More than enough speed for Skyrim

But then I'd have to buy a new motherboard that can run two GPU's at once in x16/x16 plus get a copy of Windows 7 (mine shipped with the OEM version). So in my case, getting a 6870 is the best option.

That's not an article, it's an opinion, there's no factual information whatsoever.

The only game I'll upgrade my PC for is Skyrim. This approach saved me a lot of bucks (or Euro's to be more precise) :happy:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 4400+ 2,2GHz
512mb NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS
1440x900 lcd
2gb ram
Windows 7 32bit

I realize this build is a bit dated, and I am planning to upgrade soon(ish), but it runs most new games. So, it should run Skyrim, yes?

Yeah, but upgrade your graphics card and mem (4Gb) first

Which what you said is an opinion as well right?

Matter of fact I can't find anything to disprove it either way.

Both sides claim Victory:

http://www.gamespot.com/forums/topic/28773328/amds-upcoming-8-core-bulldozer-gaming-cpu-beats-intels-best-cpu-sandy-bridge

But if the first article is correct with what it says about the Fused Multiply Add (FMA) instruction set, it does not matter if you have 8 cores or not, when this is true, "which is likely to capture barely a fraction of 1% of the total installed number of CPUs during its lifetime".

I think that is pretty low myself, I don't have facts on that so I will give them 10% lifetime, even doing that they will still have problems writing their own instruction sets when nobody is willing in great numbers to make things to use them.

You said, "That's not an article, it's an opinion, there's no factual information whatsoever." what Factual information do you have to the contrary?

I have looked and all I can find is one side or the other saying I am better than you are, with me siding with Intel due to the proprietary use of FMA for AMD.

I am not saying I am right, I just can't find anything to change my mind, I could be wrong.

dutch666's recommended PC spec's for Skyrim for a good price:

By the way:

1. using http://www.iobit.com will speed up your PC a bit.

2. if it's possible for you to use another [older] PC(*) for your internet activities, makes installing Anti Virus software unnecessary on your gaming rig (which speeds up your PC: :tes: )

(*) I use a P4 @ 2.4 Ghz, with 1280Mb RAM and 40Gb HDD for internet only :wink_smile:

What AV do you recommend? I use AntiVir at the moment

Just use CCleaner and the normal windows defrag. Don't waste your money on software that promises to "speed up" your PC. Useless junk designed to empty your wallet.

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security_essentials/SystemRequirements.aspx: this AV uses only 256Mb RAM (windows XP) and runs on a ancient P3 500Mhz



The Lite (free) version does miracles in a lot of situations (and that's the version I use)

Using CCleaner for cleaning up, and defragmenting your HDD regularly is highly recommended indeed!

CCleaner ftw!

Is the AV you mentioned free? Also should I just start using my Windows 7 defragmenter instead of Smartdefrag?

MS Security Essentials is freeware :happy:

I defragment my HDD with http://www.piriform.com/defraggler, but W7's defragmenter is just as good

Thanks!

I love piriform and forgot about Defraggler, so I am making that switch and the AV switch too

Bloatware, in my experience. It doesn't catch any of the nasty stuff, ever. Meanwhile, try making a blank document titled Keygen.txt and rename it to Keygen.exe and MS Security Essentials will freak out even though the file is completely inane. Got rid of that and have been satisfied with SuperAntiSpyware. Most nasty stuff collects in and starts off in %LocalAppData%\Temp\Cookies and %AppData%\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Cookies, from what I've seen after scans found legitimate threats. After SymLinking those locations to Z:\Nowhere, I've not found any mal/spyware...

Demonstrative (and embarrassing) short story: With MS Security Essentials, I somehow caught an email worm which resulted in my Yahoo sending out viagra spam to friends and family. Reinstalled Windows and it happened all over again until I was about to never touch the internet with Windows again. As a last ditch effort, I took my grandfather's advice and tried SuperAntiSpyware. Since making said switch, there's been no more spam from this one's email.

To bring it back home: If running something in the background to protect your computer at the expense of your rig's resources which you'd rather leave for Skyrim, at least use something which will do its job (not MS Security Essentials).

Hey guys, this thread is for Skyrim hardware/software related questions, not really for discussion about which AV to use or how best to defrag your harddrives.

eh nevermind

@ Umrahel: You do understand that defragmenting HDDs and NOT using any AV on our gaming rigs, does speed up (FPS wise) our combined Skyrim experience?

at least, that's the thing I was writing about.. :whistling:

But JustinOther Re: was off-topic indeed :rolleyes:

Hello Bethesda forums! My question is not really a "will my pc run skyrim" as I already know it will not and am going to get a video card.

However, I have recently started college and parents are getting me a laptop for school so I was wondering if you could give me some suggestions.

first, I want to run Skyrim on AT LEAST high graphics, if not max.

2nd, I am a student learning character art, and so I will need something with some serious power, enough to run blender and make a high quality sculpt at 7-8 subdivisions and still have enough ram left for hair particles.

third, I want something that is as durable as possible (laptops are not known to be durable) and should last me through 4 years of college (and games)

If possible, I would like a machine from a local store (bestbuy, office depot, something like that) although I will order one if I have to.

it may be superstition because I do not know brands well, but I prefer HP computers so far. I will not touch a dell for fear of it blue screening on me though. ( I have gone through about 5)

any suggestions will be helpful, thank you!

As I posted earlier...

dutch666's recommended PC spec's for Skyrim for a good price:



:)

Fast gaming laptops are way too expensive :blink:

Does an HD 7790 even exist yet?

Here is the deal currently I am running on an almost five year old computer I can run most games that I play at high settings, The GPU is more current being a ATI 5770, however the rest is
Dual core 2.4Ghz
4g ram
HDD 225G (only have 20 left >.<)
windows 7 64 bit

My prime concern is the ram and processor being that those are really what is old. However I was looking into getting a computer for around $600 and swapping my GPU into the new comp.
Specs for new comp:

same GPU.
Quad core 3.0Ghz
8g ram
HDD 1.5 TB
windows 7 64 bit

My Ultimate question, is it worth it? Should I just run the computer I have until it is a MUST that I switch or should I just go with how I feel and get a brand new baby. I have taken care of this computer but I am starting to feel like I should upgrade. Any opinions would be appreciated.

Install Skyrim and see for yourself how it runs...

@ MrBigglesworth: The AMD Radeon HD 7790 (or faster) will be available at the end of this year, or early 2012

The more expensive 7850 will be released first though...