already visited the unofficial websites and ran the “can my system run Skyrim,” which is why I know my system wont. Lol. :confused:

Butsie

» Mon Jun 10, 2013 10:49 pm

http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1460497-the-community-tech-thread-no-127/

Go there for shopping help.

» Mon Jun 10, 2013 7:29 am

After giving it some thought, I wonder if I could just update my RAM and video card.

Does anyone know if Skyrim can run on a AMD Athlon? 64x2 Dual Core Processor 4800+, MMX, 3dnow (2cpus) 2.5 ghz?????

Butsie

» Mon Jun 10, 2013 9:48 pm

I would assume it can.

For a while, I played Skyrim quite passably on an old AMD FX-60, which had 2 cores at 2.2.GHz and made use of ~3GB of simple DDR RAM, and had Windows XP as its operating system. (No top-class shadows, though.) I also had an old GF8800GT with 1GB of VRAM.

But I would strongly recommend directing further questions to the stickied 'Unofficial "Will My PC Run Skyrim" Thread #62 w/ hardware guide' thread.

» Mon Jun 10, 2013 6:41 pm

Although dated the AMD Althon 64X2 4800+ is supported. I strongly recommend that you upgrade the CPU (and Motherboard) if you are upgrading other components. Even if you motherboard's socket type (AM2+) is compatible with AM3 processors doesn't mean the bios is compatible. If you put an unsupported CPU in the motherboard the system will not POST.

If you update your BIOS the motherboard will support up to the AMD Phenom II X4 945 (3GHz) which is an AM3 processor.

The problem lies in the fact that even the AMD Phenom II series is ancient and will be difficult to find at a reasonable price.

If you upgrade your RAM it is more cost effective to get DDR3 as its far cheaper than DDR2, however the motherboard can only use DDR2.

***

What is your budget?

Number one priority would be the graphics and then RAM.