You and I both know you're not a PC gamer at heart.

You do realize there is more than one game for pc right? /smart ass comment
But yeah if you really only want to enjoy one game to the fullest it may not be worth it. If you're going to get one it will be an investment you'll want to make use of for more than one game or it's not worth it, you'll want to pretty much replace your console if you're going PC (except for console exclusives of course).

if a 5 year old console can run skyrim you can run it with a semi-good computer i think

THERE IS!!!!!!!
Its gonna take me a while to take this all it. My world has been flipped upside down
/Smart ass comment

Ya. But I really dont want any other games. I'd still like to get a PC that can run games, unlike the [censored] one I use now.

IKR???!!! lol

btw sometimes it's as simple as a hardware upgrade so you might not need a whole new computer, mine only needed a new GPU+a power supply that could run it and now I can max most of my games and it only cost me ~$160 cdn. Sorry if that sounds like just a childish suggestion, I don't know what your knowledge concerning hardware is though

Bethesda always ships the high end textures for PC. If you can afford a good system, or buy it piece by piece over a few months like I did then yes, switch to pc. P.S. you wont want a console controller ( and yes, there are many good pc versions available) when you get used to the mouse and putting the crosshair exactly where you want it!

Well it's a family pc. I'd like to get my own computer. And my knowledge is like [insert simile here]. Nonexistent

If you were looking for a general comparison of what the 360 graphics can look like at max compared to what graphics on the PC can look like: http://oi56.tinypic.com/105trmu.jpg

I tried to recreate as best as I could what the graphics would look like on the 360 using the following settings:

1600x900 resolution (a bit higher than it's 1280x720)
4x AA
Shaders Low
Tessellation Disabled
DX9

PC settings were as follows:

1600x900 resolution
8x AA
Shaders High
Tessellation Normal (halfway between off and max)
DX11

I could have compared a game that is on both the 360 and PC, but I am not aware of any such game that would allow me to add things such as DX11 tessellation. So I went with the Unigine Heaven DX11 Benchmark due to it's large range of settings that allowed me to attempt a recreation of the typical 360 look, as well as having the option to show off a little bit of what PC's can do.

I don't think it just depends on the game or the cost. It really depends on the person also. I have a pc and Xbox, and to be honest it just doesn't feel right for me on pc. My Xbox just feels right for games. However I am not into mods so for some that could also be a deal breaker.

All found at newegg.com I would go PC for a RPG game... Look at dragon age with the 360 port and you will see what im saying.

BTW I only go intel/nividia parts. I like them better than AMD and ATI. Bad experinces with parts but thats just me its differnt for other people though and some of these parts I have on my rig. I can afford this rig some may not but theres months of saving and you will have to think on how much you want a computer. A side note STAY AWAY FROM EXTREME GEAR! its extreme fail. Horrible parts. I found out to late dont make the same mistake.

PSU COOLER MASTER Silent Pro M700 RS-700-AMBA-D3 700W ATX12V V2.3 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply I recomend 700 watt or more.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817171037&cm_re=power_supply-_-17-171-037-_-Product


Palit NE5X56TS1102-1140F GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) SONIC 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814261101

Intel Core i7-2600K Sandy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I72600K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

or (K series is good for overclocking)

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072

MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130573&cm_re=p67_motherboard-_-13-130-573-_-Product

Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model KHX1600C9AD3K2/4G
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104223

COOLER MASTER V6 GT RR-V6GT-22PK-R1 120mm DynaLoop CPU Cooler w/ Universal bracket & Dual Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103089

COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119227

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit 1-Pack - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116992&cm_re=windows_7_64_bit_professional-_-32-116-992-_-Product

All this for $1019.93 Excluding shipping and rebates.

Options. You dont need a DVD/CD RW drive as you have one but you may. so thats another 25-30 dollars. You dont need a moniter because you have one. you dont need another HD because you have one. But you may need one if its not a SATA III. Additional fans 15+. Keyboard and mouse you dont need them you allready have them.

Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136073&cm_re=500_gig_hard_drive-_-22-136-073-_-Product

COOLER MASTER Megaflow 200 R4-LUS-07AB-GP 200mm Blue LED Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103073&cm_re=200mm_fan-_-35-103-073-_-Product

SAMSUNG Black 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner LightScribe Support - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188&cm_re=lightscsribe-_-27-151-188-_-Product

$1129.99 (2 additional fans added to case.)

I did this quick and dirty you can build one way way cheaper With other parts like a cheaper videocard mobo PSU etc.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
My system is. And it runs almost everything at max settings except Shogun 2 Its odd I can play starcraft2 and all the latest games on max but not that one. Around the same Price as above.

OEM INTEL I7-2600K 3.40 GHZ 8M LGA
30GB KINGSTON 2.5 IN SATA SSD MLC
1TB WESTERN DIGITAL SATA III 6GB/S 7200RPM 64MB CACHE
250 WESTERN DIGITAL SATA III (its from my old PC)
KINGSTON HYPER X DDR3/1600MHz 2 GB ME X4
BLUE CASE FAN 120MM W/LED
XTREME GEAR 120MM WATERCOOLER WITH Push pull fans. LED
ENERMAX MARATHON ENLOBAL BEARING FAN X2
ENERMAX UC-12EB 120MM BLACK CASE FAN
BLACK COOLERMASTER ELITE 430 W/WINDOW
BLUE COLD CATHOD LIGHT 12
Samsung lightscribe (same as in the link
LG DVD/CD RW drive
12-IN-ONE INTERNAL CARD READER
MSI P67A-GD55 (B3) INTEL P67 2WAYS SLI
XTREMEGEAR 950 WATT POWER SUPPLY
PALIT GTX560 TI 1GB SONIC GDDR5 PCI-E

IM replacing all extreme gear products and will cost another 2-300 and by the time skyrim comes out ill have a 590 3t card.

Depends on the particular game's implementation. I use my PS3 controller for GTA4 and it feels identical to console, other than the lack of sixaxis support which I don't use anyway. And that's with a controller that doesn't have an official driver, unlike the 360 controller.

It seems some people are going overkill on their rigs.
A friend of mine runs Oblivion on full settings (8xAA, 1280x1024) with extra texture pack mods and never has any performance issues. He achieves this with just a 9500gt, 2gb drr2 and a 3ghz dual core proc.
I can't understand why people spend hundreds of dollars on a gtx580 when almost nothing can fully utilise its power. Buy a lesser card or wait for top end cards to come down in price, buying new top end cards has always and will always be a waste of money.

Well there's your problem. I play games at 1920x1200, and I need it to run at at least 50fps to avoid headaches after ~30 minutes of playing. Resolution and framerate are the two biggest reasons I prefer playing on pc. 580 is overkill on all except the most demanding games, but it's nice to know that you have a bit more power than is needed so that you will be able to run future games at desirable settings/resolution.

I can't immerse myself in PC games so I prefer console gaming. But if you like PC gaming and have the funds required to create a PC gaming experience that can atleast rival that of console gaming then go for it. Mods are worth it but I would suggest you play it first without them.

If bethesda's talks with microsoft involving mods are a success, I'd say to stick with the 360. If not, get it for PC (or PS3 if sony agrees instead).

If you have about 600 quid to spend on a desktop, yes.

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/ is amazing for custom desktop building, if you need any help just hit me up with a PM.
For 600 quid, you can get a comp with a i3-2100 CPU, ATI 5770 GPU, 2GB DDR3 RAM, which will run skyrim near max/max, and that price is including a 19 inch screen and the case.

Even if Bethesda is successful in convincing Microsoft/Sony to allow user mods, you still have the hardware to contend with. Skyrim is going to be pushing the console hardware very hard, and it's not likely to have much wiggle room before hitting some hardware limits. You won't see anything like Oblivion's QTP3, Unique Landscape, or RAEVWD mods getting to the consoles for Skyrim... they simply require too many resources that the consoles just don't have. The PC would still be your best option for mods, as you can always upgrade (now or in the future) to meet the mods' demands. Additionally, some special types of mods, like OBSE, OBGE, and MCP, will require a level of access that you will not ever get with consoles.

To put it more succinctly, imagine if Microsoft allowed mods for Morrowind on the Xbox. There'd be no way in [the Deadlands] you'd get http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r6hilB6Dlc running on it... while any decent PC in the last 5 years will be able to benefit from many parts of it.

Play it on the platform you enjoy the most. I'm generally a PC gamer (WoW, Civ, etc.) and built a gaming rig last summer and upgraded to a GTX 560 video card last month. But I'm going to play Skyrim on the 360. Why? Because I played Oblivion on both the 360 and PC and enjoyed the experience more on the 360. Bethesda did a surprisingly good job bringing RPG mechanics to the console. That got even better with Fallout 3, and it's going to be much better on Skyrim with the two-trigger combat system.

And even though I've got a 22" monitor on my gaming PC, epic games are even better on a 58" plasma with 5.1 surround cranked up loud. Sure, you can hook a PC to your home theater, but why bother if you've already got a console. And if you prefer the 360 controller to mouse and keyboard, why spend the cash to play it on a PC?

sure...if you want to pay for your mods.....

hmmmm...is this more of Microsoft wanting to conquer the world? Did they approach Bethesda and talk about mods because they want a piece of that so-far free community action? Now I'm concerned. Please don't, Bethesda.

Except that it has been confirmed that Skyrim won't have tessellation included, so your comparison isn't really accurate. Only DX11 performance features will be used in the PC version, none of the graphic enhancements. And frankly, looking at that roadway, I'm not sure I'd even want to use tessellation. Those road stones look very unnatural to me.

Wow that is quite a difference.

Short answer, yes.

Long answer, mods are are worth it if you can afford the price of a new PC. You should not do it if it's just for Skyrim, but as an investment to start playing more games on the PC.

I repeat, do not do it for one game. A PC is a console all of its own and a multifunctional device to do work or other activities on. Don't let it enter your mind that you just want to play a single game on it or use it for games exclusively.

what was the last thing M$ gave it's user community for free?

darn tootin' wow.

that's not even a really high rez pc shot so as to give an even comparison to the xbox. couple issues with the pc shot though. the lamp post throws a fairly long steep shadow but there are other things in the shot that don't throw the same shadow (grass across the street). also, if i were walking that road i'd rather walk on the one in the xbox shot! ouch! LOL