How can I play skyrim maxed out?
- Thread starter Kirit0
- Start date
Solution
Skyrim is both CPU and GPU intensive. Assuming you are building a new PC an Intel CPU is generally recommended. As for the graphics card it doesn't really matter for AMD or nVidia, but it seems nVidia appears to be provide slightly better performance; at least between the Radeon HD 7950 and GTX 760. Both are priced at about the same price if the Radeon HD 7950 has a rebate.
The chart below has slightly older CPUs since the review was written when the game was released. As can be seen, Skyrim favors Intel CPUs.
The next chart shows that performance is tied to how powerful the CPU is. Skyrim's performance scales to the clockspeed of the Core i7-2600k, so the game...
The chart below has slightly older CPUs since the review was written when the game was released. As can be seen, Skyrim favors Intel CPUs.
The next chart shows that performance is tied to how powerful the CPU is. Skyrim's performance scales to the clockspeed of the Core i7-2600k, so the game...
nbelote
Distinguished
- Oct 5, 2009
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It's from another part of the forum, but there's a questionnaire that we need you to look over before we can actually help you out:
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice
We need to know whether or not you're looking at upgrading what you have (if so, what is in it?) or buying a new system (how much do you have to spend?) or we can't really do anything for you. Reading over the above linked post will give you a general idea of what information we need from you.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/353572-31-build-upgrade-advice
We need to know whether or not you're looking at upgrading what you have (if so, what is in it?) or buying a new system (how much do you have to spend?) or we can't really do anything for you. Reading over the above linked post will give you a general idea of what information we need from you.
jaguarskx
Titan
- Apr 19, 2006
- 27,979
- 3
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Skyrim is both CPU and GPU intensive. Assuming you are building a new PC an Intel CPU is generally recommended. As for the graphics card it doesn't really matter for AMD or nVidia, but it seems nVidia appears to be provide slightly better performance; at least between the Radeon HD 7950 and GTX 760. Both are priced at about the same price if the Radeon HD 7950 has a rebate.
The chart below has slightly older CPUs since the review was written when the game was released. As can be seen, Skyrim favors Intel CPUs.
The next chart shows that performance is tied to how powerful the CPU is. Skyrim's performance scales to the clockspeed of the Core i7-2600k, so the game definitely does benefit from an overclocked CPU (whether it's AMD or Intel.
The general recommendation is an Core i5-4670k if you are looking for the best CPU to play Skyrim. It is not necessary to buy a Core i7-4770k which has Hyper Threading since games do not benefit from it.
Source: http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-performance/page7.html
Assuming you are going to play at 1920x1200 resolution the stock speed GTX 760 (not the OC'ed Asus which probably costs $10 - $20 more) represents a good starting point if spending $250 on the GPU is not a problem. The Radeon HD 7970 provides almost similar performance, but it is at least $80 more expensive.
Note: The test rig uses an Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.2 GHz.
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_760_Direct_Cu_II_OC/22.html
The chart below has slightly older CPUs since the review was written when the game was released. As can be seen, Skyrim favors Intel CPUs.
The next chart shows that performance is tied to how powerful the CPU is. Skyrim's performance scales to the clockspeed of the Core i7-2600k, so the game definitely does benefit from an overclocked CPU (whether it's AMD or Intel.
The general recommendation is an Core i5-4670k if you are looking for the best CPU to play Skyrim. It is not necessary to buy a Core i7-4770k which has Hyper Threading since games do not benefit from it.
Source: http://www.techspot.com/review/467-skyrim-performance/page7.html
Assuming you are going to play at 1920x1200 resolution the stock speed GTX 760 (not the OC'ed Asus which probably costs $10 - $20 more) represents a good starting point if spending $250 on the GPU is not a problem. The Radeon HD 7970 provides almost similar performance, but it is at least $80 more expensive.
Note: The test rig uses an Intel Core i7-4770K @ 4.2 GHz.
Source: http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ASUS/GeForce_GTX_760_Direct_Cu_II_OC/22.html
jaguarskx
Titan
- Apr 19, 2006
- 27,979
- 3
- 84,965
The 1st chart which lists a lot of CPUs is basically telling you that Intel CPUs generally performs much better in Skyrim than does AMD CPUs. Since this review has been written AMD released the "PileDriver" generation FX CPUs like the six core FX-6300 and the 8 core FX-8350. The ones listed are known as "Bulldozer". Intel has released "Ivy Bridge" (3rd gen Core i3/i5/i7 CPUs like the i5-3570k) and just recently "Haswell" (4th gen Core i5/i7 CPUs like the i5-4670k). Those CPUs should perform better than the ones listed in the chart with Intel still being on top.
Getting back to what is listed in the chart, the dual core Intel i3-2120 @ 3.3GHz easily defeats the 8 core AMD FX-8150 @ 3.6GHz. What this tell you is that Skyrim doesn't really make any use of more than 2 cores in the CPU. Additionally, since the 3.3GHz dual core Intel CPU and provide better performance than the 3.6GHz 8 core AMD CPU, that tells you that Intel CPUs can process more instructions than AMD CPUs can for every given 1MHz. A lot more.
That being said, there are games like Crysis 3 that can make use of 4 cores so the 8 core FX-8150 can beat out the i3-2120 in that game. But the quad core i5-2500k will have no problems staying ahead of the FX-8150 in that game. A decent number of popular 1st person shooters are capable of using 4 core, but most games in general only use 2 cores. Having said that, it is generally recommended you buy a quad core CPU. If you have the money the easy choice is Intel. Otherwise, AMD provides good bang for your buck.
The 2nd chart simply shows that a faster CPU provides better performance. As the clockspeed increases on the i7-2600k so does Skyrim's performance. Most games do not behave as dramatically as Skyrim does. The gains are either smaller there are no changes to performance as long as the CPU is not slowing down the graphics card (GPU). BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider are examples of games that do not scale up as long as the CPU is fast enough.
Lastly, the 3rd chart shows some of the high performance graphics cards. Most people play games on a 60Hz LCD monitor. 60Hz means the monitor will only display at most 60 frames per second because it only "grabs" 60 frames every second from the GPU; assuming the CPU is fast enough to do so. Anything about 60 is considered "wasted". If you had a 120Hz LCD monitor then it can display up to 120 FPS as long as the GPU can render that many frames. I generally do not recommend going for a 120Hz monitor unless the graphics card you buy can push at least 90 FPS - 100 FPS. Anything less that at is not worth it in my opinion especially when newer games comes out that performance is going to decrease.
Excluding any sales or rebates the cards in that chart ranges between $195 (GTX 660) and $410 (Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition). Click the link I provided above to see the general prices of those cards. I recommended the $250 - $260 GTX 760 because it seems to offer a very good price to performance ratio. The most expensive in the chart; the Radeon HD 7970 at $410; only performs just as well in Skyrim as the significantly less expensive GTX 760. Overall the Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition performs very close to the GTX 760 in all games benchmarked as a whole. Therefore, I can justify spending and extra $150 - $160 for that card.
I don't know what your budget is so if you can afford a $1,000 graphics card then I support you can blow it on a GTX Titan. Or maybe you only want to spend about $100, then in that case the Radeon HD 7750 is probably better suited for your needs.
Getting back to what is listed in the chart, the dual core Intel i3-2120 @ 3.3GHz easily defeats the 8 core AMD FX-8150 @ 3.6GHz. What this tell you is that Skyrim doesn't really make any use of more than 2 cores in the CPU. Additionally, since the 3.3GHz dual core Intel CPU and provide better performance than the 3.6GHz 8 core AMD CPU, that tells you that Intel CPUs can process more instructions than AMD CPUs can for every given 1MHz. A lot more.
That being said, there are games like Crysis 3 that can make use of 4 cores so the 8 core FX-8150 can beat out the i3-2120 in that game. But the quad core i5-2500k will have no problems staying ahead of the FX-8150 in that game. A decent number of popular 1st person shooters are capable of using 4 core, but most games in general only use 2 cores. Having said that, it is generally recommended you buy a quad core CPU. If you have the money the easy choice is Intel. Otherwise, AMD provides good bang for your buck.
The 2nd chart simply shows that a faster CPU provides better performance. As the clockspeed increases on the i7-2600k so does Skyrim's performance. Most games do not behave as dramatically as Skyrim does. The gains are either smaller there are no changes to performance as long as the CPU is not slowing down the graphics card (GPU). BioShock Infinite and Tomb Raider are examples of games that do not scale up as long as the CPU is fast enough.
Lastly, the 3rd chart shows some of the high performance graphics cards. Most people play games on a 60Hz LCD monitor. 60Hz means the monitor will only display at most 60 frames per second because it only "grabs" 60 frames every second from the GPU; assuming the CPU is fast enough to do so. Anything about 60 is considered "wasted". If you had a 120Hz LCD monitor then it can display up to 120 FPS as long as the GPU can render that many frames. I generally do not recommend going for a 120Hz monitor unless the graphics card you buy can push at least 90 FPS - 100 FPS. Anything less that at is not worth it in my opinion especially when newer games comes out that performance is going to decrease.
Excluding any sales or rebates the cards in that chart ranges between $195 (GTX 660) and $410 (Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition). Click the link I provided above to see the general prices of those cards. I recommended the $250 - $260 GTX 760 because it seems to offer a very good price to performance ratio. The most expensive in the chart; the Radeon HD 7970 at $410; only performs just as well in Skyrim as the significantly less expensive GTX 760. Overall the Radeon HD 7970 GHz edition performs very close to the GTX 760 in all games benchmarked as a whole. Therefore, I can justify spending and extra $150 - $160 for that card.
I don't know what your budget is so if you can afford a $1,000 graphics card then I support you can blow it on a GTX Titan. Or maybe you only want to spend about $100, then in that case the Radeon HD 7750 is probably better suited for your needs.
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