Here are my specs, but I am sure it can run the game just fine.

---
1. Processor - AMD Phenom x6 3.2GHz
---
2. Memory(RAM) - 4GB
---
3. Video card - Nvidia GeForce GTX460
---
4. Operating System - Windows 7
---

And this is for my secondary computer for which I don't think it will run too well.
---
1. Processor - Something 2.4GHz dual core
---
2. Memory(RAM) - 2GB
---
3. Video Card - Raedon 4650HD
---
4. Operating System - Windows xp

first one will max it pretty easily...second one might give mediumish settings.

The card is good, but your CPU is not a good match for it. It will hold that card's performance back. With a E4600, I personally wouldn't get more than a Radeon 5670 and this card runs on pretty lowly 300W PSUs if that's what you got.

If you want that Radeon 6850, should have a better CPU. However, depending on your motherboard's CPU compatibility list....this may end up meaning a new motherboard and RAM too.




It's a tough call tbh. This 6470m Seymour Dual is rather rare and I haven't seen any benches for it. A single 6470m is a low performance card, so even with the additional help...don't see more than medium if even that. The X360 just might still be better graphically.




Mediumish is good to start.




The first could run it...medium-highish if that's a Radeon 4870, medium for 4850. The second is max capable.




I'm not sure what your concern is here....

LGA 1155 is less than a year old, so what is your definition of "new"? The board you got is an H61 chipset board...the only glaring limitation with it is that it doesn't allow overclocking the CPU. It supports all the latest Sandybridge CPUs and likely will support Ivy Bridge 1155 chips when they come out next year. So what's the big deal?

Low to Medium settings with what CPU and video card? This is more the areas where a component won't last long for future games. What do you have?

It's a pain, but even I do it just to avoid future headaches. Different board, different drivers, different BIOS, etc. And besides, reformatting will likely make the Windows run faster than you currently have it. I recommend it. Can it be done without doing so? There are guides out there showing you how, but I've always ran into issues at some point.

buying a gaming laptop, just wondering how close to max I can get.
Laptop specs are:

proc: i7 2760qm
gpu: ati 6990m 2 gig
memory: 16 gb
hdd: 750 gb

resolution: 1080p

You should get pretty close... if you don't max it outright.

how much?

Close equivalent to desktop Radeon 6870 card. Should max it.

I've asked about this same system before, but it shouldn't hurt asking again. Different people, different views. So tell me: will I be able to enjoy Skyrim?

Intel Core i5 650 (2 x 3,2 GHz)
6 GB DIMM DDR3
Ati Radeon HD 5570
Windows 7

Oh ya you will run Skyrim, do not worry

Thanks! Someone told me my video card would be the weak link, forcing me to play Skyrim on medium settings. Although I don't expect to be able to play the game maxed out, I'm still wondering what it will look like. But I guess we don't know for sure yet! At least I know I can play Oblivion fluently at almost max settings, as well as Fallout 3. Could be better, but I'm not complaining.

You may be right, somewhere around medium to medium-high, but keep in mind that Skyrim should not be too demanding, and the specs should be very close to FO3/NV. Also, the engine should be better coded so it will be optimized better

Should look like a console if not slightly higher so you don't really have anything to lose.

Thanks guys! Nothing to worry about.

Here are my specs:

Windows 7 64bit
Phenom ii x2 555 black 3.2 ghz, with 2 extra cores unlocked (4 total) and oc'ed to 3.6 ghz
8 gigs ddr3 1333 memory
Radeon HD 4830
1680 x 1050 native resolution

How will the rig work? I am thinking of upgrading the gpu to a 6870 sometime soon as well.

About 2300

More inclined to say medium settings at best.




Do the upgrade and get maxed.

Your graphics card wasn't intended to Max Out any games. It's a BUDGET part, for medium performance, not better than that, and not even at screen resolutions that are beyond the middle of Medium. It can equal anything a console can do, but it just didn't cost enough to earn any kind of superlative comments. The only reason it can handle Medium two years after it was new is because the console producers are reluctant to move onward from their current stuck in the mud six year stasis.

If the consoles do not change, then gaming will have to leave them behind fairly soon.

This is only partially true. It's very dependent on how much the game utilizes the CPU which could include any amount of AI, physics and some graphics. Most multi-core CPUs can handle most modern games just fine. Exceptions would include X3 Terran Conflict (extreme amount of AI running in the background), Neverwinter Nights 2 (poorly optimized, too many graphics being dumped on the CPU) and certain parts of Oblivion that weren't optimized very well (waterfront with lots of NPCs wandering around).

Thanks. A little bit more info about my system to perhaps help someone looking to upgrade. I had originally bought it at a sale when they were getting rid of all the old XP system and coming out with the Vista systems, this was back in 2007 I think. It was a Athlon 64 x2 Dual 2 Ghz. I added the 4830 GPU and added 2 gigs of ram for 3 gigs of Ram total to max out Oblivion (also added a 600 watt PSU). That has lasted me just fine the past four years, but have been wanting to upgrade the CPU, but my mobo would not support AM3. I was going to originally build a new rig, but after I needed to get some emergency repairs on my car I didn't really have any money left, so I was left with upgrading my system. I had a $100 credit with Newegg and decided all I really could afford at the moment was a new budget Mobo and CPU. Here is the Combo at Newegg for a Mobo and the CPU for about $133:
AMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition Callisto 3.2GHz Socket AM3 80W Dual-Core Desktop Processor - C3 Revision HDZ555WFGMBOX
BIOSTAR A880G+ AM3 AMD 880G HDMI Micro ATX AMD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.726708

Add 8gigs of ddr3 1333 mem for $44 bucks:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231424

Total price tag to upgrade was a little over a hundred bucks (including an after market fan to oc the CPU.)

So if anyone has a similar rig like mine and looking to upgrade here's a very cheap option. In a couple months when I get the money I plan on getting a Radeon 6870 GPU for probably around $160.

Building or upgrading existing system is easy peasy, I'm not a technie nerd, but there's plenty of info on the internet. Here is a really nice video that helped me understand the workings of changing out the Mobo and CPU:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls&feature=feedlik

Would Skyrim not be such a game with lots of AI and NPCs walking around? I would expect it to be.

But I was speaking about the CPU in regards to the video card in general...not so much the game. The E4600 will likely be fine with running the game, but it's not exactly a fast CPU these days to keep up with something like a Radeon 6850. The E4600 was a somewhat stripped down CPU from the Conroe days with less cache and lower FSB....I feel it would hold back something like the Radeon 6850. Of course, one can get the card and just deal with the bottlenecks..the performance will likely still be quite tolerable, but you're just not getting what you paid for.

I haven't seen any scenes of Skyrim where there are more NPCs walking around than there were in Oblivion. And with the engine being rewritten from the ground up I sincerely doubt performance will decrease in this area. Other features such as physics and the snow accumulation could strain the CPU but it's impossible to predict how much. It all depends on how well optimized the Creation Engine is.

I would find it hard to believe that this game would have less NPCs walking around than Oblivion. Well, I guess we'll just wait and see.

The part I fear most is how the draw distances will be handled. Vegetation and shadows was an absolute killer in Oblivion....video cards can handle the rendering, but it turn out for many to be the CPUs that can't keep up. FO3 and FNV didn't possess these issues, but then again those games are in wastelands....I've got nothing to compare the game to other than Oblivion really. So I too hope the Creation Engine does this better.

but wait...isn't the reason they merged armor was so we could get more NPC's on screen? LOL

personally I hope the PC version has options that let me strain my hardware, I would love to see the games use more than 3 threads and still give my CPU a run for it's money, if it does that then it should look way better on PC than on xbox and it's already gorgeous on the xbox.

Skyrim appears to be using a completely different shadow rendering method than Oblivion or Fallout 3, mostly in that it's actually rendering shadows for every single object than just NPCs and trees, which both appeared to use two completely different rendering methods themselves. In fact the tree shadows weren't even being cast from a light source. While doing some modding I placed a tree well below a platform and the tree was somehow casting it's shadow on the platform from above.

Skyrim's method looks to be most similar to Farcry 2's and if that's the case then the shadow rendering will almost certainly be exclusively using the GPU.

Interesting to read

Notice we're going off a bit on a tangent here with the thread. *slaps own hand*

Let's get back to the topic now folks.