Unofficial "Will My PC Run Skyrim" Discussion

Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:35 am

http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1226852-unofficial-will-my-pc-run-skyrim-discussion/

Spoiler
If anyone had a question from the previous thread that did not get answered before the post limit lockdown, feel free to repost it here.

This thread is the catch-all discussion thread for questions concerning computer hardware and its capability of running The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Please post all system spec queries here, as all other threads on this topic are liable to be closed.

The general rule of thumb here is that we are comparing the systems you post with the official system specs for the Xbox 360, which is the platform the game is primarily being designed for. These specs (in basic) are:

CPU: IBM Xenon @3.2GHz (Three cores)
Memory: 512Mb DDR3 (this memory is shared by the CPU and GPU and is bandwidth-accelerated by an onboard eDRAM chip)
GPU: Xenos graphics chip @ 500MHz
>DirectX 9.0c
>Shader Model 3.0
>No dedicated VRAM (it shares the system RAM)

What this means is that although the game will likely not be very demanding graphically (at least, before factoring in the increased texture resolutions and various other graphics features the PC gamers will get), it will likely put a heavy load on the CPU, and it is recommended to have at least a quad-core, although dual cores will probably not have too much issue so long as they have a reasonable clock speed (about 2.8 GHz on a modern dual-core should do).

We then take into account the fact that the game will likely not be as well optimized on the PC due to varying hardware setups. We also take into account the different optimization techniques required for PC setups due to the existence of, for instance, dedicated GPU memory. This means we are expecting Skyrim to require a decent processor of at least dual-core architecture with a reasonably fast clock speed, and GPUs with at least a 512Mb dedicated framebuffer and reasonable core clocks and memory clocks, as well as at least 4Gb of system RAM. If you meet these requirements, you should be able to run Skyrim; maybe not at the highest graphics settings without incurring a large performance hit, but you should be able to run it.

MODS EDIT:
General notice to begin with: at this point the system requirements are not yet known. Anything is speculation and conjecture at this moment. Asking about the requirements can yield an educated guess at best.

- From now on we're going to use this as the system requirement and speculation thread for both PC-systems and laptops.

- People can post questions related to their system in this thread.

- We'll also use this thread for general speculation regarding the anticipated and expected system requirements; be it minimum, recommended and optimum.

- This thread can also be used to ask about possible and potential upgrades that people plan or may want to make.

- Other threads will be closed and referred to this one. Once this reaches 200 posts, we'll continue in a new one and leave a link to the old thread.

- Once the official system requirements have been made public by Bethesda, we can change the topic to 'Will my system run Skyrim?'.

- Since this is unofficial, there are no guarentees and the administration may decide to change the course of this thread.

- We will appreciate it if you could link to this (and any subsequent) thread in new threads people make about hardware requirements. And, that you use the report fuction to report these new threads to the moderators.

Ok, let's see how it goes.

Thanks in advance.

Some handy charts to help show folks where their CPU's and Video cards fall in compared to others, I had posted these in the last thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-gaming-performance,3007-5.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html

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Marine x
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:54 am

Some handy charts to help show folks where their CPU's and Video cards fall in compared to others, I had posted these in the last thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-gaming-performance,3007-5.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html
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Chelsea Head
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:12 am

Some handy charts to help show folks where their CPU's and Video cards fall in compared to others, I had posted these in the last thread.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-gaming-performance,3007-5.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997-7.html


Cool, thanks! I will add to the OP :D
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Ross Zombie
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 1:48 am

Cool, thanks! I will add to the OP :D

Glad to help. :)

That is a Very Informative site, if you actually go poking around in to see what is all there, lots of other good stuff too.
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Lilit Ager
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:34 am

How does the ATI Radeon HD 5770 match up to other cards?
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Hussnein Amin
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:50 am

I'd love to have a PC that could play Skyrim but I don't have a clue where to look because most PCs sold by places like Dixons and PC world are overall rubbish unless you get the £1000+ ones.

Can anyone link me to a decent PC that could possibly play Skyrim without being too costly?
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kennedy
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:15 am

I'd love to have a PC that could play Skyrim but I don't have a clue where to look because most PCs sold by places like Dixons and PC world are overall rubbish unless you get the £1000+ ones.

Can anyone link me to a decent PC that could possibly play Skyrim without being too costly?

I understand building a PC or buying a refurbished one isn't as expensive. I bought mine from BestBuy.com. You could try Dell's factory outlet area on their website.

Somebody else could give you better advice though.
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Celestine Stardust
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 3:47 am

I'd love to have a PC that could play Skyrim but I don't have a clue where to look because most PCs sold by places like Dixons and PC world are overall rubbish unless you get the £1000+ ones.

Can anyone link me to a decent PC that could possibly play Skyrim without being too costly?



I understand building a PC or buying a refurbished one isn't as expensive. I bought mine from BestBuy.com. You could try Dell's factory outlet area on their website.

Somebody else could give you better advice though.

Yep, Dell refurbished have worked for me going on 11 years now.

The one I bought as refurbished and I still have up and running as my e-mail and messenger computer is a Dell Optiplex GX150, has a PIII 933mhz Coppermine Intel chip set, a 512mb vid card and 2 gigs of system ram.

I leave it on all the time and have been running it like that since 2000 when I bought it new.

So my expeience with them has been a good one, the computer I typing am on now is a Dell 8300 that I bought in 2004 and have ran the same way.

I am building this one now, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1224422-the-community-tech-thread-no-104/page__view__findpost__p__18499180, my first time to build one, I have only bought Dell's before.

I am buying everything from New Egg, they sell several brands of systems there already built, I don't know if it would be to far for you or not or if they have a set up where you live.

But you can get a good idea looking at what I am building and the whole systems they are selling there, and there are Good Folks that monitor this thread that can help you better than I am trying to do as well.

Keep checking back and they will read and respond, I hope this gives you some ideas and help though for sure. :).

EDIT:

I was talking to a guy buying in Pounds in the last thread too, this http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1226852-unofficial-will-my-pc-run-skyrim-discussion/page__view__findpost__p__18501129, maybe that will help you too. :)
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Dewayne Quattlebaum
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 11:40 am

Yep, Dell refurbished have worked for me going on 11 years now.

The one I bought as refurbished and I still have up and running as my e-mail and messenger computer is a Dell Optiplex GX150, has a PIII 933mhz Coppermine Intel chip set, a 512mb vid card and 2 gigs of system ram.

I leave it on all the time and have been running it like that since 2000 when I bought it new.

So my expeience with them has been a good one, the computer I typing am on now is a Dell 8300 that I bought in 2004 and have ran the same way.

I am building this one now, http://www.gamesas.com/index.php?/topic/1224422-the-community-tech-thread-no-104/page__view__findpost__p__18499180, my first time to build one, I have only bought Dell's before.

I am buying everything from New Egg, they sell several brands of systems there already built, I don't know if it would be to far for you or not or if they have a set up where you live.

But you can get a good idea looking at what I am building and the whole systems they are selling there, and there are Good Folks that monitor this thread that can help you better than I am trying to do as well.

Keep checking back and they will read and respond, I hope this gives you some ides and help though for sure. :).


Okay, cheers for the reply, I'll pop back now and then :biggrin:
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Jeff Tingler
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 1:06 am

Just gonna make sure:

Intel i7 2600K (I haven't overclocked it; I'll likely wait until warranty is out, and I 'm too lazy to upgrade)

8GB DDR3 RAM

GTX 570 1.28GB VRAM

I'll likely play it on my Corsair 64GB SSD

Windows 7 64-bit (Service Pack 1)


I'll undoubtedly be doing some heavy modding later on, although early it may just be menu and UI tweaks. Am I good?
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koumba
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 10:19 am

How does the ATI Radeon HD 5770 match up to other cards?


Better than mine :tongue:

I wish I was informative about other cards, as I only dealt with ATI/AMD, but when Googled that card and looked a different reviews and the like, it got some pretty good feedback. From the sites I saw, they said it runs quiet, cool and can play games like New Vegas on almost max.

Just gonna make sure:

Intel i7 2600K (I haven't overclocked it; I'll likely wait until warranty is out, and I 'm too lazy to upgrade)

8GB DDR3 RAM

GTX 580 1.28GB VRAM

I'll likely play it on my Corsair 64GB SSD

Windows 7 64-bit (Service Pack 1)


I'll undoubtedly be doing some heavy modding later on, although early it may just be menu and UI tweaks. Am I good?

I would say medium to high settings, even a highish
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Siobhan Wallis-McRobert
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 1:52 pm

How does the ATI Radeon HD 5770 match up to other cards?


The HD 5770 is about 50% faster than my HD 5670. Your card should run Skyrim at medium / high resolutions.

I recommend buying a 7770 (128bit) or a 7790 (256bit) when it arrives later this year :thumbsup:
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josh evans
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 12:02 pm

I would say medium to high settings, even a highish


I can't max it? Why not?
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Fanny Rouyé
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:29 am

What specs would I need to play the game on high?
Graphics card-wise.
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Da Missz
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 8:15 am

Better than mine :tongue:

I wish I was informative about other cards, as I only dealt with ATI/AMD, but when Googled that card and looked a different reviews and the like, it got some pretty good feedback. From the sites I saw, they said it runs quiet, cool and can play games like New Vegas on almost max.


I would say medium to high settings, even a highish

Should be better than that, that is basically what I am building but he has the next CPU up from mine, the Intel i7 2600K... lol
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Tom
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 12:38 pm

Should be better than that, that is basically what I am building but with the next CPU up from mine, the Intel i7 2600K... lol


If someone could tell me my shortcoming, I'd really appreciate it.

I thought I could easily max it.
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Josephine Gowing
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 6:06 am

How does the ATI Radeon HD 5770 match up to other cards?


I have this GPU, and with the rig in my sig I can run Crysis maxed out at 22fps.
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Jeffrey Lawson
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:45 am

If someone could tell me my shortcoming, I'd really appreciate it.

I thought I could easily max it.


You should be able to max it... Unless there's something I'm missing here?
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luis ortiz
 
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Post » Sat Sep 03, 2011 9:52 pm

I have this GPU, and with the rig in my sig I can run Crysis maxed out at 22fps.


22Fps max?

Well, buying a Radeon HD 7770 (128bit) or a HD 7790 (256bit) is a smart thing to do when it arrives later this year, or early 2012 :cool:
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Sheeva
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 5:22 am

If someone could tell me my shortcoming, I'd really appreciate it.

I thought I could easily max it.

Of course you can max it.
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Nauty
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 12:21 pm

You should be able to max it... Unless there's something I'm missing here?



Of course you can max it.


Thanks for reassuring me. I thought so too, but OP said I could only get medium to high.

I was just making sure.
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mimi_lys
 
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Post » Sat Sep 03, 2011 11:18 pm

If someone could tell me my shortcoming, I'd really appreciate it.

I thought I could easily max it.

I don't think you have any, shortcomings.

I think you will max it, that is what I am building mine to do with basically the same things, except I will have the Intel Core i5-2500K.

What motherboard do you have?
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The Time Car
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 2:20 am

I don't think you have any, shortcomings.

I think you will max it, that is what I am building mine to do with basically the same things, except I will have the Intel Core i5-2500K.

What motherboard do you have?


Gah, this is the one I can never remember. Let me browse NewEgg and see if I can find it.
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Taylah Illies
 
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Post » Sun Sep 04, 2011 7:48 am

Gah, this is the one I can never remember. Let me browse NewEgg and see if I can find it.


I have the ASUS P8P67 PRO (REV 3.0) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS, for mine, I bet you have the same one maybe, since I am building mine there too.. lol
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Isaac Saetern
 
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Post » Sat Sep 03, 2011 10:00 pm

22Fps max?

Well, buying a Radeon HD 7770 (128bit) or a HD 7790 (256bit) is a smart thing to do when it arrives later this year, or early 2012 :cool:


I run Oblivion maxed with Qarl's Texture Pack III and 147 other mods at 70fps though. But yeah, I'm definitely looking into upgrades. The 6870 looks nice.
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Adrian Powers
 
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