I think so too.

I'm especially curious to find out what properly supported Sandy Bridge can do when it comes out.
That CPU with right video-card and drivers will become a monster.

I wouldnt mind those requirements. Im good in everywhere but the video card. And ive been looking to invest in another one of those anyway

I'm very confidant that it will still use Havok engine. Saying "New engine entirely" doesn't give much wiggle room.



This is the way of it. I'm not certain there are currently games that actually require DX11 gfx cards. only that you can run the game in DX11 mode.

Just one question for anyone who knows stuff about CPUs. I have an Intel Core 2 Duo 6400 @ 2.13 GHz. Would this be something that could possibly cause performance issues with running my games? Do I really need to upgrade that certain puiece of hardware or not?

It's not quick by any stretch. historically speaking, Beths games do tend to run cpu intensive. probably will run it imo... how well and on what settings is another thing entirely.

I suppose Ob or F3 are the better indicators for hardware requirements. Obviously things can change, but if you can run either of those 2 to your satisfaction, then you might be fine.

My guess is that if a machine can run fallout new vegas in high settings, it will probably run skyrim fairly decently aswell.

I am really chomping at the bit to find out the recommended requirements for Skyrim. I think that is really the key. Let's not forget: the minimum system requirements for Morrowind were Windows ME/98 - 128 MB RAM Windows XP/2000 - 256 MB RAM, 500 MHz Intel Pentium III, Celeron, AMD Athlon or better processor, 8x CD/DVD-ROM Drive, 1 GB free hard disk space, DirectX 8.1 (included), 32 MB Direct3D compatible video card with 32-bit color support, DirectX 8.1 compatible driver, and Hardware Transform & Lighting support, DirectX 8.1 compatible sound card. Anyone ever tried to play Morrowind on a 500MHz PIII with a 32 MB TNT2 card? I play Morrowind on my laptop that has a 1.9 GHz Dual-Core AMD Turion 64-Bit CPU and an Nvidia 7000M mobile graphics card and 2GB RAM. That blows the minimum requirements out of the water. If I want to have a framerate above 8 when I wander around in Balmora, I need to take precautions first. I can't run the MGE, and I can't possibly run the game at 1200x800. I have to settle for 1024x768. (Ironically, I can run Oblivion at the same resolution and have a steady framerate of about 22-25! Although, I still need to take precautions before I run the game. My wife runs Sims 3 on the machine with no precautions at the monitor's maximum resolution.)

So, the minimum requirements for Skyrim, as far as I'm concerned, are meaningless. I will be building a new computer in 2011--a desktop--and the hardware that I'm going to need to run this game at decent framerates with a decent resolution is what I need to buy. Before, I was only thinking about making sure I got 60+ FPS in Oblivion. Now, I want that for Skrim. I hope the system recommendation is released soon. I'm going to start buying parts this spring.

It seems I chose a good time to get a new PC. But could somebody explain to me what the significance of cores is? My PC will have a Dual Core 3.2Ghz CPU would that be any different from a Quad Core 3.2Ghz CPU?

yes, think of it like this, if a program is coded well for multi threading, which most newer games are now and anything that comes out in the future need to be.. then it can take full advantage of multiple cores (threads) in a cpu. if a program is coded well enough, a quad core could have literally twice the performance of a dual core at the same speed. more cores = more things the processor can do at any given moment = better performance. You do have to take into account the architecture of the cpu when comparing a dual core to a quad core, but generally quad cores are faster across the board.

So it looks like I'll probably be able to buy a new comp if things go well and we get a bonus at work soon (which it's looking like we will). So here is what I'm thinking of buying (I need to keep my price tag at $1000 or less and I don't feel comfortable assembling a rig on my own) from ecollegepc.com:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2Ghz 6MB Cache FSB 4000MHz HT
Arctic Cooling ACALP64PWM Ultra Quiet Fan/Heatsink (not sure if I will need this or not)
ASUS M4A87TD EVO (AMD 870, 2xPCI-E, 6xSATA2, 4xDDR3)
4GB (2GBx2) PC3 12800 DDR3 1600Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty
1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache Serial ATA300 (Major Brand)
22X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero
1GB ATI Radeon HD5770 GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI (Major Brand) (I know it's not the cream of the crop but it seems to do well in benchmarks...plus I can always upgrade to a better card next year or etc)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
Acer 22in Black 1680x1050 LCD Flat Panel Monitor 5ms Widescreen DVI
Raidmax Black/Silver Skyline (5 5.25, 5 3.5) 3 Fans, Audio/USB
650watt Stock Supply
Onboard LAN included
Wireless B/G/N PCI Adapter
Onboard Sound included
Black PS2 Internet Keyboard
Black USB Optical Mouse with Scroll
120mm Case Fan

I'd appreciate any feedback on this that some of you tech savy guys can give. Good buy or am I getting screwed? The price tag looks to be slightly over $1000 for this rig. Is it a decent enough gaming rig to last me for a few years?

Minimum System Requirements
Windows 9
8Ghz Dual Core processor
14GB System RAM (XP) / 18GB System RAM (windows 9)
Direct X 9.0c compliant videocard with 2GB RAM (NVIDIA 15000 or better / ATI X4000 or better)


:P

My homebuilt pc was hot 5 years ago, so I fear I'll need to invest a few hundred in order to play V with the graphics pumped. But I got a little less than a year for the upgrade to happen, so I can be hopefull. :rolleyes: There's a few other new games my pc isn't able to play with pumped graphics that I'd like to.

I have 2.4 GHz Athlon 64, Nvidia Gforce 7800 with 2048 mb ram.

My guess is the min requirements won't be sky high, so pc's like mine might have a chance. But I hope that the max end of the graphics are beautiful, which probably also means high end hardware.
"Hello, may I please apply for a personal loan?" Haha.

They can do both. Lost Planet 2 has both a DX9 and DX11 executable. (You pick one when the launcher pops up.)

Ah, nice. I hope we'll have different executables to choose from then. I'd love to see Skyrim with a DX11 executable. My first hour of gameplay would then probably be me just standing on a cliff looking at the sights

My take purely for gaming capability:


AMD Phenom II X4 955 3.2Ghz 6MB Cache FSB 4000MHz HT

While better than the Athlon II X4, with your budget I'd cut the corner and put the money towards a better GPU.


Arctic Cooling ACALP64PWM Ultra Quiet Fan/Heatsink (not sure if I will need this or not)

If you are not Overclocking, you don't need it. It is not needed for overall playability, cores count more than clockspeed. Save $15 to put towards a better GPU.


ASUS M4A87TD EVO (AMD 870, 2xPCI-E, 6xSATA2, 4xDDR3)

Do you need 2-PCI-E? This would be for Crossfire [2- ATI Video Cards]. 2nd slot could also be used for a Dedicated Physx GPU, but you'll need hacked drivers if you want to do this with an ATI video card as your GPU. If you are fine with just one GPU and overclocking isn't very important, grab the cheaper MSI [Avoid ECS] and put the money towards a better GPU.


4GB (2GBx2) PC3 12800 DDR3 1600Mhz Memory Lifetime Warranty

RAM's Clock Speed doesn't really matter, especially over 1333MHz. Also, higher speed = higher latency which counteracts the small gains made from faster RAM. Grab the 1333MHz and save a few bucks here.


1TB 7200RPM 32MB Cache Serial ATA300 (Major Brand)

Nice HDD. You could save $21 towards a better GPU by getting the 500GB and adding another later on. Adding a HDD would be a good 1st project as it is not too complicated


22X LG SATA Dual Layer DVD+/-RW/CDRW w/Nero

1GB ATI Radeon HD5770 GDDR5 PCI-E DVI/HDMI (Major Brand) (I know it's not the cream of the crop but it seems to do well in benchmarks...plus I can always upgrade to a better card next year or etc)

I'd go with the HD6850, which if you get a 2 PCI-E mobo will allow for cheap Crossfire later on.... sometime around November. The 256bit bus allows for much better memory bandwidth than the 5770's 128bit.


Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

Acer 22in Black 1680x1050 LCD Flat Panel Monitor 5ms Widescreen DVI

Buy separately from Newegg and save $30-$50


Raidmax Black/Silver Skyline (5 5.25, 5 3.5) 3 Fans, Audio/USB

NXZT M59


**********650watt Stock Supply**************

DO NOT BUT QUESTIONABLE POWER SUPPLIES. I've encouraged you to cut every possible corner so that you can better where it counts... there is no corner to cut here. OCZ is not terrible, but Antec is much better for just a little money, so get the EA650.

A CHEAP PSU CAN KILL YOUR OTHER PC COMPONENTS!! ...I doubt that PSU is capable of 500w, much less 650w and I doubt it has any overvoltage protection.

Onboard LAN included
Wireless B/G/N PCI Adapter
Onboard Sound included
Black PS2 Internet Keyboard
Black USB Optical Mouse with Scroll
120mm Case Fan

Thanks TheGreatSquare, that answers a lot of questions.

This. I really hope it can use DX11, I mean look at how awesome it is compared to older versions.

http://battlefield3forum.net/media/directx-11.jpg
http://areacellphone.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/directx11.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_3oLB6Otdlcs/TKc1CNt6xuI/AAAAAAAAIc4/XLGQRRsii6Q/s1600/dx10-vs-dx11.jpg
http://cybernetnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/directxflightsimulator.jpg (DX11 is on the bottom)

(I know none of those pictures are TES related, but it shows off how great DX11 is)

As for the actual requirements, I have no clue. I just hope I can play it maxed out.

Modern PCs whip the PS3 and Xbox 360, but in any case The Xbox 360 uses a three core PowerPC (ironic considering Apple used PowerPC for many years and no longer does) processor running at 3.2Ghz (each core able to do tasks equally) and graphics hardware slightly more powerful than the ATI/AMD X1900 with 512MB GDDR3 RAM. The PS3 uses the more unique Cell processor, Wikipedia says 3.2Ghz but it is not like a seven core 3.2Ghz processor. I don't remember exactly how many cores it uses, but it has eight physically, but one of them isn't used and one of them might be reserved for the PS3's OS if I recall correctly (which I might not be). In the end though a program has to be specifically written to take advantage of this. For example the Cell can be used as a secondary graphics card, offloading some of the work from the system's GPU. The Cell is a reason third party developers were slower to release games on both the Xbox 360 and PS3, since the more complicated architecture is harder (and hence more expensive) to take advantage of, even if it is technically slightly more powerful than the Xbox 360. The PS3 has 256MB of RAM and 256MB of graphics specific RAM (512MB total).

Keep in mind though that hardware doesn't look impressive those systems are designed for games and only games and don't have a bloated Windows OS hogging system resources. In addition the games are made knowing the exact system requirements, so they can program them to run exactly as well as they can without worrying about varying hardware on the PC. What this means is you will see better graphics from the consoles than from PCs running for example a three core 3.2Ghz processor with the 7900GTX with 512MB of shared RAM.


Wow... the water is meh to me, I see a little difference but the other two. The guy on the right looks real to me. I've never had a video game character actually look real to me. That is just crazy. I know we probably can't expect that kind of graphics in a game for quite some time since I'm sure he's a tech demo, but that is nuts. For the third one, I'd rather walk on the grass than the cool looking lumpy DX11 one (looks cool, but makes my feet hurt looking at it).

Yeah, the water still isn't the best. I found another picture that shows off better water.

Yeah that new one is impressive. It's going from "wow those are awesome graphics" to that looks real. I wasn't saying the first example was bad looking of course, just it wasn't as much of a jump as the others. Thanks for the examples. Maybe TESVI will do stuff like this (and I will be pleasantly surprised if the PC version supports some of it for TESV).

I think I should be able to do pretty well with my x2 5870's.

I'll probably buy a new comp when Skyrim is released, if it looks amazing and therefore requires a good comp.

Right now I got Quad 2.33 Mhz, GTX 260, 4G ram, windows 7 64 bit.

So most likely I'll buy a new comp entirely, which I hope to be like 1500$ to not become too expensive and too lousy.

Skyrim needs be on Mac OS X and Windows not just Windows.

The newer smaller manufacturing processes don't make things cheaper. Newer architecture is still more expensive. Unless you meant older stuff will get cheaper because newer stuff is being released.

You'd get away with just a new GPU.




Ati's 6-series is the new architecture, the 7-series is the die-shink with maybe some minor tweaks. The 7-series is due out this summer, depending on how smooth production goes. Also, there should be a few months between the release of the 7-series and that of Skyrim, so it should be less than launch price.

Who knows...if you wait you might find Skyrim bundled with the GPU.