Skyrim Setup

[darno26]

I updated my PC a year or two ago and it's gotten me through all the gaming situations I've needed, until now.

I'm looking at buying Skyrim when it comes out and I'm looking to get a PC that's going to blow me away with the graphics. My PC running Oblivion at the moment isn't exactly spectacular (even though it's an old game I know) but I'm looking to run Skyrim at almost maxed settings at the cheapest possibly I can.

My setup at the moment is

CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 1055T(2.8GHz)
GPU: ATI 5870
PSU: 750W
MB: GA-890GPA-UD3H
RAM: 6GB 1333 DDR3
HDD: 1TB 7200RPM
Monitor: 1920x1080

 

[Patrickoby1]

How much RAM does your computer have? (EDIT I didn't see that you posted your RAM lol)

Your CPU is already really good with 6 cores at 2.8GHz, you have a strong power supply, and your video card is really good too, so the only thing I can suggest for you is getting like a Geforce GTX 580, but is it really necessary???

You should be getting really good graphics on the PC that you have already, so I don't think that upgrading right now would be the best idea, unless you got money to blow, if so you can get an i7 995x extreme, 32GB of RAM, and like 2 GTX 570's.

And maybe you can buy me some stuff too---------------------------------------------jk

(EDIT) if your not running oblivion on max settings, I think that there would be a problem, maybe you just need updated drivers??????

 

[darno26]

I don't know if I've done something wrong with it (I put it together myself) but it never seems to run as good as other people who have similar setups. It has 6GB of 1333 RAM.

Running games like Crysis 2 and other high end games it doesn't seem to perform as well as it should which is why I'm worried about it running new games like BF3 and Skyrim

 

[Patrickoby1]

Go here and get drivers if you haven't already (for your GPU):
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/downloads.aspx

 

[darno26]

I'm fairly sure I've got the newest drivers. I update them all the time.

 

[Patrickoby1]

Are you sure that everything in your PC is connected properly?
What kind of Operating System are you using? You should be using windows 7 64bit.

Try to download a program like core temp or something just to make sure that all your cores are enabled, or maybe you can get "prime 95" to test your CPU, or "Kombustor" to test your video card to make sure that they are running properly.

Also maybe you should overclock your CPU, wihtout any extra cooling you should be able to hit atleast 3.2 GHz, which should give you a little more performance.

(EDIT) Also you can try to measure the temps inside your computer to see if its struggling because lack of cooling, you can use catalyst control center for you video card, by going to advanced settings, and then ATI overdrive. You can download core temp you measure the temperatures of your cores, adn you can compare your results to other peoples.

 

[darno26]

I'm using 64 bit Windows 7 and all my CPU cores are turned on, had to turn them on when I got it. I've checked the temps and they all run fine. I'll try overclocking the CPU and see if that helps. Maybe it's just me that thinks they look crappy. But then again, it does struggle at running things maxed, especially when shadows are on too. I guess all I can do is buy Skyrim and see how it runs it and go from there.

 

[darno26]

I just overclocked my CPU to 3.3. It's running fine, just tested it out in a few games to make sure it wouldn't crash. I also tried overclocking my GPU (only slightly) but it had a weird effect on my second screen so I won't be doing that.

I can run Oblivion on maxed settings 100% fine but it still looks like total crap. I look at videos of Oblivion and other games such as BF BC2 and Crysis and stuff and think to myself *why doesn't my game look like that*.

Just then I maxed out my BC2 settings and it looked like rubbish, it had almost no effect on how the game looked, it's as if it was on Medium still.

 

[Gman450]

What FPS are you getting while playing these games?
Can you post some screen shots of the games in which it looks really bad/rubbish?

 

[darno26]

http://imgur.com/a/rg7dH#0

Everything is completely maxed out on all three of the games (Crysis 2, BC2 and Oblivion(No Mods))

FPS is generally pretty good for each of the games, around 40 for Crysis, 50 for BC2 and 80 for Oblivion but FPS's are in the top left corner.

 

[envymert]

I just overclocked my CPU to 3.3. It's running fine, just tested it out in a few games to make sure it wouldn't crash. I also tried overclocking my GPU (only slightly) but it had a weird effect on my second screen so I won't be doing that.

I can run Oblivion on maxed settings 100% fine but it still looks like total crap. I look at videos of Oblivion and other games such as BF BC2 and Crysis and stuff and think to myself *why doesn't my game look like that*.

Just then I maxed out my BC2 settings and it looked like rubbish, it had almost no effect on how the game looked, it's as if it was on Medium still.

When you say it looks like crap ......Are you adjusting the resolution ? Just changing details from low to med to high wont do anything if the resolution is not your monitors native resolution. In some weird cases before my monitor was 1080 I would max resolution. On a LCD you cannot do this as the game will looks like crap as it is not the monitors native res. At 3.3gigs and your video card you wont be maxing out some newer games with AA and AF enabled above 1920x1080 but the games should look good. What resolution do you play at? Because if you have a low resolution OR are playing at the non native res it will look like crap.

I saw your res , check and make sure the games are at the proper res, make sure your monitor is the right res. 1920x1080 and 1980x1200 are two different resolutions make sure it is your native res in game, sometimes the game selects the wrong one or even the improper aspect ratio.

If it still looks bad , turn on or up the AA AF.

With video they always look better due to being smaller ....so AA and AF are magnified. Some PS3 and 360 videos on YOUTUBE look awesome and better than PC graphics this is not the case just happens with the vid quality uploaded.

Also what monitor do you have and what connections do you use? My Samsung 30inch 1080 monitor looks like crap with an HDMI cable ....for some reason the PC looks like crap. When I hook it up with DVI's it looks awesome this could be your problem also .....are you using and HDTV ? If you are try using DVI.

 

[Patrickoby1]

When you say it looks like crap ......Are you adjusting the resolution ? Just changing details from low to med to high wont do anything if the resolution is not your monitors native resolution. In some weird cases before my monitor was 1080 I would max resolution. On a LCD you cannot do this as the game will looks like crap as it is not the monitors native res. At 3.3gigs and your video card you wont be maxing out some newer games with AA and AF enabled above 1920x1080 but the games should look good. What resolution do you play at? Because if you have a low resolution OR are playing at the non native res it will look like crap.

I saw your res , check and make sure the games are at the proper res, make sure your monitor is the right res. 1920x1080 and 1980x1200 are two different resolutions make sure it is your native res in game, sometimes the game selects the wrong one or even the improper aspect ratio.

If it still looks bad , turn on or up the AA AF.

With video they always look better due to being smaller ....so AA and AF are magnified. Some PS3 and 360 videos on YOUTUBE look awesome and better than PC graphics this is not the case just happens with the vid quality uploaded.

Also what monitor do you have and what connections do you use? My Samsung 30inch 1080 monitor looks like crap with an HDMI cable ....for some reason the PC looks like crap. When I hook it up with DVI's it looks awesome this could be your problem also .....are you using and HDTV ? If you are try using DVI.

I have the same problem when using an HDMI cable to my monitor also, everything looks blurry like my comp is running at a low resolution. So i'm running with DVI

Envymert gave some good advice on making sure what resolution your monitor is and adjusting in game, and trying to use a DVI cable, even though you won't be getting sound through your monitor, (if it has speakers), it will be more than worth it because your computer should look alot sharper if you have the same problem as me

Plus that screen shot that you posted looked really good when I opened it up so it has to be something with your monitor

 

[darno26]

I always run my games at my screens native 1920x1080.

I'm using a DVI connection as it's all my screen has. Upgrading the screen doesn't really seem like it would help the problem, but I guess it possible, and it'll be a whole lot cheaper than an entire computer I guess.

I'll buy Skyrim, see how that turns out and if need be I'll purchase myself a new monitor.

Thanks for your help everyone.

 

[Patrickoby1]

What kind of monitor do you have? Give me the exact model name and number if applicable

 

[Greddy]

Looking at your screenshots, oblivion espacialy, it looks like you need to crank up the drawing distance up, and Anisotropic filtering. By the judge of your screenshots. Tell me are you forcing them to go low in your games or in the graphic card's driver section?

 

[envymert]

Looking at your screenshots, oblivion espacialy, it looks like you need to crank up the drawing distance up, and Anisotropic filtering. By the judge of your screenshots. Tell me are you forcing them to go low in your games or in the graphic card's driver section?

He may be onto something ! For the video card settings do you have it maybe set to performance or balanced and force these settings in all applications?!?
If so this is why with stuff cranked it looks like low settings. Even though you crank graphic options the video card will override these settings if you "FORCE" settings in game. Or right click the desktop , properties and the Nvidia or ATI tab, 3d/graphic options and turn them up on the slider and turn on AA and AF. Hope this helps ....this would be the reason even enabling stuff in game it would still looks like poo.

 

[darno26]

Everything in my CCC (Catalyst Control Center) is set to use application settings or maxed out, so that's not it either :/


I'm not sure exactly but I think my monitor is Acer S220HQL 21.5 Inch.