Best PC for Skyrim+ ?

[slimey]

Hello

Whats the Best PC for Skyrim+ beyond ?

Idealy I want to spend $600- $1000 USD

my PC now :
- Win 7
- 6 gb Ram
- AMD Athlon 64x2 dual core 4200+
- 2.2 GHz
- VideoCard: Nvidia GS 7900

my Tech level: Intermediate (not expert)
Thanks!

 

[vitornob]

What parts do you could reuse? (HD, keyboard, mouse, monitor?)

 

[jmsellars1]

Skyrim doesn't seem as demanding as people were expecting/hoping. I'm quite happily playing it at 1920x1200 with everything on ultra high except I've turned down AA and AF slightly and it seems like about 40FPS average. In terms of CPU as well, an i3-2100 is more than enough power for any current game and it's pretty cheap so I would recommend that.

i3-2100
ASRock H61M/U3S3
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) EDIT: Get 1 x 4GB because the motherboard has 2 RAM slots and you will want to upgrade to 8GB eventually.)
PowerColor HD 6870 1GB
Crucial M4 128GB
Coolermaster Storm Scout
Corsair CX-500 500W
DVD Burner

Total: $748.92

If you can cope with 128GB and any other current hard drives you have I would go for this to avoid insane hard drive prices and get some sexy loading speeds.

This should play Skyrim fine on ultra high settings and leaves plenty of the budget spare while still having a nice case and USB 3.0/SATA 3 etc. If you feel like spending the rest of the cash though I suppose you could upgrade the GPU to an HD 6970 or GTX 570 and/or the CPU to an i5-2400. Alternatively you could get nice peripherals if you don't already have them.

 

[slimey]

My Monitor Samsung SyncMaster940BF

• Display size: 19"
• Contrast: 700:1
• Resolution: 1280 x 1024
• Response time: 2ms (typ G to G)

I'm very happy w/ this. Its been going strong w/ no issues for almost 2 yrs.

HDDs Internal: 100 + 120 GB
Windows 7: Do I have to buy another license or can I reuse the old 1

Keyboard: MS Ergonomic
Thanks you !

 

[dish_moose]

^^ correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the RAM dual channel - I stick means 1/2 the bandwidth.
-Bruce

 

[unksol]

if you built your PC and didn't get an OEM version of windows 7 you can move it to a new PC. or if you got it from school/university. if it OEM version it's tied to the hardware.

 

[vitornob]

If you look in a recent article about skyrim here in TomsHardware you might note that in 1280x1024 resolution even a HD6770 can max out the game (Ultra+AA+all candy eyes) and still gets 40+ fps min and 45+ fps average

I certainly do not recommend getting this card since it would be great if you get a stronger one

About Windows. I think if it's a OEM version you will need another license (OEM binds with the equipment)

 

[unksol]

^^ correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the RAM dual channel - I stick means 1/2 the bandwidth.
-Bruce

yea... his recommendations are just... bad.... get a board with at least 4 memory slots. get a quad core
i5 or you are throwing money away... at least if your spending 700... there is zero reason to get an ssd, spend that money on the gpu or CPU and.learn to use sleep. get 8 gigs of memory for 40 bucks... it will wake in a second.... an SSD just boots 20 seconds faster than a HD... huge waste

 

[slimey]

PreBuilt: is obviously easier

HomeMade: Can lead to headaches especialy w/ my Tech level..
My current comp is HomeMade but a friend helped me put it together.
I'm sure I could build 1 if I put my mind to it.

I use to build comps @ my job for a major brand for 2 yrs.
I wasn't the fastest but none of my work ever came back defective
The comps I built were large cabinet (main frames?) types.
Not the PCs.
I basically put the boards , RAM & wires in the chassi.

Ram: Since I have 6 gb now I would like 8 gb.
" 8 gigs of memory for 40 bucks" good price !

An option to upgrade to 10+ would be nice but I dont know how necessary..
Some RAMs do require to fill all slots..

" board with at least 4 memory slots. get a quad core"
Yes 4 Core seems the way to go !
Thanks!

 

[jmsellars1]

yea... his recommendations are just... bad.... get a board with at least 4 memory slots. get a quad core
i5 or you are throwing money away... at least if your spending 700... there is zero reason to get an ssd, spend that money on the gpu or CPU and.learn to use sleep. get 8 gigs of memory for 40 bucks... it will wake in a second.... an SSD just boots 20 seconds faster than a HD... huge waste

Don't really see how those suggestions are bad, there really isn't that much of a difference between an i3 and an i5 in games. Even if there was a big difference you wouldn't notice it because the i3 would play anything on ultra anyway assuming you have a good GPU of course. Plenty of people are still playing games on Q6600's successfully and an i3-2100 is a hell of a lot better than one of those for gaming.

Also why do you need 4 memory slots for gaming? 4GB sticks are cheap and even 8GB is overkill really, the only reason people get 8GB is because it's cheap. Few games will even utilise 4GB of RAM, Skyrim only uses 2GB. The reason I said 1 x 4GB was because I thought he might value the upgradability over dual channel since it won't make a huge difference in games.

There is also plenty of reason to buy a SSD, if you don't mind living with the low capacity you can get super fast loading times when loading in games, booting, opening/installing programs etc. This doesn't even come at much of an extra cost because hard drive prices are insane at the moment.

Anyway the point of the build I suggested was to show that he doesn't need to spend the whole budget to do what he aims to do and more.

 

[jmsellars1]

PreBuilt: is obviously easier

HomeMade: Can lead to headaches especialy w/ my Tech level..
My current comp is HomeMade but a friend helped me put it together.
I'm sure I could build 1 if I put my mind to it.

I use to build comps @ my job for a major brand for 2 yrs.
I wasn't the fastest but none of my work ever came back defective
The comps I built were large cabinet (main frames?) types.
Not the PCs.
I basically put the boards , RAM & wires in the chassi.

Ram: Since I have 6 gb now I would like 8 gb.
" 8 gigs of memory for 40 bucks" good price !

An option to upgrade to 10+ would be nice but I dont know how necessary..
Some RAMs do require to fill all slots..

" board with at least 4 memory slots. get a quad core"
Yes 4 Core seems the way to go !
Thanks!

Just to point out, getting the quad and 8GB of RAM is going to make little to no difference in games. That's what I was getting at and that was the reason for my suggestions.

Don't get me wrong though, obviously feel free to get them if you want because RAM is pretty cheap and a quad core might be useful for other stuff. I'm not saying you shouldn't get them, I have 8GB and a quad core myself so I do understand.

EDIT: What I am trying to say is that the build I suggested is a pure bang for your buck gaming system with the possible exception of the SSD which I put in there just because HDD's are so damn expensive.

i5 and 8GB would make a more rounded build which would be good for other things, both are viable options.

 

[slimey]

I'm unlikely to use the Computer for Video editing/rendering.

Its purely for PC Gaming.
Skyrim / Guild Wars 2 / WoW / Diablo3 / Fable 4

I'm not realy a FPS guy.
How long will this computer last ?
Thanks!

 

[tekmage]

All parts from Newegg.com

Broadway Com Corp 939PL-BLACK Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case Okia ATX 550W Power Supply
Model #:939PL-BLACK
Item #:N82E16811162042
$49.99 -$9.00 Instant $40.99

Foxconn A76ML-K 3.0 AM3 AMD 760G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Model #:A76ML-K 3.0
Item #:N82E16813186215
$49.99 -$5.00 Instant $44.99

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable VGA Series GV-R685OC-1GD Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity $169.99

AMD Athlon II X3 455 Rana 3.3GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core Desktop Processor ADX455WFGMBOX
Model #:ADX455WFGMBOX
Item #:N82E16819103911
$79.99 $79.99

G.SKILL Value Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Model #:F3-10600CL9D-8GBNT
Item #:N82E16820231422
$39.99 $39.99


SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3EG HD503HI 500GB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:HD503HI
Item #:N82E16822152305
$99.99 $99.99

LG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS70 OEM - OEM
Model #:GH22NS70 OEM
Item #:N82E16827136238
$20.99 $20.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
Model #:GFC-02050
Item #:N82E16832116986
$99

$595 to play Skyrim.

 

[jmsellars1]

I'm unlikely to use the Computer for Video editing/rendering.

Its purely for PC Gaming.
Skyrim / Guild Wars 2 / WoW / Diablo3 / Fable 4

I'm not realy a FPS guy.
How long will this computer last ?
Thanks!

i3-2100 and the HD 6870 should be great for those kinds of games. I would go with the build I suggested, maybe take out the SSD for a HDD if you don't care about loading/booting times etc. since the SSD won't actually give any more FPS.

That would bring your total under $700 so as I said earlier, you could either pocket that or get a nice monitor, speakers/headset or mouse/keyboard. Alternatively you could get a better GPU so it would last longer.

 

[slimey]

Hi. For black Fri I bought:

199.99 USD GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Six-Core
It was ~$20- $40 more then a comparable 4 Core..

$174.99 Tax $12
ASUS Sabertooth 990FX AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Now I need a Case & RAM.

My old case is a Antec Mini Tower & I regret the size but not the quality.
Now Thinkin of a Full Tower. Why should I get a Mid over a Full 1? :

Rosewill THOR V2 Gaming ATX Full Tower Computer Case, support up to E-ATX/XL-ATX, come with Four Fans-1x Front Red LED 230mm Fan, 1x Top 230mm Fan, 1x Side 230mm Fan, 1x Rear 140mm Fan

 

[jmsellars1]

To be honest that was a bad choice since an i3 would beat the 1100T in gaming and that motherboard is a bit pricey. Still gonna be able to play your games on max settings though.

 

[etk]

You don't need to purchase a new license for win7 regardless of whether or not is it OEM.

If your motherboard is AM3, just get a 955BE and a 6850 and you will be fine for skyrim, especially at that resolution.

 

[slimey]

What power supply do I need?

I was thinking 600-750W

Uses Rec
ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX AM3+ R

Video Card
170W 500W GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI ....................Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

125W AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Six-Core

Bigger isnt necessarily better ?

What are the pros / cons of getting a mid vs Full Tower Case?
Thanks

 

[tekmage]

What power supply do I need?

I was thinking 600-750W

Uses Rec
ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX AM3+ R

Video Card
170W 500W GIGABYTE GV-N560UD-1G GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI ....................Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support

125W AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Six-Core

Bigger isnt necessarily better ?

What are the pros / cons of getting a mid vs Full Tower Case?
Thanks

650-750W should do just fine but as brands go, I would recommend Antec or Corsair. Good choice for the case. Just don't get a cheap one and you'll be happy. mid vs full.. Really depends on your space limitation and noise tolerance. As for memory, 8 gb is pretty much standard for gaming purposes these days. I actually buy only GSKILL or ADATA memory ever since I discovered them a few years back because I've yet to have one fail on me and they are inexpensive.