I built my PC a few years ago specifically to play Oblivion. I've done a few upgrades here and there but it is still pretty close power-wise to my original build.

It's done well with Oblivion and Fallout 3. Running them with no slow downs with enough FPS to use Qarls texture pack and natural environment mods.

I know there is no official system requirements out yet. But I'm wondering if anyone else out there are curiously looking into upgrading now that Skyrim has been announced? This is my system:

CPU: E8400 dual core at 3.0Ghz
GPU: NVIDIA GTS250 1GB GDDR3 (was originally a 9800gtx but it died)
4gb GDDR2 Ram at 800Mhz

It's pretty much mid-range now but it was the top of the line back when I built it. I'm assuming the average gamer on here has a build similar to this. Will you be upgrading? Or are you confident enough that this build will run the game fine?

Hopfully I can buy some new video cards. Problem is I'll be upgrading for deus ex 3 and don't want to have to upgrade again in 6 months.. Prosuming dx3 is delayed a bit.

Somehow I think upgrading for Deus Ex 3 will be enough for Skyrim.

Your PC's specs are fine, you won't need to do any upgrading. I have a similar system, Intel E8400 at 3.0 GHZ too, with a Asus P5Q Pro motherboard. Those two together are great for overclocking too -- but make sure to read a lot about that first.

The GTS250 will be fine enough, as it's a 'smaller' GTS260. Your hardware is still very high rate, since PC hardware has slowed down, really since 2007 or so. While the newest top-of-the-line is faster, Games and programs became much more optimised, as well as everything mostly becoming about lowering power usage and cost-reduction. (In other words, anyone running a NVIDIA 8800 GT or better, or a ATI HD3870 or better, wont really need upgrades).

I produced several Oblivion modding videos in the past years, always with the E8400 (and 8800 GT, then my current GT460). That includes CPU and GPU heavy mods and graphics.
It's a great processor, so I wouldn't replace or discard it just yet.

Hope that helps!


- JC

Hah, that's exactly the same system I have!

I am confident that mine/yours will run it just fine.

Best case scenario (for low power pc people)
Minimum:
Cpu, Athlon 64 or Intel Pentium 4 3.0ghz or higher.
1 gigabyte ram.
256mb Nvidia 6800gt or Ati X1800xl or higher video card

Worst case scenario (for low power pc people)
Dual core AMD Athlon 64 or Intel Core 2 duo 2.0ghz or higher.
1 gigabyte ram
256mb Nvidia 8600gt or AMD 2600pro or higher.

Recommended
Dual core AMD Athlon 64 or Intel Core 2 duo 2.0ghz or higher
2 gigabytes ram
512mb Nvida 8800gtx or Amd 3800hd or higher

Thanks a lot - that is a big help. Ever since I built this machine a few years ago I haven't kept myself updated on the latest hardware.

This sounds about right. I am fine with it

Check my sig.

I upgraded my old video card to my current one, and I saw about a 1-2 fps increase with the same settings and QTP3. About 40 average outside, 70 inside. Elder Scrolls games have thousands of scripts running in the background; when I upgraded to an i7, and overclocked it, fps shot up by about 20. I'm thinking Skyrim's going to be the same, if it's detailed. It'll have to process AI, weather, city mechanics, and factors influencing quests.

@ OP, I think you're good, but I'd overclock your processor. And if Skyrim's optimized for multiple cores (unlike Oblivion, I believe), I might even upgrade that processor. But then you'd have a new socket, and you'd need a new motherboard, and that'd be a real hassle.. It all depends on your graphical standards.

To be honest I've always been too scared to try overclocking it

I guess we will be fine. Running a bunch of mods for Oblivion myself , no problem.
...considering what people are saying about being able to play Skyrim on current consoles, why should we worry.
I am guessing current consoles are the benchmark for Skyrim?

Can't afford an upgrade, and this PC should be able to handle it anyway. I mean, I can run Crysis on max graphics settings.

That's a shame.. Core 2's overclock like a dream haha. If you PM me, I can hook you up with some great communities that give guides on really simple overclocking on stock cooling. But if you're just not interested that's okay too. Skyrim should run fine on your build

Oh I would like this, why don't you post here so that people can look up to?

Well http://forums.gametrailers.com/forum/gaming-hardware/485 is a surprisingly good community for this sort of thing. They took me from an inept-tinkerer to an experienced builder. I can dig up some of my old my old threads on overclocking.. but I'd recommend just grabbing a new account and making a new thread. Be polite, and they're more than willing to help. I'll post some overclocking resources too:

http://www.asusreviews.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=6

http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=9808&page=2

The key is to go at this gradually. Upping from 3.0 to 3.6 Ghz could be fine, but it could also mean BSOD on startup. The guides will tell you how to know when you've hit your threshold; however, my processor with its 3rd party cooling is far below its capabilities and I'm still very satisfied. Don't worry about the longevity of your processor; a full overclock could change its lifetime from 25 to about 18 years... A mild overclock would even be much less than that.

Well, if Skyrim is getting released on the XBox360 and PS3, then I don't imagine there will be too many needed upgrades, if any.